March 24, 2008

Army took home three men's lacrosse weekly awards, while Navy earned one. Army's weekly award winners were Jason Peyer (Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week), Adam Fullerton (Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week) and Rob McCallion (Patriot League Rookie of the Week) and Navy's was Geoff Leone (Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week).

Patriot League Men's Lacrosse Release - 3.24.08

Offensive Player of the Week
Jason Peyer, Army
Jr., A, Williston Park, N.Y.
Peyer totaled six goals over a pair of Patriot League wins for Army last week. The junior attack scored both of his goals versus Lehigh in the fourth quarter of a tight 4-3 eventual win for the Black Knights. At 12:45 in the fourth quarter he put Army up 3-2 and tacked on Army's final goal at the 6:53 mark. Peyer went on to score a career-high four goals in a win over Holy Cross. For the week he had seven ground balls.

Defensive Player of the Week
Geoff Leone, Navy
Jr., DM, Massapequa, N.Y.
Leone was part of a Navy defensive unit that lowered its goals allowed average to 4.28 by giving up just three scores in both of its wins last week against Patriot League foes No. 12 Bucknell and Colgate. The Mids held Bucknell scoreless for 43-plus minutes (6:19 1st to 10:13 4th) and kept Colgate off the board for just under 54 minutes (9:16 1st to 0:54 4th). Leone also chipped in a goal in each of the Mids games last week.

Goalkeeper of the Week
Adam Fullerton, Army
Sr., Liverpool, N.Y.
Fullerton notched two Patriot League victories last week with a 4-3 win at Lehigh and a 14-5 victory over Holy Cross. The senior captain stopped 11 shots, including one as time expired, in the 4-3 victory over Lehigh. The game marked the fifth straight with double-digit saves for Fullerton. He added seven saves in the win over Holy Cross on Saturday.

Rookie of the Week
Rob McCallion, Army
Fr., M, Narberth, Pa.
McCallion tallied both a goal and an assist in Army's two wins last week. The freshman midfielder scored the game-tying goal in the third period of an eventual 4-3 win over Lehigh. The Keystone State native ranks third among Patriot League freshmen in points per game (2.43).

Honorable Mention

Matt Antonelli, Bucknell
Jr., GK, Arnold, Md.
Came in as relief in the second quarter of a 4-3 overtime loss at No. 8 Navy...Made 11 saves and recorded a .846 save percentage...Allowed just two goals.

Eric Spirko, Lehigh
Sr., GK, Manlius, N.Y.
Held nationally-ranked Army to four goals and St. John's to three...Recorded double-digit saves in both games last week with 12 versus Army and 10 against St. John's...Owned a .759 save percentage.

Tim Paul, Navy
So., A, Parkton, Md.
Paul scored the game-winning goal in overtime versus No. 12 Bucknell to give the Mids a 4-3 victory...He added two goals in a victory over Colgate...Had one assist in each contest last week.

Tommy Phelan, Navy
Jr., GK, Towson, Md.
Made 13 saves in a win over Colgate in first collegiate start...Posted an 81.3 save percentage versus the Raiders...Notched two wins last week.

Patriot League Notebook

Clinching a Berth
Navy became the first team to clinch a berth in the 2008 Patriot League Tournament with its win over Colgate. The Mids are 5-0 in League games and have only a tilt versus rival Army on April 12 remaining on their Patriot League slate. The Mids will be making their fifth-straight Patriot League Tournament appearance, having qualified for the tournament each of the five years since joining the League in the sport of men's lacrosse in 2003. Navy has been crowned tournament champion each of the previous four seasons.

Defensive Week
Last week saw four games in which a Patriot League team held its opponent to just three goals. Navy accomplished this feat twice in a 4-3 overtime win against Bucknell and an 8-3 victory over Colgate. Army held Lehigh to three goals last Wednesday, while the Mountain Hawks turned around to limit their next opponent - St. John's - the just three tallies on Saturday.

In all last week, no winning Patriot League team gave up double-digit goals with the most being five.

Top -10
Senior Nick Mirabito moved into the top 10 on the Patriot League's career points chart, now with 146 in his career. Mirabito is currently tied with Colgate's Joby Fowler (1994-97) for 10th on the list and would need two more points to move into a tie for ninth. He has 89 goals and 57 assists in his career.

Mirabito moved up on the Patriot League's career list with his third hat trick of the season on Sunday at Colgate and 14th of his career in front of friends and family as he hails from nearby Binghamton, N.Y. He has now produced a point in 14- straight games this spring and 54 of the 55 games during his collegiate career.

Quotable
"(Eric) Spirko has really come on of late. He's on top of his game right now and in this sport you can really ride a hot goalie. He allows us to stay in games and overall the defense has been tremendous these last few games. Our assistant coaches, Taylor Wray and Brendan Callahan, have done a great job with the defense and goal keepers, and it's really showed here of late." - Lehigh Head Coach Kevin Cassese on senior goalkeeper Eric Spirko

2008 Men's Lacrosse Championship
The 2008 Patriot League Tournament will take place on Friday, April 25 and Sunday, April 27 at the site of the highest seed. The top four teams in the regular-season standings will advance to the Patriot League tourney. The championship game on Sunday will be broadcast on CSTV.

Team Notebooks

Army Army notched a pair of Patriot League wins last week with victories over Lehigh, 4-3, and Holy Cross, 14-5. Junior Jason Peyer scored two goals, including the game-winner, in the fourth quarter of a tight 4-3 victory at Lehigh on Wednesday, before netting a career-high four goals in Army's victory over Holy Cross on Saturday. Senior Adam Fullerton stopped 11 shots, including one as time expired, as Army held on for the 4-3 victory at Lehigh. The game marked Fullerton's fifth-straight game with double-digit saves. On Saturday, Fullerton stopped seven shots in the win over Holy Cross. Army plays at Hofstra on Tuesday and hosts Colgate on Saturday.

Bucknell Bucknell dropped its only game last week to Patriot League foe Navy, 4-3, in overtime. Sophomore Austin Winter netted two goals for the Bison, while senior Nick Marks had the other. Junior keeper Matt Antonelli came off the bench with Bucknell trailing 2-1 early in the second quarter, Antonelli made nine saves before allowing his first goal in the fourth quarter, and he finished with 11 stops while allowing only two goals in 43:41 of action. Junior Billy Haire led all players in the game with seven ground balls. Bucknell hit the road for a pair of games this week, facing Towson on Tuesday and Holy Cross on Saturday.

Colgate Colgate faced nationally-ranked opponents in back-to-back games last week, falling to No. 1 Duke and No. 8 Navy. Junior Brandon Corp pushed his scoring streak to 24 games with a goal against Navy. Corp has 52 goals and 25 assists during the stretch. His 24-game streak ranks ninth in Division I lacrosse. Senior faceoff specialist Chris Eck won his 550th faceoff on Sunday versus Navy. He currently ranks eighth all-time in Division I lacrosse history in faceoff wins. His 914 attempts is 10th. He owns the Colgate record for both. Colgate's only game this week is at Army on Saturday.

Holy Cross Sophomore Edison Parzanese led the Crusaders with two goals and two assists in a loss to Army on Saturday in Patriot League action. Army was the second-straight nationally ranked team the Crusaders have faced. Holy Cross junior goalie Jimmy Harrison made six saves in 52:33 minutes of action, while sophomore Connor Sweeney stopped one shot. Holy Cross returns to action on Wednesday at Dartmouth and will host Patriot League foe Bucknell on Saturday.

Lafayette Lafayette dropped a pair of games last week, falling to Stony Brook and No. 14 Drexel. Freshman Tom Perini had four goals in both games last week and now paces the Patriot League with 21 goals on the season. Lafayette returns to action when it hosts archrival Lehigh on Saturday evening.

Lehigh Lehigh went 1-1 last week with a 7-3 win over St. John's on Saturday and a 4-3 loss to nationally-ranked Army on Wednesday in Patriot League action. Senior Eric Spirko held two straight opponents to less than ten goals, while the three goals allowed versus St John's was a season low. This week marked the first time all season he's had back-to-back double-digit save games (10 vs. St. John's and 12 vs. Army). Freshman Richard Bradley netted two goals in the win over St John's, while classmate Jonathan Stumpf had a goal against both Army and St. John's. Lehigh will host Delaware on Tuesday and play at archrival Lafayette on Saturday.

Navy Navy tallied two Patriot League wins last week to clinch a spot in the Patriot League Tournament. The Mids defeated No. 12 Bucknell, 4-3, in overtime and Colgate, 8-3. Navy has now won 18 consecutive games against Patriot League teams. Sophomore Tim Paul provided the game-winning goal in overtime against the Bison. Paul also scored Navy's first two goals of the Colgate game, giving the Mids a 2-1 advantage, a lead it would not relinquish. With just six goals allowed last week, Navy lowered its average to 4.28 for the year. Navy has held four of its five Patriot League foes to three goals this spring, including each of the last three. Only Holy Cross has scored more with five. Navy hosts nationally-ranked Georgetown on Saturday in a game that will be broadcast on CSTV.