America East Daily Word - March 23

The UMBC men’s lacrosse team used spring break to refocus on lacrosse and only lacrosse.

Come Saturday, the Retrievers will need all the focus they can muster when they host No. 8 Loyola under the lights at UMBC Stadium. This will be the fourth consecutive game for UMBC against a ranked opponent having gone 1-2 in the current stretch.

The UMBC defense, which gives up just over nine goals per game, will have its hands full with a talented Greyhound offense. Loyola enters Saturday’s matchup unbeaten and with the fifth-ranked scoring offense in the country, averaging just over 13 goals per game.

A win for the Retrievers would give them two over top-10 ranked opponents this year. Earlier this spring, UMBC scored five fourth-quarter goals against then No. 4 Maryland to knock off the Terps, 8-7.

It’s a big weekend for UMBC women’s lacrosse as well. No. 13 Albany, the team that defeated UMBC in the league title game a year ago, pays a visit to Baltimore Saturday for the rematch. Albany leads that all-time series 6-5.

The Baltimore Sun has more on both the men’s and women’s games this weekend.

Conference action begins in women’s lacrosse with that title game rematch and we’ve got a great collection of other quality matchups to start league play.

Boston University welcomes Vermont to Nickerson Field Saturday. Both teams enter the contest playing well. Vermont checks in with a 6-2 record while Boston U. has won three straight to get to the .500 plateau. Elsewhere, Binghamton heads to New Hampshire for a date with the Wildcats. UNH leads that all-time series 10-0.

Check out a video preview of the conference season as well as a look back at some of the top stories from the spring so far.

It was a solid day yesterday for America East softball as Boston U. knocked off ACC foe Boston College, 1-0.  Holli Floetker tossed a complete-game shutout to give the Terriers their fifth straight win.

Conference play in softball also opens this weekend. Boston U. welcomes Binghamton, Albany travels to UMBC and Hartford plays at Stony Brook. All three of those matchups are three-game series with twinbills on Saturday and single games on Sunday.

For all of the latest conference news, head over to AmericaEast.com.

America East Daily Word - March 22

It’s a youth movement in America East men’s lacrosse this season.

Inside Lacrosse has seen it as well, and three freshmen find themselves ranked among the top 25 freshmen in the country as we hit the midway point of the 2012 campaign.

Checking at No. 21, the highest ranked America East rookie, is Hartford’s Kevin O’Shea. The rookie has scored 13 goals, dished out five assists and picked up 13 ground balls in his first seven games as a Hawk. For his efforts, O’Shea has collected Rookie of the Week honors three times this season.

Right behind O’Shea at No. 22 is Stony Brook’s Mike Rooney. A red-shirt freshman, Rooney leads the Seawolves with 11 goals this season and ranks third in points with 13. He has also handed out two helpers in seven games.

Rounding out the America East pack is Albany’s Lyle Thompson at No. 24. Thompson entered the season as one of the top rookies in the country and has played like it so far. To go along with his six goals, Thompson has 9 assists and 19 ground balls from his middie position.

Inside Lacrosse has the full list, here.

In women’s lacrosse news, The Tewaaraton Foundation has announced the first additions to the Tewaaraton Award Watch Lists. Included in those additions is Stony Brook’s Demmianne Cook. The Adelphi transfer ranks second in the nation in goals per game (4.14) and her 29 total goals ranks fifth in the country and first in the America East. Check out the full release.

Entering Wednesday’s contest with No. 17 UMass, the Albany women’s lacrosse team boasted a 13-game home winning streak. The Minutewomen snapped that streak with a 12-11 overtime win and as we learn from the Times Union, it’s a transition period for the Danes.

Elsewhere in women’s action yesterday, the Boston U. women extended their win streak to three games with a win over Yale. Vermont continued its hot early-season play, defeating Quinnipiac on the road to give head coach Jen Johnson her 50^th career win. Binghamton also picked up a win over Colgate. Check out recaps of all three games from the Daily Free Press, Burlington Free Press and Press and Sun Bulletin.

The weather outside has certainly made life grand for baseball and softball teams throughout the conference. Maine takes a 6-11 record to Providence today for a game with Brown while Boston U. hosts Boston College. The Bangor Daily News has a preview of the Brown game as well as two feature pieces in today’s paper. After a rough weekend at the Strikeout Cancer Tournament at Seton Hall, Maine baseball changed some things up this week at practice and freshman pitcher Luke Morrill has had himself a stellar rookie season so far.

For all of the latest from around the conference, check out AmericaEast.com.

America East Daily Word - March 20

She became the first swimmer in America East championship history to earn the Most Outstanding Swimmer and Rookie awards. She broke both the 200 and 400 IM records at the championship meet. And now she is preparing for the Canadian Olympic Trials.

It’s been quite a year for New Hampshire freshman Katie Mann.

A native of British Columbia, Mann will swim the 200 and 400 IM along with the 100 and 200 breaststroke events. She won three of those events at the conference championship meet and did not compete in the fourth. The Canadian trials will be held on March 27-April 1 in Montreal, Quebec.

Fellow Wildcat swimmer Oneida Cooper, a native of South Africa, will also participate in the Olympic trials for her country. The freshman is set to compete in the 100 fly, the 200 IM and the 100 and 200 backstroke events. At the conference championship meet, Cooper took bronze in the 100 back.

The Portsmouth Press Herald has more on the two swimmers who will be representing their countries in the next few weeks.

Burlington is still buzzing over UVM’s NCAA Tournament run and WCAX Channel 3 does not want to disappoint its viewers. Scott Fleishman gives us one final “Madness Rewind” – from Burlington to Greensboro and everywhere in between.

It’s a big day for the Stony Brook’s lacrosse teams. The men and women are the only two conference lax teams to take to turf today.  Both teams are on the road with the men taking on Siena and the women traveling to No. 5 Maryland. This will be the Seawolf women’s fourth straight game against a national ranked opponent.

We’ve also got some midweek baseball and softball action to speak of. On the baseball diamond, Stony Brook and Albany take on Fordham and Marist. In softball, Hartford takes on Northwestern in Florida while UMBC makes the quick trip to take on George Mason.

America East Daily Word - March 19

With the America East basketball season now complete after two impressive and historic runs to the NCAA Tournament by the Vermont men and Albany women, it only seems fitting that local news stations took some time to look back at the journeys and the players who helped fuel the way.

UVM head coach John Becker subbed out his two seniors, Matt Glass and Pat Bergmann, with 1:34 to play in Friday’s game against North Carolina. The two shared an embrace at the end of the bench knowing full well that that would be the last time on the floor as Catamounts.

Channel 3 up in Burlington paid tribute to the seniors by using the ‘Top 3 on 3’ segment to document some of their finest moments.

Meanwhile, Your News Now in Albany made the long trek to College Station, Texas for the Great Danes’ Dance debut and had exclusive coverage throughout the weekend. That included a nice recap of the whole experience in Texas.

The Times Union also ran a piece today courtesy of the San Antonio Express-News about how the Danes impressed against defending national champion Texas A&M. In the article, head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson reminds her players that despite the loss, when they get back to Albany there will be a banner hanging from the SEFCU Arena rafters for the first time.

We had a busy weekend and a successful weekend at that, full of spring action (and weather).

We’ll start first on the baseball diamond where UMBC, Stony Brook and Binghamton picked up wins. UMBC completed a series sweep of Coppin State while Binghamton salvaged a split of a twinbill against Temple. The Press and Sun Bulletin has a recap of Bearcat hardball action. Stony Brook scored 23 runs on 23 hits in a doubleheader sweep over Yale at Joe Nathan Field on Sunday.

All seven softball teams collected victories over the weekend as early season tournament play draws to a close. Stony Brook freshman Allison Cukrov fired a ten-strikeout no-hitter against Holy Cross on Sunday lowering her ERA 1.51 this season.

In men’s lacrosse, Vermont notched its first win on the season with a come from behind effort against Sacred Heart in Burlington. The Cats scored with just 10 seconds remaining in regulation to snap an 11-all tie. Hartford, meanwhile, won 15-12 over in-state rival Quinnipiac.

Over to the women’s side, Albany, Boston University and Vermont put tallies in the win column thanks to offensive explosions. The three teams combined to score 52 goals in their contests. Check out the Daily Free Press for a story on the Terriers’ win on spring break.

For all of the latest news across America East land, including weekly award winners, check out AmericaEast.com.

That's a Wrap

The Albany women and Vermont men made the most of their NCAA Tournament appearances.

After defeating Lamar for its second Big Dance win in program history, UVM battled with top-seeded North Carolina on Friday before falling to one of the nation’s best teams. Albany made a historic run into its first round matchup with defending national champion Texas A&M and had the Aggies on the ropes in the second half.

Despite the storybook seasons coming to a close, Albany and Vermont both have plenty to look forward to next season. That is the theme of the media wrap from the weekend’s contests as we take a look at some of the final hoops coverage from the 2011-2012 season.

We’ll start with the Catamounts, who made their fifth NCAA tourney appearance this season after an impressive run through the America East Championship. Channel 3 up in Burlington concludes its Hoopcat coverage by having the Catamount players share their thoughts on the tourney experience.

Burlington Free Press reporter John Fantino details the happenings of the UNC game but also writes that this experience will make the Cats even better next season.

Check out the official Associated Press recap and a photo gallery from UVM’s Nich Hall.

Albany and Texas A&M were locked in a 32-all tie early in the second half on Saturday before the Aggies went on a 17-4 run to take control. Despite the result, second-year head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson could not have been more proud of the season her team had.

“They are just warriors and they never want to die, so I’m very proud of them. Our season is still great, and we will just continue on,” she said.  For more postgame reaction, check out the full transcript.

The Times Union and Troy Record both have recaps of Saturday’s action while the NCAA and Fox23 in Albany have video highlights.