The Seton Hill men's lacrosse team remains in the No. 8 spot in the USILA Coaches Poll after this week's 10-8 win over ECAC rival Mercyhurst University. The Griffins are now 2-0 in the ECAC. They host ECAC opponent, Walsh University at 4:00 pm on Tuesday, March 24 at Dick's Sporting Goods Field.
The Lacrosse Magazine has the Griffins ranked in #7 in their media poll. Below is an excerpt of Coach Novotny's interview with Jac Coyne from the Lacrosse Magazine's DII Weekly Notebook; The gravity of the win was not lost on Seton Hill head coach Brian Novotny.
"We have a ton of respect for the Mercyhurst program," he said. "We, perhaps more than any team in the country, are familiar with who they are, what they are capable of, and the pride they have. You compete against your opponent, not a record. That was especially true for this weekend. At some point in the week, we spelled out what Mercyhurst's situation was; that they would be playing with a ton of fight and emotion. The team did a good job preparing and respecting the opponent we were playing. To beat a team like Mercyhurst you have to play focused and clean lacrosse for 60-plus minutes."
Besides playing a long-time rival, Seton Hill had the task of rebounding from a devastating loss to then-No. 1 Limestone the weekend prior. The Griffins led the champs with under 20 seconds left in the contest, but the Saints scored with 13 ticks left to send it into overtime before winning a minute into the extra session.
It would have been a season-altering win for Seton Hill.
"Limestone was a tough loss and it was our first loss," Novotny said. "There was definitely an awkward moment when the team wasn't sure how to handle the loss. Once we got an opportunity to settle and come to grips with the loss, we took as many positives from a loss that you can. Having a rivalry game against Mercyhurst next up on the schedule forced us to get over the loss as quickly as a team can."
To read more of Lacrosse Maganzines DII Weekly Notebook cick here.
