1997 Lafayette Leopards football team

1997 Lafayette Leopards football
Conference	Patriot League
Record	3–8 (2–4 Patriot)
Head coach	Bill Russo (17th season)
Captains	Dan Bengele Craig Hansen Todd Stahlnecker
Home stadium	Fisher Field
Seasons ←  1996 1998  →

1997 Patriot League football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Colgate $^		6	–	0					7	–	5
No. 24 Bucknell		5	–	1					10	–	1
Fordham		4	–	2					5	–	6
Holy Cross		2	–	4					4	–	7
Lehigh		2	–	4					4	–	7
Lafayette		2	–	4					3	–	8
Towson		0	–	6					2	–	8
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

The 1997 Lafayette Leopards football team was an American football team that represented Lafayette College during the 1997 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Lafayette finished tied for second-to-last in the Patriot League.

In their 17th year under head coach Bill Russo, the Leopards compiled a 3–8 record. ^[1] Dan Bengele, Craig Hansen and Todd Stahlnecker were the team captains. ^[2]

The Leopards were outscored 314 to 236. Lafayette's 2–4 conference record placed it in a three-way tie for fourth in the seven-team Patriot League standings. ^[3]

Lafayette played its home games at Fisher Field on College Hill in Easton, Pennsylvania.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 6	Fordham	Fisher Field Easton, PA	L 0–23	4,103	[4]
September 13	at Army *	Michie Stadium West Point, NY	L 14–41	31,363	[5]
September 20	Bucknell	Fisher Field Easton, PA	L 21–23	7,428	[6]
September 27	at Brown *	Brown Stadium Providence, RI	L 27–35	3,172	[7]
October 4	Columbia *	Fisher Field Easton, PA	W 31–3	3,822	[8]
October 11	Colgate	Fisher Field Easton, PA	L 6–44	3,098	[9]
October 18	at Cornell *	Schoellkopf Field Ithaca, NY	L 34–41 OT	4,812	[10]
October 25	Towson	Fisher Field Easton, PA	W 38–0	5,159	[11]
November 1	New Haven *	Fisher Field Easton, PA	L 0–38	731	[12]
November 15	at Holy Cross	Fitton Field Worcester, MA	W 34–23	1,105	[13]
November 22	at Lehigh	Goodman Stadium Bethlehem, PA (The Rivalry)	L 31–43	14,393	[14]
*Non-conference game Homecoming

References

1. "Lafayette Football 1987-2006". 2019 Lafayette Football Record Book (PDF). Easton, Pa.: Lafayette College. p. 105. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
2. "Team Captains 1882-2019". 2019 Lafayette Football Record Book (PDF). Easton, Pa.: Lafayette College. p. 97. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
3. "Football All-Time Year-by-Year Results". Patriot League Football Record Book (PDF). Center Valley, Pa.: Patriot League. 2020. p. 6. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
4. Meixell, Ted (September 7, 1997). "Lafayette Lays an Egg in Loss to Fordham". The Morning Call . Allentown, Pa. p. C1 – via Newspapers.com.
5. Gross, Andrew (September 14, 1997). "Army Outclasses I-AA Lafayette". Rockland Journal-News . White Plains, N.Y. p. 11D – via Newspapers.com.
6. Meixell, Ted (September 21, 1997). "Lafayette's Loss to Bucknell 79 Seconds Too Long". The Morning Call . Allentown, Pa. p. C3 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Perry Paces Brown's Rebound to Beat Lafayette". The Morning Call . Allentown, Pa. September 28, 1997. p. C3 – via Newspapers.com. Attendance figure in "Ivy Summaries". Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. September 28, 1997. p. E19.
8. Meixell, Ted (October 5, 1997). "Lafayette Puts It into Higher Gear to End Slide". The Morning Call . Allentown, Pa. p. C3 – via Newspapers.com.
9. Meixell, Ted (October 12, 1997). "Colgate's 41-Point First Half Buries Leopards". The Morning Call . Allentown, Pa. p. C3 – via Newspapers.com.
10. McShea, Keith (October 20, 1997). "Win Has Red Smiling Again". The Ithaca Journal . Ithaca, N.Y. p. 3B – via Newspapers.com.
11. Meixell, Ted (October 26, 1997). "Lafayette Shuts Out Towson". The Morning Call . Allentown, Pa. p. C1 – via Newspapers.com.
12. Meixell, Ted (November 2, 1997). "Kosciolek Engineers New Haven's Romp Over Leopards". The Morning Call . Allentown, Pa. p. C3 – via Newspapers.com.
13. Burgin, Sandy (November 16, 1997). "Moore Than Enough: Lafayette Ace Pummels HC". Telegram & Gazette . Worcester, Mass. p. D1.
14. Blockus, Gary R. (November 23, 1997). "Lehigh Engineers Great Comeback". The Morning Call . Allentown, Pa. p. C1 – via Newspapers.com.