Coming off a humbling 13-2 loss to then-No. 18 Lehigh on Saturday, Navy still finds itself in a good spot with regard to qualifying for the Patriot League tournament.
With a 2-2 conference record, the Midshipmen (3-4) currently sit in sixth place in the league. They are one game ahead of Boston University (1-2 in the conference and 1-6 overall) in the win column and are tied with Bucknell (2-2, 4-4), which owns the tiebreaker via a 9-6 win against Navy on Feb. 22. The top six teams advance to the Patriot League tournament.
The Midshipmen still have conference games remaining against Colgate (2-1, 6-2), Boston, No. 2 Loyola (3-0, 7-1) and Army (2-1, 4-3).
"We know we have a lot of lacrosse left, and there are four league games left," said coach Rick Sowell, who is preparing the team for Saturday's home game against Colgate at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis at noon. "So there's a lot that can happen over this next month and a half. It's neither here nor there. That's not what our focus is on. Our focus is on Colgate, and that's all it needs to be on at this point."
Sowell acknowledged that a victory over the Raiders would further solidify the team's positioning for the league tournament. But he insisted he did not know where the program stood in the conference standings.
"I know we have two wins and two losses, and that puts us in the hunt," he said. "So in terms of controlling destiny and that sort of thing which is what all teams want, we're in a good situation right now. But we've got to go home and play a very good game on Saturday against a quality opponent. So we're going to have to play good lacrosse, and at this point, that's all we're focusing on."