Last updated: November 3, 2006
Albany Great Danes
Albany (7-9-2, 5-3-0 America East)lost to visiting Binghamton, 1-0, on Wednesday, Oct. 18... Freshman defenseman Brian Gordon (Erskine, Renfrewshire (Scotland)/Trinity) had two of the Great Danes’ six shots on goal... UAlbany was defeated by No. 8 Maryland, 4-0, on Sunday, Oct. 22... Sophomore goaltender Steward Ceus made seven saves in the loss... Senior forward Yan Gbolo (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) and sophomore midfielder Mikael McNamara (Mississauga, Ontario/Iona Secondary) had two shots each... The Great Danes finished their America East Conference season in fourth place and will host Boston University in the first round of the conference tournament on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 12 noon... It will be UAlbany’s third consecutive appearance in the playoffs... In last season’s conference tournament, the Great Danes defeated host Vermont in penalty kicks in the first round before falling to top-seeded Stony Brook, 2-1 in overtime, in the semifinals... UAlbany is 4-2-2 at home this season... The Great Danes defeated Boston U., 1-0 in overtime, on Oct. 14 in Boston... Gbolo finished the conference slate tied for fourth with three goals... All three of Gbolo’s goals were game-winners, leading the America East... Ceus was third in the conference with 4.25 saves per game and fourth with three shutouts... UAlbany has given up fewer than two goals in a game 11 times this season.
Binghamton Bearcats
Binghamton (8-6-4, 6-1-1 America East) captured its first-ever America East Conference regular season title, with a win and a tie in the final week of the regular season. As a result, Binghamton will be the No. 1 seed in the upcoming America East Conference Tournament and will host a semifinal game on Wednesday, Nov. 1 at 1 p.m.... the men's soccer team is just the third Bearcat squad to win an America East Conference regular season title. In 2004, the men's lacrosse team and the women's soccer teams also claimed the No. 1 seed heading into the postseason... redshirt freshman goalkeeper Jason Stenta (Binghamton, N.Y./Chenango Forks) recorded a pair of shutouts this past week. He made four saves to preserve a 1-0 win over Albany on Wednesday, including a pair of stops from close range in the final 15 minutes. Stenta finishes the regular season with a 0.68 goals against average, including a microscopic 0.36 mark against America East Conference squads. Heading into the America East Conference Tournament, he posted three consecutive shutouts and six for the season... Binghamton has now clinched top-three finishes in the America East Conference four consecutive seasons. The Bearcats are also assured of their fourth consecutive winning season.
Boston University Terriers
Boston University (10-4-5, 4-3-1 America East) made its fourth straight conference tournament appearance and ended its season in penalty kicks to Binghamton, 6-5, in the America East Tournament semifinals in Vestal, N.Y... This is the second straight year the Terriers have not advanced after playing BU to penalty kicks in the conference tournament... Senior Zach Riffett (Brenham, Tex.) and sophomore Petur Sigurdsson (Hafnarfjordur, Iceland) each earned a spot on the All-Championship team... Riffett had a goals against average of 0.42 and a save percentage of 88.9 percent in the two postseason games... He played all 213:25... Sigurdsson scored both of Boston U's playoff goals, including the gamewinner at Albany... He led the team all season with eight goals and one assist... Boston U fell just short of tying the program record for fewest goals allowed in a season (11)... The Terriers allowed 12... UNH was the only team to score more than one goal against Boston U in a game... The team was nationally ranked for three weeks, reaching as high as 19... The Terriers turned in their 21st winning season in the last 22 years and just three Boston U teams in the past 26 years have had fewer losses in their final records.
Hartford Hawks
Hartford (4-8-5, 2-6 America East) dropped a pair of America East games last week, both on the road. The first was a 1-0 loss to the Boston University Terriers and the second was a 5-2 loss to UMBC in the final regular season game. With the loss on Saturday the Hawks will miss out on the America East tournament, finishing eighth overall. The Hawks and Terriers played a scoreless first half with the only goal of the game coming during the 74th minute off a rebound from an earlier shot the Hawks were unable to control. The men’s team then took a 4-0 deficit into the locker room during Saturday’s America East regular season finale. Following the break, the Hawks came out with a different team on the pitch and battled for a pair of goals, both from team leading Kenniel Martin (Hartford, Conn./Weaver). His first goal was a penalty kick while his second came off a pass from Vernon Perinchief (South Hampton, Bermuda/South Kent). For the season, Martin leads the team with eight goals and three assists for 19 points. Kevin O’Donnell Shaw (Denny Stirlingshire, Scotland/St. Modans) is second on the team with three goals for six points while Gary Muir (Glasgow, Scotland/Louisburg JC) adds two goals and two assists for six points. The Hawks will close out the 2006 season with a single non-conference game on Tuesday when they host Holy Cross at 6:00 p.m. Prior to the game the Hawks will honor their three seniors Martin, Mark Cleverdon (Ellington, Conn./Ellington) and Andrew Peterson (Portland, Conn./Portland).
Maine Black Bears
Maine (0-17-0, 0-8-0 America East) finished the 2006 season without a win... The Black Bears wrapped up the season this week with a 3-0 fall at Stony Brook and 5-0 loss to Boston University... Senior Cooper Friend (Ellsworth, Maine/Berkshire School) finished the season as the Black Bear leader in goals with three, assists with four, and points with 11... Sophomore Dimitri Anastasiou (Colchester, Conn./Bacon Academy) tallied two goals for four points on the season... Fellow sophomore Martin John notched a goal and an assist for three points on the season... Senior Jason Jacobe (Windham, Maine/Windham HS) and rookie Philip Reed (Gorham, Maine/Gorham HS) each are credited with a goal for two points... Freshman Kenny Caceros (Ottawa, Canada/Holy Trinity HS) and junior Jimmy Velas (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth HS) both had an assist on the season... Junior goalkeeper Giacomo Brunino (Concord, Ontario/UMaine Machias) finished the season with a record of 0-11-0 in 12 games played... Brunino finished with a 2.73 GAA and a .670 save percentage... Sophomore Ben Piotrowski (Colchester, VT/Colchester HS) was in net for four games for the Black Bears... Piotrowski finshed the season with a record of 0-4-0, a 3.13 GAA and a .639 save percentage... Rookie goalkeeper Derek Loisel (Warwick, R.I./Warwick HS) saw limited time in net, playing three games for the Black Bears, starting in two... Loisel ends the season with a record of 0-2-0, a 1.88 GAA and a .733 save percentage... The last time Maine earned a tie was on October 5th, 2005 vs. New Hampshire, 1-1... The last Maine win was a 4-1 victory against Manhattan on September 18th, 2005 ... The Black Bears haven’t earned an America East victory since November 3rd,2004, when they defeated Boston University 3-2.
UMBC Retrievers
UMBC's (5-9-3, 2-4-2 America East) freshman Andrew Gillis (Baltimore, Md./Perry Hall) scored a pair of goals, including the game-winning goal, in UMBC’s season-ending 5-2 win over Hartford, eliminating the Hawks from playoff contention... Gillis scored UMBC’s third goal in the first half, then clinched the game in the final minute as Hartford had rallied to cut the deficit to 4-2... all three of Gillis’ goals this year came against America East competition... UMBC is 4-0-1 vs. Hartford and undefeated in four league meetings vs. the Hawks... two Retrievers scored their first career goals in the first half as red-shirt freshman midfielder Matt Ward (Glen Arm, Md./Archbishop Curley) gave UMBC a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute of play and sophomore defender Jovan Petrovic (Belgrade, Serbia/Mayville State (N.D.) doubled that advantage in the 30^th minute... the five goals vs. Hartford matched a season high for UMBC... they had also posted five goals in the season opener, a 5-1 win over St. Joseph’s... UMBC did not record a shutout in 2006, the first time they have gone through a Division I season without one... the Retrievers started a dozen different fullback combinations this season, but sophomore goalkeeper Steve King (Baltimore, Md./Archbishop Curley) played all 1600:34 minutes in the cage... seniors Kevin Mezzadra (Fallston, Md./Loyola-Blakefield) and David Feazell (Bel Air, Md./Fallston) each recorded an assist in their final game, while seniors Bobby Woods (Colorado Springs, Colo./Cheyenne Mtn./Bowling Green) and Brian Pink (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley/Cornell) made it four senior starters in the finale.
New Hampshire Wildcats
New Hampshire (11-4-3, 5-2-1 America East) won its fifth conference match against UMBC on October 21 and played Stony Brook to a 0-0 tie to close out the regular season... New Hampshire will make its first return to the America East Tournament since the 2004 season... This also marks the first time New Hampshire has posted more than 10 wins since the 1994 season... Against UMBC, New Hampshire was able to control the ball and keep it on the Retrievers’ end... The Wildcats outshot UMBC 13-7 and held a 6-3 advantage in corner kicks... Sophomore Mike McKee (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock North) scored the first goal off a corner kick from sophomore Kyle Urso (Lombard,Ill./Glenbard East) in the 18th minute... Urso set up the next goal with a right corner service to freshman Chris Banks (Westborough, Mass./Westborough) who shot it in from 5-yards out ... Sophomore Richard Weinrebe (East Providence, R.I.) added the third goal for New Hampshire in the 49th minute on a penalty kick in from of the net... New Hampshire will host Stony Brook in the first round of the America East Tournament October 28 at 5 p.m. on Bremner Field.
Stony Brook Seawolves
The Stony Brook University men's soccer ended its 2006 season with a 4-0 loss to New Hampshire in the first round of the America East tournament. The 2005 conference champions made a return appearance to the playoffs but were upended by the Wildcats. Michael Palacio was named Midfielder of the Year in the America East conference as well earning first-team all-conference. Yahaya Musa also was named a first-team all-conference back while Oscar Leis was named to the all-rookie team. Stony Brook finished the season 6-12-1 and returns all but two starters in 2007.
Vermont Catamounts
Vermont (9-7-4): UVM capped its 2006 season with an appearance in the title game of the America East Men’s Soccer Championship... The second-seeded Catamounts topped #3 New Hampshire, 1-0, in the semifinals to book the program’s sixth trip to the final ... Vermont’s 5-1-2 conference record was its best since 1993 ... All but two seniors, Corey Bronner (Morrisville, Vt./Peoples Academy) and Chris Scherbel (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman), return next year ... Seven different Catamounts received annual honors by the America East. Sophomore midfielder Jordan Crasilneck (Eugene, Ore./Sheldon) and freshman forward T.J. Gore (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) were named to the America East All-Conference First Team while junior midfielder Panos Georgiadis (Morrisville, Vt./Peoples Academy/St. Lawrence U.) and sophomore back Connor Tobin (Fort Collins, Colo./Fort Collins) picked up second team honors ... Gore, Nick Mead (Hinesburg, Vt./Champlain Valley) and Rem Kielman (Hinesburg, Vt./Champlain Valley) were named to the America East All-Rookie Team. It marked the second straight season Vermont had a conference-high three all-rookie selections ... Bronner, Crasilneck, Georgiadis and Tobin also were selected to the America East Men’s Soccer All-Academic Team ... For the second year in a row Bronner was named to the ESPN The Magazine All-District I Academic First Team. He is eligible for the national ballot. Last season he was a third-team Academic All-American ... Goalkeeper Roger Scully (E. Lyme, Conn.), along with Bronner and Tobin, was named to the America East All-Championship Team. Scully recorded eight shutouts this season to tie for fourth in a single-season at Vermont and his 0.74 goals against average was also the fourth-best in a season ... Nine different Catamounts, led by Crasilneck with six, accounted for the team’s 27 goals this season. Six different players scored game-winners ... Vermont led the America East in home attendance this season averaging 717 fans per game. Three times in eight home dates the Catamounts drew more than 1,000 fans to Centennial Field.