Good news, bad news for McDaniel
The good news for McDaniel is that the team has earned its second straight appearance in the Centennial Conference Tournament, which kicks off Friday.
The bad news is that the Green Terror, which is the No. 4 seed, gets the unenviable task of trying to upend Gettysburg, the top seed in the tournament and the second-ranked team in Division III.
"It’s nice to be able to go back to the conference tournament," McDaniel coach Matt Hatton said. "… We’re looking forward to the opportunity to get at Gettysburg. They laid a pretty good one on us a couple weeks back [a 15-6 defeat on April 7]. We’re certainly happy and fortunate to be in the position that we’re in, but we would have liked to play a little better in the last couple games and avoid limping our way in. I didn’t think we played particularly well against Haverford or Dickinson. So we’ve got our work cut out for us this week in getting ready to play the team that everyone is chasing in the conference."
The Green Terror went 7-7 overall and 4-4 in the conference with losses to Haverford and Dickinson in the last two contests. That’s part of the reason why many think the Bullets (14-1), NCAA Tournament finalists a year ago, is the favorite to capture their 17th straight conference title and 14th league crown in 17 years.
Hatton said the players and coaches are well aware of that sentiment.
"We really have nothing to lose," he said. "I think everybody outside of our families and our program is probably thinking that Gettysburg is the favorite. I don’t mind being the underdog because sometimes when you get out there and pull the upset, then it’s all good. But we have to make sure that we take care of ourselves. We can’t worry about what Gettysburg is going to do any more than we already have. We’re going forward with the mentality that we need to work this week in preparation for a big one on Friday afternoon. … Everyone’s chasing Gettysburg, and they’re a good team. If you give them easy opportunities, that makes for a long afternoon. We feel like if we can limit some of those opportunities and if we can take advantage of some of the opportunities given on our offensive end, then we can make it a game and keep it close and see what we can do down the stretch."
