Top 25 Upstate Lacrosse Stories of 2010: 5 - 1
Friday, January 7, 2011 at 12:15AM
Everyone likes a close, competitive game that comes down to the final minute, but 2010 was a cardiac specialist's dream. We've already mentioned the Monroe Community College women's winning free position goal with one second left in the National Championship game against OCC. But there were plenty of others:
Cornell was involved in four of these heart-stoppers. On March 6th Big Red Senior Ryan Hurley scored his 102nd goal of his career with :41 left in OT to defeat Army and give head coach Jeff Tambroni his 100th coaching victory. On April 13th, in a Time Warner Cable televised game, Syracuse's Chris Daniello fired a shot as time expired to break the hearts of Cornell players and fans for the second straight time in a Big Red/Orange matchup. It was Princeton's Jack McBride's turn to do the same in the first-ever Ivy League Tournament Championship Game, at Schoellkopf Field, scoring the game-winner as time expired in OT. And in the very next game for the 2010 Big Red, the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, it was Cornell's turn to be victorious. Junior defender Max Feely scored his first career goal as time was winding down in the third overtime against visiting Loyola.
In Le Moyne's final regular season game, Jack Harmatuk scored with 42 seconds remaining for an 8-7 win over Saint Anselm, but the Dolphins didn't fair so well in the NE-10 Conference Championship game. After scoring five goals in the final 4:51 of the fourth quarter to send the game into OT, Merrimack won the game with .8 seconds left in overtime.
Striving for their second D-III Championship in three years, the Hamilton women led for most of their match with Salisbury only to fall behind at the 5:26 mark of the second half. The previously undefeated Continentals had two shots in the finals ten seconds of the game that failed to find the back of the net.
And of course, probably the most talked about game of the men's NCAA Tournament, if not the entire 2010 season, Army's Devin Lynch, from Skaneateles, gave the Cadets their first lead of the game on a feed from Baldwinsville's Jeremy Boltus with 5.7 seconds left in the second OT to move on to the next round, sending the Orange to the off-season.
Lacrosse is a team sport, but outstanding individual performances in a game are surely worth the price of admission. Below is a list of players, in no particular order, either playing their college ball at Upstate schools, or native Upstaters that chose to attend schools a little farther away, who stood out for more than just a game or two, but for an entire season or their entire career, on the field and, in some cases off the field as well. A list like this is always risky in that we are bound to leave someone out. We take that risk to congratulate these great players:
Sam Bradman - Salisbury - Canton: Named the 2010 United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Division III National Midfielder of the Year, a first-team All-American and was the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) Player of the Year.
Liz Hogan - Syracuse - Victor
Named the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Goalkeeper of the Year. Was the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year and unanimous selection to the All-BIG EAST First Team, and set a Syracuse career record for saves.
Brian Karalunas - Villanova - Jamesville Dewitt:
Named the 2010 BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Award Winner. Named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year and garnered First Team All-BIG EAST Honors. Led the NCAA averaging 3.47 caused turnovers per game, setting a Villanova single-season record, caused 52 turnovers and grabbed 55 ground balls. Carries a 3.92 cumulative GPA. He is a regular volunteer for the Special Olympics and the Graterford Prison Restorative Justice Program, and also donates time with the Onondaga Valley Presbyterian Church in Syracuse, N.Y.
Tammy Kohanski - Utica College - Corcoran
In April the junior midfielder broke the Utica College career scoring record. Kohanski currently has 170 career points.
Laura Zimmerman - North Carolina - Westhill:
Set career-highs with five goals and seven points in Carolina's 18-16 win at top-ranked Northwestern, its first loss in 42 games and first at home (Lakeside Field) in 59 contests. Scored a goal with two seconds left in the first half to tie the game (12-12) at the break, then scored the game-winner in the second half.
Steve Kazimer - Stevenson - Henninger
For the second-straight year named as the Division III recipient of the USILA Lt. Col. J.I. Turnbull Award which is presented annually to the nation's Outstanding Attackman. The 25 year-old senior became Stevenson's career leader in scoring.
Drew Bezek - Le Moyne - New Hartford
William C. Schmeisser Award for Outstanding Defensive player in Division II.
Andrew Maisano - Army - St. Francis/Buffalo
The Army co-captain was named the 2010 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award winner. Is a first-team Academic All-America and the Patriot League Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Shelby Barbay - Utica College - Waterloo
Shelby Barbay was named the Empire 8 Conference Goalie of the Year and earned First Team All-Conference.
Christina Dove - Syracuse
Honored with the 2009-10 BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Award. Was First-team All-America. Dove ranked fourth in the nation in points and goals (69), 11th in goals per game (3.14) and 12th in points per game (4.41). She earned the 2010 BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year award for the second consecutive season and was a unanimous selection to the All-BIG EAST First Team.
Bill Henderson - Tully - Army
First junior ever named co-captain at Army. Named the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year.
VanderMeulen - Liverpool - Harvard
Named Ivy League Rookie of the Year (unanimous). First-team All-Ivy League. Led the league and ranked third in the nation in goals per game with 3.73. Her 56 goals are the most by a freshman at Harvard, the fifth highest total in Harvard history and the most goals scored by a Crimson player since 1981. It’s also the first time a Harvard player has scored more than 50 goals in a season since 1992.
Jack Harmatuk - Le Moyne - CBA Syracuse
Earned first-team All-America honors in two seasons. 2010 USILA Attackman of the Year with 33 goals, 11 assists and 24 ground balls.
Dennis Costanza - Geneseo - Webster-Schroeder
Named NCAA Division III Goalie of the Year and first team All-America.
Joel White - Syracuse - Cortland
Lt. Donald C. MacLaughlin Jr. Award as the nation’s best midfielder. Named First-Team All-American.
John Galloway - Syracuse - West Genesee
USILA All-America First Team, Galloway was voted the BIG EAST Goalkeeper of Year.
Chris DeLuca - Cortland
Was given the Iroquois Award as the Outstanding Player for Division III.
Rob Pannell - Cornell
Won the Lt. Col. J.I. (Jack) Turnbull Award as the nation's top attackman. Named First-Team All-American.
RJ Wickem - Navy - Penn Yan
Named the 2010 Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year. Three-time All-Patriot First-Team.
Matt Chadderdon - Le Moyne - Auburn
Named top Division II midfielder and the recipient of the Lt. Raymond J. Enners award by the USILA as the Division II most outstanding player.
After the shock of having the 2009 Empire State Games canceled due to the economic crisis throughout the US, the Games returned to Buffalo in 2010 with a little help from corporate sponsors, mainly First Niagara Bank which donated $500,000 towards the NYS goal of $1 million.
Long Island took home both gold medals, with the Central Boys and the Western Girls earning the Silvers.
The ESG's secured the #3 spot in our countdown after the Poughkeepsie Journal broke the story in November that the 2011 Empire State Games scheduled for Lake Placid and Rochester would not be held, once again due to monetary troubles. As it stands now, it looks as if the Winter Games will be held as the Adirondack community, including Saranac Lake and Lake Placid are nearly halfway to their goal of raising the $150,000 needed to host the event for 2011.
Similar efforts are underway in Rochester in hopes that the Summer Games can be held.
Buffalo's Empire State Games leaves a legacy
Latest news on the Winter Games
With two straight NCAA Final Fours and surpassing the 100-career coaching victories mark in 2010, West Genesee graduate Jeff Tambroni shocked the collegiate lacrosse world in June when he stepped down as the Big Red head coach and took a similar position at Penn St.
The Big Red shouldn't miss a beat in 2011, however, since the administration there wasted no time in naming associate head coach Ben DeLuca to the vacant post. A star at Cornell, and the 2007 National Assistant Coach of the Year, DeLuca has been a very well-liked and well-respected member of the Big Red family.
Ben DeLuca named new Cornell head coach
New Cornell Ben DeLuca humbled
So England wanted to host the World Lacrosse Championships but wouldn't let the creators of the game compete. That's what it looked like in the simplest of terms - to someone not really that familiar with the sport of lacrosse, and there were plenty of those following this story as it broke over the summer. Because of the worldwide news coverage, and because of the complexity of the issues involved, this was arguably the biggest lacrosse story ever.
In a strange way there were winners and losers in this story. Simply put, we all lost the experience of having perhaps the best collection of Native players, many of them our friends and neighbors, compete at the highest level of the sport. I'm sure the Canadians, the Americans, and the rest of the teams in Manchester felt a loss at not being able to compete on the field with the Nationals. That is some awesome lacrosse we will never get back.
The Haudenosaunee won the respect of people all over the world, some of whom may never have heard of lacrosse until now. They represented well other Native Nations across the US and Canada, and indigenous peoples across the globe.
It is a shame that it had to happen, and I hope we all learned a lesson from it.
The Haudenosaunee 'Right of Return'
The Absense of the Iroquois Nationals at the FIL World Championships is a Sad Day for Lacrosse
Iroquois Nationals Salute FIL World Lacrosse Championships
Iroquois Nationals Win Despite Travel Snafu
Reader Comments