Men's Lacrosse to host Colby Saturday for NESCAC Championship Quarterfinal
The Connecticut College Men's Lacrosse program will host Colby College this Saturday, April 28, at 1 p.m. for a New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship Quarterfinal match on the Artificial Turf at Silfen Field. Admission and parking for the event are free of charge. Winners of four consecutive games and five straight league matches, the surging Camels (9-5) earned the fourth seed in the tournament. The visiting Mules (9-4) carry some momentum of their own after closing out the regular season slate with back-to-back home wins against Middlebury and Bates. In their regular season meeting on March 31, the Camels outlasted the Mules in four overtimes to walk off with an 8-7 triumph. Connecticut College Head Men's Lacrosse Coach Dave Cornell, the 2010 NESCAC and New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Coach of the Year, is looking forward to the challenge of taking on a disciplined and well coached Colby squad in front of a large home crowd in New London. "They're a great team and it's going to be an awesome challenge for us," said Cornell. "They're regionally ranked and on the cusp of a possible NCAA berth. Everyone seems to think Colby is the better team and that's okay. Our guys have been battling for respect all season and I believe in them. We're certainly not showing up on Saturday just to try and hang in there with them.". Connecticut College junior midfielder John Lyons (Barrington, R.I.) has tallied 26 goals and 14 assists to lead the club with 40 points. Junior Andrew Freedman (Sudbury, Mass.) has chipped in with 18 goals and 13 assists for a total of 31 points, while sophomore JR Hartgers (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) has accounted for 30 points with 16 goals and 14 assists. Senior net-minder Rob Moccia (Malvern, Pa.) has stepped up his play in the past month to the All-NESCAC level at which he performed during the team's NCAA run in 2010. Moccia is sixth in the NESCAC in goals against average (8.05) and save percentage (.576) and ranks fifth in the league with 11 saves per game. Senior face-off midfielder Chuck Czerkawski (Cohasset, Mass.) has been terrific in the trenches and ranks third in NESCAC face-off percentage (.597, 174-for-291) and in ground balls (102). The starting defensive trio consisting of Clay Hillyer (South Windsor, Conn.-23 gbs), Brogan O'Connor (Haverhill, Mass.-18 gbs) and Mike Brennan (Chester Springs, Pa.-18 gbs) are a major reason why the Camels have surrendered just 5.8 goals per game during their current five-game conference winning streak. Senior long stick midfielder Michael O'Donnell (Winchester, Mass.) continues to excel in riding and clearing situations and ranks second on the squad with 38 ground balls. Colby will counter with a formidable offensive attack. Junior Ian Deveau (Portsmouth, R.I.) scored twice in the previous meeting in March and leads the Mules with 42 points (25 goals, 17 assists). Greg McKillop (Washington, D.C.) has accounted for 14 goals and 20 assists for a total of 34 points. Sophomore net-minder Peter Reiley (Marblehead, Mass.) carries a 7.70 goals against average to go along with a .560 save percentage into Saturday's clash with the Camels. Junior midfielder Bjorn Knutson (Bloomington, Minn.) has won 53 percent of his face-offs (125-236) to go with 83 ground balls. 2012 NESCAC Men's Lacrosse Championship Saturday, April 28 at Higher Seeds Quarterfinal Games -No. 8 Amherst at No. 1 Tufts, 1 p.m. -No. 7 Hamilton at No. 2 Trinity, 1 p.m. -No. 6 Wesleyan at No. 3 Bowdoin, 1 p.m. -No. 5 Colby at No. 4 Connecticut College, 1 p.m. Saturday, May 5 at Highest Remaining Seed Semifinals - games at noon and 3 p.m. Highest remaining seed vs. lowest remaining seed Sunday, May 6 Final - noon Semifinal winners
April 27, 2012