Tough neighborhood for McDaniel
Quick: name the Division III program in Maryland that has the unenviable task of trying to upend two programs ranked in the top 5 in its own conference.
If you said St. Mary's or Hood, you'd be 66.6 percent correct. Although it's true that the Saints and Blazers have to deal with No. 1 Salisbury and No. 3 Stevenson in the Capital Athletic Conference, McDaniel has its own problems with No. 2 Gettysburg and No. 5 Dickinson in the Centennial Conference.
But don't shed any tears for the Green Terror, which is 3-2 in the conference -- good enough for third place and in position to qualify for the season-ending four-team league tournament. Coach Matt Hatton said McDaniel benefits from playing in a contentious conference.
"It's a gift and a curse," he said. "I think it helps in recruiting because kids want to play the best, and if you come to play in the Centennial Conference, you're playing the best guys -- game in and game out. The other part of it is, it's tough to beat Gettysburg, and it's going to be tough to beat Dickinson as well. Everybody in our conference is very well-coached. ... I wouldn't change it for anything in the world. I like going out and competing against those teams."
McDaniel's only losses in the league have been to Washington College (9-8 on March 20) and Gettysburg (15-6 on April 7). The team still has upcoming contests against league foes Franklin & Marshall, Haverford and Dickinson.
Win out and the Green Terror can avoid a first-round match-up with Gettysburg in the Centennial Conference Tournament.
"The way we're looking at it right now is, we need to take care of the next three games, and if we do that, then we feel comfortable about putting ourselves in a position to make it to the conference tournament," Hatton said. "Then we'll see what we can do."
