Lafayette’s Perfect League Record on the Line as Patriot League Semifinals Arrive on Thursday
Thursday is semifinal day in the Patriot League, and the headline act is a team that hasn’t lost a league game all season. No. 15 Lafayette, the regular-season champions, host the semifinals in Easton, Pennsylvania, and open against fourth-seeded Holy Cross at 12 p.m. ET (10 p.m. PKT). The second semifinal, No. 2 American against No. 3 Boston University, follows at 3 p.m. ET (1 a.m. PKT Friday). The final is on Saturday.
Lafayette’s numbers are hard to argue with. The Leopards are 15-2 overall and 6-0 in the league, riding a six-game winning streak, and they’re unbeaten at home this season at 10-0. They’ve already beaten Holy Cross once, 1-0 on the road in September through Laila Pasic, and the league office handed them four of the conference’s six major postseason awards. Everything points one way, but that’s exactly when knockout hockey bites.
American, 10-7 and 4-2 in the league, against Boston University is the tighter tie on paper. Both sides have lived in the top half all season, and the winner gets a shot at ending Lafayette’s perfect run on Saturday. Both semifinals and the final are on ESPN+.
For our money, Lafayette should reach the final, and their home record is the reason. But Holy Cross have nothing to lose and a previous 1-0 defeat to avenge, and American against Boston University is a genuine coin flip. Thursday sorts it out.
