Top-Ranked Orange Hosts UMass on Senior Day
4/25/2008 8:54:24 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Game Notes (.pdf) | Webcast | Live Stats
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The No. 1-ranked Syracuse men's lacrosse team (11-1) will go for its 10th win in a row when it plays host to Massachusetts on Saturday, April 26 at 2 p.m. The contest is the Orange's final home game of the regular season and 14 student-athletes and one manager will be recognized in a brief Senior Day ceremony prior to faceoff.
Tickets for Saturday's game are $8 for adults and $4 for youth 12 and under. They are available via SUathletics.com (click here) or the Carrier Dome Box Office (1-888-DOMETIX). The first 250 fans through the gate Saturday will receive a free STX Syracuse lacrosse T-Shirt.
Orange fans can also follow the action on the Syracuse Radio Network. Brian Higgins and Kyle Fetterly will have the call on TK-99.5 FM. Live streaming video and audio of the contest can also be found on SUathletics.com via Orange All Access. The game will also be televised live in the Syracuse area on Time Warner 26.
The 14 members of the SU program walking in the Senior Day ceremony are:
• Evan Brady - Two-time captain; 20 ground balls in 2008.
• Danny Brennan - Leads the nation in faceoff winning pct. (.671).
• Steven Brooks - 2008 Tewaaraton Trophy nominee.
• John Carrozza - Assisted on the game-tying goal at Johns Hopkins in 2008.
• Peter Coluccini - Made 22 saves versus Cornell in 2007.
• Kyle Guadagnolo - Has started SU's last 40 games at close defense.
• Mike Leveille - 51-straight games with a point; Teams leading scorer.
• Brendan Loftus - Tied for the team lead with four game-winning goals.
• Mike MacDonald - Career-high four goals versus Rutgers in 2007.
• Sean McGonigle - Has 14 ground balls this year.
• John Mecionis - Member of SU's man-down unit.
• Morey Mossovitz (mgr.)
• Greg Niewieroski - 39 career goals.
• Jay Shaw - Played in 10 career games.
BROTHER TO BROTHER
Senior Mike Leveille is very familiar with UMass. In addition to playing the Minutemen four times in his career, he grew up watching his brother, Kevin, compete for Minutemen from 2000-2003. Kevin ranks 12th at UMass in career points and lists eighth in school history in goals scored. Mike leads SU this season with 55 points and 33 goals. During his playing days, Kevin wore the same number, #19, that Mike wears now.
DEFENSE MAKING HISTORY
The 2008 Orange is on pace to post the school's best team goals-against average since 1970 when it gave up just 7.0 goals per game. SU is currently allowing 7.5 goals per contest and hasn't given up double-digit goals since March 15 at Johns Hopkins, a span of seven games. The team is on pace to become just the fourth SU defense since 1970 to record a goals-against average of below 8.0, joining the 2001 (7.97), 1988 (7.80) and 1984 (7.88) squads.
Senior captains Evan Brady, Kyle Guadagnolo and junior Sid Smith make up the team's close defense. The trio has started every game this year as has freshman goalie John Galloway and rookie long-stick middie Joel White. Galloway ranks 13th nationally in GAA (7.56).
ORANGE REVENGE TOUR CONTINUES
After losing eight games and missing the playoffs in 2007, this year's edition of the Orange is out to prove last season was a fluke. SU has played six of the eight teams it lost to last year and is 5-1 against the those squads in 2008 with wins against Army, Johns Hopkins, Loyola, Princeton and Cornell. So far the only team to beat SU in both 2007 and 2008 is Virginia, and this year's meeting was decided by one goal in overtime. The Orange looks to avenge its final two losses of 2007 when it hosts Massachusetts Saturday and visits Colgate on May 3 for the regular-season finale.
GALLOWAY STEPS UP VERSUS ALBANY
Rookie goaltender John Galloway had one of his best games of the year to help SU past Albany, 10-5, on April 18. Galloway made 14 saves, one shy of his career high, against the Great Danes. Six of his stops came in the fourth quarter as the Orange extinguished any chance of the Great Danes getting back into the game. He topped the 100-save mark for the season with the performance and has 101 on the season.
SCOUTING UMASS
The Minutemen's season got off to an inauspicious start as eight players were indefinitely suspended, including preseason All-American Jim Connolly, for their roles in an off-campus incident. The remaining members of the UMass roster banded together and won their opener, 8-4, against Hofstra, but the Minutemen couldn't maintain the momentum and lost five of its next six. They enter Saturday's game with a mark of 5-7 (3-3 in the ECAC) after losing to Fairfield Tuesday, 10-9. UMass is a solid defensive team. It owns a goals-against average of 7.92 and boasts the nation's best man-down defense. Goalie Doc Schneider stormed on the to the college lacrosse scene two years ago during the Minutemen's run to the NCAA title game. He has 147 saves this year and owns a save percentage of .610. Offensively, Tim Balise is far and away their best offensive option. He leads the team with 30 goals.
SERIES NOTES
Syracuse owns a 26-8 lead in the all-time series and is unbeaten in 11 meetings with the Minutemen in the Carrier Dome. Overall, UMass is 0-12 all-time in the Dome, including a loss to Maryland in 2003 NCAA Tournament. The two schools have met at least once every year dating back to 1976. SU won 22 straight pairings from 1982-2002.
