CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Stony Brook University's Kevin Crowley (New Westminster, British Columbia/New Westminster) and University at Albany's Dwayne Stewart (Burlington, Ontario/Nelson) led their respective teams to key men's lacrosse wins last week and have earned America East weekly honors. Crowley picked up Player of the Week accolades, while Stewart was named Rookie of the Week. The awards to the week ending May 2 were announced Monday evening.
Crowley, a junior midfielder, tallied five goals and an assist in the Seawolves’ 16-10 win over Vermont on Saturday. The win capped a perfect 5-0 conference season for Stony Brook, in which its won its second-straight regular-season title and first-ever outright crown. Also named the Player of the Week on April 12, Crowley leads the nation averaging 5.0 points per game. His 40 goals ranks second among league leaders and his 25 assists are tied for second.
Stewart, a redshirt freshman midfielder, tallied two points and four ground balls in leading Albany to a key conference win over Binghamton on Saturday. The victory clinched an America East Championship bid for the Great Danes, the program's ninth straight. Stewart gave his squad a 9-6 lead with 5:27 left in the fourth quarter after picking up a ball in the crease and finding the back of the cage. He also assisted on Dave Brock's behind-the-back score just minutes later to seal the victory.
Stony Brook rose two spots in the USILA Coaches' and is now ranked sixth, the league's highest ranking since UMBC was ranked sixth during the week of April 12 last year. The Seawolves, who claimed their first outright America East regular-season title, moved up one spot in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll to seventh.
The Seawolves, the top seed for the 2010 America East Men's Lacrosse Championship, will host No. 4 Vermont in one semifinal contest on Tuesday, May 4 at 7 p.m. UMBC, the No. 2 seed, will host No. 3 Albany in the other semifinal on Wednesday, May 5 at 7:30 p.m. The championship game will be played on Saturday, May 8 at the site of the higher remaining seed. Visit Championship Central for complete tournament information.
Team Notes
Albany (4-10, AE 3-2) earned the No. 3 seed for the upcoming America East Tournament with an 11-6 victory over Binghamton on May 1 … The Great Danes are making their ninth consecutive conference postseason appearance … UAlbany has won at least three conference games in all nine seasons since joining the league in 2002 … the Great Danes are 35-12 all-time in America East regular-season play … Binghamton rallied from a five-goal halftime deficit to close within 7-6 early in the fourth quarter, but UAlbany pulled away with four unanswered … Dave Brock (Burlington, Ontario/Nelson) scored two of his three goals in that stretch, including a behind-the-back shot … Brock matched career-highs in points (4) and ground balls (3) … Brock, one of eight seniors appearing in his final regular-season home game, has netted three-plus goals seven times in a UAlbany uniform … Redshirt freshman Dwayne Stewart (Copiague, N.Y. / Copiague) added career-bests in points (2) and ground balls (4) … Stewart did all of his scoring in the final quarter as he picked up a ground ball to score from in front and then set up Dave Brock by beating a defensive double-team … goalkeeper John Carroll (Nesconset, N.Y./Smithtown East) made 13 saves vs. Binghamton, the 16th time he has made double-figure stops as a collegian … Carroll, who has a .514 save percentage, has made 10-plus saves in 11 of 14 starts this season … defensemen Mark Kelly (Syracuse, N.Y./West Genesee) and Travis Lyons (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) each collected a career-high six ground balls … Jack Reynolds (Farmingdale, N.Y./Holy Trinity) had two first-quarter goals in helping to erase an early 2-0 deficit vs. Binghamton … Defensive midfielder Mike Finnegan (Bay Shore, N.Y./West Islip) had a career-best four ground balls … UAlbany meets UMBC in the America East semifinals for the first time since 2004.
Binghamton (4-10, 1-4 AE) scored 132 goals this season, which tied the single-season program record established by the 2004 squad. In addition, the Bearcats averaged 9.43 goals per game, which broke the record of 8.26 set by the 2004 team ... freshman attack Matt Springer (Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg) finished the season with a program-record 29 goals. He broke the old record of 27 goals set by Phil Cavallo in both 2003 and 2004. Furthermore, Springer's 42 points ranks second behind only Matt McNamara's 45 points in 2004. His 3.00 points per game, however, beats McNamara's 2004 mark of 2.81 points per contest ... senior attack Andy Cook (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) completed his career with 52 goals, which is the sixth-highest total in program history. His 38 assists ranks third all time and his 80 points is the fifth-highest total in program history ... senior midfielder Steve Carlson (Penn Yan, N.Y./Penn Yan) finished his career with 59 goals, which ranks third all-time in program history. His 70 points, meanwhile, ranks seventh all time ... senior attack Jeff Rurey (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) finished the season with a career-high 23 goals, which ranked second on the squad. He ends his career with 37 goal, which ranks eighth all-time in program history and 48 points (tied for ninth) ... the Bearcats continue to lead the America East with the least number of penalties (2.07) and penalty minutes (1.39) per game ... freshman attack Tyler Perrelle (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) tied for first in the conference this season with three game-winning goals.
Hartford (4-10, AE 1-4) clawed back from an early 4-0 deficit to close out its 2010 campaign with a 14-12 defeat of UMBC in Baltimore on Saturday … The win was the Hawks’ first conference in conference play and snapped UMBC’s four game win streak … Hartford finished the season at 4-10, posting the most wins since the 2003 campaign with it finished 9-8 overall … Saturday’s victory marked the second-straight against conference-foe UMBC … The Hawks’ 14 goals were the most this season and the best offensive output in a contest since the 2006 season when they netted 18 in a win at Sacred Heart on April 26 … The Hawks never looked back after Martin Bowes (Quincy, Mass./Quincy) put the Hawks on top for the first time at 7-6 with just over one minute to play in the first half … Hartford went on to outscore the Retrievers, 12-10, over the final 30 minutes to pull off the win … Nine different players scored for the Hawks with sophomore Ryan Compitello (Hauppauge, N.Y./Hauppauge) coming off the bench to match a career game with five points on a pair of goals and three assists … Classmate Carter Bender (Caledon, Ontario/Brewster Academy) also matched a career best with four points, netting a hat trick and dishing out an assist … The midfielder extended his scoring streak to 27 consecutive games and holds the longest scoring streak in the America East … Hartford loses Leif Abrahamson (Billerica, Mass./Billerica Memorial) and Justin Bearse (Hyannis, Mass./Barnstable) to graduation … Abrahamson netted seven career goals while Bearse tallied 75 points on 48 goals and 27 assists in his four seasons.
UMBC’s (4-8, AE 3-2) three-game winning streak came to an end in men’s lacrosse, as visiting Hartforddominated the face-off circle and nipped the Retrievers, 14-12 in both teams’ regular season finale… UMBC had already locked up the second seed in the America East Conference Tournament and will host Albany on Wednesday, May 5, at 7:30 p.m….Senior attackman Matt Latham (Eldersburg, Md./Liberty) one of a program-high 16 seniors honored before the game, led all goal scorers with four… He added an assist and was UMBC’s AMerica East Player of the Game… Latham heads into the tournament with a team-high 25 goals, a figure he has reached in his last three seasons… He scored 16 goals in five league games this season and tallied 41 goals in his last 15 contests vs. America East competition… Latham was third in the nation in shooting percentage last week and is at 43.1% (85 goals/197 shots) in his career…The school’s all-time leader in shooting percentage (min. 2 shots/game) is Greg Sabo, who is at 43.8% (70 goals/160 shots)…Hartford junior face-off specialist Tim Fallon won 24 of 30 draws in the game, helping his team dominate time of possession in the final 45 minutes of the game… UMBC took a 4-0 lead, but was outscored 13-5 in a 33-minute span… UMBC senior defender Matt Kresse (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) scored his first career goal, finishing a fast break 1:25 into the second quarter to give the Retrievers a 5-2 lead… but the Hawks closed the half on a 5-1 run to take a 7-6 lead into the locker room… Senior midfielder Maxx Davis (Baltimore, Md./Friends) amassed four points with a goal and three assists, while senior midfielder Kyle Wimer (Lancaster, Pa.) added two goals and an assist… Wimer extended his consecutive games scoring streak to 31, tied for fifth in the nation… UMBC will advance to the tournament semifinals for the seventh time in seven league seasons and will host a playoff game for the sixth time in the same span… The Retrievers have won the last two titles and have played in the championship game in each of the past four years… UMBC and Albany have split four meetings in the America East Tournament and three of the four games have been decided by a single goal… The Retrievers have won the last four meetings between the two teams, own an 8-3 series lead and have won six straight contests at UMBC Stadium vs. the Great Danes.
#6/7 Stony Brook (10-3, AE 5-0) topped Vermont, 16-10, in the 2010 regular-season finale… The Seawolves claimed their first ever America East regular-season title and became the first team to run the table in conference play since UMBC did it in 2008… Junior Kevin Crowley (New Westminster, British Columbia/New Westminster) tied a career-high with five goals… He now has 40 goals on the season, 12 more than he did last year… His 65 points on the season are the fourth most in school history… Senior Tom Compitello (Hauppauge, N.Y./Hauppauge), who had a goal and five assists, now has 62 points, the fifth most in school history in a season… Before Vermont scored its first goal of the game, Stony Brook had scored 22 unanswered goals and held its opponent without a goal for 71:21 of game action… Stony Brook is now ranked seventh by Inside Lacrosse and sixth by the USILA Coaches… Top-seeded Stony Brook will host fourth-seeded Vermont on Tuesday evening in one semifinal of the America East Men’s Lacrosse Championship at 7 pm.
Vermont (3-12, AE 2-3) has clinched a spot in the America East playoffs for the first time since 2003 … Fourth-seeded Vermont will visit top-seeded Stony Brook on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the semifinals … The Catamounts dropped their regular season finale, 16-10, to the eighth-ranked Seawolves on Saturday … SBU is 9-0 all-time against Vermont … Freshman Drew Philie (Sandwich, Mass./Deerfield Academy), the America East Fans’ Choice Player of the Year, scored a goal and had three assists against the Seawolves … Philie finished the regular season with a team-high 54 points (29g, 25a) … Junior Derek Lichtfuss (Lutherville, Md./St. Paul’s H.S.) notched a hat trick and had an assist against SBU … Lichtfuss ranks second on the team in goals with 20 … Sophomore Geoff Worley (Coronado, Calif./Coronado H.S.) scored two goals against the Seawolves and has at least one point in 14 of 15 games this season.