4/27/2005 - Men's Lacrosse
Navy Battles Lehigh In Patriot League Semifinals on Friday
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Navy vs. Lehigh (4/30)
William Wallace and the Mids aim for their second straight Patroit League Tournament title this weekend. |
Midshipmen - Mountain Hawks Briefly...
PATRIOT LEAGUE TOURNAMENT - SEMIFINALS
Date: April 29, 2005 Time: 2 p.m. Site: Annapolis, Md.
Radio: WNAV (1430 AM) Internet: www.wnav.com Play-by-play: Pete Medhurst
Television: None
Records: Navy (9-3 / 5-1 PL, #1 seed); Lehigh (9-4 / 3-3 PL, #4 seed)
National Rankings: Navy (#5 USILA); Lehigh (Unranked)
Series: Navy leads 21-1 Streak: Navy - 18 games
Friday's Forecast: Rain, High 62 degrees
Navy Quick Notes...
* Navy will begin defense of its 2004 Patriot League Tournament title Friday as the Mids host Lehigh in the semifinal round. The other semifinal match-up pits Army vs. Bucknell.
* Friday's contest marks the 23rd meeting between the two teams, but only the fourth since 1948. The Mids have won 18 in a row in the series, and haven't lost to the Mountain Hawks since the 1913 season.
* Navy dropped a 9-8 overtime heartbreaker to Johns Hopkins last weekend in the regular-season finale. The loss was Navy's 31st in a row against the Blue Jays and second straight setback in overtime.
* Mitch Hendler recently made the initial cut for the Tewaaraton Award. Hendler is one of 16 players still alive for the award. Hendler joined teammates Matt Russell, Steve Looney and Graham Gill on the initial Tewaaraton Award watch list. Navy was the only school with four players represented.
* Navy is in its 98th year of lacrosse, and won its 650th game in the season opener against Providence.
On The Line...
* The Mids would advance to Sunday's Patriot League Tournament finals for the second straight year.
* Would reach 10 wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1977-78.
* Run its home record to 5-1.
* Enable Richie Meade to take sole possession of fourth place on the Navy career wins list.
About Lehigh...
-- The Mountain Hawks clinched a berth in the league tournament with a hard-fought 9-7 comeback victory over Lafayette last Saturday night. Lehigh trailed 6-5 heading into the fourth quarter against its rival Lafayette, but outscored the Leopards, 4-1, in the frame to earn the fourth seed. Lehigh enters the contest with a 9-4 overall mark (3-3 PL) and winners of four straight with a strong win over Villanova in the mix. The Mountain Hawks are, however, 0-3 against teams in the Patriot League Tournament, and have been outscored by a 33-19 margin.
* Lehigh is paced by senior Andrew Lucas' 35 points (32 g, 3 a). Lucas had entered the first meeting against Navy as the nation's top goal-scorer, but was held scoreless by the Navy defense. Greg Morin and Blake Best have each contributed over 30 points, and two others have tallied 20 points for the top-scoring team in the Patriot League. Eric Spirko has an 8.66 GAA and a .547 save percentage in the cage.
Tournament Talk...
-- Navy will play host to its second consecutive Patriot League Tournament after posting a 5-1 league mark. The Mids earned the top seed after defeating Army on April 16, then had to sweat out the Black Knights' 11-10 double-overtime win over Holy Cross on April 19. A Holy Cross victory would have sent the tournament to Lewisburg, Pa., the home of Bucknell.
* The league prognosticators got it right, as all four teams in the tournament were picked in the preseason poll in order.
* Navy has posted a 2-1 record against the other three teams in the tournament. The lone loss came in the league opener way back on March 12, an 8-7 overtime setback to Bucknell in snowy Lewisburg.
* Army, the No. 2 seed, was 2-1 against the other three teams, with its defeat coming to Navy in Annapolis, 12-9, on April 16.
* Bucknell, who will face Army in the second semifinal, was 2-1, with its setback coming to Army, 7-6, on April 9.
* Lehigh, lastly, was 0-3 against the three other tournament teams.
Home Sweet Home...
-- The Mids have enjoyed much success over the year playing at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, posting an impressive 4-1 mark. The lone loss came over a span of two days as then-No. 5 Georgetown dealt the Mids an 11-6 setback on April 2-3.
* Since the start of last year, Navy owns an 11-3 mark at home, outscoring its foes, 166-100 (11.8 to 7.1 gpg). The Mids have allowed just three teams (2005 - Georgetown, 2004 - Ohio State and Johns Hopkins) to reach double digits in that span.
Coming Out In Droves...
-- Not only has Navy had major success on the field, but also at the turnstiles. The Mids are averaging 6,526 fans per game at home this season, the most in the country. Syracuse is second, averaging 5,009 fans.
* Navy is the only school in the Patriot League to average at least 1,000 fans per game, and only one school in the league, Army, has drawn what Navy averages.
* The April 8 crowd of 14,124 against Maryland was the third largest in school history and largest in NCAA Division I lacrosse this season.
* The Mids followed that performance with a crowd of 12,117 against Army, the fourth largest in school history. It marked the first time in school history that Navy drew over 10,000 fans in back-to-back games and was the largest documented crowd to see an Army-Navy lacrosse game.
Playing the Best Brings Out The Best...
-- The Mids have consistently played one of the toughest schedules in the country and this year is no different. Since 1997, Navy has played at least six ranked teams each season.
* Navy has played six ranked teams this year, and is 4-2 so far.
* Last Saturday, the Mids concluded their four-game gauntlet against teams in the top 10 from April 2 to April 23. After falling to No. 7 Georgetown on April 2, the Mids defeated No. 6 Maryland and No. 4 Army, before falling to No. 1 and undefeated Johns Hopkins, 9-8, in overtime.
* With a win in Friday's semifinals, the Mids will play either ninth-ranked Army or 14th-ranked Bucknell in Sunday's finals.
* The Mids fell to 1-22 against No. 1-ranked teams all-time with the loss to Johns Hopkins.
* Since the start of last season, Navy is 12-5 against ranked teams.
* Meade has led Navy to a 30-41 mark against ranked teams since 1997 and a 45-5 mark against unranked teams in that same span.
National Exposure...
-- Navy's lacrosse resurgence has also increased national exposure for the Mids.
* Navy has appeared on national television in each of the last four weekends, posting a 2-2 record. Sunday's Patriot League championship game will be telecast live by CSTV, beginning at 1 p.m. Navy is 2-0 this season on CSTV, but is 0-2 on WMAR/ESPNU.
* Since the start of last year, Navy has been on television 10 times with a 6-4 record. Navy is 3-1 on CSTV all-time and 3-3 on the ESPN family of networks.
Overtime Blues...
-- The Mids have struggled in close games this season, one year after posting a 4-2 record in one-goal games. Navy is just 1-2 in one-goal games this spring with both of the losses coming in overtime.
* In overtime under Meade, Navy is 5-8, after falling to Bucknell earlier this season and Johns Hopkins last weekend. The Mids last won an overtime game on March 5, 2004, a 9-8 win over fourth-ranked North Carolina.
* Navy has had decent success under Richie Meade in one-goal games. Navy has played in 41 one-goal outings under Meade, posting a 17-24 record in his 10-plus years at Navy.
* The four wins last season were tied for the most games won by one goal under Meade. Navy went 4-0 in 1997 in one-goal games.
Patriot League Success...
-- The Midshipmen excel against members of the Patriot League and will have two more chances to improve on the mark during the Patriot League Tournament.
* Navy is 14-1 against league opponents since joining the Patriot League last year.
* The Mids have won 22 of their last 23 games, dating back to 1997, against members of the Patriot League.
* Navy is 86-29-3 all-time against current members of the Patriot League.
Getting Defensive...
-- The Navy defense has been a big reason why Richie Meade's club is 9-3.
* In 12 games, Navy has allowed just 75 goals on 297 shots for a shooting percentage of just .253.
* Fifteen of the goals have come via man-up opportunities for the opponents, meaning only 60 goals have come even-strength, an average of 5.0 even-strength goals per game.
* The 38 goals allowed in the first eight games of the season were the fewest since the 1970 team held its first eight foes to just 36 goals.
* Navy has limited 12 of its last 30 opponents to five or fewer goals, and only four foes (Ohio State 2004, Army 2004, Syracuse 2004 and Georgetown 2005) have managed to reach double figures.
* The Mids have held seven of their 12 opponents to 25 or fewer shots, with Bucknell, Georgetown, Maryland, Army and Johns Hopkins being the exceptions. Since the start of last year, Navy has limited 15 of its 30 opponents to under 25 shots. When holding its foes to under 25 shots, Navy is 14-1 (Ohio State 2004) since the start of last year.
* Only seven foes (Bucknell, Colgate, Lehigh, Georgetown, Maryland, Army and Johns Hopkins) have had more than seven shots in a quarter this year. The Bison did it in all four quarters, Georgetown accomplished the feat in three quarters, Maryland had eight or more shots twice, Colgate recorded eight in the second quarter, Lehigh had nine in the first quarter, Army had 10 in the fourth quarter and Johns Hopkins had nine in the first quarter.
* In eight of the 24 halves played this year, Navy has limited its opponent to 10 or fewer shots.
* Navy has held 11 of its 12 opponents under their scoring average entering the game, and in 11 of 12 games (Georgetown), the Mids have shut out their opponent for over 15 minutes. The Mids have held their foes scoreless in 10 of the 48 quarters played this season.
Red-Hot EMO...
-- The Navy extra-man unit struggled out of the gates, but has now hit full stride.
* In Navy's first three games, the Mids went 0 for 8 on the EMO attack.
* However, in the nine games since, Navy is a red-hot 17-of-38 (.447), including a stellar 4-for-5 performance against Maryland. The performance has propelled the Navy EMO unit to 14th on the national list.
* The Mids have scored at least two EMO goals in six of the last nine games. The lone exceptions came against Colgate, (0-for-0), Army (1-for-1) and Johns Hopkins (0-for-1).
Eight is Enough...
-- The Mids showed an incredibly balanced attack in the 9-8 loss to Johns Hopkins.
* Eight different players scored one goal each in the setback, and nine players contributed for 11 points.
* It marked the second time this season that at least eight players had found the back of the net in a single game (Lafayette - 11 players scored goals).
* Eight different players have led the team in goals scored in a game this season.
The Last Line Of Defense...
-- Matt Russell burst onto the scene last year and is continuing his standout career as a junior in 2005. The Connecticut native earned the starting job in the team's third game last season and never let it go, earning First-Team All-America honors and claiming the Kelly Award as the nation's top goalie. He currently sports a 23-4 career record.
* Russell enjoyed a happy homecoming on opening weekend in the victory over Providence. Playing in front of several friends and family after growing up just 13 miles east of Branford, Conn., he stopped six shots and allowed just two goals in over 58 minutes of action.
* His performance over the first two weeks of the season earned him Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week, handed out Feb. 28. He earned three-consecutive Patriot League Defensive Player-of-the-Week citations after leading Navy to three straight wins over top 10 foes last year.
* Had another big game against North Carolina, stopping eight shots, including several from point-blank range. In the next contest, he stopped 12 shots in a loss to Bucknell.
* The performance against Lafayette and Colgate (13 saves) earned Russell his second Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week citation of the season and fifth of his career.
* Had a heroic effort against sixth-ranked Maryland, stopping 10 shots to lead Navy to the victory. He played the game with a severely sprained ankle and as of 1 p.m., on gameday, he wasn't going to play.
* He has saved at least 50 percent of the shots he has faced in 23-of-28 games he has played in since the start of last season. When Russell stops at least 50 percent of his shots, Navy is 21-2, with the lone losses coming to Johns Hopkins (Apr. 24, 2004) and Bucknell (March 12, 2005).
The Distributor...
-- Junior Jon Birsner has provided valuable playmaking skills to the Mids' attack this season.
* Birsner had a career game in the March 19 meeting with Colgate. He dished out eight assists, tied for the second-best total in school history, leading the Mids to an 11-6 win over the Raiders. The eight assists were the most since Mike Buzzell had eight in a 28-10 win over Delaware (April 11, 1978).
* The eight assists are the most in the NCAA this season and the eight points are tied for the most.
* He followed that performance with a six-point (3 g, 3 a) showing against Lehigh. The 14 points in consecutive games are the most since Mike Buzzell had 20 points (10 g, 10 a) in a two-game stretch against Delaware and Syracuse in 1978.
* With the three helpers against Lehigh, Birsner moved up two spots to No. 10 on the career assists list.
* Dished out two helpers against Georgetown.
* Birsner is also just two assists shy of 10th on the Patriot League's career top 10 list. Army's Eric Waltz (1990-93) is 10th with 64 and Colgate's Rob Lowe (1991-93) is ninth with 65.
* Recorded another stellar game against Army, scoring three points (1 g, 2 a).
* Has 18 career multi-assist games in just 41 career games.
* Has recorded assists (24) on 20.9 percent of Navy's goals (115) this season and has accounted for 36.9 percent of all of Navy's (62) assists this season.
Hendler Does It All...
-- Senior Mitch Hendler has played in 53 career games, but accomplished something against Army that he couldn't do in the other 52 games. Hendler's first career shot resulted in his first career goal with just 0.1 seconds left on the clock in the first period. The goal tied the game at 3-3 and gave the Mids some much-needed momentum heading into the second quarter.
* Hendler also scooped up his 75th career ground ball in the victory over Army.
* On Monday, Hendler was named one of 16 finalists for the Tewaaraton Trophy, given annually to the nation's top player. Hendler is just one of four defensemen named to the list.
Long Poles Standing Tall...
-- The Navy long poles have had a terrific season and hope to lead the Mids back to the NCAA Tournament.
* Navy's three starting defensemen, seniors Mike Felber and Mitch Hendler, and sophomore Andrew Dow, have been the core of a defense that ranks first in the country in scoring defense at 6.25 gpg.
* The trio has combined for 57 ground balls on the season, and Felber's 34 rank third on the squad.
* Meanwhile, Seth DiNola has had a stellar year on the face-off wing and at the long stick midfielder position. DiNola has distributed three assists and scooped up 17 ground balls.
Valuable Looneys Perform All Over the Field...
-- The Looney brothers have both stepped up their respective games in helping Navy to a 9-3 record and a No. 5 national ranking.
* The elder Steve, a junior, shows his versitility all over the field, performing on the top midfield line, the top face-off crew, defensive midfield and the EMO unit.
* He scored a career-best five points on five goals in leading Navy to a 9-2 triumph over Providence. It was a breakout game for the elder Looney, as he netted his second career hat trick.
* He the equaled it with a stellar performance against No. 7 North Carolina. He tallied five points (4 g, 1 a) and scooped up a Navy-season best nine ground balls.
* For his efforts against the Heels, he was named Insidelacrosse.com National Player of the Week, as well as Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week.
* Recorded a monster game against No. 4 Army, scoring three points (2 g, 1 a) and picking up eight ground balls. The effort earned him his second Patriot League Offensive Player-of-the-Week award this season.
* A ground-ball machine, Steve scooped up a game-high seven grounders against Johns Hopkins. He has gobbled up 156 career ground balls and needs just 58 to set a new school record.
* Steve was added to the Tewaaraton Award watch list midway through the season.
* Meanwhile, Billy, the reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Year, has started all 30 career games, and is averaging over a point a game for his career (37 career points in 30 games).
* He netted his first career multi-goal game against Colgate, then added four goals against Holy Cross.
* Led the Mids to a 12-9 triumph over Army with a team-best three goals. Two of his goals came in the second half to help Navy build an insurmountable lead.
Road Warriors...
-- A large amount of Navy's success over the last two years has come away from Annapolis. In true road games since the start of last season, Navy boasts a 9-2 record with the lone losses coming to Bucknell (8-7 in overtime) and Johns Hoplins (9-8 in overtime) earlier this year. Over the 11-game stretch, six of the wins have come against foes ranked in the nation's top 15, and five of the victories came against teams ranked outside of the top 15. Navy has outscored its foes in the last 111 road games, 108-66.
* In all games away from Annapolis (neutral sites included), the Mids are 13-3 since the start of last year, including 7-2 against ranked opposition. The lone losses were to Bucknell and Johns Hopkins (mentioned earlier) and to Syracuse in last year's national championship game.
Representation on All-League Teams...
-- The Mids were well represented on the Patriot League All-League teams as nine players earned spots on the first two teams. Graham Gill, Billy Looney, Chris Pieczonka, Mitch Hendler and Matt Russell earned spots on the first team, while Jon Birsner, Steve Looney, Clipper Lennon and Mike Felber were on the second team. Army and Bucknell each had five players named on the teams.
When The Whistle Blows...
-- The Mids are one of the most dominant teams in the country at the face-off "X", and all three primary face-off men are back and performing well.
* Senior Chris Pieczonka continued his standout career in the season opener against Providence, winning 10-of-14 face-offs and tying for the team lead with three grounds balls. He added a team-best five ground balls and went 12-of-20 from the "X" in the victory over Ohio State.
* Had a dominant performance against North Carolina, winning 13-of-18 face-offs versus the Tar Heels. In that contest, Pieczonka moved past Chris Dingman into the top spot on Navy's career face-offs won list.
* Returned from injury in the contest against Colgate, winning 12-of-19 face-offs. He followed that performance with a typical 10-of-15 showing against Lehigh, including 7-of-8 in the second half.
* Pieczonka finished below 50.0 percent in the loss to Georgetown. It marked the first time since last year's loss to Johns Hopkins (4/24/04) that he finished a game below 50.0 percent.
* Rebounded against Maryland to win 11-of-19 draws, including 5-of-6 in the fourth quarter. During that game, he won his 300th career face-off and scooped up his 150th career ground ball.
* Turned in another solid performance against Army, winning 13-of-22 draws.
* Pieczonka currently ranks eighth on the all-time NCAA career list for face-off win percentage (.633).
-- When Pieczonka struggles, Meade has been able to call on a pair of steady sophomores.
* William Wallace has won 67 percent of his face-offs this season, including a 4-for-7 performance against Johns Hopkins.
* Wallace equaled an NCAA record accomplished only six other times in NCAA history when he won all 13 of his face-offs against Lafayette.
* Wallace also took the majority of face-offs against Holy Cross, winning 8-of-14.
* Fellow sophomore Tommy Wallin has also had success, winning almost 52 percent this year. Wallin was 3-for-3 against Holy Cross and 6-of-11 against Bucknell.
Mirabito Off To Great Start...
-- Head coach Richie Meade has had a long line of freshmen succeed in his offense, and this year is no different.
* Nick Mirabito is third on the team in scoring with 25 points and has scored at least two points in nine-of-12 games this year.
* He tallied three points (2 g, 1 a) in the loss to Bucknell. He also scooped up a career-best five ground balls against the Bison.
* He followed that performance with a two-point showing against Lafayette, then potted his first career hat trick in the victory over Colgate. The performance earned him Patriot League Rookie-of-the-Week honors on March 22.
* Netted two goals against Army, including a second-period tally that gave Navy a 6-4 advantage.
* With 25 points, he is eighth among the nation's freshmen in scoring and his 19 goals are the fifth most among the nation's rookies.
* He is tied for second on the team with 19 goals. * Has tallied three points four different times this season, and has scored in every game thus far in his career.
* Tied wth Billy Looney as Navy's top goal scorer in Patriot League play with 12 goals.
Seniors Get Service Assignments...
-- The Midshipman seniors received their service assignments before the start of the season. Seth DiNola, Mike Felber, Graham Gill, Dan Harris, Ben Horn, Clipper Lennon and James Sullivan received Navy pilot. Matt Hage, Mitch Hendler, Matt Meehan, Chris Pieczonka and Pat Reilley received surface warfare, while Karl Hassenfratz received submarines, and Dwayne Osgood received Marine naval flight officer.
The Difference...
-- Looking at the statistics, it is pretty easy to tell the difference between Navy winning and losing.
* In Navy's nine wins, the Mids are outscoring the opposition, 82-38, and outshooting its foes, 331-164.
* In Navy's three losses, opponents are outscoring Navy, 28-21, and outshooting the Mids, 105-87.
Quartet Named To "Watch" List...
-- Four of Navy's six Preseason All-Americans were named to the Tewaaraton Award Foundation's watch list. The list consists of 39 players with Navy and Virginia boasting the most players among those vying for one of the most prestigious awards in college lacrosse.
* Matt Russell is joined by teammates Mitch Hendler, Graham Gill and Steve Looney.
* The list will be voted upon by coaches and narrowed as the season progresses, ultimately reaching a final list of the five men who constitute the award's finalists.
* Navy was the only school with four players on the list, surpassing Virginia's three.
* The Mids will play against 11 players that are on the list during the course of the year. Three (Chris Cara from Bucknell and Jim Wagner and John Walker from Army) are members of the Patriot League.
* Senior defenseman Mitch Hendler is the lone Mid to make the cut, as during the past week, the list was dwindled to 16 players.
Preseason Favorites...
-- The high national accolades have resulted in preseason success for the Mids in the Patriot League as well. After cruising through their inaugural season in Patriot League with an undefeated 7-0 record, the Mids aim to repeat as league champion.
* The Mids were the preseason favorite to claim the 2005 Patriot League title. In a vote of the Patriot League's coaches and sports information directors, Navy, who was ranked No. 4 in the country according to the Face-Off Magazine/Inside Lacrosse Preseason Poll, received 12 of the 14 first-place votes, with Army picked second and Bucknell third.
* It marked the second straight year that Navy was selected as the preseason favorite. Navy won the 2004 title after being picked first in the preseason and repeated the feat again in 2005.
A Coaching Rarity...
-- Navy has pulled off a rare double-feature, which hasn't happened too often in the historical realms of coaching success. Navy is the only school in the country that can boast two current national coaches of the year.
* Lacrosse coach Richie Meade was named the 2004 Coach of the Year following last year's historical run to the NCAA title game, while football coach Paul Johnson won the 2004 Bobby Dodd award given to the nation's top coach. Johnson led the Mids to a 10-2 record and an Emerald Bowl victory.
The Last Word...
* Navy tied an NCAA record by scoring goals just five seconds apart in last Saturday's loss to Johns Hopkins.
* With a goal today against Lehigh, Ben Horn will become just one of 18 players in NCAA history to tally a goal in 14 straight games. Horn has connected in 13 straight outings.
* Navy has scored back-to-back goals within one minute of each other 17 times this season.
* The Mids claimed their eighth-consecutive N-Star with a 12-9 victory over Army last Saturday. The win, also coupled with Navy's victories over the Black Knights in men's and women's outdoor track and field, sewed up the star competition against Army. Navy, which holds a 12-8-1 record against Army in star matches this season with just baseball left, claimed its eighth-consecutive N-Star all-sports victory.
* Since the start of the 2002 season, when opposing teams have 35 or more shots, the Mids are 3-9.
* Navy is 18-2 over that same time frame when holding opponents to five or fewer goals (Georgetown 2003 and Penn State 2003).
* The No. 2 national ranking on March 7 equals Navy's highest ranking of all-time. The Mids were No. 2 for eight weeks last season.
* Navy has been ranked in at least one poll in 32 of the last 33 years, dating back to 1973.
# GO NAVY #
