West Chester University Claims Lambert Award For Division II

CENTERVILLE, Mass. – West Chester University was named the ECAC Meadowlands Football Award Winner for Division II it was announced by that organization late Monday afternoon. It marks the fourth time in school history that the Golden Rams have won the award.
 
Towson University and St. John Fisher College were the respective winners at Division I-FCS and Division III. They, along with the Golden Rams, will be honored on March 27, at the Eastern College Football Awards Banquet, hosted by the ECAC at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. The Eastern College Football Awards Banquet will feature the ECAC Football Awards and the Lambert Meadowlands Awards.
 
The Lambert Meadowlands Football Award each year is given to the top team in the East within each level of competition (Division I-FCS, Division II and Division III). West Chester last won the award in 2006. The Golden Rams were also winners in 1967 and 2004. This is the third time in head coach Bill Zwaan's 11-year tenure that West Chester has been presented with the Lambert Award.
 
West Chester completed its storybook season by reaching the NCAA Division II national semifinals and authoring an overall record of 13-2. Along the way, the Golden Rams won a share of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division title and captured the Super Region 1 championship with its 28-7 victory over Shepherd in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA II Playoffs. West Chester avenged its only regular-season loss to Bloomsburg with a victory over the Huskies in the second round of the playoffs. The Golden Rams fell to Lenoir-Rhyne in the national semifinals, ending its postseason run. West Chester's 13 victories set a new school record for wins in a single season, and the team either tied or broke 33 school records during the 2013 campaign.
 
Penn State University won the Lambert Trophy, which is given to the top team in the East at the Division I-FBS level. Towson (13-3) reached the Division I-FCS national championship game while St. John Fisher (10-3) reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Tournament.
 
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 at least 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 at least half of their schedule features eligible teams. Teams in Eastern-based football conferences, regardless of location, qualify if at least half their schedule is against Lambert eligible teams.
 
Final Division II Poll Results
1. West Chester                               13-2
2. Bloomsburg                                   10-2
3. American International             9-3
4. Slippery Rock                                                9-3
5. Indiana (Pa.)                                  9-2
6. Stonehill                                          8-3
7. New Haven                                    8-3
8. Shippensburg                                               7-4
9. California (Pa.)                              7-4
10. Mercyhurst                                 7-4
 
About the ECAC
The ECAC is the nation's largest athletic and the only multi-divisional conference in the country with more than 300 Divisions I, II, and III colleges and universities.  The ECAC stretches from Maine to North Carolina and westerly to Colorado. Established in 1938, the ECAC, a non-profit service organization, sponsors nearly 100 championships in 37 men's and women's sports and assigns more than 4,400 officials in 12 sports.  The ECAC also administers nine affiliate sports organizations and six playing leagues, and through the public relations arm of the conference, more than 2,500 student-athletes in 23 sports are recognized annually.  Finally, the ECAC serves as the primary conference for select members in the sports of men's and women's ice hockey and men's lacrosse.