CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - UMBC and Stony Brook University, which each earned shares the America East regular-season title in men's lacrosse over the weekend, have also garnered the final weekly awards for the 2009 season. The Retrievers' Ryan Smith (Fallston, Md./Fallston/CCBC-Essex) earned Player of the Week accolades, while the Seawolves' Robbie Campbell (Delta, B.C./Seaquam) took home Rookie of the Week honors for Monday, April 27.
Smith (Fallston, Md./Fallston/CCBC-Essex) racked up seven points to help UMBC secure a share of the America East regular-season title for the fifth straight year. Smith, a senior attack, scored four goals, including three in an 8-0 first-half run, and added three assists in the Retrievers' 18-5 win over Vermont Saturday. A second-team all-conference and all-championship selection in 2008, Smith has come on strong in conference play. He is tied for the team lead in goals (11) and points (15) in those five games.
Campbell (Delta, B.C./Seaquam) tallied seven points in a pair of games last week, including four, in a huge 13-12 win over No. 20 Albany Saturday. The freshman attack started his week with a goal and two assists in SBU's near upset of No. 9 Hofstra. He then factored in on four of the Seawolves' first six goals, scoring three and assisting on another, to keep his team close in the early going against the Great Danes. The win Saturday gave SBU a share of the regular-season title for the first time since joining the league in 2002 and the No. 2 seed for the upcoming conference tournament.
Stony Brook cracked the national Top 20 for the first time this season appearing at No. 20 in the USILA Coaches' Poll following its one-goal loss at #9 Hofstra and its win over #20 Albany Saturday. The Seawolves, who claimed a share of the America East regular-season title, is receiving votes in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. UMBC, which bounced back from its loss at Hartford with an 18-5 trouncing of Vermont, fell to 11th in both the USILA Poll and the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. Albany, which had been ranked all season, fell out of both polls are receiving votes in both entering the postseason.
The 2009 America East Championship gets underway with semifinal action on Wednesday. Visit Championship Central for ticket information, game times and further insight.
Team-By-Team Notebook
Albany (7-6, 3-2 America East) will be seeded third for America East postseason tournament... The Great Danes meet Stony Brook for the fourth consecutive year in the semifinal round... UAlbany has won five of six America East postseason matchups with the Seawolves... Stony Brook broke a 7-7 deadlock in the fourth quarter with four unanswered to take control in last Saturday’s 13-12 decision at LaValle Stadium... The Great Danes rallied twice in the stretch, including a three-goal run in a 56-second span... face-off specialist Matt Cushing (Minoa, N.Y. / East Syracuse-Minoa) and long-stick midfielder Chris Schongar (Clifton Park, N.Y. / Shenendehowa) each found the net in that outburst... After Kevin Crowley scored back-to-back to push the lead back to 13-10, Derek Kreuzer (Liverpool, N.Y. / Liverpool) delivered his second goal of the quarter and Dave Brock (Burlington, Ontario / Nelson) connected on a behind-the-back rebound shot... Cushing won the final face-off with 12.3 seconds left, but his team failed to get off a clean attempt... Corey Small (St. Catharines, Ontario / Holy Cross) had two goals and one assist vs. Stony Brook, his 26th consecutive game with at least one point... the senior attack moved into a tie for sixth in career goals with 105... Small’s rehabilitation from leg surgery was assisted by a VAC (Vacuum Assisted Closure) device that helped heal the wound and eliminate infection... Schongar’s fourth-quarter goal was his seventh as a collegian... Kyle Crotty (Bethpage, N.Y. / Bethpage) returned to the lineup after missing the previous six games with a broken thumb... Joe Resetarits (Hamburg, N.Y. / Hamburg) tallied three or more goals for the sixth time this season vs. Stony Brook... Resetarits is the third-highest scoring freshman in Division I with 40 points (31 goals, 9 assists)... Resetarits’ goal total is the most by a UAlbany freshman since Merrick Thomson in 2004...
Binghamton (3-11, 2-3 America East) earned its sixth consecutive berth in the America East Tournament with its 11-9 win over Hartford on Saturday ... senior attack Jake Boyce (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford) scored three goals and added an assist in the game against the Hawks. He is now tied for first all time in program history with eight hat trick (Phil Cavallo also had eight hat tricks between 2003-05) and is second with 61 career goals ... also against Hartford, junior midfielder Steve Carlson (Penn Yan, N.Y./Penn Yan) also had three goals and now has a pair of hat tricks during his career. Binghamton has averaged 8.75 goals in its past four games ... with a pair of assists against Hartford on Saturday, senior attack Chris Mulheron (Canandaigua, N.Y./Canandaigua) extended his all-time program record to 53 career assists.
Hartford (2-11, 1-4 America East) missed out on an America East Championship berth by losing 11-9 at Binghamton University on Saturday in the final game of the regular season. The Hawks held leads early in each half but couldn't hold on. Freshmen Ryan Compitello (Hauppauge, N.Y./Hauppauge), Aidan Genik (Toronto, Ontario/University of Western Ontario) and Carter Bender (Caledon, Ontario/Brewster Academy) combined for seven of Hartford's nine goals. Compitello netted three goals while Genik and Bender each added two goals and an assist... Eight of Hartford's 11 losses this season came by two goals or less, including four by a single goal.... Genik led the Hawks in scoring on the year with 24 goals and 10 assists for 34 points. The last player to score more points in a single season was Josh Wasson-McQuigge (41) in 2006... Compitello, who notched his third hat trick of the season against the Bearcats, led the team with 13 assists and added 20 goals for 33 points. He and Genik become the first freshmen teammates in Hartford's Division I history to record 30-point seasons... Freshman goalie Scott Bement (Canandaigua, N.Y./Canandaigua) started the last nine games of the season and recorded 127 saves with a goals-against average of 9.76.
UMBC (10-3, 4-1 America East) seniors accounted for 12 of the team's season high 18 goals in Saturday's 18-5 win over visiting Vermont... The Retrievers have won or shared the league’s regular season crown in each of the past five seasons... They will be the No. 1 seed for the post-season tournament and host fourth-seeded Binghamton in the semifinals on Wednesday, April 29 (7:30 p.m.)... Senior attackman Ryan Smith (Fallston, Md./Fallston/CCBC-Essex) scored a season-high seven points on four goals and three assists to lead the effort... Trailing 2-1 midway through the first quarter, UMBC went on an 8-0 run over the half’s final 22 minutes to take a commanding 9-2 lead at intermission. Smith scored three times and classmate Alex Hopmann (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis) tallied twice in the surge...The 18 goals scored by UMBC is a season high and the most since a 20-11 win over the Catamounts in 2007... Ten UMBC seniors were honored in pre-game ceremonies... Hopmann tied a career high with four goals and has a team-high 30 on the season... Junior attackman Chris Jones (Martinsville, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) posted his second career three-goal game, while junior defensive midfielder Jordan Pierce (Glen Burnie, Md./Mt. St. Joseph) and senior attackman Eric Gurnsey (Catsonville, Md./Catonsville) each scored career-high two goals... Senior midfielder Peet Poillon (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley/Ohio State) added two goals and an assist for his 22nd multiple-point game in 29 intercollegiate contests... UMBC senior netminder Jeremy Blevins (Cockeysville, Md./Calvert Hall) made four of his ten saves in the first quarter, as he played 52:03... Blevins recorded his 42nd career win, tying him with Duke’s Dan Loftus (’08) for sixth on the all-time victories list... He also became the fourth player in school history to record 600 saves... UMBC outshot Vermont, 50-26, posting 50 or more shots for the third consecutive game...The Retrievers have won 20 consecutive Saturday home games. They recorded their 43rd win over the last four seasons, the most in a four-year span in school history... They have also reached the 10-win plateau in each of the last four campaigns... UMBC will meet Binghamton in the America East semifinals for the fourth consecutive year... The Retrievers have won the previous three matchups, but had to rally from a 5-2 fourth quarter deficit to prevail, 6-5, in overtime at UMBC Stadium last year... UMBC holds an 8-1 series lead and has won eight straight, including a 13-4 at home on April 4... Smith scored four goals in the game.
Stony Brook’s (8-5, 4-1 America East) win over Albany broke a five-game losing streak to the Great Danes ... Stony Brook’s four America East wins are the most since 2006 when the Seawolves also finished 4-1 ... Stony Brook has scored 10 or more goals in a season-high five straight games ... in all of Stony Brook’s wins the Seawolves have scored at least 10 goals ... Stony Brook has qualified for the America East Tournament in all eight years it has been in the league ... this will be the second straight year that SBU and Albany have played back-to-back at the end of the year ... this will be the fifth straight year that the Seawolves and Great Danes have met in the America East Tournament ... Robbie Campbell had career highs of three goals and three ground balls against Albany ... Rob Camposa matched his career best with 14 saves in his only start of the season against Albany ... Chris Scott also had a career-high against the Great Danes with a pair of assists... Adam Rand won over 50 percent of his faceoffs for the eighth straight game ... he has won over 70 percent of his attempts over the last seven games ... the Seawolves have won better than 50 percent of its face-offs in every game but two ... Jordan McBride had a goal in each game last week to extend his goal streak to 20 straight games, tops on the team ... McBride moved to 11th all-time at SBU with his four goals at Hofstra ... Stony Brook has picked up more ground balls than its opponent in seven of the last eight ... Stony Brook has scored five or more goals in a quarter eight times this season, including in each of the last five games ... the Seawolves have scored the first goal in the game seven times, winning six of those contests ... moved to the long pole middie positon full time, Steven Waldeck has responded with some offense ... he has recorded a point in seven of his last nine games, including a goal and assist at Hofstra ... last week he was tied for fourth in the nation in points among long poles ... Stony Brook’s win against Albany was the 200th in the history of the program.
Vermont (4-10, 1-4 America East) completed its season with an 18-5 loss to No. 10 UMBC on Saturday at UMBC Stadium in Baltimore, Md. ... The game was televised on ESPNU ... Freshman Geoff Worley (Coronado, Calif./Coronado) scored two goals and had three assists ... Worley finished the season first on the team in assists (20) and second in points (38) ... Sophomore Derek Lichtfuss (Lutherville, Md./St. Paul’s) added two goals and an assist against UMBC ... Lichtfuss ranked second on the team in goals this year with 22 ... Senior Andrew Kelleher (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem), the America East Fans’ Choice Player of the Year, scored his team-high 36th goal of the season in the loss to the Retrievers ... Kelleher also had a team leading 45 points on the season ... The trio of Kelleher, Lichtfuss and Worley combined for 73-percent of Vermont’s goal scoring this season (76 of 104 goals) ... Sophomore Max Gradinger (Rancho Sante Fe, Calif./Torrey Pines) posted a team-high 41 ground balls this spring ... Freshman Peter Oswald (Cohasset, Mass./Thayer Academy) won 50-percent of his face offs in 2009 ... The Catamounts went 0-6 against ranked opponents.