As he finished his fourth year studying economics and playing lacrosse at Colgate University 12 months ago, Chris Eck had a decision to make.

The Fairfield High grad had enjoyed a rather successful, albeit injury-riddled career with the Raiders and had to decide whether to return for a fifth year of play in Hamilton, N.Y. A torn ACL forced him to redshirt as a freshman, and broken bones in both feet had shortened two of his other seasons.

In the end, Eck decided he wanted to spend one more season in the college game.

"I didn't want to give up my dreams of playing in the NCAA tournament or winning a Patriot League tournament," Eck said by phone this week. "I came back and tried to pursue that, partially for myself and partially for my team. I wanted to get my team that opportunity."

As the 2008 season got under way, Eck was enjoying the camaraderie of his teammates and the thrill of competition, but the Raiders began the campaign with only four wins in their first nine games.

"I kept thinking, 'Was this a good decision?'" Eck said.

He then quickly answered his own question.

"I realized it was one of the best of my life."

Soon after Eck, Colgate's defensive midfielder and face-off specialist, realized that, the Raiders began to realize their potential. The team has won seven straight games and will make its first appearance in the NCAA tournament Sunday when it takes on Notre Dame in the first round (noon, ESPNU).

"We started off sluggish and it was

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good to come around," Colgate coach Jim Nagle said. "Chris has been a major, major part of that."

Eck's biggest contributions have come on face-offs. The 6-foot, 200-pound fifth-year senior won 116 of his 193 faceoffs (62.5 percent) this season. He has won 658 in his four-year career, the third-highest total in NCAA history.

"He's really, really committed to being good there," Nagle said of Eck, a first-team all-Patriot League selection. "He studies, he analyzes and he's one of the most focused guys I've ever seen."

Eck won 17 of the 25 restarts his team had Saturday against second-ranked Syracuse, helping the 12th-ranked Raiders (11-5) earn a 12-11 upset victory.

"A lot of it's kind of grunt work. Some of it's having quick hands. It's who wants it more," Eck said of his face-off strategy.

Although Nagle and the Colgate staff have helped Eck work on his technique, the 23-year-old gives much of the credit for his ability in that area to Andy Towers. Towers is a New Canaan native and former three-time All-American at Brown who was once considered one of the best in the world in face-offs.

Towers, a former professional lacrosse star who has been an assistant coach at Fairfield University and Yale, is the assistant head coach at Dartmouth. Among the tips he gave Eck years ago was to study the opposition.

"It's partially understanding what kind of opponent you're facing, if he's the kind of guy who wants to create offense by fast-breaking or if he's a possession guy," Eck said. "Then it's having good fundamentals."

Eck's role is mainly focused on the defensive end of the field. He leads his team in ground balls — essentially fielding a loose ball — with 80 this season and is third on Colgate's career list in that category.

But the veteran has also given the Raiders an offensive lift lately. He scored his fourth goal of the season against Syracuse Saturday.

"I saw an opportunity to fast break. I saw their wings drop a little bit and I saw an opportunity to push the ball forward and create some offense," Eck said. "They didn't fly toward me so I pulled the trigger."

When his schoolwork is complete — final exams at Colgate are next week — Eck will eventually begin working for PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York. Before that happens, however, he has at least one more lacrosse game to play.

"He's got a huge challenge for himself against a really good guy at Notre Dame," Nagle said. "But he's been doing it all along."