A year after finishing undefeated in the Mountain East Conference and advancing to the Division 2 National Semifinals, the Concord Mountain Lions were picked to repeat as conference champions this year.
The Mountain Lions started the season 1-1, with a 29-28 loss to West Liberty in the opener and a 27-10 win last week over Fairmont State. The Mountain Lions are ranked 21st in the country. Fellow Mountain East Conference member Shepherd is ranked 20th. Shepherd was picked to finish second in the conference. Concord University Head Coach Garin Justice said he feels his team shouldn’t lose another game this season.
“I think we can win every game we play, but that’s who I am, it’s who I am as a person,” Justice said. “But I know for us to do that and for us to do that, we have to bust our tales in practice and we’re starting to learn those habits and we have to make playing hard a habit within who we are, it’s got to be part of our DNA.”
Concord hits the road this weekend with a game at Urbana in Ohio. Urbana’s record is also 1-1. Although Urbana was picked to finish 11th in the 11-team conference in the pre-season poll, Justice said playing at Urbana is always a challenge.
It’s hard to describe other than it’s kind of like a twilight zone, it’s a different place to play and I can’t, is it crowd? I don’t necessarily think so, is it place? I don’t necessarily think so, Is it the long bus ride? I don’t know,” Justice said. “There’s something different about it, there is a different feeling about it, so that’s why we have to create great energy, great focus and enthusiasm throughout the game.”
Glenville State and Shepherd lead the league with 2-0 records.