Game Essentials
#15 Endicott 8, #16 Western New England 7 (2 OT) – Tuesday, April 15 – If this were college basketball, this would be the showdown of potential Cinderella stories. Both are having successful seasons, but because they’re both in the Commonwealth Coast Conference, there will likely only be room for one in the NCAA tournament. They’ll also likely get a chance to get back at each other in the league playoffs. Both teams traded pairs of goals throughout the game. Endicott went up 2-0. Then it was tied. Then 4-2 Endicott. WNEC tied it again; 6-4 Endicott; WNEC tied it again with 10:41 to play. Endicott’s Eddie O’Reilly gave Endicott a 7-6 lead with 4:27 left, only to see WNEC’s Jon Hayes tie it again with 1:06 left. WNEC goalie senior goalie Chris Body made one of his 14 saves in the first overtime. Endicott sophomore goalie Eric Hagarty stole the show making three of his 22 saves in the first overtime Then WNEC won the faceoff to start the second overtime only to see another Hagerty save, which ultimately paved the way to junior Eddie O’Reilly’s game winner 1:41 into overtime for Endicott.
#12 St. Lawrence 11, #18 Clarkson 8 – Wednesday, April 16 – The Saints jumped out to an 8-1 halftime lead and then held an 11-1 lead with more than 23:00 left in the game. Clarkson, however, mounted a late comeback on the heels of four goals by Greg Gibbons and Tom Ross to make it a more respectable 11-8. St. Lawrence dominated the possession game by winning 17-of-23 faceoffs and going a nearly perfect 20-of-21 clearing the ball. The Saints also held a distinct groundball advantage, 38-to-18 over Clarkson. Clarkson only mustered four shots in the first half while falling behind 8-1. The Saints were paced by junior attackman Peter Carroll’s five points (3g, 2a) and sophomore Will McKee’s four goals. The win puts St. Lawrence in control of the Liberty League with two games left.
The last week has arguably been the least newsworthy of the season for DIII. Consider it the calm before the storm. Most conferences are heating up with Saturday being the day that many tournament hosts will be decided with some heated rival in-conference games. As teams vie for and hang on to their conference and ultimately NCAA tournament hopes, the stretch run is nearly upon us. The first conference to award a champion will be the CAC this Sunday. It’s been awhile since Salisbury has had legit competition in their conference. There are 40+ players on Villa Julie’s roster and a motivated coaching staff that has a bitter taste in their mouths after letting a 12-10 fourth quarter lead slip away two weeks ago. It looks like the sleeping giant Salisbury offense has awoken just in time. The beauty of DIII lacrosse this year is that once you think you have it figured out, Tufts beats Bowdoin by 15, or Ithaca drops another one-goal game to another school from somewhere in New York. So far Salisbury’s been immune, but it hasn’t been this hairy since 2002. Of course, Salisbury’s record is an absurd 118-2 in that span.
On the fly
3 – The amount of penalties called in the first overtime of #15 Endicott’s 8-7 double overtime victory over #16 Western New England. The stereotype is that referees eat their whistle and are slow with flags in overtime, but in this one both teams had to overcome playing man-down in the extra period. Endicott had to play down for 1:30 of the extra time on slashing and pushing calls, while WNEC had to overcome a :30 holding call.
39 – The combined amount of shots taken between the leading scorers in Endicott’s double overtime victory over WNEC. WNEC senior Jon Hayes had 22 shots while registering four goals, one of which came with 1:06 left in regulation to force overtime and an assist. Endicott’s leading scorer Eddie O’Reilly ripped 17 shots on the day while finding the back of the net three times, including the game winning diving shot with 2:19 remaining in the second overtime.
21 – The combined point total of attack linemates senior Frank Sangiovanni and junior Tom Cerny in a 21-6 Plattsburgh win over Morrisville on April 9th. Sangiovanni set the season’s best individual game point total with 12 and tied the single-game goal total with nine goals. Cerny tied the season’s best assist total for a single game with seven assists while adding two goals for nine points overall.
.700 – Currently only three midfielders are winning more than 70 percent of their faceoffs. Junior midfielders Marc DiPasquale of St. Mary’s (recently won 14-of-26 against Salisbury) and Dave Wood of St. John Fisher both have won exactly 70 percent of their draws. WNEC senior Travis Brown is currently tops in the nation winning 74.1 percent.
38 – The combined save total between Oberlin’s Drew Zambelli (17 saves) and Adrian’s Eric Lindstrom (21 saves) in an overtime game on Wednesday April 16, 2008. The freshman Lindstrom helped the first-year Adrian program win their fifth contest of the year and fourth in a row, 15-14 in overtime over Oberlin, who had overcome a four-goal deficit in the last five minutes of the game.
6 – The number of different scorers that RPI had in a tough 7-6 overtime loss to St. Lawrence. Despite an early 3-1 lead, RPI needed three straight goals, with the final one coming from Alex MacDiarmid with just :07 left in the game to force overtime. They then managed to win the faceoff and generate a shot in the extra period, but a save by St. Lawrence’s Thomas Hollingsworth gave the Saints the possession that ultimately led to the Will McKee overtime game winner.
9 – The winning streak that the Lynchburg Hornets currently hold after starting out the season 2-2 with losses at Salisbury and Haverford. The current streak ties Washington and Middlebury for the second longest winning streak of the season. Salisbury, of course, has the longest active streak with 16 in a row this year. Both Washington and Middlebury’s streaks were ended by in-conference opponents, Gettysburg and Trinity, respectively. Lynchburg has a road trip on Saturday to ODAC rival Roanoke.
Sea Gull Perch
Top 3 – The Top 3 scorers in DIII are all CAC players. With 24 points over three games in the last week, Salisbury senior attackman Matt Hickman has moved back into the third spot with 73 points, where he sits behind two Villa Julie sophomore attackmen, Steve Kazimer (77 pts) and Richard Ford (75 pts).
24 – The average score of the Sea Gulls over the following week as they worked to get back into the form they need for the NCAAs.
98, 39, and 69 – The amount of games that Salisbury has won in CAC play since joining in 1995 without losing a game, overall games the Sea Gulls have won consecutively since losing the 2006 national championship, and the amount of straight home games the Sea Gulls have won, respectively.
81 – The amount of combined clear attempts in a CAC semifinal game between Salisbury and York, a game that Salisbury was victorious in by a score of 20-7.
23 – The average amount of caused turnovers by the Sea Gulls over the past week as they dominated St. Mary’s (18 CTs), Hood (23 CTs) in the CAC quarterfinals, and York (28 CTs) in the CAC semifinals.
16.3 – The average amount of players that registered points for the Sea Gulls over the past week. Against St. Mary’s in a 23-4 victory and a 29-3 hammering of Hood, 17 different Sea Gulls wound up on the scoring sheet. Against York, 15 different Sea Gulls notched points in the 20-7 semifinal win.
Games of the week |
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 Colorado College @ #14 Denison, 7:00 pm – Denison is sitting at 9-2 with their only losses coming quietly in competitive games to #1 Salisbury and #2 Gettysburg. Both will be competing for Pool B NCAA tournament spots after losses to Wooster and Kenyon. Colorado College needs this win. |
 # 7 Middlebury @ #13 Wesleyan, 1:00 pm – Expect fireworks in this NESCAC battle between 6-1 teams. A chance for Wesleyan to get right back into the driver’s seat in the NESCAC. Middlebury needs to make a statement after a one-goal loss at home to Trinity. Game of the day, take your pick between this or the Salisbury-Villa Julie on Sunday for the game of the week. |
| Stevens Tech @ #10 Ithaca, 1:00 pm – The winner of this contest between one in-conference-loss Empire 8 teams determines who gets to host the conference tournament. Stevens would love to host the tournament in their first year in the conference. Expect a close one with a goalie (Stevens’ freshman Dave Decker or Ithaca junior Ben Connery) being the difference maker. |
| #19 Union @ #12 St. Lawrence, 1:00 pm – Another game to potentially decide a conference tournament host. St. Lawrence is still in the driver’s seat in the Liberty, and with only one league game left after this, both are looking to set a tone for their tournament.
** F&M @ #4 Washington College, 7:00 pm – F&M needs to win either at WAC under the lights or at home against Gettysburg next weekend to have a shot at the Centennial playoffs. Potential trap game for WAC who has already secured a spot in the postseason, especially with Salisbury on the horizon. |
| #5 Lynchburg @ Roanoke, 7:00 pm – Looks like Roanoke, the preseason ODAC favorite, might be on the outside looking in to the ODAC playoffs for the first time ever. A loss guarantees that, whereas a win here and three straight losses by Hampden-Sydney and the Maroons make it into the ODAC. Would be a moral victory and a chance to taint one of their rival’s seasons. |
| McDaniel @ Haverford, 1:00 pm – McDaniel might be 4-8 and winless in the Centennial, but the Black Squirrels can’t afford to look past this game. With a win they can lock up a spot in the Centennial playoffs. |
| Roger Williams @ #15 Endicott – Endicott is the last undefeated left in the Commonwealth Coast Conference and has been making noise with big out-of-conference wins, including Wesleyan, Springfield, and Tufts. Now they have to take care of the remaining conference schedule and hosting the tournament would be a big step in that direction. Roger Williams has quietly gone 5-1 in conference. |
 #17 Keene State @ Eastern Connecticut, 1:00 pm – After a drubbing at the hands of Williams, Keene State wants to reassert their dominance in the Little East. Eastern Connecticut is also 4-0 in the LEC, and this game will decide who plays host in a couple of weeks. |
| Springfield @ Babson, 7:00 pm – Neither has had too much success out-of-conference, particularly against NESCAC teams and Endicott, a combined 0-7, but they’ve taken care of business in the Pilgrim League and sit at 4-0. Both are vying for the top spot in the Pilgrim. |
| Skidmore @ #18 Clarkson – Union, Clarkson, Skidmore and RPI have all been making noise this year, in and out of conference. One of these teams will be on the outside looking in at the Liberty League playoffs. Skidmore needs this game a little more for their record, but Clarkson needs to regain some momentum after losing their last game to St. Lawrence. |
| CAC Championship – #9 Villa Julie @ #1 Salisbury, 1:00 pm – Salisbury’s won 98 straight games in the CAC. Villa Julie is an up-and-comer that has been winning by more than eight goals a game. Not sure if there was ever as much excitement for the Capital Athletic Conference Championship as this year. |
Colby @ #17 Keene State, 5:00 pm – An intriguing out-of-conference game. Look for Keene State to come out gunning and show they can play with people outside the Little East. |
| Wednesday, April 23, 2008 |
| #11 Geneseo @ #3 Cortland – These teams like to split their annual games over the last couple of years in the SUNYAC. Both only have one loss. Cortland seniors last beat Geneseo twice in the same season as freshmen and are looking to set the tone now for the SUNYAC playoffs. |
| #5 Lynchburg @ Hampden-Sydney, 4:00 pm – One more win and Hampden-Sydney is in the ODAC playoffs. Hosting the ODAC playoffs might make the task a little less daunting, so don’t expect Lynchburg to be happy with just being in the tournament; they want to host it. |
| #19 Union @ Hamilton, 4:00 pm – Hamilton needs to win out and have some help to make the Liberty League tournament. |
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