BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Patriot League formally announced the addition of William & Mary as an associate member for football.
 
The Tribe will begin competition in the League for the 2026 football season, joining rival University of Richmond, which begins its first season in the League in 2025.
 

The Patriot League’s membership within the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) will expand to nine teams with the addition of William & Mary. They join charter members Bucknell University, Colgate University, The College of the Holy Cross, Lafayette College and Lehigh University, along with associate members Fordham University, Georgetown University and University of Richmond. Before Richmond, Georgetown was the last football program to join the Patriot League, arriving for the 2001 season. The Patriot League never had more than eight football-playing institutions (2001-03) before the addition of William & Mary.
 

“I am pleased to welcome William & Mary as our ninth football member.  This is an important day for the League,” Patriot League Commissioner Jennifer Heppel said. “William & Mary’s commitment to academic excellence, athletic performance and community engagement reflects a holistic approach to student-athlete development that aligns with our membership and will make them an ideal institutional partner for the League.”
 

“We are so excited to accept this invitation from the Patriot League as football members,” said William & Mary President Katherine A. Rowe. “It is a delight to be president of a university with such a robust commitment to excellence in Division I sports. We are constantly looking at how best we can support students who compete in every one of our sports. This move is a perfect fit for our football program, and we look forward to the future.”
 

“We are pleased to welcome William & Mary to the Patriot League for football beginning in 2026,” Colgate University President and Chair of the Council of Presidents Brian W. Casey said. “Their well-deserved reputation for academic success and their dedication to the development of their student-athletes helps further strengthen the Patriot League’s mission and vision.”
 
 

“Moving football to the Patriot League is a strategic decision that will align our program with other schools that play competitive football in a strong FCS conference with student-athletes who achieve at the highest level,” said William & Mary Director of Athletics Brian Mann. 
 
ABOUT WILLIAM & MARY FOOTBALL

William & Mary football has a tradition of excellence that dates back to 1893. The Tribe has earned 11 NCAA Playoff berths, reaching the national semifinals twice (2004 and 2009) and winning a program-record 11 games in each of those seasons. Overall, the school has won 16 conference championships and seen 119 players earn All-America honors. The program has sent more than 100 players to the professional ranks with 74 NFL Draft picks. W&M also boasts notable alumni in Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin ’95 and Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott ’98.
 
PATRIOT LEAGUE FOOTBALL HISTORY
The Patriot League will enter its 40th season of competition this fall at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. The League formed in 1986 with charter members Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette and Lehigh. Fordham has maintained its football member status since 1990, as the Rams were full members from 1990-94 before becoming associate members in 1995. Georgetown has competed as a Patriot League football associate member since 2001. Davidson (1987-88) and Towson (1997-03) have also competed in the Patriot League as football associate members. Full Patriot League members – the U.S. Military Academy (Army West Point) and U.S. Naval Academy (Navy) – play football in the American Athletic Conference (AAC) in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).
 
PATRIOT LEAGUE FOOTBALL IN THE POLLS
Patriot League co-champion Lehigh finished the 2024 season ranked 21st in the FCS Coaches Poll and No. 20 in the Stats Perform FCS Poll. Co-Champion Holy Cross, who has claimed at least a share of the League crown for six straight seasons, finished outside of the Top 25 after being ranked in both polls in the previous three seasons. The League had finished with two ranked teams in two of the last three seasons, with Lafayette (No. 17 FCS Coaches, No. 20 Stats Perform) and Holy Cross (No. 22 FCS Coaches) in 2023. In 2022, the Crusaders (No. 6 FCS Coaches, No. 7 STATS) and Fordham (No. 13 FCS Coaches, No. 16 STATS) both finished ranked and earned bids to the postseason.  
 
PATRIOT LEAGUE FOOTBALL POSTSEASON SUCCESS
Last season, Lehigh advanced to the NCAA DI FCS Championship Second Round after a 20-16 victory over No. 9 Richmond in the opening round. The Mountain Hawks’ postseason success follows a recent trend for the League. Since 2015, three Patriot League football teams have advanced to the quarterfinal round of the FCS Playoffs. In 2022, Holy Cross advanced to the quarterfinals, where they fell to national champion South Dakota State. The 2022 season also marked the second time since 2015 that the Patriot League received multiple bids to the FCS Playoffs. Colgate reached the quarterfinal round in 2015 and 2018 when the Raiders boasted the nation’s top-scoring defense (9.3 ppg) before falling to eventual national champion North Dakota State.
 
PATRIOT LEAGUE FOOTBALL IN THE PROS
Since the League’s inception in 1986, 12 Patriot League football student-athletes have been selected in the NFL Draft, with Holy Cross offensive lineman C.J. Hanson most recently being a seventh-round pick by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2024. During the 2024 season, nine former Patriot League student-athletes spent time on NFL rosters, including Fordham All-American Chase Edmonds (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), who ranks fifth in FCS history in career rushing yards (5,862).
 
PATRIOT LEAGUE FOOTBALL ACADEMIC PROWESS
The Patriot League has been among the premier academic football conferences in NCAA Division I. According to the most recent data released by the NCAA in December 2024, the League’s seven football programs recorded the best Graduation Success Rate (GSR) score (96) and top Federal Graduation Rate (FGR) score (91) among all NCAA DI FCS conferences. For more than a decade, the Patriot League has ranked among the best NCAA Division I conferences in GSR and FGR, posting the top FGR and ranking in the top two in GSR since 2020.
 
ABOUT THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
The Patriot League is in its fourth decade of academic and athletic achievement, continually demonstrating that student-athletes can excel at both academics and athletics without sacrificing high standards. The Patriot League’s athletic success is achieved while its member institutions remain committed to its founding principle of admitting and graduating student-athletes who are academically representative of their class. Participation in athletics at Patriot League institutions is viewed as an important component of a well-rounded education.

FOLLOW THE CRUSADERS 

Be sure to follow the Holy Cross football team — and all things Crusader Athletics — on social media!

X – @HCrossFB | @goholycross

Instagram – @hcrossfb | @goholycross

Facebook – Holy Cross Football | Holy Cross Athletics

YouTube – GoHolyCross

STANDISH, ME-Saint Joseph’s College of Maine put on an offensive show Friday afternoon, rolling past Curry College 17-7 in Standish. The win moves the Monks to 18-16 on the year, while Curry drops to 8-19.

Saint Joseph’s came out swinging, scoring five runs in the first inning, capped by a three-run homer from Nick Villano (Peabody, MA). That early outburst set the tone for the rest of the game, with the Monks racking up 20 hits in total.

Curry managed to keep things interesting early, scoring in each of the first three innings, but the Monks kept piling on. A four-run fifth and another four-run inning in the eighth sealed the deal.

Villano led the way at the plate, going 4-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Jared Wilhelm (Tolland, CT) and Ryan Kastle (Concord, NH) also had big days, each homering and collecting three hits. Wilhelm drove in three, while Kastle added two RBIs.

Kyle MacKay (Dracut, MA) picked up the win for the Monks, improving to 2-0. Michael Hutchko took the loss for Curry, giving up seven runs in just over three innings to fall to 0-4.

Amelie Morgan’s gymnastics career is officially over.

The former British national team member — who won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics — and Utah gymnastics standout announced on Instagram Thursday that she is done with her competitive career.

“Thank you gymnastics for the life you have given me,” Morgan wrote. “I couldn’t be more grateful for all the love and support throughout this journey and couldn’t have asked for anything more.”

It isn’t too much of a surprise that Morgan is finished.

Last year, her junior season at the University of Utah, Morgan revived her career with the British national team in an attempt to qualify for the Paris Olympics before ultimately deciding to retire from elite gymnastics.

And over the weekend she competed for the final time as a Red Rock, in the 2025 NCAA women’s gymnastics championship.

Morgan, along with fellow seniors Jaylene Gilstrap (fifth-year), Grace McCallum (four-year) and Jaedyn Rucker (sixth-year) left an indelible mark on the Utah program.

The quartet experienced some major highs (the best run for the Red Rocks since the mid-2000s) and some real lows (finishing last in the 2025 national title meet), plus a great deal of upheaval along the way that included a head coaching change for Utah only two months before the start of the 2024 season.

Referencing a quote from billionaire Warren Buffett, Utah head coach Carly Dockendorf said at the Red Rocks’ end of year banquet, “Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted the tree a long time ago.’

“To the senior class, you have laid the foundation for this new era of Utah Gymnastics, and you are leaving a legacy.”

McCallum will be with the team next season working as a student-coach, but what about Morgan? What is next for Utah’s other Tokyo Olympian?

She told the Deseret News in March that it is her plan is to stay in Salt Lake City post-college and she hopes to be involved with the Red Rocks as much as she is able.

“Hopefully I will start an internship here and leap into a full time job,” Morgan said. “I want to stay involved in the program, maybe come back for some camps and come visit, kind of join the alumni relationship circle.

“I love this program, so I’ll definitely be coming to all of the meets. I’ll definitely have some FOMO (fear of missing out), but I’ll try and be the biggest supporter of this program. I have to go into the working world now, so we’ll see how that goes.”

Morgan wasn’t initially going to attend Utah for college (she was previously committed to Cal) but after four years she has nothing but good things to say about the U. and her time there.

“I honestly feel like I’ve grown so much as a person,” she said, reflecting on her time in college. “I think this (Utah) is a place where you feel safe, you feel like you have a family and you really feel like these people have your back and they genuinely want to see you grow.

“Gymnastics aside, I feel like I’ve grown in confidence. I’ve gained so much confidence in kind of who I am. I feel like I know who I am now, and I feel defined in ways other than gymnastics. I feel like I have so many other strengths to me and I think that’s been something that’s really important to me.”

When it comes to gymnastics, Morgan had plenty of highlights, moments that will be remembered by fans for years to come, but for her, the relationships she built as a part of Utah gymnastics are the most important thing she gained by competing for the Red Rocks.

“Knowing that I have the support system, that I have friends and people that I’ll have relationships for for life,” Morgan said, “That’s the most important thing for me.”

GRAND FORKS — UND has landed a top uncommitted goaltender in the United States Hockey League.

USHL Goalie of the Year finalist Jan Špunar of the Dubuque Fighting Saints is headed to UND this fall.

Špunar posted a 24-15 record with a .907 save percentage during the regular season. He finished fifth in the USHL in save percentage and fourth in saves above expectation.

The 6-foot-3 goaltender from Olomouc, Czechia, has missed Dubuque’s playoff games due to an injury.

Špunar previously played two seasons for the Portland Winterhawks in the Western Hockey League. Due to a recent NCAA rules change, Canadian major junior players are eligible for college hockey.

Špunar, who turns 21 next month, is one of three finalists for USHL Goalie of the Year. The other finalists are St. Cloud State commit Yan Shostak of the Lincoln Stars and Michigan State commit Melvin Strahl of the Youngstown Phantoms.

Four previous UND recruits have won that honor — Zane McIntyre, Jean-Philippe Lamoureux, Karl Goehring and Aaron Vickar.

UND began recruiting Špunar a couple of months ago when Brad Berry was the head coach and Goehring coached the goaltenders. The recruitment continued under new coach Dane Jackson and general manager Bryn Chyzyk. Assistant Dillon Simpson was on both staffs.

Špunar will join 6-foot-6 Gibson Homer, an Arizona State transfer, as UND’s top two goaltenders for the 2025-26 season.

Špunar’s addition signals that sophomore Hobie Hedquist will not return in 2025-26. Hedquist has not yet entered the NCAA transfer portal, but the expectation is that he will enter by the May 13 closing date.

UND’s staff gave committed recruit Caleb Heil the option to come to UND this fall or return to USHL Madison for one more season and play a significant number of games. Heil, a 6-foot-2 netminder from Victoria, Minn., chose to play one more year of juniors, polish his game and come to UND in 2026.

UND is closing in on landing Fargo’s Zach Sandy as the team’s third goaltender.

Sandy spent three seasons at Minnesota Duluth, where he played in six games. Sandy will likely be able to redshirt one of those seasons and have two years of eligibility left. Sandy starred at Fargo South-Shanley before playing juniors.

Stephen Gassman / Telegraph Herald

Schlossman has covered college hockey for the Grand Forks Herald since 2005. He has been recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors as the top beat writer for the Herald’s circulation division four times and the North Dakota sportswriter of the year twice. He resides in Grand Forks. Reach him at bschlossman@gfherald.com.