Starting Dec. 20 through Dec. 29, we are reliving the top games, championships, awards, firsts, and memories from the year that was in the Ten For 2010 series. You the fans can vote on your top story of the year starting Dec. 29, and the results will be unveiled on New Year's Day. We present our top 10 in roughly chronological order, not in a ranking of any sort.
Ten For 2010
Dec. 20:
The Hall of Champions
Dec. 21:
Women's Basketball In The NCAA Tournament
Dec. 22: Lax Comes Back
Dec. 23:
Softball's NCAA Run
Dec. 24:
Field Hockey Is #1
Dec. 25:
LVC Cares
Dec. 26:
Football's Turnaround
The expectations were sky-high going into preseason. Coming off arguably the greatest season in program history in 2009, the 2010 edition of the Lebanon Valley College football team was loaded with talent and expected to contend for a spot in the NCAA Tournament, if not the MAC title itself.
Somewhere along the way, things didn't go to plan. An opening day loss turned into two in a row, and by the time Oktoberfest Weekend rolled around on Oct. 16, the Dutchmen were virtually dead in the water, drifting along at 1-4 and coming off a back-breaking overtime loss to Wilkes the week before. And there they were again, down 21-7 at the half to FDU-Florham, a team they hadn't lost to since 2004.
Something had to give.
"I feel like in the early part of the season, we didn't play to our potential. It was almost like we felt entitled to win," coach
Jim Monos recalled. "At Homecoming, we bottomed out at halftime. That was as bad as it had gotten."
It was as if someone had flicked a switch, and the 2009 Dutchmen were back.
Ben Guiles exploded out of the break for four second-half touchdowns - the most ever in one half by an LVC player - and LVC walked away with a 33-21 win in front of a packed house. More importantly, they left with the confidence to know all was not lost.
"All the sudden we started playing and continued to play at a high level. I felt like we maxed it out and reached our potential, and beat at the end three very good teams," Monos said. Indeed, his team did a complete midseason 180, eliminating their turnover problems, finding their offensive rhythm, and reeling off wins against King's, Widener, and Lycoming.
Consider this: over the first five games of the regular season, LVC was outscored by an average of 27-19, were -11 on turnovers, converted just 33% of their third downs, and allowed 373 yards per game. In the last five games? They outscored opponents 30-21, were +7 on turnovers, converted half their third downs, and cut nearly 60 yards per game off of opponents' offenses, allowing 314 per game. One of the most dramatic stats was in the penalties: they averaged 78.4 yards of flags per game in the first five games, and just 47.4 yards in the second five.
The icing on the cake came in the regular season finale, beating rival Albright for the first time since 2006 and providing one of the highlights of the year two days later when the student body marched on Kreiderheim to request their day off from school. More importantly for Monos, that win flipped a 1-4 record into a near-miraculous 6-4 one, and LVC earned their second straight postseason berth for the first time in program history, going to the ECAC South Atlantic Bowl at Johns Hopkins.
"I dont know if I've ever experienced that turnaround before," Monos said. "As a head coach I think it would rank as #1. I've just never experienced anything like that."
