The Colgate Men's Lacrosse team is on a high this week as they prepare to travel to Umass for the first round on the NCAA Tournament on Saturday. The team reached it's highest ranking this week in program history, checking in at # 9 on both the USILA Coaches' Poll and the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. The Raiders are still buzzing this week in practice after beating sixth ranked Maryland this past weekend to put an exclamation mark on the regular season.
"We've just gotta play Colgate Lacrosse," reflected Head Coach Mike Murphy on his team's NCAA Tournament challenge ahead, "we've got to play 60 minutes or 64 minutes or however long it takes doing out stuff"
It will be the first time Colgate has gotten the chance to play the Minutemen in program history, and the game could not be bigger. The 13-3 Raiders are looking to prove their worth as they play in their first NCAA Tournament since 2008, and in only their second NCAA Tourney appearance of all time.
"Having watched film of Umass," says Murphy, " they're a big physical team, and they do a pretty good job of trying to impose their will on you, so you've got to be able to have strength of character, and composure to do the things you do well."
"We want to stay focussed," says senior midfielder Jeff Ledwick, "we've been focussed on being a blue collar team all year, and we want to continue to do that".
The Raiders face off with UMass this Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
