He was born in Summit and spent four years playing collegiately at the Jersey Shore, but Bryan Meredith’s big break came 2,400 miles west of the Jersey Shore.
It started out as an ordinary night for the backup keeper on May 2 in the Pacific Northwest. He was on the bench as the Seattle Sounders hosted the LA Galaxy in a regular season MLS match.
The Sounders, who had not beaten the Galaxy since 2009, found themselves holding a 1-0 lead, but facing a bit of adversity at halftime. While keeping LA off the scoreboard over the first 45 minutes, starting goalkeeper Michael Gpsurning managed to re-aggravate a hip injury and would be unavailable for the second half.
Forced to go to his bench, head coach Sigi Schmid sent Bryan Meredith, a two-time all-NEC selection while at Monmouth, out onto the pitch.
Fewer than three minutes into the second half, Seattle striker Fredy Montero showed Meredith the type of support every goalkeeper loves by connecting on a 35-yard scoring strike that doubled the Sounders’ lead.
LA controlled possession for much of the second half, but their attempts on Meredith were few and far between.
When US National Team captain Landon Donovan fired a shot on goal in the 62nd minute, the Galaxy’s lone shot of the second half, the 2011 NEC Tournament MVP was there to turn it aside.
With Meredith producing a clean sheet in 45 minutes of work, Seattle held on for a 2-0 win.
In a post-match interview, Schmid took time to laud his backup keeper.
“It’s tremendous for Bryan Meredith to come in and keep a clean sheet for 45 minutes. I think he showed what I said last week, in that I think there are a lot of teams in this league he can be starting for. He’s a quality goalkeeper and we have a lot of faith in him.”
Only two days after Meredith’s MLS debut, it became apparent that the former Monmouth Hawk would be back in net for Seattle’s next contest against the Philadelphia Union. On May 4, the Seattle Sounders Official Blog, “Rave Green,” reported that the hip injury was going to keep Gspurning out for two to three weeks.
"He’s gone through it – he came on and played a half against the Galaxy and he played against Monterrey, who is the CCL champions and he had a good game against them. We’re confident in him.” - Read full blog post
Thus far, Meredith has done nothing to shake, and everything to boost, his coach’s confidence in him.
On May 5, Meredith and the Sounders posted a 1-0 victory over Philadelphia.
Then, on May 9, Meredith notched his second shutout in as many starts as Seattle defeated FC Dallas, 2-0, on the road.
Meredith, who has kept a clean sheet intact throughout five halves of soccer, is set to make his third start when Seattle returns home to face Real Salt Lake on Saturday, May 12.
The Sounders, who are 7-1-1 overall, are riding a five-match win streak and will have one of the winningest keepers in NEC history in net as they try to extend it.
No stranger to success, Meredith compiled a 44-7-10 record while at Monmouth. Meredith, who earned 36 of those 44 victories via shutout, helped the Hawks capture four consecutive NEC regular season title along with two tournament crowns.
During his senior season at Monmouth, the Hawks’ captain led the NEC in goals against average (0.70), save percentage (.842) and shutouts (11).
Collegiate success doesn’t always translate into achievement at the professional level, but Meredith is making it happen.
He won in New Jersey and now he’s doing it on short notice in Seattle.
The competition may be tougher and his new home is nearly a whole continent away from the Jersey Shore, but the results have been the same for Bryan Meredith.
Former Seahawk Flying High in Jacksonville Moving from one version of pro football to the other, Overtime! would like to bring attention to a feature piece that recently ran on the Jacksonville Jaguars’ official website. Former Wagner defensive back Jeremiah Brown is the subject of the story entitled “A Reason to Believe” by Jaguars.com senior writer John Oehser. Even if you dislike football and have no attachment to Wagner, or the Northeast Conference, you should still read this one. If you are like us, you’ll be left with a rather warm and fuzzy feeling after consuming the suggested prose. Enjoy! Click here to read “A Reason to Believe.”
Video Vault Highlights and Interviews from Meredith's 1-0 shutout win in the 2010 NEC Championship Match...
The Bulldogs are 1.0 game up on Monmouth for first place in the NEC Baseball standings with four games remaining on the regular season schedule.
Bryant’s next four games could yield the program’s second regular season title in the last three years, but at the very least, the final four games of the 2012 season will put an end to four years of waiting.
Bryant joined the Northeast Conference’s ranks back in 2008, trading its Division II status for NCAA Division I membership, but not without a short-term cost.
As all NCAA members reclassifying from Division II to Division I must do, Bryant had to endure a four-year wait. The Bulldogs had to complete a mandated four-year reclassification process before becoming eligible to compete for a NCAA Division I national championship.
Over the last four years, the Northeast Conference has done everything in its power to make the Bulldogs feel at home in their new digs. Helping ease the transition, the NEC immediately plugged Bryant into its conference schedules across the board. For the last three academic years, the Bulldogs have participated in all of the league’s general and sport-specific awards programs.
Still, Bryant remained ineligible for NEC postseason play as per its NCAA reclassifying status.
Four games from now, however, that reclassification process will finally be completed as the last of the school’s spring sports teams closes out the 2012 season.
No matter what happens over these final four games, the Bulldogs will have to wait until 2013 for a possible NEC Tournament debut. Still, these next four games hold a heavy importance for Bryant baseball.
Just ask senior Jamie Skagerlind.
The Bulldogs’ first baseman, and latest member of the 200-hit club, had one thing on his mind during a post-game interview on Sunday, May 6.
Disappointed after a loss in the finale made Bryant settle for a series split with Monmouth, Skagerlind attempted to put the situation in perspective.
“We still control our own destiny in terms of winning the conference, which is the only goal left that we can achieve and we’re really striving for it.”
While Skagerlind and Co. will be striving for first, their opponent will be fighting for its postseason life. Wagner is 1.0 game out of the final playoff spot as it heads to Smithfield.
The Bulldogs (21-7) have won exactly 75 percent of their NEC games in 2012 and can guarantee themselves at least a tie for first place (regardless of what happens in Monmouth’s series with Sacred Heart) by taking three out of four from Wagner this weekend.
Such a result would certainly be a nice send-off, and not just for the team’s seniors like Skagerlind.
It would be a good way to send Bryant’s entire baseball program into a potentially bright future as a full Division I member.
Dean’s List Growing Monmouth clinched a spot in the NEC Tournament by earning a split in last week’s series with Bryant. The postseason berth is just another bullet point on a long list of achievements for the program under long-time skipper Dean Ehehalt. In 18-plus seasons at Monmouth, Ehehalt has amassed 518 victories and seven NEC regular season crowns. In what will be the team’s 16 NEC Tournament appearance under Ehehalt, the Hawks will be looking to lock up their first NCAA appearance since 2009.
Kelich, Light Are Still League Leaders Staff aces Pat Light (Monmouth) and Peter Kelich (Bryant) were both chased from their latest starts after six innings. They only surrendered five earned runs between them, but it was uncharacteristic outing for both men. Light struck out six and only walked one but hit three batters. Kelich surrendered seven hits and balked twice. Still, both men remained amongst the NEC’s top-5 ERA leaders. Kelich entered the final week of NEC regular season play at 8-2 with a league-low 1.88 ERA. Light is 7-3 with a 2.81 ERA, but his most-impressive credential, other than his mid-90s fastball, may be his 0.98 WHIP. Light, who has struck out a conference-high 87 batters, has issued only 12 bases on balls.
Small Bites After throwing 4.0 innings of one-hit relief in Bryant’s 12-inning triumph over Monmouth on May 4, sophomore Sal Lisanti earned recognition from College Baseball 360 as a “Primetime Performer.” Lisanti, who has appeared in 23 games out of the bullpen, owns a 1.67 ERA and has seven saves this season. Read more. … With Ocean State rival Rhode Island atop the rankings, Bryant found itself second in the latest edition of the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association Coaches Poll. Read more.
Video Vault The latest episode of Knights Baseball Roundup...
National Football League teams held rookie mini-camps this past weekend, and afterwards the NEC’s presence in the pros swelled a bit.
With Monmouth safety Jose Gumbs (Saints), Duquesne receiver Connor Dixon (Steelers), and Wagner linebacker Julian Stanford (Jaguars) having signed Undrafted Free Agent contracts only hours after the 2012 Draft concluded, the number of former NEC gridders on NFL rosters continued to expand this off-season.
Now, Wagner defensive back Jeremiah Brown and defensive end Quintin Anderson have furthered that expansion.
Brown and Anderson both accepted invitations to rookie camps and made the most of their opportunities this past weekend. Following their performances, Brown signed a contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars, while Anderson put his John Hancock on the dotted line for the Buccaneers.
Both players have NFL size for their positions, but now must prove themselves worthy of a roster spot.
Brown, a 6-foot, 205-pound cornerback, is not afraid of contact. He made 41 solo tackles in 2011 to go along with five pass break-ups, two forced fumbles, and a blocked kick. The last item could prove rather beneficial for Brown as his special teams prowess may allow him to break into the NFL (remember Miles Austin, who we will mention again later, started his days in Dallas as a kick returner).
At 6-foot-5, 280 pounds, Anderson looks like a NFL defensive end. A converted offensive lineman, the Empire State product made a seamless transition to the defensive side for Wagner. Anderson came up with two game-changing fumble returns in his last two collegiate contests, both of which were wins for Wagner.
Dixon was in action at the Steelers’ mini-camp this past weekend and Teresa Varley from Steelers.com caught up with the first team all-NEC selection who made 16 touchdowns grabs in 2011.
“It helps to get acclimated better with just the rookies here. You aren’t thrown to the wolves with the veterans. It’s a chance for us to get acclimated to this game, how they coach and everything.”
Keep in mind, although the league has been around for just 16 seasons, the NEC has established a history of sending players to the highest level and having them perform admirably once they arrive.
Monmouth’s former all-NEC receiver Miles Austin has developed into a Pro Bowler and his best football may still be ahead of him.
Miles shared some of his story when NEC-TV's John Schmeelk caught up with him at a hoops game this past season...
Former Robert Morris lineman Hank Fraley spent 10 years in the National Football League before being released by the Ram in September 2011. Haley started 123 games in the NFL, mostly at center, for the Eagles, Browns, and Rams.
Other than Austin, former Monmouth tight end John Nalbone is still active in the NFL, most recently signing with the Seahawks. Former Sacred Heart linebacker Jon Corto played three seasons with the Buffalo Bills before spending 2011 on IR and receiving his release three months ago.
Other than playing collegiately in the NEC, the one thing that Austin, Fraley, and Corto have in common is that they were all Undrafted Free Agent signees.
Now, Gumbs, Dixon, Stanford, Anderson, and Brown will look to follow that same path – from the NEC to a NFL 53-man roster. It’s a path that NEC gridders are coming to know well.
Bryant – The Bulldogs are already celebrating one NEC title and could add another by week’s end. Bryant posted a 12-6 victory over Mount St. Mary’s in the NEC Men’s Lacrosse Championship Game on Sunday in Moon Township, PA to win its first tournament title at the Division I level. Mike Pressler’s Bulldogs, who have been on the cusp of, or in, the national rankings for much of the season, finish with a 14-4 record. Read more. Meanwhile, Bryant will face Wagner in the final four-game series of the NEC regular season baseball schedule this weekend with the possibility of securing first place in the league standings for the second time in three years. The Bulldogs, who are 1.0 game ahead of Monmouth entering the final weekend of play, have reached the 30-win plateau for the third time in three seasons as a NEC member. Read more.
Central Connecticut – CCSU center Kirsten Daamen is taking her game to the international level. After closing out her junior year of college, the 6-foot-3 post player will head overseas to spend two months with the Dutch National Team. This past season, Daamen averaged 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game for Beryl Piper’s Blue Devils. The Dutch-born Daamen, who went to high school in Massachusetts, is CCSU’s all-time leader in blocked shots (140). Read more.
Fairleigh Dickinson – FDU women’s tennis is three days away from its NCAA First Round matchup with Virginia. With the team balancing both tennis and final exams, junior Egzona Morina provides an inside look at the Knights in the latest blog entry in a series. Read more. Also, FDU tennis, which has attracted a significant number of international student-athletes under the direction of Ira Miller, received ink in the Bergen Record for its unique make-up. Read more.
LIU Brooklyn – What a way to go out! Senior Jazmin Waller’s final performance at the Northeast Conference Women’s Track & Field Championships yielded the Most Outstanding Track award and the MVP honor. Waller won the long jump, won the 200m after setting the meet record in the preliminary round, took second in the 100m, was the runner-up in the 110m hurdles, and finished fourth in the high jump. Read more.
Monmouth – Looking to continue its emergence as a national player, Monmouth men’s soccer added nine future Hawks this spring. Head coach Rob McCourt announced written commitments from student-athletes who hail from three different states (New Jersey, New York, Connecticut) and four countries (USA, France, Costa Rica, Ghana). The Hawks have made three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. Read more.
Mount St. Mary’s – Kevin Farrell and his Mountaineers will next tee off in Greensboro, NC. Fresh off claiming the NEC Men’s Golf Tournament team title, and the auto NCAA Berth that goes along with it, Mount St. Mary’s will head south to compete in the three-round regional from May 17-19. Auburn, UNLV, Florida, Duke, Indiana, Liberty, Southern Methodist, Texas Tech, Tulsa, Lamar, Loiusiana-Lafayette, Charlotte, George Washington and Mount St. Mary's will all contest the regional, which will be played at Grandover Resort East. Read more.
Quinnipiac – With her proud parents looking on, senior Morgan Roche etched her name into the Northeast Conference record book on Sunday at the 2012 Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The veteran distance runner struck gold in the 3,000m steeple chase, winning in record time. The Bobcat put an end to the short-lived record that CCSU’s Katherien Bossardet set in 2011. Read more.
Robert Morris – The Colonials added their 13th NEC weekly award in the sport of softball on Monday when freshman Tess Apke was named the conference’s Rookie of the Week. Apke had seven hits over a four-game span during which the Colonials went 3-1. At 34-20 overall, Robert Morris is set to host the four-team NEC Tournament this week (May-10-12). Dr. Craig Coleman’s Colonials earned the right to host the postseason event, the winner of which will head to the NCAA Regionals, by virtue of its first-place regular season finish. Read more.
Sacred Heart – An already exciting year will contain even more excitement for Blair Koniszewski this summer. After helping Sacred heart capture the NEC Women’s Basketball tournament title as a sophomore, the three-point shooter will play in Belgium and Germany as part of the Global Sports Academy’s 2012 Summer Collegiate Basketball Tour. The Pioneer, who will be a junior in September, will compete alongside a number of other NCAA Division I players. Read more.
St. Francis (NY) – The Terriers recently held their annual athletics awards banquet and amongst the honorees was women’s bowler Amelia Tonyes. The kegler claimed the Female Student-Athlete of the Year award following a bowling season that saw her post a runner-up finish at the USBC Sectionals. Tonyes, who sports a 3.77 GPA, was also nominated for the NEC’s Bowling Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor. Read more.
Saint Francis (PA) – Living up to its institutional mission of service, Red Flash football has joined the fight against rare diseases. Saint Francis (PA) became the 12th program in the nation to start a chapter of Uplifting Athletes, a nonprofit organization uniting college football teams under the common goal of raising awareness and funds in the fight against rare diseases. A rare disease is defined as one that affects less than 200,000 people. Read more.
Wagner – Introduced as the Seahawks’ new head women’s basketball coach in April, Lisa Cermignano has inked her first recruit. Jazmine Hamlet, a standout 5-foot-7 guard from Francis Lewis High School in Queens, NY, has signed a NLI to continue her career on Grymes Hill. Hamlet becomes the third member of Wagner’s incoming recruiting class as she joins a pair of players signed by the previous coaching staff last November in 6-foot-4 center Emily Adams (Cummings, GA/ Buford) and 5-foot-7 guard Jordyn Peck (Shaker Heights, OH/ Shaker Heights). Read more.
We here at Overtime! happen to follow @RMUcoop44 on Twitter.
For those of you who don’t know him by his Twitter handle, you may know him as a starting linebacker for Robert Morris football.
Kyle Cooper started all 11 games of the 2011 season for the Colonials, manning an inside linebacker spot in their 3-4 defensive scheme.
Off the field, the colorful Cooper seems to have taken a liking to Twitter.
He has been known to use Twitter as a means for inspiring his teammates as well as professing his strong support of Robert Morris men’s basketball.
But earlier this week, the linebacker, who can be found dwelling amongst the Colonial Crazies’ student section during every RMU basketball home game, tweeted something non-NEC sports related.
On April 30, the student-athlete's Twitter page read...
As you can see, Cooper fulfills the meaning of both student and athlete, and he isn’t alone.
As it turns out, Robert Morris has a rather brainy defensive front.
Starting defensive ends Nolan Nearhoof and Stephen Mitchell both qualified for the NEC Academic Honor Roll this past fall, a feat that requires a minimum 3.2 GPA. In fact, the former is a two-time ESPN the Magazine CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team selection.
Nearhoof, who joined former RMU defensive lineman Ray Gensler (2003-06) as the only players in school history to be named an Academic All-American on multiple occasions, also won the NEC Scholar-Athlete award.
The Next YouTube sensation? Callan Taylor made a career of pulling down rebounds and winning games. Now, that her NCAA eligibility has been exhausted, the 2012 NEC Women’s Basketball Player of the Year may want to pursue a future in public speaking.
Taylor addressed her peers during Sacred Heart’s 20th annual All Sports Awards Banquet, and the effort has received nothing but rave reviews.
The humble Taylor doesn’t give herself much credit as an effective public speaker, but follow the crowd’s reaction while watching her speech and you decide.
Amidst the uploaded videos of crazy cats and rebellious babies, Episode 2 of FDU Knights Baseball Roundup sits in the archives.
It was filmed right before Gary Puccio and Co. left for Davidson where they opened up the 2012 season back on February 25.
Six minutes and a few seconds into the episode, Puccio summed up the Knights’ season before it even started.
When host Gavin Nevill asked the skipper, who was entering his second season at FDU, what some of his team’s strengths will be, the first words out of Puccio’s mouth were, “I think we’re going to play very good defense. I’ve challenged them to be Top 15 in the country in fielding percentage.
“I believe we are not going to beat ourselves. We’re going to catch the ball, we’re going to hit the cut-off man, we’re going to do the right things.”
Despite the fact that Puccio’s roster includes 16 freshmen, a number of whom have taken on significant roles, the Knights have spent the first 43 games of the 2012 season making their head coach sound like North Jersey’s version of Nostradamus.
Just as Puccio predicted, Fairleigh Dickinson is playing defense, and playing it as well as any team in the Northeast Conference.
No NEC team has made fewer errors than the Knights (42), who lead the nine-team league in fielding percentage (.973).
The team’s defensive standing contrasts starkly with its standing in previous years, and the same can be said for the team’s win total.
Nostradamus? No, That's Gary Puccio, whose preseason predicition of an improved Knights' defense has come to fruition...Fairleigh Dickinson is in the midst of a breakout season.
Having not qualified for postseason play since 1999, the Knights are on the cusp of ending that drought. FDU (15-9 NEC) sits in third place and holds a 3.0-game playoff cushion with eight games remaining.
Fairleigh Dickinson has already long surpassed last year’s win totals, both overall and in conference, and is now eyeing record territory.
The Knights’ 21 overall wins are their most since 1999 when they won 22 games, while their 15 NEC wins are the most since the 1994 season when they went 15-6 in conference play.
There are obviously a lot of factors that play into a team’s success, but there is no denying that defense has something to do with this Fairleigh impressive turnaround.
In the two seasons prior to Puccio’s arrival, FDU averaged 1.7 errors per ballgame and had a combined win-loss record of 32-72. In 2010, the final season before the man known informally as “Pooch” took over, the Knights ranked dead last in the NEC in fielding percentage.
Fast forward to 2012, and the Knights are averaging fewer than one error (0.98/g) per game played. And while, they are near the top of the standings in terms of wins, they are at the very top in terms of fielding percentage.
Fewer errors and more wins are exactly what the skipper envisioned back in February, and so far his team has made that vision a reality.
Lights-Out Pat The accolades began pouring in only hours after he recorded his fourth double-digit strikeout game of the season. Fanning more batters in a single game than any NEC pitcher since 2004, Monmouth's Pat Light picked up the NEC Pitcher of the Week award on Monday morning. Then, later in the day, as reported here on Overtime!, Light was named one of five Louisville SluggerNational Players of the Week by Collegiate Baseball News. Now, Light can say he is one of 60 players in the running for the Golden Spikes Award. USA Baseball added Light’s name to the watch list on Tuesday, May 1, making him an official candidate for the award given to the top amateur baseball player in the country. In 11 starts this season, the Garden State product, who played his high school ball in New Jersey’s Shore Conference, owns a 7-3 record with a 2.69 ERA. He has struck out 81 batters and walked only 11 over 80.1 innings. His WHIP is a miniscule 0.97. …
For as dominant as Light has been at times this season, the 6-foot-6 righty is, surprisingly, not the NEC leader in ERA. There are actually three men ahead of Monmouth’s ace in that category, two of whom have sub-2.00 ERAs. Wagner righty Ryan Van Spronsen leads the circuit with a 1.73 ERA with Bryant’s Peter Kelich (1.79) only slightly off that pace. Bryant’s Craig Schlitter (2.64) also stands in between Light and the league leader.
Kresky Carries Big Stick FDU veteran shortstop Ryan Kresky has the inside track on the NEC’s batting title. The Knights’ co-captain entered the month of May hitting .386 and holding a 30-point lead over second-place occupant John Murphy (Sacred Heart). Kreksy, another product of the fertile grounds of the Garden State (Freehold, NJ), also leads the NEC in on-base percentage (.511) and slugging (.586) while ranking second in runs scored (34). More importantly, Kresky has played his part in FDU’s defensive renaissance. Starting every game at short, Kresky has made only eight miscues in 219 chances and has been a part of 25 double plays in 43 games.
Showdown at the Shore With only two weekends of conference play remaining, the top-two teams in the NEC standings will meet in West Long Branch for a four-game set this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Sitting 1.0 game back of first place, Monmouth will welcome league leader Bryant to the Jersey Shore. The Hawks, who have won 30 games for the second season in a row, will look to prevent the Bulldogs from reaching the 30-win mark for the third time in three seasons as a NEC member. Bryant, which went 64-45 over its first two seasons as a league member, are 28-18 this season and is currently on pace to capture its second NEC regular season crown in three years. …
Keep an eye of the LIU Brooklyn-Quinnipiac series as the Blackbirds look to remain alive in the postseason race. LIU, which accounted for a tremendous turnaround in 2011 and made the NEC Tournament as a result, currently sits seventh in the standings and must leap-frog two teams to secure a playoff berth. The Blackbirds (8-16) will hope to start a late-season run against the Bobcats.
Bryant – Closing in on its third 30-win season in three years as a NEC member, Bryant is scheduled to close the non-conference portion of its season on the diamond against Siena. The Bulldogs, who sit third in the latest edition of the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association Coaches’ Poll, are scheduled to host MAAC member Siena on May 1, but forecasts are calling for rain in the area. Read more.
Postgame from Bulldogs' Apr. 29 win that allowed them to remain 1.0 game ahead of Monmouth for first...
Central Connecticut – The Blue Devils ceremoniously put a close to the 2011-12 swimming and diving season last week. Head coach Bill Ball handed out team awards during a postseason banquet and later named captain for the 2012-13 campaign, which will begin in October. Juniors Taylor Friedmann, Katie Lang, and Allison Rasile were pegged as the team’s leaders. Read more.
Fairleigh Dickinson - Fewer than two weeks removed from their triumphant run through the NEC Men’s Tennis Tournament, Ira Miller’s Knights will learn of their NCAA Championship First Round destination and opponent on Tuesday evening, May 1. The NCAA will unveil the championship bracket through a web-based Selection Show, which is set to begin at 5:30 pm on NCAA.com. Meanwhile, junior Ibrahim Shams shared his thoughts on the upcoming selections in a FDUKnights.com Tennis Blog exclusive. Read more.
No. 1 Singles Arvis Berzins & head coach Ira Miller following 2012 NEC Tournament Final...
LIU Brooklyn – From the beaches of Daytona to Happy Valley. One day after completing a remarkable comeback to win the NEC Women’s Golf Championship at LPGA International in Daytona, LIU Brooklyn found out it was next headed to State College, PA for the NCAA East Regional. The Blackbirds, who overcame a nine-stroke deficit on the final day, will compete at Penn State Blue on May 10-12. The event will feature top teams like Alabama, Arizona State, and Atlantic Coast Conference champion Duke. Eight teams and two individuals will advance from each regional to the championship final May 22-25. Read more.
Rookie Cristina Felip shot a meet-record 1-under 215 for the weekend at LPGA Int'l Champions Course
Monmouth – Next up for Monmouth women’s lacrosse is a date with CAA champion Towson. The Hawks captured their fourth NEC Tournament title on Apr. 29 by downing Mount St. Mary’s with the aid of an historic defensive effort. The three goals surrendered by Monmouth were the fewest in NEC Championship single-game history. Now, the Hawks will focus their attention on Towson for their NCAA opening round game this weekend. Read more.
Highlights from Monmouth's 11-3 NEC Final win over Mount...
Mount St. Mary’s – The Mountaineers announced changes to the final week of their softball schedule. The Mount was slated to play a twinbill against Howard on Thursday, May 3, but the games have been cancelled. Instead, Mount St. Mary’s will be in action at home against NEC rival LIU Brooklyn on Saturday, May 5. The conference doubleheader was originally slated for April 22, but was washed out. It’ll be a busy day on Mount’s Emmitsburg campus this weekend as the 2012 NEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships are also in town. Read more.
Quinnipiac – The Bobcats are gearing up for their year-end athletics celebration. Quinnipiac will host the annual Athletics and Recreation Awards reception on May 2 at Lender Court in the TD Bank Sports Center. AD Jack McDonald has invited all student-athletes and their families “to celebrate another outstanding year at Quinnipiac.” Read more.
Robert Morris – Classes may have ended, but it will still be a busy two weeks on campus for RMU Athletics. That’s because both the Colonials’ softball and men’s lacrosse teams clinched NEC regular season championships this past weekend and will host the conference’s postseason tournaments as a result. Robert Morris men’s lacrosse is up first when it welcomes Bryant, Quinnipiac and Mount St. Mary’s to Moon for a four-team, single-elimination tournament set for May 4 & 6. Read more. One week later, on May 11-13, Dr. Craig Coleman’s softball team will have its turn, hosting a four-team double-elimination event, the winner of which will earn an auto bid into the NCAA Championship bracket. Read more.
The Colonials honor their six softball seniors...
Sacred Heart – The Pioneers avoided a winless league record in men’s lacrosse by turning back local rival Quinnipiac on a memorable Senior Night at Campus Field. Sacred Heart defeated the Bobcats, 13-9, with sophomore goalie Ryan Hughes making 16 saves in net on Apr. 28. Two days later, Hughes received the NEC Defensive Player of the Week award for his efforts. Read more.
St. Francis (NY) – Weeks after taking over the women’s basketball head coaching position, John Thurston added talent to the Terriers’ roster in the form of guard Leah Fechko. The Twinsburg, OH product will enroll at St. Francis and be eligible for the 2012-13 season. Read more.
Saint Francis (PA) – The Red Flash saw inclement weather push its crucial doubleheader with Central Connecticut back to Monday, April 30. Needing to sweep in order to stay alive in the race for a NEC Tournament berth, Saint Francis came up short in both ends of the twinbill, which was originally scheduled for Saturday April 28. Read more.
Wagner - It was a busy weekend for Wagner football. One day after senior linebacker Julian Stanford, an all-NEC first teamer in 2011, signed an Undrafted Free Agent contract with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, the program hosted its annual Green & White Spring Game. Stanford who drew interest from a numbers of franchises including the Jets, Giants, Chiefs, Bills and the Rams. In the end, it was the relationship he formed with Jaguars linebacker coach Mark Duffner that swayed him to Jacksonville. Read more. Meanwhile, in putting a close to the spring season with the annual tradition, Wagner’s defense held the upper hand. Using a scoring system that rewarded the defense with six points for a turnover, three points per sack, two points per tackle for loss and one point for every three and out, the White (defense) emerged with a 50-34 victory over the Green (offense). Read more.
Head coach Walt Hameline recaps the Spring Game...
The only thing brighter than Pat Light’s performance on Friday had to be his pitching coach’s smile.
How could Jim Belanger not have an ear-to-ear smile when thinking about what Light did in the series opener at LIU Brooklyn?
Although the Hawks’ bullpen may have given Belanger a scare when it relieved Light in the ninth, Monmouth held on for the win and his staff’s No. 1 starter was nothing but DOMINANT. Light, one of the top pro prospects to ever come through the Northeast Conference, continued to show why MLB scouts come out to his starts in droves.
Over his first 8.0 innings of work, Light allowed no runs and four hits and retired the side in order during four of those frames.
“Pat had all three pitches working this weekend and he is real tough when that is the case. When he has his best stuff he gets into a great rhythm which is was what happened on Friday,” said longtime skipper Dean Ehehalt who recently picked up Win No. 500 in a Monmouth uniform.
Light wound up exiting in the ninth after surrendering a lead-off double, but not before he tied Monmouth’s single-game program record for strikeouts (15). Not since, former Monmouth Hawks Glen Keeton achieved the feat in 2004 did a NEC pitcher fan 15 batters.
Not impressed yet? The next line will change that.
While striking out 15 batters, Light did not issue a single base on balls. That’s right, 15 Ks, NO WALKS.
As amazing as the feat is, it should not be a surprise that Light of all people pulled it off.
After all, before the season started, teh highly-esteemed Baseball America tabbed Light the No. 25-ranked pro prospect on its Early 2012 Top College Prospects piece.
Still, great control is something young, hard throwers don’t always have. Light has it though, and has been showing it all season long.
“He really battles and competes every Friday,” said Ehehalt.
And it shows. In six NEC starts, Light owns a 5-1 record and 1.47 ERA. He has struck out at least 10 in four of those contests.
Overall, Light sports a 2.69 ERA over 80.1 innings of work. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is a whopping 7.36-to-1. HE has K-ed 81 batters while issuing only 11 bases on balls.
Still not impressed?
Well, that’s OK then because the Collegiate Baseball News was highly impressed.
The publication tabbed Light one of its five Louisville Slugger National Players of the Week. The announcement came shortly after the NEC tabbed Light the league’s Pitcher of the Week for the third time this season.
When it looked like LIU Brooklyn was down and out, the Blackbirds spread their wings and flew to the top of the team leader board on the final day of the 2012 NEC Women’s Golf Championship at LPGA International in Daytona.
One day after only rookie Cristina Felip shot a sub-80 second round, all four Blackbirds were in the 70s. The turnaround allowed LIU to erase a 9-stroke deficit heading into the final round and fly home to Brooklyn with its first team title since 2005.
The roster says Felip has freshman status, but the Spaniard looked like anything but a rookie throughout the entire course of the weekend. She carded a three-round score of 215 (73-70-72) to finish 1-under par and claim the individual NEC crown.
Although LIU has only two team titles in its history, a Blackbird has been the event’s medalist each of the past three years.
FDU, which had won the previous four NEC team titles, was led by Annika Karlsson and Esther Park, who both shot 10-over for the three-day tournament.
They weren’t one of the 253 whose names were announced at the podium in Radio City Music Hall, but they still received a phone call every Pop Warner player in America hopes to get someday.
Monmouth’s Jose Gumbs and Duquesne’s Connor Dixon both earned a chance to play at the next level. The former hard-hitting defensive back and the tall, athletic receiver signed deals with National Football League clubs only minutes after the 2012 NFL Draft concluded on Saturday night in New York City.
Gumbs his headed to the Big Easy where he’ll attempt to make the New Orleans Saints 53-man roster,
“It means a lot to this program. But not only does it mean a lot to Monmouth, it means a lot to the Northeast Conference. It says that it’s a good conference athletically, and that guys do have the ability to play at the next level,” Gumbs told the Asbury Park Press earlier in the week, referring to the numerous looks he and other NEC players were receiving from NFL clubs.
While Gumbs heads south, Dixon is making the short trip from Pittsburgh’s Rooney Field to Heinz Field where he’ll get a shot at donning the Black & Yellow for his hometown Steelers.
Only minutes after Gumbs and Dixon signed their deals, it was announced that Wagner’s former all-NEC linebacker Julian Stanford would be joining them in an attempt to break into the NFL. Stanford, a tremendous athlete who spent much of his career harassing opposing signal callers, signed an Undrafted Free Agent contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Standing at 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds with good speed, Stanford can be a hidden gem for a team in search of a pass rusher with explosiveness off the edge. The all-NEC first team selection logged 11.5 tackles for loss, including 5.0 quarterback sacks, and also made three interceptions as a senior.
Stanford also proved valuable on special teams at Wagner and could very well carve out a niche for himself in that area at the next level.
Meanwhile, Gumbs spent each of the past four seasons as Monmouth’s leading tackler. One of the hardest hitters to come through West Long Branch, the strong safety earned three consecutive selections on the All-NEC First Team. Gumbs impressed fellow Hawk Miles Austin in an offseason workout three summers ago, prompting the Pro Bowl receiver to laud him in the local press.
Dixon traveled an unconventional path prior to arriving at his current destination. A backup quarterback at Michigan State as a freshman, the 6-foot-5 Pennsylvania native transferred home to the Keystone State in 2009. Starting under center in his first game at Duquesne, Dixon torched Bucknell for more than 400 yards and six touchdown passes. It wasn’t long, however, until chronic shoulder problems forced the Harrisburg, PA product out to the flank where wound up thriving. In 2011, Dixon made 40 receptions for a staggering 792 yards (19.8 ypc) and a program-record 16 touchdowns.
Connor Dixon's Career Recap (courtesy DU Athletics Communications)
