Drew helps Leanos win 200th

Drew's Tom Leanos

MADISON

– Sean McNulty scored the golden goal as Drew men’s lacrosse secured a 7-6 win at Catholic on Saturday March 28 and gave Drew’s Head Coach Tom Leanos his 200th career win.

 

Jon Bucknam scored midway through the fourth period to force overtime before McNulty’s unassisted winner gave Drew its fourth consecutive win and a 2-0 record in the Landmark Conference.

 

Senior netminder Mike Celentano had another good game in goal for the Rangers with seven saves.

 

Leanos has recorded 179 wins at Drew in 21 seasons. Prior to his time with the Rangers, he posted a 21-24 record at Southhampton College. Three times he has been named his conference’s Coach of the Year.

 

At the beginning of the season, he was ranked 8th in Division III in wins among active coaches and 14th all-time. His .544 winning percentage ranks him 38th among active and 45th all-time.

Even Stevens Falls to Endicott

Stevens Men's Lacrosse

HOBOKEN

– The Stevens Institute of Technology men’s lacrosse team scored the game’s final five goals, but it was not enough as the Ducks fell to No. 6 Endicott College, 11-9 on Wednesday night at the De Baun Athletic Complex in Hoboken. A dominant third quarter by the Gulls (5-0) extended a two-goal halftime lead to six, and the Ducks could never recover.

Stevens (3-3) was led by three tallies from senior midfielder Alex Heckmanand two goals and an assist from seniors Matt Keating and J. R. Oreskovich. The Gulls were keyed by four goals from senior Nick Cosco (Londenderry, N.H.) and two scores and four assists from senior Brandon Dube (Danvers, Mass.).

Dube scored 47 seconds into the fourth quarter to give Endicott its largest lead of the contest at 11-4, and it looked like the Gulls had taken all the life out of the Ducks. From that point on however, it was all Stevens as Keating started the rally with unassisted goal with 12:16 left. Sophomore midfielder Chris Laurita brought the Ducks to within five 47 ticks later, and Keating then put away a nice feed from Oreskovich with 9:48 left.

Heckman and senior Eric Smith hooked up with 5:45 to go to make the score 11-8, and Heckman fired home a laser to pull the Ducks within two with 2:04 showing on the clock.

Face-offs were a huge reason why the Gulls came out on top. They won 19-of-24 on the night and won several key ones late to secure the win.

UMBC Stops Rutgers Men

Men's Lacrosse

BALTIMORE, Md. –

The Rutgers men’s lacrosse team jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, but a potent UMBC offensive attacked proved to be too much as the Scarlet Knights fell 17-10 to the nationally-ranked Retrievers Saturday afternoon at UMBC Stadium.

Sophomore Kory Kelly (Princeton) scored a career-high tying four goals and senior Jeff Rommel (Syracuse, N.Y.) tallied two goals and dished out two assists to lead Rutgers (1-2).

The Retrievers, ranked No. 9 in the latest Inside Lacrosse media poll, out-shot the Scarlet Knights 45-35 as they improve to 2-0 on the year. Peet Poillon recorded four goals to pace UMBC.

Mike Dugan (Summit) scored the first goal of the game just over a minute in and his score was immediately followed by two strikes from Kelly to give Rutgers a 3-0 lead at the 4:44 mark of the first quarter. Alex Hopmann scored UMBC’s only goal of the quarter at the 3:34 mark to cut RU’s lead to two at the end of the first stanza.

Rutgers started off the second quarter hot, as well as Dugan tallied his second goal of the game to push RU’s lead to three (4-1) just over two minutes into the second. UMBC would control the remainder of the quarter though, posting six of the next seven goals, including two from Kyle Wimer. The Retrievers would hold a 7-5 halftime lead.

UMBC would continue its momentum after the intermission, scoring five of the first six goals to begin the third quarter. Rommel netted his first goal of the day with 1:25 left in the third to bring RU to within five (12-7). The Retrievers would put the game out of reach to start the fourth though, scoring four consecutive goals. Brendan Porter (Maplewood), Rommel and Kelly would all score late in the fourth, but the Scarlet Knights would get no closer than six goals.

Junior midfielder Justin Pennington (Flemington), who led the team with three assists, failed to score for the first time this season. 

Big City Classic Showcases College Lacrosse

Princeton

BALTIMORE

– The annual Syracuse-Princeton lacrosse showdown will take place at Giants Stadium this season as part of the inaugural Big City Classic on Saturday, April 4, 2009. The Orange and Tigers will faceoff at 2:30 p.m. as the middle game of a tripleheader that also features North Carolina versus Virginia (12:00 p.m.) and Delaware versus Hofstra (5:00 p.m.).

Syracuse and Princeton have combined to win 16 NCAA titles, and the game pits the two active Division I head coaches with the most NCAA championships against one another. Princeton’s Bill Tierney leads all active Division I mentors with six national championships. Orange head coach John Desko is second on that list with four, including the 2008 NCAA crown.

Tickets for the Big City Classic are scheduled to go on sale Dec. 1. Prices will be $15 for group purchases of 10 or more, $25 for lower level reserved seats and $40 for mezzanine level reserved seats at Giants Stadium.

The 2009 season marks the third consecutive year the Orange will participate in a major regular-season lacrosse event. The past two years Syracuse and Virginia have squared off in the Face-Off Classic, a doubleheader organized by Inside Lacrosse at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium.

“We are very excited to be playing in Giants Stadium against Princeton the first weekend of April,” Desko said. “After being involved in the Face-Off Classic the last two years, we know that being part of the Big City Classic will be a great experience for everyone associated with Syracuse lacrosse.”

“For the past three years, Inside Lacrosse has been committed to creating events that will expose fans to the energy and passion of college lacrosse,” IL publisher Bob Carpenter said. “One of the glaring absences our sport’s had to date is that the top level of Division I men’s lacrosse has never been played on the doorstep of New York City. This is the No. 1 media market in the world. To showcase the sport on such a big stage, we knew we had to bring together as much talent as possible. With the combination of these programs, we feel we’re bringing to the New York metropolitan area one of the strongest lineups ever assembled.”

The six teams involved in this year’s event have advanced to the NCAA semifinals a combined 67 times and have won 24 NCAA Championships. The Orange has accounted for 25 of those semifinal berths and almost half of the NCAA titles (10).

Syracuse and Princeton have met 24 times with the Orange holding a 16-8 advantage in the series. Ten series meetings have come in the NCAA playoffs, including four that have decided the national championship. Syracuse defeated the Tigers in 2000 and 2002 to win the title. Princeton knocked off the Orange in overtime in 1992 and 2001 to claim the crown.

Schmidt Joins Scarlet Knights

Rutgers

PISCATAWAY – After a stellar playing career at Rutgers, Nick Schmidt returns as a volunteer assistant coach on the Scarlet Knights staff in 2009. He will focus primarily on player development, working directly with the attack. He’ll be focusing on teaching fundamentals with shooting and dodging and analyzing film.  

Schmidt, who played for Rutgers from 2000-03, was a part of the incredible turnaround of RU lacrosse. In his first three years, the team won a combined 10 games. During his senior campaign the Scarlet Knights went 10-5 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 12 years. As a senior, Schmidt tallied 16 goals and added eight assists.

 

 

Additionally, Schmidt is entering his sixth year playing Major League Lacrosse (MLL). In 2007, he tallied 18 points and scooped 23 ground balls. He is a current member of the Chicago Machine after playing for both the New Jersey Pride and the Los Angeles Riptide.

The former Scarlet Knight has also had the chance to coach at the youth and high school levels for the last five years. Schmidt has received his teaching certification and has founded the South Brunswick Youth Lacrosse program to help the growth of the sport in the state of New Jersey.

From 2004-08, Schmidt was the assistant coach at South Brunswick High School. His team compiled a 75-21 overall record during his tenure and in 2007 they captured the Greater Middlesex Conference Division Championship. While at South Brunswick, Schmidt coached current Scarlet Knights Kory Kelly (2008 ECAC Co-Rookie of the Year) and Zach Zenda.

Schmidt and current assistant coach Jason Basso both graduated in 1999 from Hicksville High School in Long Island. Both played together at RU during the 2001 and 2002 seasons. Schmidt graduated from Rutgers in 2003 with a degree in Management and Labor Relations. He also received his teaching certification from Kean University in Union.

Tigers Announce 2009 Captains, Schedule

Princeton

PRINCETON – The Princeton men’s lacrosse team will play 14 games during the 2009 regular season, which will have the earliest start in program history when the Tigers host Canisius on Feb. 21.

Princeton will return to the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic to face 2008 NCAA runner-up Johns Hopkins on Feb. 28 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, where Duke-Maryland will now be the other game of the doubleheader. Princeton will face defending NCAA champion Syracuse on April 4 (site and time TBA).

The week after the Johns Hopkins game will have a much different feel to it in 2009, as the Tigers have replaced Virginia with a trip to UMBC on Saturday March 7 and a home game against Manhattan on Sunday, March 8.

Princeton will also travel to Hofstra (March 14) and Rutgers (March 24) and host Albany (March 20) before playing its Ivy opener March 28 against Yale.

Princeton is home with Harvard, Dartmouth and Brown and at Yale, Penn and Cornell in league games.

The Tigers return five starters from last year, when Princeton went 7-6. Graduation claimed All-America goalie Alex Hewit, All-America defensemen Dan Cocoziello, All-Ivy midfielder Bob Schneider, Major League Lacrosse draft choice Pete Striebel and  four-year starting attackman Alex Haynie, as well as top shortstick defensive midfielder Zack Goldberg.

Still, Princeton returns leading scorer Tommy Davis and Ivy League Rookie of the Year Jack McBride on attack; starters Chris Peyser, Jeremy Hirsch and Charlie Kolkin on defense; shortstick defensive middie Brendan Reilly; and a legion of offensive midfielders. Mark Kovler, the team’s leading scorer before breaking his foot and missing the last third of the season, is also back.  

 

 

 

Peyser and Reilly will serve as the team co-captains. Princeton will also feature the nation’s top freshman class, according to Inside Lacrosse, which ranked nine of the team’s newcomers among the Top 100 freshmen nationally.

Princeton will also play its annual alumni game on Friday, Oct. 17.

This is an edited portion of Princeton media release.

 

New Schedule for Knights

Rutgers

PISCATAWAY –

Rutgers men’s lacrosse head coach Jim Stagnitta has announced the Scarlet Knights schedule for the upcoming 2009 season. The slate includes matchups with three teams that advanced to the 2008 NCAA Tournament, including defending national champion Syracuse.

 

 

 

“Each year our goal is to play a schedule that is not only challenging, but gives us the best opportunity to compete for an NCAA Tournament bid,” said Stagnitta. “The 2009 schedule accomplishes this as we play the very competitive ECAC slate along with a few very strong non-league games, including matchups with UMBC, Army, Princeton and Syracuse.”

The Scarlet Knights open the season with what will be a BIG EAST conference game in 2010 against Villanova on February 14. Game time for the home opener is set for 1 p.m. at the RU Turf Field. Rutgers will then embark on a four-game road trip against Manhattan, UMBC, St. Joseph’s and Fairfield. The matchup with Fairfield on March 7 will be the ECAC opener for the Scarlet Knights.

RU will host three non-league games in March against Army (March 14), Princeton (March 24) and Wagner (March 31). The matchup against Wagner will be the first game of the season played at Yurcak Field. March will also feature two additional road ECAC games at Hobart and St. John’s.

The first league home game will take place on April 4 when the Scarlet Knights host defending ECAC champion Loyola. Rutgers will next travel to Syracuse to take on the defending national champions on April 11. Two of RU’s final three regular season games will be at home against Penn State (April 19) and versus Massachusetts (May 2). The Scarlet Knights will be making their longest road trip of the season on April 25, heading out to Denver, Colo. to compete against Georgetown.

“The addition of Villanova to the schedule helps in our transition to the BIG EAST conference in 2010,” explained Stagnitta. “Every weekend we face a talented opponent and the final stretch always keeps us in the hunt and with something to play for.”

The Scarlet Knights finished the 2008 season with a 6-7 overall mark and a 4-3 record in ECAC play, good enough for third place. RU returns 98 percent of its scoring offense from a season ago.

Rutgers Media Release

 

Ducks set to celebrate

 HOBOKEN – The Stevens Institute of Technology Department of Athletics announced its plans for the 125th anniversary celebration of men’s lacrosse as a collegiate sport at Stevens. The celebration, which is going on for the entire year, will be highlighted by the 125th Anniversary Weekend that takes place on October 24 and 25, 2008. The Ducks men’s lacrosse squad will actually kick-off the competitive season on February 22, 2009 when they host Muhlenberg College. The 125th Anniversary Weekend begins with the Lacrosse Alumni Golf Outing on Friday, October 24. The outing will begin at 1 p.m. at the Black Bear Golf Club in Franklin, N.J., and a dinner celebration will follow the outing.

The weekend will wrap-up with the alumni game on Saturday the 25th of October. A team of alumni will take on the 125th Stevens men’s lacrosse team at the De Baun Athletic Complex at 4 p.m.

To put the significance of this anniversary in perspective consider the following. Stevens lacrosse began in 1884, before The U.S. Golf Open began (1895), the first Olympics (1896), Major League Baseball’s World Series (1903), and the NCAA (1905).

For more information on the weekend, please contact Anthony Brown at (201) 577-8987 or Anthony.Brown@stevens.edu

 

 

Mercy tabs Chatham’s Manitta

DOBBS FERRY, NY – (October 10, 2008) — Mercy College Director of Athletics Pat Kennedy named Steve Manitta the school’s first head men’s lacrosse coach on Tuesday. He will begin his duties effective immediately. Manitta will take the reigns and spend the remainder of 2008-2009 recruiting and laying the groundwork for the team. The Mavericks will begin competition in 2009-2010 in the East Coast Conference (ECC), traditionally one of the strongest NCAA Division II conferences in the nation.

“We are excited to have Steve Manitta become Mercy’s first men’s lacrosse coach,” said Kennedy. “We are very fortunate to find a coach who possesses a great combination of experience and passion for the sport of lacrosse and an understanding of the College’s mission. Steve’s vision and leadership abilities will be the cornerstones of the program and I look forward to watching him build it from the ground up.”

“I am grateful to President Cline and Pat Kennedy for the exciting opportunity to spearhead the inaugural Mercy men’s lacrosse program,” Manitta said. “I am eagerly anticipating the process of building the team. What makes this start-up program unique is that Mercy College is geographically placed in the center of several converging lacrosse hotbeds. Student-athletes who make the decision to share my vision will contribute immediately to the success of this fledgling program.”

Manitta served as the head boys lacrosse coach at Chatham High School (NJ) from 2001-08. He will continue to coach the Chatham team this spring since both the college and the high school do not consider it a conflict of interest. The college team will not be active until the spring of 2010. He was the winningest coach in program history, compiling a 115-47 record. During his tenure he coached five All-American players, including 2008 New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Player of the Year Peter Coleman. In his first season, he produced the first state-ranked team in school history and reached No. 7 in the state in 2006.

In 2002, Manitta guided his team to an appearance in the quarterfinals of the New Jersey State Championships. He was rewarded with Waterman Division Coach of the Year honors while also being tabbed Coach of the Year by the Star Ledger and the Daily Record.

Manitta notched his 100th career win in 2005. He went on to lead Chatham High School to back-to-back Iron Hills Conference titles in 2007 and 2008, earning NJSIAA Coach of the Year honors in 2007 followed by New Jersey Interscholastic Lacrosse Association (NJILCA) and Fitch Division Coach of the Year honors in 2008. He also recorded his 100th win with the Cougars and guided the team to a No. 4 ranking in the state. Manitta was selected to coach the Gill Gibbs Senior All-Star Game twice (2002, 2008).

Manitta also brings a wealth of experience with U.S. Lacrosse and International Lacrosse, coaching since 1998. During his tenure he has created rosters of elite players from northwest New Jersey. Manitta has coached numerous all-stars from Morris County and directed the squad to 11 straight Garden State Challenge Games championships.

Prior to his time at Chatham High School, Manitta was the head coach at Roxbury High School in Succasunna, NJ from 1993-2000. He built the program into a state tournament participant in his third year and made yearly appearances in the Morris County Tournament.

A native of Fulton, NY, Manitta played at SUNY Morrisville, earning All-Region honors as a midfielder in 1989. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in business management from Nyack College. He and his wife Kimberly, a teacher in the Somerset Hills School District, have two children – Teddy (4) and Colin (2).

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