- Chris Jastrzembski
Previewing Army West Point's 2022 men's lacrosse schedule
The Army West Point Black Knights are the 41st team in our 2022 men’s college lacrosse schedule preview series and the fourth team from the Patriot League. Army went 7-4 overall in 2021 and 5-2 in Patriot League play. The Black Knights fell to Loyola in the Patriot League semifinals and came up just short of making their second consecutive NCAA Tournament.
Here's their entire 2022 spring schedule:
WHO'S IN?
UMass Minutemen (2/12)
Rutgers Scarlet Knights (2/19)
Siena Saints (2/23)
NJIT Highlanders (2/26)
Lafayette Leopards (3/12)
Bucknell Bison (4/2)
Cornell Big Red (4/16)
Despite being Patriot League opponents, Bucknell and Lafayette did not play some of their league foes (Army was one of them) last season due to the Patriot League's temporary division formatting.
WHO'S OUT?
Virginia Cavaliers (14-9 L)
Saint Joseph's Hawks (13-5 W)
CIRCLE THESE DATES
2/19 at Rutgers: Army has won the last three meetings, but these contests are typically close in score. Rutgers finally had a breakthrough season by making the NCAA Tournament and reloaded through the transfer portal this summer. Should be a fun early season game that could have ramifications in May.
3/2 at Syracuse: Don't let the 4-12 record since 2003 fool you. These games are always close, well except for last year. Being inside the Syracuse camp, the Army game is always a difficult game to prepare for every year. With a new coaching staff led by head coach Gary Gait, who knows how the new-look Orange fair. Also, if Syracuse can finally travel to Albany to play the Great Danes, can't they go to West Point as well? Just saying.
3/19 vs. Lehigh: The Patriot League has three or four NCAA Tournament caliber programs. Lehigh is one of them. The Mountain Hawks won the conference title last year with Loyola bowing out due to COVID concerns. Mike Sisselberger is one of the top three faceoff specialists in the country, something that has hurt Army for the past few years.
3/26 at Loyola: The Greyhounds essentially ended Army's season last year in the conference semifinals. The result wasn't a stunner, but leaving Army out was, partially because they beat Syracuse handedly in February, and the Orange were essentially the last team in. Loyola ended up coming just short in the NCAA Quarterfinals.
4/23 vs. Navy: Army-Navy. Well in this year's case, Navy-Army. Need I say more? Navy is slowly building up their program some more with Joe Amplo at the helm. Army is 3-5 against the Midshipmen since 2015. You all should know what this game means for both teams.