Scranton's postseason hopes pinned to regular-season finale

Reigning Landmark Conference Tournament champion in danger of missing this year's tourney entirely

To avoid becoming the first defending Landmark Conference Tournament champion to fail to qualify for the postseason, Scranton (8-5 overall and 2-3 in the league) must defeat Catholic (9-4, 3-2) on Saturday to create a three-way tie with Susquehanna (8-7, 3-3) for third and fourth place.

At that point, the conference would refer to its tiebreaking procedures to determine which two of the three teams would move onto the tournament. But Royals coach Jim Rogalski is fully cognizant of the arduous path that awaits his team.

“It’s tough because now it gets to a point where it’s a must-win, and you never want to be in that situation,” he said after Saturday’s 13-8 loss to Goucher at Gopher Stadium in Towson. “But I think it’s a great learning experience for us. Goucher plays with a lot of confidence. They’re the No. 13 team in the country. They’re the [No.] 1 seed. We talk about practicing hard every day and what it takes on a daily basis. If anything, we know we can play with these guys, but we know that we have to work hard in a must-win situation on Saturday.”