May. 3, 2005

Stony Brook, N.Y. - The Stony Brook Seawolves men's lacrosse team enters the 2005 America East tournament as the No. 4 seed and will take on top seed UMBC on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. Stony Brook (9-5) defeated UMBC (7-7) in a regular season matchup back on April 23 and will look to advance past the semifinal round for the first time since 2002. The game will be carried live on WUSB 90.1 FM and live game stats can be accessed at www.americaeast.com/local/championshiplive.htm.

Backdrop: Stony Brook and UMBC meet for the first time in the America East playoffs Wednesday night. It is the second meeting between the two teams this season.

Versus UMBC: UMBC leads the all-time series 6-3, but Stony Brook has won the last two meetings.

On The Road: Stony Brook is 5-2 away from home this season. The Seawolves are 1-3 all-time at UMBC -- its lone win was a 6-5 triumph last season.

Earlier This Year: On April 23, Stony Brook held off a late UMBC rally to post a 10-9 win at LaValle Stadium. Stony Brook held a 9-4 lead after three quarters and extended its lead to 10-6 with eight minutes to go, but the Retrievers scored three times in a span of 4:30 to get within 10-9 with 2:12 to play. Larry Cerasi intercepted a pass with 30 seconds to go to seal the win for SB. Bo Tripodi led the way for Stony Brook with three goals and two assists.

Finish What You Started: On February 26, Bo Tripodi made his Seawolf debut by scoring five goals in Stony Brook's 14-9 win over Delaware. In the regular season finale, Tripodi again struck for five goals to bring his team leading goal total to 25.

The Rookie: Tripodi has made quite a splash in the America East this season. He leads all conference rookies in goals scored (25) and total points (35). He currently ranks 10th in the conference in points per game (2.5) and seventh in goals per game (1.79). His 25 goals tied him for the fourth highest total in conference play in 2005. On Monday, Tripodi was named America East Co-Rookie of the Week. It was the fifth time this season that he has earned the award.

Cap Sets New Mark: Jason Cappadoro had a goal and an assist against Binghamton to raise his season point total to 47, surpassing his previous high of 46. He now has 136 career points which is good enough for eighth place on SB's all-time scoring list. Cappadoro's 54 career assists is fifth best all-time. Should Cappadoro scored three or more points in the playoffs he will become the 15th player in school history to score 50 or more points in one season.

Who's In Goal?: Freshman Matt Ural and sophomore Brendan Callahan have each played one half in the last two games. It was Callahan's first action since he injured his knee against Army on April 8. Ural made 12 saves in the win over UMBC earlier this season.

On A Roll: Cappadoro has scored at least one point in 34 straight games dating back to his freshman season. He has recorded at least one point in 41 of the 43 games in which he has played.

Playoff History: A look at SB in the America East playoffs: 2002 (No. 4 seed)
Semifinals: Stony Brook 7, Hartford 6 OT
Finals: Stony Brook 8, Albany 6
NCAA: Cornell 12, Stony Brook 3

2003 (No. 3 seed)
Semifinals: Albany 11, Stony Brook 5

2004 (No. 4 seed)
Semifinals: Binghamton 7, Stony Brook 6 OT

Extra Special: Stony Brook's extra-man unit has been outstanding all year long. The Seawolves have converted 23 of 71 (.451) man-up opportunities which ranks second in the nation - only Denver (.452) has a better man-up unit to this point in the season. SB is 0-2 in games where it has not scored a man-up goal (Albany and Binghamton).

Facing Off: One of Stony Brook strengths this season has been its performance on faceoffs. Jim Astea has captured over 60 percent of his draws while Michael Poch has won a solid 55 percent. However, it the previous game between the two teams, UMBC had the face-off edge winning 14 of 23 (.609) draws.

Taking Offense: Stony Brook's offense has been one of the most potent in the nation in 2005. It has averaged 11.29 goals per game which ranks ninth in the nation. SB has seven players who have scored 10 or more goals this season.

On The Attack: Stony Brook's attack trio of Jason Cappadoro, Adam Marksberry and Bo Tripodi has scored 66 goals and 61 assists this season.

A Good Sign?: The last time that Stony Brook played a game on May 4th was in 2002. On that day, the Seawolves defeated Albany 8-6 to win the America East title.

News And Notes: A win on Wednesday and the Seawolves have their first double-digit win season since 2002 and only the third in its history . . . Bo Tripodi leads the team in game-winning goals with five . . . Sean Chamberlain has scored a team-best nine man-up goals . . . Rhys Duch leads all SB middies with 16 goals . . . SB is 2-2 versus ranked teams this season and 4-45 all-time against ranked opponents.