CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- With wins Saturday, Albany and Stony Brook clinched bids to the 2012 America East Men's Lacrosse Championship and a pair of players that keyed those victories are the league's weekly award winners. The Great Danes' Joe Resetarits earned his first Player of the Week honor of the season while the Seawolves' Mike Rooney is the Rookie of the Week for the fourth straight week and fifth time overall. The awards for the week ending April 15 were announced Monday afternoon.
Resetarits (Hamburg, N.Y.) scored four goals and added a pair of assists in Albany's 15-7 win over Vermont Saturday to earn his first-ever Player of the Week honor. The senior attacker, a two-time first-team all-conference selection, scored two of the game's first three goals as the Great Danes jumped out to a 4-0 lead and never looked back en route to their third win in four games. Resetarits, who also picked up four ground balls and had two caused turnovers, leads America East in points per game (3.82 ppg, 42 total), goals per game (2.73 gpg) and goals (31).
Rooney (East Islip, N.Y.) led Stony Brook to its third straight win Saturday, a 10-8 victory over UMBC, and picked up his fifth Rookie of the Week honor, the most a player has ever earned in America East history. The redshirt-freshman midfielder scored four goals, his fourth straight game with three or more goals, and now has 12 goals in three conference games, all wins. His fourth quarter score stopped the Retrievers' 5-0 run and gave SBU a 10-7 lead with 8:11 left. Rooney ranks fourth among league leaders with 26 goals and is tied for eighth with 31 points.
Albany and Stony Brook sit tied atop the conference standings at 3-0, one game ahead of UMBC, which is 2-1. Hartford picked up its first America East win by beating Binghamton, 11-7, behind three goals from Kevin O'shea, and sits in fourth place at 1-2. Binghamton and Vermont are both still in search of its first conference win.
This weekend, the Great Danes visit the Retrievers, the Seawolves host the Hawks and the Catamounts entertain the Bearcats.
Team Notes
Albany (3-8, 3-0 AE) clinched a spot in the America East Tournament with its third straight conference win, a 15-7 decision over Vermont on Saturday night ... Senior attackman Joe Resetarits (Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg) led the Great Danes with four goals and two assists for six total points ... Resetarits scored his 108th career goal, which puts him eighth among active players, and scored in his 44th consecutive game, which leads the nation ... Freshman goalkeeper Max Huber (Long Grove, Ill./Adali E. Stevenson) continues to make a huge impact for the Great Danes since taking over netminding duties ... Huber made 10 saves against Vermont, and picked up two ground balls ... Senior face off specialist Keith Olson (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) was key to the Great Danes' success, as he won 14-of-25 face offs in the game ... Sophomore attackman Miles Thompson (Onondaga Nation, N.Y./LaFayette) scored five points on three goals and two assists, while cousin Ty Thompson (Hogansburg, N.Y./Salmon River Central) also netted a hat trick ... Albany will continue America East play on Saturday, visiting UMBC at 1 p.m.
Binghamton (3-8, 0-3 AE) fell on the road to Hartford 11-7 this past Saturday in West Hartford ... Trailing 5-0 early in the second quarter, Binghamton rallied by scoring four unanswered goals heading into break ... After intermission, Hartford responded with a 4-0 run in the third and fended off a late Binghamton run to secure the victory ... Junior Tyler Perrelle (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) led Binghamton with two goals and an assist, while freshman attack Paul O'Donnell (Skaneateles, N.Y./Skaneateles) chipped in with a goal and an assist in the losing effort ... Next Saturday, Binghamton travels to Burlington to take on the Catamounts in search of their first conference and road victory of the season.
Hartford (4-8, 1-2 AE) led from start to finish on Saturday and earned its first victory in league play with an 11-7 triumph over the visiting Binghamton Bearcats ... Freshman Kevin O'Shea (Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills West) netted a hat trick to lead Hartford, which saw its nine-game drought against the Bearcats come to a halt with the win ... Senior Carter Bender (Caledon, Ontario/Brewster Academy) contributed two goals and dished out a game-best three assists, while Ryan Compitello (Hauppauge, N.Y./Hauppauge) and junior Rory Nunamacher (Albany, N.Y./Guilderland) each added a pair of scores ... Bender needs just one more goal to reach 100, joining classmate Aidan Genik (Toronto, Ontario/Univ. of Western Ontario) in becoming the only players under head coach Peter Lawrence's tutelage to reach the century mark ... The Hawks jumped out to a 5-0 lead before Binghamton used a 4-0, second quarter run to make it a one point game at the half ... Hartford countered in the third with four unanswered scores to regain its five goal edge ... Senior Scott Bement (Canandaigua, N.Y./Canandaigua) totaled 13 saves and needs just seven more to tie Chris LaMonica, who is fourth in Hartford's Division I record book with 490 career saves ... The Hawks will travel to LaValle Stadium to face Stony Brook on Saturday for a rematch of last year's America East Championship game (7 p.m.).
Junior attackman Scott Jones (Port Coquitlam, B.C./Terry Fox) tied a career-high with five goals and led a furious comeback, but the UMBC (4-7, 2-1 AE) fell to Stony Brook, 10-8, before 960 fans at UMBC Stadium on April 14 ... The Retrievers trailed, 9-2, late in the third quarter, but exploded for five goals in the span of 3:11 to trim the deficit to 9-7 with 12:17 remaining... UMBC had three total possessions with the chance to shave the deficit to one, but committed two turnovers and had a late shot saved ... Sophomore face-off specialist Phil Poe (Harwood, Md./DeMatha) won all seven fourth quarter draws and captured 15 of 22 in the game ... Junior attackman Joe Lustgarten (Wading River, N.Y./Wading River) had a goal and two helpers for UMBC and now has 10 assists in his last four outings... Jones' 27 goals is the most for a Retriever since Alex Hopmann scored 36 in 2009 ... The Retrievers have another opportunity to take on an undefeated America East squad when they face Albany at home next Saturday, April 21 ... The game will be televised locally by the Live Well Network ... The Retrievers have won five of the last six games vs. Albany ... Jones posted his first career five-goal game when UMBC won at Albany last season, 13-9.
Stony Brook (4-7, 3-0 AE) won its third straight game by beating UMBC 10-8 Saturday ... redshirt freshman Mike Rooney (East Islip, N.Y./East Islip) and senior Robbie Campbell (Delta, British Columbia/Seaquam) had four goals apiece in the victory ... junior Sean Brady (Huntington Bay, N.Y./Huntington/Duke) was stellar again, finishing with 13 saves, eight in the first half ... the Seawolves recorded their 19th man-up goal against UMBC ... the win was Stony Brook's 17th straight conference regular season win ... its last loss was to #8 UMBC in 2009 ... Rooney leads all freshmen midfielders nationally with 26 goals ... the win clinched a playoff berth for Stony Brook ... the Seawolves have been a part of every conference tournament since becoming a lacrosse member in 2002 ... Stony Brook hosts two games this week, Yale on Monday night and Hartford Saturday night.
Vermont (1-10, 0-3 AE) dropped its only game of the week, falling on the road to Albany 15-7 … Senior Geoff Worley (Coronado, Calif./Coronado) led the Catamounts with six points on five goals and an assist … Both the six points and five goals were career highs for Worley … After trailing 5-1 early on, Vermont netted five straight to take a 6-5 lead just before halftime, but the Great Danes scored 10 of the last 11 goals in the contest to earn the win … The Catamounts scored two man-up goals and two man-down goals in the contest … Saturday marked the second straight game that a Catamount had six points, as junior Drew Philie (Sandwich, Mass./Deerfield Academy) also had five goals and an assist against UMBC on April 7 … The six points are a season-high for a Catamount this year … Junior Michael Connors (East Walpole, Mass./Walpole) recorded his first collegiate point against the Great Danes with an assist, while sophomore Andrew Muscara (Chandler, Ariz./Chandler) handed out a career-high two assists … Vermont returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Binghamton at 3 p.m. … A dedication ceremony for Virtue Field will take place prior to start of the game and Vermont's six seniors will be honored for playing in their final regular-season home contest.