MEN'S LACROSSE NOTEBOOK
On the heels of a bye last weekend, Vermont men's lacrosse heads south to Baltimore and UMBC to wrap up the 2017 regular season. Opening faceoff in Saturday's game (April 29) is slated for noon at UMBC Stadium.
The game will be streamed live and for free on AmericaEast.TV and live stats will also be available free of charge.
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CATAMOUNTS RECAP
A late UVM rally came up just short on April 15 as the Catamounts were topped by Stony Brook in a 10-9 Senior Day contest at Virtue Field.
Cam Milligan helped spark the rally with three of his four points coming in the fourth quarter, but Vermont ultimately could not overcome a strong first half performance by the Seawolves.
UVM did sustain possession and pressured offensively in the final minutes but could not find the equalizer. Down the stretch
Rob Hudson rang the post and
Jack Knight also had an opportunity, but was unable to trickle the twine.
SCOUTING UMBC
UMBC is currently in a three-way tie for second place in America East, bearing a 3-2 record in league play and 5-7 mark overall. The squad has flip-flopped results each of the last six weekends, earning wins over Stony Brook (March 18), UMass Lowell (April 1) and Binghamton (April 15). Between each are setbacks at Michigan (March 25) and Albany (April 8) along with a 13-8 decision at Hartford last Saturday (April 22).
The Retrievers' offense runs largely through senior Max Maxwell, who has put together 34 points on 16 goals and 18 assists, all three of which lead the team. He has also recorded a point in each of his last 17 games. Statistically speaking, faceoff specialist Jake Brothers is atop the squad in ground balls (44) while goalie Ruston Souder (9.33 GAA) is expected to be seen between the posts.
Just the program's third head coach since 1970, Ryan Moran is in his first season guiding the Retrievers after a two-year stint as an assistant at Loyola Maryland. He played collegiate lacrosse at Maryland, the same alma mater as Vermont head coach
Chris Feifs.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Vermont has pulled out wins in back-to-back games against the Retrievers in a series that began in 2004, UMBC's first campaign in America East. Last season at Virtue Field,
Ian MacKay had seven points and
James Leary had four ground balls to go with a pair of causes as UVM picked up a 14-10 win. MacKay's day also propelled the then-junior past the century mark (100) in the career goals column.
Back in 2015,
Cam Milligan was one of several Catamounts to play a key role as UVM earned a victory down in Baltimore. His six-point day was capped off by an assist on MacKay's game-winning tally as the Green and Gold snuck out with an 11-10 decision in hand. On the ensuing UMBC attack, goalie
Justin Rosenberg came up with a huge save, making a point blank stop to preserve the end result.
The Retrievers currently lead the all-time series by an 11-2 margin.
CATS IN THE RECORD BOOK
Milligan will head into Saturday's contest with 168 career points at Vermont on 84 goals and 84 assists. That ranks eighth all-time in program history as the Peterborough, Ontario native passed Geoff Worley '12 (165) in the Stony Brook game on April 15. Seventh all-time is Karl Langmuir '89, who amassed 169 points on 116 goals and 53 helpers.
In addition Milligan is tied with Worley for third in career assists; Craig Mygatt '88 holds down the second spot with 93 with the Green and Gold. Milligan's numbers are particularly impressive given that he arrived at UVM as a transfer in time for the 2015 season, thus posting the above performances over three seasons.
I TIP MY HAT TO YOU, SIR
Five different Catamounts have accounted for a total of 13 hat tricks throughout the 2017 season. The group includes
Braiden Davis,
Ben French (3),
Dawes Milchling (5), Milligan (3) and
Alex Stanko.
TURN DOWN FOR WHAT?
Junior defenseman
James Leary has caused 18 opponent turnovers this season (1.5/game) and is just short of the America East lead in the per game column. Originally from Seabrook, New Hampshire, the community entrepreneurship major is part of a unit that collectively boasts 7.92 causes day-to-day. That stat ranks tied with Harvard for 13th nationally.
MILLIGAN, WASHUTA LAUDED BY AMERICA EAST
Both Milligan as well as
Nick Washuta collected weekly awards from America East on April 10. Milligan shared Offensive Player of the Week recognition with Albany's Connor Fields, while Washuta was named the conference's Defensive Player of the Week. Milligan has registered a point in all but one game during his Catamount career. In UVM's win over UMass Lowell on April 8, Washuta posted a .593 save percentage, a mark that exceeded all other America East goalies that weekend.
CATAMOUNTS CELEBRATE 40 YEARS OF VARSITY LACROSSE
Vermont men's lacrosse welcomed over 110 alumni back to Burlington on April 1 as the program celebrated 40 years of varsity status. In conjunction with the event, UVM also announced the members of the 40th Anniversary All-Time Team, which was selected exclusively by alumni.
Click here to read a recap of the team.
Catamount Weekly, UVM Athletics' weekly newsmagazine, also profiled the weekend's festivities.
Click here to watch the episode.
UVM ANNOUNCES 2017 CAPTAINS
Seniors
Ben Cox,
Cam Milligan and
Ian MacKay, along with junior
James Leary and redshirt junior
Hayden Jenkins will captain the Catamounts this season.
WELCOME TO VERMONT, COACH
The seventh head coach in program history,
Chris Feifs arrives in Burlington following a seven-year run at North Carolina as defensive coordinator and faceoff coach. During his time in Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels captured the 2016 NCAA National Championship and were ACC regular season co-champions on two occasions. In 2013, UNC claimed the conference title.
He also spent two seasons in an assistant coaching capacity at VMI and played his collegiate lacrosse at Maryland, becoming the first scholarship athlete from North Carolina to play lacrosse for the Terrapins.
FEIFS ANNOUNCES COACHING STAFF
Jake Bernhardt and
Chris Miller have also come to the Green Mountain State as assistant coaches under Feifs, while
Brian Kavanagh has joined the Catamounts as a volunteer assistant. Bernhardt plays professionally for the Ohio Machine of Major League Lacrosse and scored 14 goals last season en route to an appearance in the MLL Championship Game. Miller was most recently associate head coach at Washington College (Maryland) and, from 2008-10, worked with Feifs as an assistant at VMI.
A 2014 graduate of Princeton and former goalie with the Tigers, Kavanagh made eight appearances in his career and was part of a 2012 team that reached the Ivy League Championship and ultimately punched a ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
