Wesley Tops Lambert Meadowlands Poll

CAPE COD, Mass. - The Wesley College football team claimed sole possession of the No. 1 ranking the latest ECAC® Lambert Meadowlands Division III Football Poll presented by FieldTurf Tarkett.

Wesley was tied for first last week, but claimed the top spot this week after a loss by Ithaca in the NCAA First round, coupled with a 20-0 first round Wesley win over Muhlenberg.

The Wolverines received 88 points and hold a 17 point lead over No. 2 Cortland State.  The Red Dragons defeated Plymouth State in the first round on Saturday and will host a Curry team tied for fifth in the poll in the second round.

Washington & Jefferson, another first round winner, is third with 61 points.  Ithaca dropped to fourth, followed by Curry and Hobart.

Trinity (Conn.) is seventh, Muhlenberg fell to eight and Wesley's ACFC rival Salisbury checks in at No. 9.  Montclair State rounds out the poll. 

After its win at Muhlenberg, Wesley (9-1) will travel to Belton, Texas to face the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor on November 29 at noon.

The ECAC will release the weekly poll in each of the four divisions (Bowl Subdivision (I-A), Championship Subdivision (I-AA), II and III) and the final poll in January will determine the trophy winners. The first place teams in the final poll will be presented with their Lambert Meadowlands Awards during the Eastern College Football Awards Banquet, held in the Pegasus Restaurant at the Meadowlands Sports Complex.

Established in 1936 as the Lambert Trophy to recognize supremacy in Eastern college football, the award has since grown to recognize the best team in the East in the Bowl Subdivision. In 1957, the Lambert Cup was created to recognize non-Division I-A teams, and in 1966 a Division III award was added. In 1983, the Lambert family decided the Meadowlands Sports Complex would be the best organization with a sincere and involved interest in college athletics to sponsor and manage the award, and since that time, the awards have been known as the Lambert Meadowlands Awards.

To be eligible for the Lambert Meadowlands Award, a school must be located in the East or play half of its schedule against eligible Lambert teams. The territory includes New York, New Jersey, New England and Pennsylvania, while teams in the bordering states of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia and the District of Columbia qualify if half of their schedule features eligible teams.

ECAC® Lambert Meadowlands Division III Football Poll
presented by FieldTurf Tarkett

1. Wesley
2. Cortland State
3. Washington & Jefferson
4. Ithaca
5. Curry
5. Hobart
7. Trinity
8. Muhlenberg
9. Salisbury
10. Montclair State