Posts Tagged: D1
Head-to-Head Combat at the 2012 Konica Minolta Big City Classic
The fourth annual Konica Minolta Big City Classic was held on April 1, 2012. Once again, the event delivered the elite names of college lacrosse in an exciting tripleheader on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ formerly the New Meadowlands Stadium. With top-ranked teams such as Syracuse, Duke, Notre Dame, Johns Hopkins and North Carolina in the lineup, this is always a must-see Inside Lacrosse event for fans of this fast growing sport. The games were:
I am a bit biased as I shoot for Inside Lacrosse several times a year, but it really is a great event. The games are usually close, the fans wild and the athletes phenomenal. On a personal level, I enjoy photographing lacrosse because it is such a tight-knit community from all levels, including the players, the coaches, the magazines and yes the photographers as well. In fact, whenever I photograph a lacrosse event I am surprised to find so many players that I have shot in high school and in some cases grammar school lax as well. Enjoy some of my favorites below.
NCAA WLAX North Carolina at Pennsylvania
NCAA WLAX: Maryland vs Northwestern
Congratulations to the Maryland Terrapins for becoming the 2010 NCAA National Women’s Lacrosse Champions with a 13-11 win over Northwestern, which has held that title the previous five years.
CLICK HERE to view more images from the game.
28 May 2010: The National Championship team pose with their hard fought trophy after clinching the Division I Women’s Lacrosse Championship finals held at Johnny Unitas Stadium on the Towson University campus in Towson, MD. Maryland defeated Northwestern 13-11. Mandatory Credit: Alex Cena
NCAA Ice Hockey: RIT at New Hampshire
Photos by Alex Cena / Southcreek Global
From Press Release:
ALBANY, NY – The fourth-seeded RIT men’s hockey team (28-11-1) advanced to the 2010 NCAA Frozen Four, scoring three times in a 1:34 span midway through the second period to break a 1-1 tie and defeat third-seeded New Hampshire (18-14-7) 6-2 in the NCAA East Regional Semifinal on Saturday evening. It is RIT’s first trip to the Frozen Four in just its fifth season of Division I play. Jared DeMichiel (Avon, CT) was named the East Regional Most Outstanding Player.
Tyler Brenner (Linwood, Ontario), Brent Alexin (West Seneca, NY) and Stevan Matic (Burnaby, British Columbia) scored the decisive three goals for RIT that gave them the lead for good. Chris Haltigin (Oakville, Ontario) and Tyler Mazzei (Kelowna, British Columbia) also scored for the Tigers, who have now won 12-straight games and will continue their magical run against either Wisconsin on Thursday, April 8 at Ford Field in Detroit, Mich.
RIT, ranked No. 20 in the latest USCHO.com poll, used a dominant second period to pull away from the No. 12 Huskies. In addition to the three unanswered goals, RIT out-shot New Hampshire 18-6 in that period. RIT out-shot New Hampshire, 33-26 in the game, witnessed by 3,737 fans.
Brenner scored a pair of goals for the Tigers. Andrew Favot (King City, Ontario) dished out three assists. Haltigin and Mazzei each had a goal and an assist.
DeMichiel was sensational in net for the Tigers, stopping 24-of-26 shots. He stopped 63-of-66 shots on the weekend for RIT to earn East Region MVP honors.
It is RIT’s second straight win over a national power. Yesterday, RIT knocked off top-seeded Denver, 2-1 in the NCAA East Regional Semifinal. Denver was the No. 2 overall team in the nation and in the tournament. DeMichiel stopped a career-high 39 shots.
The Tigers have allowed just 16 goals in their last 12 games. They have outscored their foes 53-16 during the streak. The 16 goals allowed are the fewest allowed over a 12-game stretch.
RIT’s power-play went 0-for-6 on the night, snapping a streak of 15 straight games with a power-play goal. The Tiger penalty-killing unit killed off all three New Hampshire power-plays.
RIT is now 19-3-0 since Jan. 8, and 12-1-0 since Feb. 1. The 12 straight wins sets a new Division I team record.
RIT Head Coach Wayne Wilson was ecstatic with his team’s effort and the fact they will be representing the AHA in the Frozen Four.
“This is an accumulation of a lot of hard work from a lot of different players. We’ve set a bar of excellence,” said Wilson. It’s a little unbelievable, just the calmness of the players and the way they go about their work. It’s great to be an AHA representative and the first in the Frozen Four.”
Both teams scored once in an evenly played opening 20 minutes.
The Tigers had a great chance two minutes in, as Favot wheeled and fired a backhander from the slot that bounced off a wildcat defenseman and past Foster, but just wide of the goal.
Mazzei nearly opened the scoring for RIT later in the period, as his wraparound attempt was stopped by Foster, but the puck sat in the crease for a moment before a Wildcats defenseman and Foster were able to freeze the puck for a whistle.
Haltigin opened the scoring at the 14:10 mark, as his wrist shot from the right point went through a maze of bodies and beat Foster off the left post. Favot won the battle to the puck behind the net and fed Mazzei who wheeled to the corner. Mazzei fed the pass back to Haltigin, whose accurate shot had eyes. The goal was Haltigin’s 11th of the season.
The Wildcats evened the score at 1 with just 59 seconds left in the period, as Brett Kostolansky’s point shot hit a few bodies and deflected off the stick of Phil DeSimone and past DeMichiel. Bobby Butler started the rush with a hard shot that DeMichiel turned away. The rebound caromed around the boards and back to the point, where Kostolansky was able to fire his shot.
The Tigers dodged a huge bullet a minute into the second period, while on the power-play, as Thompson rang a shot off the crossbar with the top half of the net open after DeMichiel left a big rebound on the initial shot by Bobby Butler during the shorthanded rush.
Tanev almost gave RIT the lead a few shifts later, as he redirected Burt’s centering feed from the slot. Foster slid to make a nice save.
Brenner gave RIT the 2-1 lead 13:23 into the second, as he converted a nifty feed from Favot in tight and slid a backhander through the pads of Foster.
Just 13 seconds later, Alexin slid home a shot around Foster to make it 3-1. The two goals scored 13 seconds apart are a team record.
Matic converted is eighth goal of the season at the 14:57 mark coming out of a scramble to beat Foster.
Nearly halfway through the third period, Brenner stole a puck from a New Hampshire defenseman in close and ripped a wrist shot past Foster for his second goal of the game and 14th goal of the year.
After Blake Kessel scored for the Wildcats to cut the Tiger lead to 5-2 late the third, Mazzei put the game away with an empty-net goal in the final moments.
“I think we proved tonight we can’t be overlooked,” said Jared DeMichiel. “Our team was excited to be here, we know we’ve played strong in and out of conference. We’re just worried about ourselves and playing our game. If we play our game for sixty minutes we know our opponent will have to fight.”
RIT reached the NCAA Tournament after winning the Atlantic Hockey Championship last weekend. RIT defeated Canisius in the AHA Semifinal, 4-0, and trounced Sacred Heart 6-1 in the AHA Championship.
Tonight’s contest was the first meeting between the two schools.
RIT is now 10-3 all-time in the postseason at the Division I level. They have scored at least four goals in 10 of the 13 contests. RIT is 6-0 this season in the postseason, outscoring opponents, 26-8
It is the second straight season and third in the last five years that an Atlantic Hockey Association team has advanced to the NCAA Regional Championship.
NCAA Women's Lacrosse: Northwestern at Syracuse
From Press Release:
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Top-ranked Northwestern found itself in unfamiliar territory Sunday – trailing by three goals at halftime. But thanks to six goals from senior Danielle Spencer (Rochester, N.Y./Brighton), the Wildcats rallied to take a 13-12 victory over eighth-ranked Syracuse.
With the game tied at 12, senior Katrina Dowd (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) broke a Syracuse (4-2) double team in the near corner, then beat goalkeeper Liz Hogan for the game-winner with 1:28 remaining. The Wildcats won the ensuing draw control and was able to run out the clock to improve to 6-0 on the year and extend their winning streak to 35 games.
Spencer, playing in front of a large hometown contingent, had one of her top games of the year, recording three draw controls as well. Dowd finished with a hat trick and an assist while sophomore Shannon Smith (West Babylon, N.Y./West Babylon) had two goals and two assists for the ‘Cats.
Sophomore goalkeeper Brianne LoManto (Miller Place, N.Y./Rocky Point) came up huge in the second half, recording six of her 10 saves in the second stanza. LoManto had four saves in the final 15 minutes of the game to thwart off the Syracuse attack, including a diving stick save to rob an Orange empty-net goal.
As had been the case in every game this season, Northwestern got on the board first as junior Brooke Matthews (Baltimore, Md./Friends School) converted a free position attempt with 27:46 remaining.
After the Orange responded with a goal of its own two minutes later, the Wildcats’ offensive trifecta made its presence known, as a pair of goals from Dowd and an additional from both Spencer and Smith pushed the Northwestern lead to 5-1 with just under 20 left in the opening stanza.
But Syracuse responded in a big way, tallying eight of the next nine goals over the next 17 minutes, including a hat trick from Christina Dove, to take a 9-6 lead with 97 seconds remaining on the clock. Spencer would stop the Orange run with her third of the game, bringing the ‘Cats to within two at 9-7 with 1:01 remaining, but Syracuse would add one more goal late to take a 10-7 advantage into the half.
Whatever head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller said to the team in the intermission worked, as goals from Smith, freshman Erin Fitzgerald (Mt. Sinai, N.Y./Mt. Sinai) and Spencer, coupled with a pair of big saves from LoManto tied the game at 10 with 22:49 remaining. Spencer then rocketed her fifth of the game, putting Northwestern back on top 11-10 with 17:33 left.
Syracuse would tie the game at 11 midway through the final half, only to see Spencer tally her double hat-trick off a feed from Smith at the 5:16 mark. The Orange would stage one last rally, tying the game at 12 with 2:47 remaining before Dowd sealed the victory 79 seconds later.
Northwestern again dominated on the draw, taking 18 of the 27 opportunities on the afternoon led by five from sophomore Alexandra Frank (Westwood, Mass./Westwood). Syracuse out-shot the Wildcats 30-26 but could only convert two of their 12 second-half shots.
One category which was uncharacteristic for the Wildcats was turnovers, where Northwestern’s 16 in the opening half was the most they had seen all year, as NU finished with 24 for the day.
Close to 1,600 fans turned out to see a classic game on a great day in Syracuse, with a large portion of those in attendance cheering for Northwestern. With 10 players on the Wildcat roster hailing from the Empire State, there was a significant cheering section for the ‘Cats at Christian Brothers Academy.
Northwestern will remain on the road, opening up its 2010 American Lacrosse Conference slate in Columbus, Ohio, against the Buckeyes. Opening draw is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 24, at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.