MEN'S LACROSSE NOTEBOOK
The No. 16 Vermont Catamounts (7-1, 0-1 AE) continue America East conference play with a home contest against the Binghamton Bearcats (1-7, 0-1 AE). The game is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. and will be followed by the women's team taking on Binghamton.
 
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FREE SHIRT FOR FIRST 200 FANS (Pres. by Flat Fee Real Estate)
The first 200 fans in attendance will receive a free shirt, courtesy of Flat Fee Real Estate.
 
SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
Binghamton enters the game with a 1-7 overall record and a 0-1 mark in America East play. Binghamton's lone win was an 8-7 victory over CAA foe Delaware.  
 
The Bearcats lost the battle of New York with six losses to Empire State schools to open the season, notably falling to Syracuse, Colgate, and Cornell.
 
Stephen Petrelli leads the team with 12 goals and 15 points. William Talbott-Shere is the team's assist leader with four helpers. Nine Bearcats have recorded multiple points on the season.
 
Three Bearcat goalkeepers have player over 100 minutes in goal this season. Kevin Carbone has played the majority of the minutes and leads the team with a .500 save percentage and 11.11 goals against average. He also holds BU's lone victory.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
Saturday will be the 17th consecutive year the Catamounts and Bearcats have played in a series that dates back to 2002. Binghamton holds a 9-7 all-time record in the series with each team taking four wins in Burlington.
 
ALBANY RECAP | CatamounTV Highlights
Vermont suffered its first loss of the season last weekend on the road at top-ranked Albany. The unanimously-ranked Great Danes jumped to a quick 5-0 lead and never looked back, handing the Catamounts a 21-5 loss.
 
Ian MacKay recorded his 200th and 201st career points in the setback, becoming the third Catamount in program history to reach the milestone. 
 
CATS IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
With the loss to Albany, Vermont fell to a tie for 16th per the Inside Lacrosse Maverik Media Poll. The Catamounts received the same amount of votes as Penn.
 
Per the USILA Coaches Poll, the Cats are now ranked 17th-nationally. It is the fifth straight week UVM has remained in both national polls, adding another week to a program-record stint in the polls. 
 
MACKAY ON TEWAARATON AWARD WATCH LIST
MacKay was named to the initial Tewaaraton Award Watch List at the beginning of March. He is one of 50 men's lacrosse players in the NCAA identified as a candidate for the award.
 
The award has been given annually to the top male and female NCAA lacrosse players since 2001. It honors the best player in the nation while paying homage to the game's Native American origins.
 
Players are nominated by NCAA coaches from all three divisions of competition and the Tewaaraton Committee selects the initial fifty men and fifty women to represent each Watch List.
 
MacKay is one of four members of America East institutions named to the men's list. There are three women from America East schools on the initial women's list.
 
MACKAY'S MAJOR MILESTONE
MacKay entered Saturday's game at Albany with 199 career points. His pair of goals made him the third Catamount in program history and first in three decades to reach the milestone.
 
Scott Montgomery '86 is the program's all-time leading scorer with 283 points while Craig Mygatt '88 is not far behind at 243 career points.
 
The Ontario native needs 18 goals to match Mygatt for the most in program history. MacKay is two assists shy of matching Gordon Allen '97 and cracking into the top-five in program history.
 
MACKAY IS STREAKING
MacKay has recorded at least a point in 54 consecutive games. In a streak that dates back to his freshman season in 2014, MacKay's only game without at least one point was his collegiate debut against Colgate.
 
MacKay's streak is the fourth longest active streak in the NCAA. He is behind Justin Guterding of Duke (64 games), Connor Fields of Albany (59 games), and Shack Stanwick of Johns Hopkins (55 games).
 
WASHUTA THE WALL
Sophomore goalie Nick Washuta is second in the America East and sixth in the country in goals against average (7.76).
 
The Minnesota native is 11th in the NCAA and second in the conference in save percentage (.573). He is fourth in the conference in saves per game (9.38).
 
CATAMOUNTS WITH THE MOST SCOOPS
The Catamounts rank third in the conference and 28th-nationally with 28.75 ground balls per game.
 
Andrew Simeon leads the team with 36 ground balls and is fourth in the America East with 4.5 GB/game. Seven additional Catamounts have recorded double digit ground balls through the first eight games of 2018.
 
DEFENSE CAUSING CHAOS
Warren Jeffrey, James Leary, and Simeon anchor the Catamount defense and all are tied for the team lead with nine caused turnovers. All three are just outside the top-10 in the America East in CT/game.
 
The Cats rank second in the AE and 30th-nationally in the statistic with 6.75 forced turnovers per game. Last year's team finished the year first in the America East and 13th in the country in CT/game (8.08).
 
UVM's scoring defense ranks eighth in the country and second in the America East, allowing 8.38 goals per game.
 
EARNING THE (CANADIAN) BACON
Vermont's top-five scorers all hail from north of the border, and more specifically, Ontario.
 
MacKay leads the team with 30 points through eight games and hails from Port Elgin. Rob Hudson (Oakville) is second on the team with 18 points.
 
Braiden Davis (Orangeville), Ben French (Toronto), and Liam Limoges (Toronto) are tied for third in scoring with 17 points. The leading American scorer, Dawes Milchling, also has 17 points through eight games.
 
SCORERS IN THE AMERICA EAST
MacKay is sixth in the conference in goals per game (2.38) and assists per game (1.38). He is fifth in points per game (3.75).
 
French is tied for ninth in the America East in goals per game (2.00). Davis is 10th in the AE in assists per contest (1.00).
 
WHO WEARS THE HATS?
UVM has nine hat tricks through seven games this season. MacKay has accounted for three, Limoges and French each have a pair, while Hudson and Davis each have one three-goal game. 
 
Six different Catamounts accounted for 14 hat tricks over the course of the 2017 season.  
 
RALLY AGAINST CANCER SCHEDULED FOR APRIL 7
The Catamounts host UMass Lowell on April 7 in the annual Rally Against Cancer game, presented by Otter Creek Awnings and Vermont Custom Closet.
 

ALUMNI WEEKEND SCHEDULED FOR APRIL 7
Men's Lacrosse Alumni are invited back to Virtue Field on Saturday, April 7 as the Cats host UMass Lowell at 1pm.  Following the game, there will be an alumni and team reception.  To register, please visit http://go.uvm.edu/mlax18 by Thursday, April 5. 
 
Please contact our Victory Club office at Victory.Club@uvm.edu or 802-656-0956 with any questions.
 
UVA/UVM TICKET INFORMATION RELEASED
The UVM Alumni Association's Westchester/Fairfield Affinity Chapter, Athletic Director Jeff Schulman '89, and Vermont Men's Lacrosse invite you and your families to join us on Saturday, April 21, 2018 as they take on UVA in New Canaan, CT.  Please click here for more information, to buy game tickets through the Alumni Association and register for the reception.

More information on the weekend's schedule, including hotel, fan fest and schedule details, can be found at https://imlcagameoftheweek.com/.

NEXT UP
Vermont heads to West Hartford, Connecticut to take on the Hartford Hawks. The game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at Al-Marzook Field and will air on ESPN3.
 
NFP is the presenting sponsor for the 2018 men's lacrosse season