WASHINGTON, D.C.  -  Two former Georgetown University men’s lacrosse players were selected to play in the eighth annual Major League Lacrosse All-Star Game, which will be held at Denver’s INVESCO Field at Mile High on Thursday, July 16.

Major League Lacrosse had used an “East” vs. “West” format in the last two all-star games, but this year’s game will return to the popular “Old School” vs. “Young Guns” format, which was featured in the 2005 All-Star Game.  The “Young Guns” squad is comprised of players from the 2007-09 classes, while the “Old School” squad will be made up by those players from classes prior to and including 2006.

Former Georgetown All-American defensemen Brodie Merrill (B’05) and Kyle Sweeney (B’03) were selected to represent the “Old School” team.

Merrill was one of eight players from the Toronto Nationals, who are 4-2 and stand in second place in the league.  A two-time first-team All-American, Merrill has scored three goals and eight assists for 11 points and is second on the team with 34 ground balls.

This will be the fourth-straight all-star game appearance for Merrill, who has enjoyed a standout career since graduating from Georgetown in 2005.  Merrill was named the MLL Rookie of the Year in 2005 as a member of the Baltimore Bayhawks and then won back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year Awards with the Rochester Rattlers in 2006 and 2007.

Sweeney has scored two goals with eight assists for 10 points and has 26 groundballs in five games with the Boston Cannons.

Since joining the MLL as a third round pick of the Bridgeport (Conn.) Barrage in the 2003 draft, Sweeney spent most of his career with that team, including the team’s move to Philadelphia.  He was part of three MLL Championships with the team, winning the league title in 2004, 2006 and 2007, respectively.

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Major League Lacrosse release
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Former Buckeyes Anthony Kelly (2000-03) and Ricky Pages (2005-08) have been selected to play in the eighth annual Major League Lacrosse All-Star Game, which will be held at 10 p.m. ET July 16th at INVESCO Field at Mile High in Denver and broadcast live on ESPN2. The Bud Light Skills Competition will be held at halftime; Kelly won the Hardest Shot contest at the event last year.

The game will feature an “Old School” vs. “Young Guns” format. The “Old School” squad is made up of players from classes prior to and including 2006, with the “Young Guns” featuring players from the 2007-09 classes.

Kelly, a faceoff specialist, is making his second-consecutive all-star appearance. He has played in five games for the Chicago Machine in 2009, winning 64-of-124 draws. Pages, a defenseman in his first year as a professional, has seen action in five games for the Long Island Lizards and has 17 groundballs to tie for fourth on the team.

Kocis Scores Three and Eleven Different Players Score

WASHINGTON, D.C. -  Georgetown tied a season-high with six goals in a quarter and junior Scott Kocis (Huntington, N.Y./Huntington) recorded his second-straight hat trick as the 17th-ranked Hoyas posted a 15-7 win over Rutgers in a key ECAC matchup in front of 931 fans at a sun-soaked Multi-Sport Field Saturday afternoon.

It was the fourth win in the last five games and the fifth in the last seven games for Georgetown, who improves to 7-6 overall and 3-3 in the ECAC.  Rutgers falls to 4-10 overall and 2-4 in the league.

Eleven different players scored goals for Georgetown and 17 different players finished with at least one point as the Hoyas posted their highest score since beating Delaware, 18-10, in the fourth game of the 2007 season.  The Hoyas jumped out to a 6-2 lead after the first quarter, led 8-2 at the break and 10-3 after three quarters before taking a 15-4 lead in the fourth quarter, the team’s biggest lead this season.

It did not appear to be Georgetown’s day in the early minutes.  Junior Craig Dowd (East Northport, N.Y./Northport) gave the Hoyas a 1-0 lead at 13:41, but Rutgers responded immediately, two goals from Tad Stanwick giving the Scarlet Knights a 2-1 at 10:25.  Georgetown, however, would score nine-straight goals to open a 10-2 lead and held Rutgers without a score until there was 2:52 left in the third quarter – a scoreless stretch of 37:33.

Senior Jake Samperton (Bethesda, Md./Landon) scored off a Dowd assist to tie the game at 2-all in the first quarter, and the Hoyas scored four more times – two from Kocis and one apiece from junior Rickey Mirabito (Binghamton, N.Y./Chenango Forks) and senior Chris Taylor (Mercer Island, Wash./Mercer Island) – to take a 6-2 lead.

Kocis scored his third goal of the day with 10:08 to play before the half, giving the Hoyas a 7-2 lead.  Dowd picked up his third point of the day, and his second assist, when he fed junior Eric Reinhardt (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) for a score with 7:48 to play in the second quarter.

Samperton scored his second goal of the game – off an assist from junior Chris Nixon (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) – four minutes into the third quarter and the lead grew to 10-2 when Mirabito assisted junior Chris Schuville (Lloyd Harbor, N.Y./Cold Spring Harbor) with 3:16 to play.  Justin Pennington from Rutgers scored with 2:52 to play in the third quarter to end the scoreless streak.

Rutgers pulled to within 11-4 on a Pennington man-up goal early in the fourth quarter, but the Hoyas responded with five-straight goals to open a 15-4 lead.  Freshman Gerry Reilly (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) scored his first career goal at 7:30, senior Stoddie Nibley (Bethesda, Md./Landon) scored his second career goal at 4:46, freshman Francis McDonough (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) notched his first career score at 3:33 and sophomore David Shriver (Timonium, Md./Boys’ Latin) closed out the scoring at 2:13, with an assist from sophomore Jon Schoen (Darien, Conn./Darien).

The Hoyas won 14-of-25 face-off attempts, with senior Michael Shotwell (Fairfax, Va./St. Stephens-St. Agnes) capturing 10-of-15 and senior Dan Vinson (Pleasant Hill, Calif./DeLaSalle) winning 4-of-6 attempts.  Shotwell added a team-high seven ground balls.  Junior goalie Jack Davis (Glen Ridge, N.J./Glen Ridge) had another solid day in net, making 11 saves.

Georgetown held a 44-33 advantage in shots and won the ground ball battle, 32-29.

The Hoyas close out the regular season next Saturday, May 2, hosting ECAC rival Penn State.  The game is slated to face-off at noon and it will air on a tape-delayed basis on Verizon FiOS.

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#15/12 UMass Lacrosse Hosts Georgetown On 2009 Senior Day, Saturday At Noon

Minutemen and Hoyas have won or shared eight of nine ECAC titles.

April 14, 2009

#15/12 UMASS (7-3, 4-0) vs. GEORGETOWN (5-6, 1-3)
Saturday, April 18, 2009 • 12 Noon
Garber Field (5,000) • Amherst, Mass.
Radio: WMUA 91.1 FM (Mike Walsh & Norm Smith)
Live Video, Audio & Gametracker: UMassAthletics.com

#15/12 UMass Hosts G’town On Senior Day
• Undefeated in conference play, the No. 15/12 UMass lacrosse team hosts ECAC arch rival Georgetown on Saturday at 12 Noon. The Minutemen stand 7-3 overall with a 4-0 mark in conference while the Hoyas are having their toughest since 1989 with a 5-6 record, 1-3 in the league. Saturday will be Senior Day at Garber Field, as UMass’ class of nine will play their final regular-season game at Garber. The final regular-season home game against defending NCAA Champion Syracuse will be played at McGuirk Stadium on April 25 at 1:30 p.m. That game will be the backdrop for the “Break The Attendance Record” as UMass seeks to draw more than 12,143 fans, to break the record set in 1989.

• On Saturday’s Senior Day, UMass will honor a group that includes many players who helped UMass to the 2006 NCAA title game. Over the last four years, UMass has a 32-24 record. The Minutemen will recognize attacker Tim Balise, midfielder Evan Blum, attacker Jim Connolly, grad student attacker P.J. Hendrick, midfielder Dennis Lynch, defenseman Brennan Mack, midfielder Rory Pedrick, midfielder Joe Reale and goalie Doc Schneider.

• UMass comes off a thrilling 7-6 overtime win at Hobart, which was named the Inside Lacrosse Game of the Weekend. Jim Connolly scored the game-winner 23 second into overtime after Tim Balise tied the game with a tally as time expired in the fourth quarter. Doc Schneider made a career-high 21 saves to anchor the UMass stellar defense.

• The Minutemen have won four games in a row, all ECAC contests with an 8-6 win at Loyola (3/21), a 9-8 victory over Penn State (3/28), a 12-6 win over St. John’s (4/4), and the Hobart thriller.

• Saturday’s game will be broadcast on WMUA (91.1 FM) with Mike Walsh and UMass All-American Norm Smith calling the action. Live streaming video, audio and GameTracker will also be available on UMassAthletics.com.

NCAA Save Pct. Leader, Doc Claims 5th ECAC Honor
• Tewaaraton Trophy Candidate Doc Schneider earned his fifth ECAC Defensive Player of the Week honor on Monday after the 21-save effort at Hobart (4/11). Schneider has also earned the ECAC’s top weekly defensive honor four of the previous five weeks, winning it on March 2, 9, 23, 30.

• Schneider has risen to the No. 1 spot in the NCAA in save percentage with a 65.3 mark. He is also third in goals against average at 6.89. Both marks lead the ECAC. Schneider has been sensational in ECAC play with a 73.8 save percentage mark and a 5.23 goals against average as UMass has started 4-0.

• He picked up his fourth ECAC Defensive Player of the Week honor this week as he was honored after 15 saves in the 9-8 win over Penn State (3/28). Schneider racked up 12 saves in the pivotal second half.

• After his huge game at Loyola on March 21, Schneider was named the LaxNews College Beat National Player of the Week on March 22. He was also named the ECAC Co-Defensive Player of the Week for the third time this season. Schneider was sensational in Saturday’s 8-6 UMass win at #12 Loyola with a season-high 17 saves. Schneider made 11 saves in the second half as the Greyhounds peppered him all game. Schneider allowed just six goals, the fourth time this season he has allowed six goals or less in a game.

The ECAC’s Best
• UMass and Georgetown won or had a share of the ECAC title for the first eight seasons of the league since the league was formed in 2000 through 2007. Loyola broke through and won the league last season, the first time neither Georgetown or UMass did not take the crown. The Minutemen have claimed the crown in 2001, 2002 and 2005. Georgetown won the league in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007.

• The winner of the UMass-Georgetown game has won or shared the ECAC league title in seven of the nine years the league has existed including four of the last five years. Georgetown holds a 6-3 lead in the all-time series with UMass winning in 2002 (16-13), 2003 (11-8) and 2005 (13-12). The Hoyas captured the games in 2000 (19-18), 2001 (13-12), 2004 (12-10), 2006 (8-6) and 2007 (8-7). Only in 2003, did the winner not win the ECAC title.

The Series With Georgetown
• UMass and Georgetown have met each of the last nine years as members of the ECAC Lacrosse League. The Hoyas hold a 6-3 overall edge in the series. The teams have split four games in Amherst, in odd years. The Hoyas are 4-1 in games played in D.C., coming in each of the even numbered years.

• The nine games have been decided by a total of 18 goals, 2.0 per game. That includes four one-goal affairs.

• The series has been close, as three of the last four games were decided by one or two goals, including one-goal affairs in 2005 and 2007. The last four games have been decided by two goals or less and a total of four goals.

• In the nine all-time meetings, no team has won by more than four goals – last season.

• This will be the first meeting since 2001 that UMass has a higher ranking than the Hoyas, who are the first among teams “others receiving votes” this week.

• Last season, UMass goalie Doc Schneider made a then-career high 20 saves (passed last weekend at Hobart with 21) to keep the undermanned Minutemen in the game in a 12-8 loss in Washington, D.C. The Hoyas outshot UMass 61-28.

• In the last game in Amherst, No. 6 Georgetown held off a rally by UMass to win, 8-6 on April 21, 2007. No. 7 Georgetown beat No. 8 UMass, 8-6 in Washington on April 22, 2006. UMass downed Georgetown, 13-12 on April 23, 2005. The first meeting was a 19-18 thriller won by the Hoyas on April 22, 2000.

Recent Games With Georgetown
• LAST YEAR’S GAME (April 19, 2008): No. 5 Georgetown shot early and often but, UMass’ Doc Schneider was sensational all afternoon, as the Minutemen lost to the Hoyas, 12-8 on a sunny day in our nation’s capital. UMass’ junior goalie made a career-high 20 saves as the Hoyas mounted a 61-28 shots advantage. The Minutemen saw their three-game winning streak come to an end. UMass freshman Zach Rodgers had two goals and two assists and junior Tim Balise had two goals. The Minutemen’s other goals came from Ryan Bagnasco, Fred Federico, Christian Hain and Paul Manesis. Georgetown was led by All-American Brendan Cannon, who had four goals and Andrew Baird, who tallied three goals.

• LAST GAME AT GARBER (April 21, 2007): The UMass men’s lacrosse team rallied from a four-goal deficit in the third quarter to tie the game at 6-6, but were done in by a pair of Craig Dowd extra-man goals late, in an 8-7 loss to No. 6 Georgetown. With the win, the Hoyas (9-2, 5-0 ECAC) clinched at least a share of the ECAC title. After Georgetown had built a 6-2 lead just 44 seconds into the second half, UMass went on a tear to tie the game and excite the Garber Field faithful. Brett Garber tallied twice in the run including the goal to make it 6-6 with 7:33 left in regulation. He fired home a feed from fellow Brian Jacovina, who set up the final three goals in the run. Jacovina previously connected with Andrew Recchione to make it 6-5 with 12:43 left regulation. Prior to that Garber scored his first of the game with 12:12 left in the third as the Hoyas still led 6-4. Evan Blum started the run with a goal 1:58 into the second half.

Well-Rounded Offense
• The Minutemen have had well balanced scoring all season as 15 different players have scored goals. In all 14 games last season, UMass had 13 goal scorers.

• Senior Jim Connolly leads the charge with 26 goals, 2.6 per game, which leads the ECAC and is 10th in the NCAA. Connolly has scored goals in every game this season. He leads UMass with 30 points, which is 3.0 points per game, third in the ECAC and 38th in the NCAA. Connolly has points in 18 games in a row which he has played.

• With hat tricks in each of the last three games and goals in each of the last eight games, Tim Balise extended his point-scoring streak to 17 games. That dates to the last seven games of last season and the first 10 this year. He is second on the team with 21 goals and 26 points. Balise has 10 goals in the last three games including five points on four goals and an assist vs. St. John’s (4/4).

• Seniors Balise and Connolly are forming an impressive duo at attack. They have combined for 47 of the Minutemen’s 103 goals on the year (46 percent).

• Balise has three hat tricks in a row while Connolly has hat tricks in two of the last three games. Both Balise and Connolly tallied hat tricks in the wins over Penn State (3/28) and St. John’s (4/4). Balise has four hat tricks this season and 10 in his career, most recently at Hobart (4/11) while Connolly now has 11 hat tricks overall, four in 2009.

• Freshman Art Kell scored for the eighth consecutive game against Hobart (4/11) after picking up his first multi-goal game vs. St. John’s (4/4). Kell scored single goals in six games in a row after being held scoreless in his first two collegiate contests. Overall, Kell is the highest scoring freshman with 12 points on nine goals and three assists.

• Junior Bobby Hayes had points in the first eight games before being held pointless in the last two games. Hayes is third on the team with 17 points on seven goals and a team-high 10 assists.

•  Rory Pedrick scored his most recent goal against St. John’s (4/4) and has points in eight of the nine games he has played this season. Overall, he has 14 points on nine goals and five assists. He had two goals in the first two games of the season against Sacred Heart (2/14) and Hofstra (2/21).

Schneider A Super Senior
• Senior goalie and Tewaaraton Trophy Candidate Doc Schneider in the midst of a stellar senior season and will go down as one of the best stoppers in program history. He has been named to the Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-American Team as an honorable mention selection. Schneider was also named to ESPN Quint Kessenich’s Preseason Top 5 Goalies.

• Schneider has been named the ECAC Defensive Player of the Week five times on March 2, 9, 23, 30 and April 14. He also was named the LaxNews College Beat Player of the Week on March 22.

• Schneider stands FIRST in save percentage (65.3) and fourth in the nation in GAA (6.89).

• Schneider has at least 15 saves in six games this season and ranks second in the ECAC in saves per game with 11.22 per game.

• He currently stands in second on the UMass all-time saves list with 674 only trailing great Sal LoCascio who recorded an unworldly 931 stops which is the most in NCAA history. He passed Don Goldstein (622) for second all-time with a season-high 17 saves at Loyola (3/21) and moved by Tom LoPresti (562) for third with eight saves at Hofstra (2/21). He became the third goalie in UMass history with 600 career saves vs. Brown (3/14) when he had 14 stops.

• Schneider was named an Inside Lacrosse/Face-Off Magazine preseason honorable mention All-American prior to the season. It marks the second All-American honor bestowed upon Schneider. The first came prior to the 2007 campaign after he led the Minutemen to a magical run to the National Title Game in his freshman year (2006).

• In his first three seasons in Amherst, Schneider was one of the top goalies in UMass lacrosse history. As a true freshman in 2006, he led the Minutemen to a 13-5 record and an appearance in the National Finals after NCAA Tournament wins over Cornell, Hofstra, and Maryland. His stellar 15 save performance against the Terrapins sent the Minutemen into the Title Game where he made 17 saves against an undefeated Virginia squad. For the effort, he was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team.

Defense’s Shuts Down Top Guns
• Backstopped by senior goalie Doc Schneider UMass’ defense has been stellar at shutting down some of the top scorers in the NCAA. Along with Schneider, the close defense featuring senior Brennan Mack and junior All-ECAC performer Diogo Godoi have done a great job against some of the top attackmen. They have been joined by freshman starter Travis Tripucka and freshman Greg Anderson on the backline.

• Against three of the nation’s top 25 point scorers #5 Corey Small of Albany (4.0 PPG), #6 Andrew Feinberg of Brown (3.9 PPG), and #25 Shane Koppens of Loyola (3.2 PPG), UMass has allowed just one goal — by Small — for a group that scores 10-plus goals on average.

• Against Loyola (3/21), Godoi kept Greyhound attacker Shane Koppens pointless, after he came into the game scoring 4.4 points per game. Koppens was limited to just one shot on goal. Also in that game, Mack kept Loyola’s Collin Finnerty to just one goal on a broken clear.

• Also notable, Mack, kept Brown’s Andrew Feinberg, their top scorer, without a goal in the UMass win on March 14. Feinberg is currently sixth in the NCAA in points per game (3.9) including just a single assist against UMass.

• Against Albany, UMass limited the Great Danes’ Corey Small to just a goal and assist. For the year, he is eighth in the NCAA with 4.0 points per game.

• The Minutemen also kept Harvard’s Greg Cohen without a goal in the win on March 7. Cohen averages 2.8 points per game.

Man Down Defense Dominant
• The Minutemen are ranked 11th in the NCAA in man-down defense, allowing just eight goals on 36 chances for its opponents (77.8). UMass did not give up a man-up goal in four chances vs. St. John’s (4/4). The Minutemen were not penalized at Loyola (3/21). Prior to that, UMass was a perfect 6-of-6 in killing off man-up opportunities against Brown (3/14). In four games this season, UMass has not allowed a man-down goal.

• Last year, UMass’ man down defense was fifth in the country (.806).

Gorillas At Home
• Since the 1960s, UMass has been known as the Garber Gorillas in honor of head coach Dick Garber and his first big time recruit from New York, Kevin O’Connor (1967-69). UMass has won 29 of the last 38 games spanning five years, dating back to 2004. UMass finished 3-4 in 2008 after going 4-3 in 2007 and 7-1 in 2006. It won 14 games in a row at home from 2004 through 06.

• In 2005, UMass posted a perfect 8-0 record at home tying its record for best home record without a loss at 8-0, which was set in 1981. It was the first time since 1992 UMass went undefeated at home, as it went 6-0 that season.

• Since the start of the 2001 season, UMass is 54-14 at Garber Field, winning nearly 80 percent of the games at the friendly confines.

Big Winners Over Last 8 Years
• UMass has established itself as one of the top programs in the nation. Since 2001, UMass has the seventh-most wins of any program in college lacrosse with 89 victories.

• The Minutemen have the ninth-best mark among all teams in the NCAA since 2001 with an 89-43 record for a 67.4 win percentage mark. That includes five seasons with 12 or more wins including a school record 13 wins in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006. The Minutemen were second on the list coming into the 2007 season.

Lucky Number 11
• UMass has won 42 games in a row when scoring 11 or more goals after its 12-6 win over St. John’s (4/4) and a 18-6 win over Yale (2/28). Last season, UMass had one game with more than 11 games, a 13-8 win at St. John’s. The Minutemen had four wins in 2007 with 11 goals or more, beating Harvard (11-10), Sacred Heart (11-4), St. John’s (11-7) and Hobart (17-12). The streak goes back over the last seven years — meaning the last four senior classes have never lost when scoring 11 or more goals. UMass’ last loss when they had more than 11 came in the 2002 NCAA Quarterfinals, a 13-12 loss at Johns Hopkins.

• UMass had won 29 games in a row when scoring 10 or more goals, but that streak was snapped with a 11-10 loss to Hofstra on Feb. 21. The Minutemen were 29-0 when scoring 10 or more goals over the last six years. Prior to the loss at Hofstra, the last loss when scoring 10 goals came on May 1, 2004, a 17-10 loss at Syracuse.

Balise For Lowe’s Sr. Class Award
• UMass senior captain Tim Balise has been named a candidate for the 2009 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. Balise was selected from the pool of NCAA Division I senior lacrosse athletes for his excellence in four areas: the classroom, his character, the community, and the field of competition.

• Balise not only led the Minutemen in scoring with 39 points on 33 goals last season, but also earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American, ESPN The Magazine All-District First Team, and ECAC All-Conference Second Team. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages those leaders to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact on their circle of influence.

UMass To Join CAA In 2010
• The Colonial Athletic Association announced back in June that it will add UMass and Penn State as associate members in the sport of men’s lacrosse. beginning with the 2010 season. UMass and Penn State join the University of Delaware, Drexel University, Hofstra University and Towson University to form a competitive six-team conference whose champion will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship.

• A realignment of men’s lacrosse conferences nationally – spurred by the Big East Conference and Northeast Conference’s new sponsorship of the sport – led to the changes in CAA membership. Current members Sacred Heart and Robert Morris will move to the NEC. and Villanova will move to the Big East following the 2009 campaign.

Godoi Preseason All-ECAC Team
• UMass men’s lacrosse redshirt junior defender Diogo Godoi has been named to the preseason All-ECAC team. Godoi had the strongest season of his career in 2007 when he scooped up 27 ground balls while causing a team-leading 17 turnovers. He played in all 14 games, starting 12 of them.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, TUESDAY, APRIL 7, 2009 CONTACT:  MIKE “MEX” CAREY, 202-687-2475

D’Agnes, Vinson Named to ECAC Lacrosse League Honor Roll

WASHINGTON, D.C.  –  Georgetown senior men’s lacrosse players Dan D’Agnes (Manhasset, N.Y./Chaminade) and Dan Vinson (Pleasant Hill, Calif./DeLaSalle) were named to the ECAC Honor Roll on Monday afternoon.

The senior duo helped lead the Hoyas to back-to-back wins last week, first a 12-4 decision over Mount St. Mary’s on Wednesday and then handing Fairfield its first ECAC League loss of the season with an 11-8 win at the Multi-Sport Field on Saturday.

Georgetown has won two-straight games and three of its last four overall to improve to 5-5, including a 1-2 mark in the ECAC.  The Hoyas are now ranked No. 18 in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse poll and tied for No. 19 in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) rankings.

D’Agnes scored five goals and had one assist in two games as Georgetown won two games last week.  He scored three goals and had one assist in the Hoyas 12-4 win at Mount St. Mary’s last Tuesday.  D’Agnes followed that up with two goals in Georgetown’s big league win over Fairfield, scoring the team’s first two goals in the fourth quarter to push the Hoya lead to five goals in the 11-8 win.  D’Agnes is fifth on the team in scoring with eight goals and three assists for 11 points.

Vinson has been dominant at the face-off X for the Hoyas and it was never more evident than in the last two games, when Vinson captured 85.2 percent of his chances.  He was 6-of-6 in a non-league game against Mount St. Mary’s on Tuesday.  In Georgetown’s win over Fairfield, Vinson was, perhaps, the biggest factor in the team’s win, capturing 17-of-21 face-off attempts and collecting 12 ground balls in the process.  The face-off wins and ground balls were a career-high for Vinson and the 17 face-off wins were the most for a Georgetown player since Christiaan Trunz won 19 against Loyola during the 2007 season.

In the two wins last week the Hoyas received a balanced effort on the offensive side, with eight different players scoring goals in each game.  Against Mount St. Mary’s, D’Agnes and junior Andrew Brancaccio (Bethesda, Md./Georgetown Prep) scored three goals apiece as GU scored 12 goals, its second-highest offensive output this season.

Senior Jake Samperton (Bethesda, Md./Landon), making his first start of the season, scored two goals and had an assist to lead the scoring.

During the week, three different players also scored for the first times in their careers and a pair of brothers registered goals.  Freshman attackman Zack Angel (Park Hall, Md./St. Mary’s Ryken) capped off a strong week, scoring a goal and adding an assist in the 11-8 decision.  He scored the team’s first goal of the second half and then assisted the first goal of the fourth quarter as the Hoyas five second half goals en route to the win.  Angel scored his first career goal earlier in the week against Mount St. Mary’s.

Sophomore Stu Shannon (Detroit, Mich./Detroit Country Day) also scored his first collegiate goals during the week.  Shannon, a 6-7 middie who is the tallest player in Georgetown history, had a goal and an assist in the Mount St. Mary’s win, and then added the second goal of his career in Saturday’s win over Fairfield.

Sophomore Dan Hostetler (Ellicott City, Md./River Hill) scored his first collegiate goal in the win over Mount St. Mary’s and his brother, senior Ben Hostetler (Ellicott City, Md./River Hill) scored a goal in the win over Fairfield.

Georgetown returns to action this weekend, hosting ECAC rival Loyola on Saturday, April 11 at the Multi-Sport Field.  The Hoyas and the Greyhounds will face off at 1 p.m.  The game will be shown live on MASN, with Bob Socci handling the play-by-play and Matt Poskay serving as the color analyst.  A live webcast of the game will be available on the Georgetown Athletics website – www.guhoyas.com – with Chuck Timanus providing all of the action.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2009                                                         CONTACT:  MIKE “MEX” CAREY, 202-687-2475

Seniors Help Lead No. 20 Georgetown Past No. 19 Fairfield, 11-8

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Entering a series of games in which they would play five-straight against conference opponents and need to win virtually every one to ensure a chance to win the ECAC Lacrosse League, seniors on the Georgetown men’s lacrosse team said Saturday’s game against Fairfield was as a must win.

In that case, it was only fitting that three of the team’s seniors – Dan Vinson (Pleasant Hill, Calif./DeLaSalle), Dan D’Agnes (Manhasset, N.Y./Chaminade) and Jake Samperton (Bethesda, Md./Landon) – helped lead the team to a crucial 11-8 win over the Stags in front of 1,225 fans at the Multi-Sport Field Saturday afternoon.  It was the second-straight win and third in the last four games for the Hoyas, who improved to 5-5 overall and 1-2 in the ECAC, while Fairfield falls to 6-3 overall and 3-1 in the league.

Vinson had a career day at the face-off X, winning 17-of-21 opportunities and collecting a team-high 12 ground balls.  The 17 face-off wins were the most by a Georgetown player since .  On the offensive side, Samperton scored two goals and had one assist, while D’Agnes added two scores and the Hoyas broke open a close game with three goals in the third and fourth quarter to take a 10-5 lead en route to the win.

The Hoyas led 6-4 at the break and took a 7-4 lead midway through the third quarter, but a score from Fairfield’s John Snellman with 5:52 left to play narrowed the gap to two goals.  Junior Ben Hostetler (Ellicott City, Md./River Hill) picked up a ground ball and scored in transition to give the Hoyas an 8-5 lead with 1:25 to play.

Leading by three in the fourth, D’Agnes scored a pair of crucial goals, increasing the Hoya lead to five.  On the first, he came on the field and entered play taking a pass from freshman Zack Angel (Park Hall, Md./St. Mary’s Ryken) off the left side of the goal and his shot beat Fairfield goalie Charlie Cipriano at 10:33, making it 9-5.  D’Agnes responded at the 8:07 mark, scoring from nearly the same spot as Georgetown took a 10-5 lead.  Fairfield pulled to within 10-6 on a goal from Nick Baglio with 5:43 to play, but after Vinson won the next face-off, the Hoyas milked the clock in possession.  Junior Eric Reinhardt (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) scored with 1:37 to play to make it 11-6, virtually sealing the win.

Unlike previous games this season where the team has started off slowly, the Hoyas won the opening face-off and raced downfield and scored eight seconds into the game.  Vinson won the first of his 17 attempts and fed junior Craig Dowd (East Northport, N.Y./Northport) near the crease, who passed to a wide open Rickey Mirabito (Binghamton, N.Y./Chenango Forks), who scored his team-leading 18th goal of the year.

Tied at one, Samperton scored his first goal of the game with 9:07 to play in the quarter, spinning around a defender and rifling a shot past Cipriano.  The Stags tied the game late in the second on a goal from Chris Ajemian, but the Hoyas once again took the lead with Samperton finding junior Scott Kocis (Huntington, N.Y./ Huntington), whose low shot went past Cipriano, giving the Hoyas a 3-2 lead going into the second quarter.

Fairfield scored a pair of goals in the first five minutes of the second quarter, one from Baglio and the other from Ryan Mulford, and took a 4-3 lead.  It did not last for long, as Samperton took the ball after a restart, dodged past a defender and beat Cipriano to the right with 8:17 before the half and tying the game.  The Hoyas scored two more goals before the half for a 6-4 lead.  Dowd fed sophomore Stu Shannon (Detroit, Mich./Detroit Country Day) for a shot from 20 yards out with 6:53 to play and then Mirabito scored after taking the ball following a restart and used a one-handed shot to beat Cipriano.

Georgetown held a 43-27 advantage in shots, a 44-23 advantage in ground balls and won 18-of-22 face-off attempts.  Vinson won 17 of those face-off attempts and had a team-high 12 ground balls.

Eight different players scored goals and nine different players had at least one point, led by Samperton with three points (2g, 1a).  D’Agnes and Mirabito each scored two goals, Dowd added two assists and Kocis, Shannon, Angel, Hostetler and Reinhardt scored one goal apiece.  Junior goalie Jack Davis (Glen Ridge, N.J./Glen Ridge) made nine saves, while Chris Taylor (Mercer Island, Wash./Mercer Island) had seven ground balls and Stevie Bauer (Red Bank, N.J./Peddie School) collected five and caused six turnovers.

Georgetown remains at home next week, hosting Loyola (5-5, 1-2) in a crucial ECAC matchup at the Multi-Sport Field.  Face-off is slated for 1 p.m. and the game will be shown live on MASN.  Live video and statistics of the game can be found on the Gerogetown Athletics website, www.guhoyas.com.
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mex

Navy Lax Takes Down Hoyas
WASHINGTON, D.C. —  Senior goalkeeper Tommy Phelan (Towson, Md.) made a career-high 15 saves, while junior attackman Brendan Connors (Bellmore, N.Y.) pitched in a hat trick to lead the 16th-ranked Navy men’s lacrosse team to a 10-8 win over Georgetown Saturday afternoon at the Multi-Sport Field in Washington, D.C.  The win snapped Navy’s five-game losing streak to the Hoyas, as the Mids’ last victory in the series came in 2004 when Navy made its run to the NCAA Championship Game.

“I thought overall we played well today,” said an emotional Richie Meade, whose Mids had lost back-to-back one-goal games to the Hoyas coming into today’s contest.  “We struggled a bit clearing the ball, but I thought our close defensemen handled the pressure pretty well.  As I try to reflect, I don’t feel like we stole a win.  I think this team worked hard all week in practice and came to play today.”

After a sloppily-played first quarter that featured a combined 14 turnovers by the two teams, Georgetown took a 1-0 lead into the second stanza off a Dan D’Agnes goal.

The next 23 minutes, however, were all Navy as the Mids built a 4-1 lead halfway through the third quarter.  Connors evened the score two minutes into the second quarter and then gave the Mids the lead for good when close defenseman Michael Hirsch (Schwenksville, Pa.) scooped up a loose ball and found defensive middie Bobby Lennon (Westminster, Md.) streaking up the middle.  Lennon split the field before finding Connors on the right wing for the go-ahead goal with 9:30 to go in the second.

Navy scored the final goal of the half when senior Bruce Nechanicky (Montgomery Village, Md.) fought through a double team behind the cage and lofted the ball up and over the middle section of the field to junior midfielder Joe Lennon (Westminster, Md.), who stuck a shot in the upper right hand corner.  It was Nechanicky’s first trip back to Multi-Sport Field since suffering the first of two devastating knee injuries that would keep him off the field for a year and a half.

While Navy was outshot by Georgetown in the second period, 7-6, Phelan came up big, stopping four of the seven shots he faced.

Navy extended its lead at the 8:34 mark in the third quarter when Tim Paul (Parkton, Md.) and Patrick Moran (Annapolis, Md.) teamed up for a highlight-reel extra-man goal.  Paul set up five yards inside the top of the box and appeared to be shooting, but Moran came darting across the crease to snatch the ball out of the air and pump in the goal to give the Mids a 4-1 advantage.  It also marked the 10th-consecutive game Moran has scored a goal for the Mids.

After nearly 26 minutes of scoreless play from the Hoyas, Craig Dowd punched in a goal for Georgetown in transition.

The Mids wasted little time in answering, however, as just 18 seconds later Connors willed his way through four Georgetown players before his diving shot at the crease made its way past Hoya keeper Jack Davis to complete the hat trick.

Navy then went up by four goals (6-2) with 2:16 remaining in the third when defensive midfielder Geoff Leone (Massapequa, N.Y.) intercepted a Georgetown pass and went coast-to-coast with what would be the first of his two goals on the afternoon.

Like any quality and disciplined team, Georgetown mounted a comeback, scoring a pair of goals in the final 24 seconds of action, including a 10-yard sidearm shot by Andrew Brancaccio.  The Hoyas trimmed the lead to one at 6-5 when Navy was flagged for its fourth penalty in 10 minutes of play (3:05-8:23) and sophomore Ricky Mirabito stuck in an extra-man goal from the doorstep against Phelan.

The two teams would exchange goals over the next 10-plus minutes before back-to-back goals by Paul and Nechanicky just 42 seconds apart gave the Mids a 10-7 lead with 3:15 remaining in the contest.

Junior middie Scott Kocis was able to close the gap for the Hoyas to two on an unassisted shot with 1:17 to go, but it was as close as Georgetown would get as Navy took the 10-8 victory.

While Connors led all scorers with his first collegiate hat trick, Paul turned in a five-point effort on two goals and a career-high tying three assists.

“This was probably our biggest win of the year,” said Connors, who has scored 14 goals on the year.  “The team really worked hard this week and I think we locked it on and pulled off a big win for our program.”

Defensively, Navy rookie Matt Vernam (Shoreham, N.Y.) held Georgetown’s leading scorer Ricky Mirabito, younger brother of former Navy All-American Nick Mirabito, to just one goal, an extra-man strike.  Additionally, team captain Andy Tormey (Syracuse, N.Y.) forced a team-high five Georgetown turnovers.

Phelan, meanwhile, got his first start of the season in goal where he came up with 15 saves, including eight in the third quarter.  It’s the most saves by a Navy keeper since a 21-save effort by Seth DiNola against Penn State on April 12, 2003.

“Last year Tommy came into the Colgate game and played really well, so I really wasn’t worried about how he would play today,” added Connors.  “I think he does a great job out there under pressure.”

“It was great being back out there with our defense – Andy Tormey, Matt Vernam, Mike Hirsch, Thomas Zimmerman,” said Phelan, who was making his first start since last year’s NCAA quarterfinal contest against Johns Hopkins. “If I ever have a good game, it’s the mark of a great defense and today they did a great job.  Georgetown has some really talented shooters and I was just trying to anticipate where they were going to shoot.  Our gameplan was to try and contain Ricky Mirabito and I think our defense did a great job of that.

“This is the caliber of team we’re looking to play against and beating Georgetown shows that we have the team and the drive to win.”

At the conclusion of the game, Navy was presented a trophy in memory of longtime official Scott Boyle who tragically suffered a heart attack and passed away during the 2005 Navy-Georgetown game in Annapolis.  Scott’s widow, Becky, and daughter, Kelly, were on hand to congratulate the Midshipmen on their win and to remember their husband and father, one of the great ambassadors of lacrosse.

The Midshipmen will be back in action on Friday when they play host to longtime rival Maryland, who is reeling after dropping a seven-overtime decision to top-ranked Virginia in Charlottesville.  Navy and the Terps will lock sticks at 7:00 pm at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in a game television to a national audience on CBS College Sports.  Navy fans can also tune in to 1430 WNAV and 1050 WFED to hear the Voice of Navy Lacrosse Pete Medhurst call the action.

### Go Navy ###

Georgetown Hosts No. 16 Navy on Saturday for Fourth Annual Boyle Cup

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Georgetown University men’s lacrosse team will play its second home game of the week on Saturday, March 28, hosting local rival Navy.  Face-off at the Multi-Sport Field is slated for 1 p.m.

The game will be shown live on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), with Bob Socci handling the play-by-play and Matt Poskay serving as the color analyst.  It can also be viewed live on the Georgetown Athletics website – www.guhoyas.com – with Chuck Timanus providing the call on HoyaVision.

Georgetown enters the game with a 3-4 overall record, while Navy is 6-3 overall and ranked No. 16 in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association poll and in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Top 20.

Georgetown won its first home game of the season on Wednesday, holding off No. 11 Harvard in overtime, 9-8, with junior Rickey Mirabito (Binghamton, N.Y./Chenango Forks) scoring the winning goal off an assist from junior Craig Dowd (East Northport, N.Y./Northport) with 1:19 left.

The Hoyas have been led on the offensive side by a quartet of juniors.  Mirabito is one of four players with at least 10 points, scoring a team-leading 20 points, including a team-best 15 goals.  Mirabito is third in the ECAC League in goals per game (2.14) and ranks fifth in the league in points per game (2.71).  Dowd is second on the team with 17 points, dishing out a team-high 11 assists.  He is third in the ECAC in assists per game (1.57) and tied for seventh in the league in scoring (2.43).

Juniors Andrew Brancaccio (Bethesda, Md./Georgetown Prep) and Scott Kocis (Huntington, N.Y./ Huntington) are tied for third on the team in scoring with 14 points apiece.  Brancaccio has 11 goals and three assists for 14 points, while Kocis has scored 10 goals and four assists.

Georgetown’s defense has allowed more than 10 goals only once this season.  The unit, led by junior goalie Jack Davis (Glen Ridge, N.J./Glen Ridge), is allowing only 9.37 goals per game.  Davis, in his first year as a starter, has made 66 saves and carries a 9.42 GAA.

Junior Barney Ehrmann (Baltimore, Md./Gilman) leads the team with 31 ground balls, while junior Chris Nixon (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) has added 24, senior Chris Taylor (Mercer Island, Wash./Mercer Island) has 18 and senior Stevie Bauer (Red Bank, N.J./Peddie School) has 14 ground balls.

Senior Dan Vinson (Pleasant Hill, Calif./DeLaSalle) has been strong at the face-off X for the Hoyas, winning 39-of-72 attempts (54.8%).  Classmate Mike Shotwell (Fairfax, Va./St. Stephens-St. Agnes), who won seven attempts during the win over Harvard, has won 50.7 percent of his attempts (37-of-73).

The Midshipmen opened the season with wins against VMI and Ohio State before losing consecutive games to North Carolina and Bucknell.  Navy had won four-straight before losing to Colgate at home last week.  Junior attack Tim Paul leads the team in scoring with 24 points, scoring a team-high 15 goals and adding nine assists.  Junior Brendan Connors has 11 goals and six assists for 17 points, while sophomore Andy Warner is third on the team with nine goals and seven assists for 16 points.

The game will mark the Fourth Annual Boyle Cup. The Boyle Cup is named in honor of longtime official Scott Boyle, who tragically collapsed and passed away while officiating the Navy-Georgetown game at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on April 2, 2005.

This will be the 20th meeting all-time between Georgetown and Navy. The Hoyas lead the head-to-head series, 13-6, and have won the last five meetings.  In last year’s game, Navy scored three times in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 10-all, but Mirabito, who led GU with three goals in the game, scored with 1:42 left in overtime to give the Hoyas a thrilling 11-10 win.

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DURHAM, N.C.—Duke University goaltender Rob Schroeder made a career-high 14 saves, including six in the fourth quarter, to lead the eighth-ranked Blue Devils to a 9-5 victory over No. 19 Georgetown in men’s lacrosse action this afternoon at Koskinen Stadium. Duke scored four unanswered goals in the final 17:08 of the game to capture the victory.

“The fact that our defensive group held Georgetown to five goals is a phenomenal total,” head coach John Danowski said. “I’m really happy for Rob Schroeder. He had 14 saves and that’s a phenomenal job. I’m really proud of him.”

The five goals allowed by Duke is the fewest this season as it improves to 7-3 overall. Georgetown drops to 2-4 overall on the year as Duke handed the Hoyas their first road loss of the season.

“We mixed up our defensive system today, but other than that we got contributions from everybody,” senior Ryan McFadyen said. “Anytime we could get on their gloves we did. We didn’t want to let them get comfortable or get settled.”

Juniors Max Quinzani and Will McKee led Duke with three and two goals, respectively.  Justin Turri had a goal and an assist and Ned Crotty had two helpers. Duke had eight different players register a point in the win. Georgetown was led by Ryan Shuler with two tallies.

The Hoyas got on the board first just 2:21 into the contest with an unassisted score from Todd Cochran. Duke responded in commanding fashion with five unanswered for a 5-1 lead early in the second quarter.

Not missing a beat after giving up the early goal, Duke scored four times on eight shots. CJ Costabile tied the game with a bounce shot over the right shoulder of Hoya keeper Jack Davis at the 12:25 mark.

Quinzani took over for the remaining 12 minutes of the quarter, posting three goals on three shots. He gave Duke the early 2-1 lead off a pass from Crotty to start his run and added a pair of man-up scores in 42 seconds to send the Blue Devils into the first break with a 4-1 lead.

“I think I had three shots on three goals so that made me feel a lot more confident,” Quinzani said. “Once I start doing that, it takes the pressure of the other guys so they can start hitting their shots. We were really casual today and played with confidence. It was a lot different than on Tuesday [against Cornell] and I think that was the difference in the game.”

Duke got a goal from McKee in the early minutes of the second quarter to make it 5-1 and the Blue Devil defense stymied any threats from the Hoyas. Georgetown took advantage of a penalty in the final minute of the half and was able to tally two goals in nine seconds to cut the deficit in half going into the locker room.

Georgetown carried that momentum into the third quarter as it added two more scores to tie the contest at 5-5 with 3:04 left in the third frame. Duke’s offense that was firing on all cylinders early in the contest continued to struggle in the third quarter.

“It was 5-3 and then it was 5-5,” Danowski said. “I was very proud of the way our guys kept their poise. I thought against Cornell we lost our poise a little bit in the fourth quarter and today we kept our poise.”

Despite going 23:36 without scoring a goal, Duke never allowed Georgetown to take the lead. After the Hoyas tied the score at five, the Blue Devils answered with two unanswered in the final two minutes of the third quarter and added two more to secure the four-goal win.

“We came out a little flat [in the third quarter], but our defense still played well,” Quinzani said. “They didn’t let them get a lead, and we came back. We had forgotten how to play for just a little bit and then we got back into it.”

Catalino started the run at the 2:08 mark of the third quarter with a man-up tally. Turri provided the assist on the play. Just 21 seconds later it was Zach Howell and Steve Schoeffel combining to make it a 7-5 game after three sessions.

Looking to pull away in the final 15 minutes, Duke got some big saves from Schroeder and was able to put two more on the scoreboard. Crotty connected with Turri six minutes into the stanza with a perfect pass through traffic and gave the Blue Devils a three-goal cushion. McKee sealed the victory with 3:41 left with a man-down score.

Senior Sam Payton went 7-of-14 in faceoffs and picked up two ground balls. Quinzani led all players with six ground balls, while Parker McKee collected five.

Georgetown took 37 shots to Duke’s 29, while the Blue Devils won the ground ball battle 35-28. Duke was 3-of-7 on man-up situations, while the Hoyas went 1-of-3. Davis made 10 saves in goal for Georgetown.

“It was a hard eight days with North Carolina last Saturday and Cornell on Tuesday,” Danowski said. “I am delighted with our ability to bounce back from losing on Tuesday night and staying on task. It’s not an easy thing to do.”

Notes: Senior Brad Ross captured his 64th win in a Duke uniform against the Hoyas. His 64 wins surpass the NCAA record for career victories set by former Duke players Matt Danowski, Nick O’Hara, and Michael Ward. He has played in each of Duke’s 64 wins since joining the team in 2005.

Junior Max Quinzani pushed his scoring streak to 37 games with three goals. He has 103 goals and 14 assists for 117 points in the 37-game stretch.

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