March 21, 2008

•Navy-Colgate Men's Lacrosse Game Notes
Navy Stats | Colgate Stats

Game 9: Navy at Colgate
Sunday, March 23 • 12:00 pm • Hamilton, N.Y. • Andy Kerr Stadium

Television: CBS College Sports Network - Jason Chandler (play by play), Paul Carcaterra (analyst)

Radio/Internet:
Listen: 1430 WNAV, 1050 WFED (Pete Medhurst)
Watch: Navy All-Access on www.NavySports.com
Listen: Navy All-Access on www.NavySports.com

Live Stats: Live Stats on gocolgateraiders.com

Game Preview
• No. 8 Navy (7-1, 3-0 Patriot League) will play its third game in nine days when it makes the trek to Hamilton, N.Y. to battle Colgate (4-3, 1-0 Patriot League) in an Easter Sunday matinee beginning at 12:00 pm ... the contest will be played at Andy Kerr Stadium which is where the Raiders play their football games.
• Sunday's contest will be televised live on CBS College Sports Network (formerly CSTV) with Major League Lacrosse Director of Broadcast Content Jason Chandler (play by play) and former Syracuse All-American Paul Carcaterra (analyst) calling the action.
• The Voice of Navy Lacrosse Pete Medhurst will also call the action live on 1430 WNAV, as well as 1050 WFED.
• Additionally, fans can log onto www.NavySports.com where they can watch a live video feed via Navy All-Access or follow the game for free via Gametracker.
• Resting on the laurels of its third-ranked defense, Navy held 12th-ranked Bucknell to three goals, while sophomore attack Tim Paul punched in the game-winner with 1:20 remaining in overtime to earn a 4-3 win over the Bison Wednesday in Annapolis.
• Colgate, meanwhile, had its four-game winning streak snapped last Tuesday when Duke outshot the Raiders, 58-21, en route to a 15-7 Blue Devil win.

Taking the Field in ...
10 • Junior goalkeeper Matt Coughlin made a career-high 10 saves in Navy's win over Bucknell Wednesday.
9 • Winning seven of the 11 draws against Bucknell, senior Mikelis Visgauss moved into ninth on Navy's career faceoff wins list with 112.
8 • Senior Nick Mirabito is just eight points shy of becoming only the ninth player in program history to reach 150 points during their career.
7 • Navy has scored seven or more goals in seven of its eight games this year.
6 • Basil Daratsos scored a combined six goals in last year's two games against Colgate, including a career-high four in the regular-season win.
5 • Navy's defense has held five of its eight opponents scoreless in the opening period, including three of its four Patriot League foes.
4 • Navy's defense has given up just four extra-man goals this season on 17 attempts (.765).
3 • Navy has played a program-record three overtime games in 2008, winning two of the three.
2 • Since the beginning of 2004, Navy has lost just two games against unranked opponents (33-2).
1 • Navy is the nation's leader in wins over the last five years with 56 ... Johns Hopkins is second with 54 wins.

Navy vs. Colgate - The Series
• Navy leads the all-time series with Colgate, 7-1, including wins in each of the last two meetings.
• The Mids had won five in a row before the Raiders claimed their lone win in the series (6-3) in Navy's first and only trip to Hamilton, N.Y. in 2006.
• Colgate is one of only two teams (Bucknell in '05) in the Patriot League who have beaten Navy since the Mids joined the conference ... the 2006 loss to the Raiders marks Navy's last loss in conference play.
• While Navy has played Colgate just once in Hamilton, N.Y., the Mids did return to later that year for the Patriot League Tournament where they defeated Lehigh (9-2) and Army (8-5) to earn their third of four Patriot League Tournament titles.
• The two teams have met six times since the Midshipmen joined the Patriot League in 2004 ... during that span, Navy has produced a 5-1 record and outscored Colgate, 80-42 ... Navy and Colgate have met in the Patriot League Tournament, including last year when the Mids claimed a 15-9 win over the Raiders in the championship game.
• Sunday's game is only the second time the Navy-Colgate game will have been played on the Raiders' home field.
• Senior Nick Mirabito has turned in 12 points on nine goals and three assists in his four appearances against Colgate, while sophomores Basil Daratsos (6-0-6) and Tim Paul (2-2-4) have also enjoyed success against the Raiders.
• Colgate's Matt Lalli has produced 10 points on seven goals and three assists against the Mids, while 2007 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year owns six points (2-4) and Kevin Colleluori has tallied 6 (6-0-6, 5 in '07 regular season game).

The Last Time ...
• Patriot League Tournament MVP Nick Mirabito scored four goals and added a pair of assists to lead top-seeded Navy to a 15-9 victory over No. 19 Colgate in the championship game of the Patriot League Tournament. • Mirabito produced six goals and three assists in Navy's two tournament wins, including a career-high four-goal performance in the championship contest.
• Colgate took the early edge as Matt Lalli and E.J. Atamian scored back-to-back goals to give the Raiders a 2-0 lead.
• Navy finally got on the scoreboard when Paul fed Terence Higgins at the 5:06 mark, but Colgate's Ian Murphy answered with a goal just over a minute later.
• Mirabito scored the first of his four goals with 2:51 to play in the opening quarter, but once again, the Raiders responded with Brendan Hurley punching in his 28th goal of the season.
• With just five seconds left, Wallin spotted Mirabito who sat on the door step and narrowed Colgate's lead to just one (4-3) heading into the second quarter.
• Dingman knotted the game when he threaded a shot to the right post ... three minutes later, Navy took its first lead of the game when Daratsos fired off a shot from 10 yards out.
• Navy scored the final three goals of the first half, including Rob Lenseth's first goal at 3:43 that sparked the run, to take an 8-5 lead at the intermission.
• After surviving successive man-down possessions to start the third quarter, Navy gave up back-to-back even strength goals at 12:39 (Lalli) and 10:31 (Kevin Colleluori) to lead the Raiders back into the game at 8-7.
• Lenseth helped Navy stretch its lead to two when he took a Paul pass and fired off a shot with 1:30 left in the quarter. Colgate got the final say of the period as Lalli made a head-up play firing off a shot from 25 yards out to score the goal with just one second remaining.
• Navy took control of the game early in the fourth quarter when Dingman and Daratsos scored goals less than two minutes apart and Paul punched a goal with 7:50 remaining to give the Mids a 12-9 lead.
• Colgate scored one last time (7:09), but Navy produced the final three goals to earn the victory.

Patriot League Success
• Since joining the Patriot League in 2004, Navy is 35-2 (.946) against opponents from the league, including an 8-0 mark in the Patriot League Tournament ... the Mids lost regular-season contests to Bucknell in '05 and Colgate in '06.
• Navy has won 17 consecutive games against Patriot League teams ... its last loss was a 6-3 decision against Colgate on March 18, 2006, in Hamilton, N.Y.
• The Mids own a 19-0 record at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium against Patriot League competition since joining the conference ... the Mids are 13-0 during the regular season and 6-0 in the conference tournament.
• The Mids have produced undefeated marks in conference action in two of the last five years ... 7-0 in 2004 and 6-0 in '07.
• Navy has won at least a share of the Patriot League regular-season title in each of its first four years as a member of the league ... additionally, the Mids have claimed the league's tournament crown all four years.
• 24 different Mids have garnered All-Patriot League recognition, while 13 of the 24 have earned honors multiple times.
• Richie Meade was named the 2004 Patriot League Coach of the Year after leading the Mids to a flawless 7-0 mark in league competition ... he received the award a second time after guiding Navy to a 6-0 record last spring.

Meet the Mids
• Navy will hold its annual "Meet the Mids" event on Saturday, March 29, following Navy's game against nationally-ranked Georgetown (5:00 pm) at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
• Members of the eighth-ranked Navy men's lacrosse team will be available for autographs on the Blue Concourse, with the first 300 kids in line for the postgame autograph session receiving a Navy lacrosse "Meet the Mids" t-shirt, compliments of Chick-fil-A.
• In addition, Navy's 2008 lacrosse poster and an autograph card will be available, while prizes will be handed out.

Fast Facts
• Navy senior attack Nick Mirabito has turned in a goal or an assist in 53 of the 54 games in which he has played during his career ... his 40-game streak was snapped against Maryland last spring and was the second-longest active streak in Div. I lax at the time ... he is currently riding a 13-game consecutive points run, including 12 straight games with an assist ... his seven-game goal-scoring streak was snapped on Wednesday when Bucknell held him without a goal.
• Patrick Moran saw his six-game goal-scoring streak come to an end against Bucknell, while Gregory Clement was also held without a goal for the first time in five games.
• Three players have turned in hat tricks this season ... Nick Mirabito has pitched a hat trick in two games, while junior Sean Standen recorded his first collegiate three-goal performance in Navy's win over Lehigh and sophomore Tim Paul produced his second collegiate hat trick with three markers against Holy Cross at Texas Stadium last Saturday.
• Navy has held the lead at halftime in every game this season ... the Mids have lost 12 in a row when trailing at the break and 57 straight when trailing after three quarters of play.
• The Mids have held seven of their eight opponents to seven or fewer goals this season ... Navy has won 19 in a row when achieving this feat.
• Navy's defense has held five of its eight opponents scoreless in the opening period, including four of the last five (Bucknell scored) ... the Mids have outscored their opponents, 18-4, in the first quarter this spring, including 9-1 in league action.
• Navy has put more shots on goal in the first half (99) than its opponents have shot as a whole in the first half (76, 41 on goal).
• Six different players have accounted for Navy's seven game-winners this season ... ironically, the two top goal producers on the team, Nick Mirabito and Tim Paul, were without a game-winner until the two teamed up against Bucknell and Mirabito fed Paul for the game-winner in OT.
• Navy's 13-goal win over Holy Cross was the largest margin of victory by a Richie Meade-led team since 2006 when the Mids defeated Holy Cross by 14 (17-3) ... meanwhile it's tied as the seventh-largest margin of victory by Meade's Mids.
• Navy has played a program-record three OT games this season ... meanwhile, Bucknell is the only team in the league who has forced the Midshipmen into extra minutes since Navy joined the conference in 2004 ... the Bison upset the Mids in 2005, 8-7.
• Navy turned in back-to-back double-digit victories over Lehigh (14-3) and Holy Cross (16-3) marking the first time the Mids have achieved that feat since 2000 when Navy defeated Stony Brook, 16-4, followed by a 17-2 win over rival Academy Air Force in a span of just four days.
• Ranked No. 3 in the country, Navy's defense held Lehigh and Holy Cross to a combined 36 shots a week ago ... it held Lehigh without a shot in the first quarter of its game, while the Crusaders managed just two shots in the opening half of Saturday's game.

First-Timers
• Twenty different players have scored goals for the Midshipmen this season, including junior defensive midfielder Geoff Leone who is the newest goal scorer after firing in a shot against Bucknell last Wednesday ... 11 of those 19 are first-time scorers and only three of the 11 are freshmen.
• Scoring their first collegiate goals this season are: seniors Dan Decker and Evan Boyle, juniors Michael Beggins, Shane Durkin, Bobby Lennon and Geoff Leone, sophomores Brendan Connors and Joe Lennon and rookies Kevin Doyle, Brian Striffler and Andy Warner.

Balanced Scoring
• Twenty players have scored goals for the Midshipmen this spring, while another three have posted assists, bringing the total to 23 different players having a role in Navy's scoring.
• Navy is one of just three schools to have 23 or more players produce a point this spring ... Duke leads all schools with 29 players scoring, while 24 have recorded points for Virginia.
• Of the 20 players who have scored goals for Navy, 12 of them have found the back of the goal at least twice.
• Halfway through the season, four Mids have reached double figures in the points column ... a year ago, nine posted double digits and the previous season only seven.
• Sophomore midfielder Patrick Moran is on the cusp of reaching double digits, with nine points on eight goals and an assist.
• Six different players have accounted for Navy's seven game-winners this season ... senior Gregory Clement, who came into the season with just four goals in his first three seasons, is the only player on the roster with two game-winners this season.