With a Northeast Conference Tournament game of monumental importance against Fairleigh Dickinson University at noon this Thursday at Ted Grant Field, Le Moyne women’s lacrosse coach Liz Beville has created a new way to gain support from the Central New York community:
She sent out a good-natured, joking “permission form” on social media, asking bosses to excuse employees “due to a matter of extreme importance,” a weekday lacrosse game at Le Moyne of “historic proportions” that will be “a high-stakes edge of your seat event.”
In other words, she hopes to draw a large crowd.
Here’s the context:
For the first time since Le Moyne College’s transition to Division I sports, Le Moyne’s women’s lacrosse program is hosting the NEC tournament. In just its third year of Division I play, the women’s lacrosse team has found itself rising to the top of the conference. The Dolphins earned the No.1 seed in the tournament, finishing the season 13-3 after a drastic turnaround from last season’s record of 4-13.
Those victories included an 11-7 win over Fairleigh Dickinson less than two weeks ago, at Le Moyne.
“You look at what we did last year compared to what we were able to accomplish this year. Then you look at just the program’s success as a whole,” said Beville, reflecting on a program that hungered to return to the nationally elite level it routinely achieved in Division II, before the switch to Division I.
Although the other three teams in the tournament are fighting for a spot in the NCAA tournament, Le Moyne is not yet eligible for the tourney due to finalizing its classification as a Division I institution.
The best way to make the point that they’re ready, as far as Beville and her players are concerned, would be winning the NEC tournament – even if the Dolphins couldn’t go on to the NCAAs this spring.
“For us to be in the tournament in a conference tournament, and to be the number one seed and then hosting is pretty significant,” Beville said, when asked what this tournament means to not only the program, but the college as a whole.
As for the “permission” to skip work, the team released the post via social media with an “official” excuse – urging fans to find their way to the Ted Grant Field for the playoff game, even if it’s at noon on a Thursday.
Beville said, “We’re just really excited and we would love all the support that we can get.”
