CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- After leading Hartford to a win over Quinnipiac Saturday, as well as a 17-goal performance against Siena last week, a pair of Hawks are this week's America East men's lacrosse weekly award winners. Carter Bender is the Player of the Week while Ty Schuldt is the Rookie of the Week. The honorees for the week ending March 18 were announced Monday afternoon.
Bender (Caledon, Ontario) racked up 13 points (8 goals, 5 assists) in his two games last week to earn his first Player of the Week honor of the season. The senior attack, who earned honorable mention All-America honors last season and received preseason recognition this year, factored in on eight of the Hawks' 17 points in a 22-17 loss to Siena on Wednesday as he scored four goals and added four assists. He scored four more goals, including a pair during Hartford's 5-0 run to open the game. Bender ranks second among league leaders with 23 points and is tied for the league lead in assists (11) and is third in goals (15).
Schuldt (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) played a vital role in Hartford averaging 15.5 goals in its two games despite only tallying a pair of points. The freshman faceoff specialist won 59.6 percent of his draws (34-for-57) while also picked up 10 ground balls in a pair of games last week. He won 16-of-29 faceoffs, picked up four ground balls and scored his second career goal in Wednesday's loss to Siena. Schuldt then won 18-of-28 draws in Saturday's win over Quinnipiac, including the first eight of the game, which helped the Hawks build a 6-1 lead after one quarter. He also tallied an assist.
Vermont was the only other America East team to pick up a win last week as the Catamounts earned their first victory of 2012 with a 12-11 triumph over Sacred Heart on Saturday. All six teams play non-conference games this weeking, including UMBC, which is receiving votes in both national poll. The Retreivers host fifth-ranked Loyola on saturday.
Team Notes
Albany (0-6) fell to Bryant, 14-12, in the Great Danes' only game of the week, despite a late rally ... Miles Thompson (Onondaga Nation, N.Y./LaFayette) recorded a season-high six goals, while Joe Resetarits (Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg) collected two goals on the day... Rocky Bonitatibus (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) racked up three assists and Lyle Thompson (Onondaga Nation, N.Y./LaFayette) and Mike Miller (Ohsweken, Ontario/Hagersville Secondary) each tabbed two ... Senior Dwayne Stewart (Copiague, N.Y./Copiague) recorded his first goal of the season to begin all scoring at the 10:55 mark of the first period... The Great Danes will travel to Lewisburg, Pa. on Saturday, still looking for their first win of the season, to take on Bucknell at 1 p.m.
Binghamton (2-4) dropped a pair of games this past week to #17 Colgate and most recently on the road at Manhattan...Despite receiving a team-high four goals from sophomore midfielder Michael Antinozzi (Fallston,Md./Fallston), the Bearcats fell victim to #17 Colgate 17-8 at home...Junior Tyler Perrelle added two goals and a career-high tying three assists ... On Saturday, Binghamton dropped a heart-breaker on the road to MAAC opponent Manhattan 11-10...Antinozzi tallied his sixth straight hat trick scoring a team-high four goals, increasing his league leading goal total to 23 ... Sophomore attackman Brandon Planck (Cortland, NY/Cortland) tallied a goal, two assists and a career-high four ground balls in the defeat ... Binghamton looks to snap their two-game losing skid when they hit the road to take on Quinnipiac this Saturday
Hartford (2-5) split a pair of games at home this week, first falling to Siena, 22-17, on Wednesday before rebounding for a 15-12 victory over in-state foe Quinnipiac on Saturday ... Carter Bender (Caledon, Ontario/Brewster Academy) and Ryan Compitello (Hauppauge, N.Y./Hauppauge), a pair of seniors, paced the Hawks with 13 and 11 points, respectively ... Bender enjoyed a career-day against Siena with eight points in a game that saw both teams combine for 39 goals ... The Hawks trailed by 11 in the second half but managed to trim that deficit to five goals ... Compitello also enjoyed a career game in the loss as he finished with a personal-best seven points, including five assists ... The 39 goals were the second most in a game in Hartford's Division I era, a 27-year span, as 10 years ago, Hartford and Siena combined for a record-setting 41 tallies in the Hawks' 29-12 win ... On Saturday, Hartford never trailed in its 15-12 defeat of Quinnipiac and snapped a two-game skid in the process ... Bender led the way with five points (4 goals, 1 assist) while seven other Hawks reached the back of the net in the win ... The Hawks take on their second-straight opponent from the Nutmeg State when they travel to Sacred Heart on Wednesday (3 p.m.) ... Hartford wraps up the week at home by hosting Wagner (2 p.m.).
UMBC (2-3) had the week off after facing a pair of top five teams (Maryland Johns Hopkins) in a five-day span ... UMBC will face its third consecutive top ten team and fourth straight top 20 team when they entertain Loyola at UMBC Stadium on Saturday evening... The Retrievers have not faced the Greyhounds since 2005 ... Loyola current has the highest Lax Power Rating in the nation and Maryland is No. 2... UMBC has won the last two meetings and leads the all-time series, 16-13... Junior attackman Scott Jones (Port Coquitlam, B.C./Terry Box) has now scored goals in 10 consecutive games... He has 25 goals in that span which began vs. Binghamton on April 9, 2011 ... Jones is 30th in the nation with 2.4 goals per game ... Junior goalkeeper Adam Cohen (Arnold, Md./Severn) is 11th in the country with 11.2 saves per contest ... Junior attackman Joe Lustgarten (Wading River, N.Y./Wading River) recorded a career-high three assists against Johns Hopkins on March 10... UMBC has outscored the opposition, 16-9, in fourth quarter scoring this season... The Retrievers' strength of schedule is currently fourth in the nation.
Stony Brook (1-5) lost both of its games last week ... The Seawolves fell to St. John's, 11-9, Tuesday and Towson, 10-9, Saturday ... junior Jeff Tundo (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park/Ohio State) totaled four goals and two assists in the two games ... he's tallied three points in each of the last four games and five of six this season ... Stony Brook is 1-5 in its last six one-goal games ... it also was the fifth straight game in which it failed to score in double figures ... senior Russ Bonanno (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford/Nassau CC) tallied a hat trick against St. John's and redshirt freshman Mike Rooney (East Islip, N.Y.) did the same against Towson ... Rooney's third-quarter goal was man-up as Stony Brook has scored an EMO goal in each of the first six games ... Stony Brook is on the road for both games this week, taking on Siena on Tuesday afternoon and Bryant on Saturday afternoon.
Vermont (1-6) went 1-1 last week … The Catamounts opened the week with a 9-8 loss on the road at Holy Cross … Vermont led 8-5, but the Crusaders closed out the game with the final four goals to earn the win … Junior Drew Philie (Sandwich, Mass./Deerfield Academy) led the Catamounts with four goals, while senior Geoff Worley (Coronado, Calif./Coronado) added a goal and four assists … On Saturday sophomore Connor McNamara (Winchester, Mass./Brewster Academy) scored with 10 seconds remaining to give Vermont its first win of the season, 12-11 over visiting Sacred Heart … McNamara led the Cats with a hat trick, while junior A.J. Masson (Newmarket, Ontario/St. Andrew’s College) added two goals and an assist … Eight different players scored a goal for the Catamounts, while senior David Barton (Hanover, Mass./Boston College HS) made 15 saves in goal … The Catamounts will be back in action on March 24 when they host Brown at 1 p.m. at Virtue Field.