The University at Albany women’s lacrosse program earned two major awards recently.
Head coach John Battaglino was named the Women’sLax.com Division I Coach of the Year, while Guilderland High School graduate Nikki Branchini was named the America East Conference Woman of the Year.
Battaglino, also the America East Conference Coach of the Year, led the Great Danes to the America East regular-season and tournament championships, plus a program record for most victories in a season (18-1).
The Great Danes finished undefeated in the regular season, earned a national top-10 ranking in both the IWLCA and deBeer/Inside Lacrosse polls and earned a spot in the NCAA Division I tournament. The Great Danes defeated Dartmouth in the first round, but lost to second-ranked Northwestern in the NCAA quarterfinals.
Under Battaglino’s direction, UAlbany ranked second nationally in scoring defense (7.32 goals per game), second in scoring margin (5.7 goals per game) and 18th in scoring offense (13.05).
Branchini, a defensive midfielder, was UAlbany’s ECAC Merit Medal winner and also the Chancellor’s Scholar-Athlete after posting a
3.83 GPA. She made her second straight appearance on the IWLCA All-America team. During her
career, she won or shared the America East Conference Player of the Year award twice. This year, she had 21 goals and three assists.
UAlbany senior Taylor Frink was chosen to the WomensLax.-com Division I All-America squad. She was one of 24 nominees for the Tewaaraton Award as the nation’s top player and was first in assists (2.589 per game) and 10th in scoring (4.37 pg) nationally. She finished her career with a school-record 82 assists. Frink was also fifth in scoring (171 points) and 10th in goals (89).
AROUND CAMPUS
Siena College’s men’s lacrosse team was ranked among the top 20 in both the Nike/Inside Lacrosse and USILA Coaches’ polls for the first time in program history.
Former Union College men’s lacrosse coach and director of athletics Bruce Allison will be inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in a special ceremony Oct. 29 at The Grand Lodge in Hunt Valley, Md. Allison joins Frederick A.
Wyatt (Class of 1932), Jason G. Stranahan (1926) and current head coach Paul Wehrum as the four members of the Hall of Fame affiliated with Union College. Allison’s 1966 team went 10-1, and his 1974 team won 11 games. He coached at Union for 19 seasons and is credited with establishing the current NCAA lacrosse playoff system.
UAlbany’s men’s basketball team earned the America East Conference Sportsmanship Award.
The Great Danes also finished second in the Commissioner’s Cup standings after winning eight America East Conference championships in field hockey, women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s indoor track, women’s lacrosse, softball and men’s and women’s outdoor track. Boston University was first.
HONOR ROLL
BATES
Junior Haley Sive (Glenville) was named to the All-NESCAC rowing team.
HARTWICK
Katy Bosy (Scotia-Glenville) was named the team MVP in women’s soccer and was selected to the Empire 8 second team.
HOBART
Stephen Gemmiti (Shenendehowa) was a member of the novice eight team that earned top honors in Liberty League rowing.
NOVA SOUTHEASTERN
Alyssa O’Donnell (Saratoga Springs), a member of the Schenectady County Community College crew team in the 2008-09 season and the first SCCC female athlete to receive an athletic scholarship, was recently named a Division II All-American. She was also named a member of the All-Sunshine State first team. She helped the Sharks finish third in the Division II rowing championships in Gold River, Calif. She sat in the stroke seat in the varsity eight boat.
ROCHESTER
Frank Ferraro (Niskayuna), ranked among the top 10 all-time in the 200 butterfly at Rochester, was named to the Capital One Academic All-America college
division at-large team. He carried a GPA of 3.98 in computer science and mathematics, with a minor in linguistics. He was also selected the school’s Male Scholar-Athlete.
RPI
Art Levenson was named to the ABCA/Rawlings Division III All-American third team after leading the Engineers in nearly every offensive category — .404 batting average, 146 at-bats, 59 hits, two triples, five homers and 42 RBI.
Ja’Mar Watson and Stephen Silber were named the Liberty League men’s track performer and rookie of the year, respectively, Connor Ahlborn was the women’s field performer of the year and the RPI staff was named the coaching staff of the year for both the men and the women.
Jarrett Regier was named Liberty League rookie of the year after posting a 13-1 record.
Christina Ciamarra was honorable mention in women’s singles, while Zosia Casterline and Jessica Sitzer were also honorable mention in women’s doubles.
SAINT ROSE
Freshman Soroya Hudson, junior Ashley Jackman (Duanesburg),
senior Tyler Gantz, sophomore Umar Hasan and juniors Macky Lloyd (Voorheesville) and Ryan Saunders (Cambridge) were named to the USTFCCA all-region team in track.
SIENA
Junior Ryan Poplawski of the baseball team and senior Courtney Brinkman of the softball team earned the final Leo Dufort
student-athlete awards for the month for May. Poplawski saved eight games and appeared in a team-high 26 games as the closer. Brinkman was second on the softball team in homers with four and drove in 12 runs.
SKIDMORE
Spencer Cheng won the Northeast Region ITA/Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award in tennis. Cheng led the Thoroughbreds to a fourth straight NCAA Division III Tournament and the team’s third Liberty League championship. He also won the Senior Athlete Award.
Linday Stavola and Leslie Stebbins were named to the IWLCA all-region team. Stavola scored 51 goals and added 33 assists, while Stebbins was a top defender. Both were Liberty League all-stars.
Rob Rubenstein, Zack Rudman and Nick Laracuente were named to the ABCA/Rawlings All-New York region teams for the 26-13 Thoroughbreds. Rubenstein, a first-team selection, hit .420 with 30 RBI. Rudman was ninth nationally in ERA (1.29) to go along with a 5-1 record, while Laracuente was the Liberty League pitcher of the year with an 8-3 record.
Sophomore Mike Holden, senior midfielder Jacques Ward and sophomore midfielder Mike Perlow were named to the USILA Division III honorable mention All-American team.
SUNY-CORTLAND
Junior second baseman Matt June (Colonie) was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association ABCA/Rawlings All-America third team after batting .339 with eight doubles, 22 RBI, 17 stolen bases and a team-best 42 runs scored.
UALBANY
Branchini and Frink were named to the IWLA Division I All-America team. Both were also on the All-Northeast Region team, along with senior Jodi Battaglia and freshman Ariana Parker.
Dave Kubiak and Nolan Gaige (Columbia) were named to the America East Conference second team, and Josh Nethaway (Fonda-Fultonville) was named to the all-rookie squad in baseball. Gaige topped the Great Danes in hitting with a .319 batting average and 60 hits. Kubiak posted a 66 record and a 4.66 ERA, while Nethaway hit .278 with 45 hits.
UNION
The following athletes were honored at the Athletics Banquet:
Annora Brennan (Scholar Athlete of the Year) carries a 3.82 GPA in theatre and was Union’s nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year.
Stephanie Boileau (Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year) carries a 3.89 GPA and won the 2011 Hockey Humanitarian Award.
Brendan Kinnane (Leadership, Service and Outreach) led Union’s lacrosse team in scoring with 46 points on 16 goals and 30 assists. The captain played in the 2011 North-South All-Star game.
Pat Petty (Leadership, Service and Outreach) was a team captain and four-year starter for the track team.
Rebecca Wentworth (Leadership, Service and Outreach) helped the crew team win the Aqueduct Cup and Head of the Mohawk.
Bridget Little (Academic Excellence) finished third in career blocks and broke the career
matches-played record on the volleyball team.
Abigail Stahler (Academic Excellence) had a 0.77 goals-against average with four shutouts on the women’s soccer team.
Lauren McCormick (Robert Ridings Award) became the 11th Dutchwoman to score 1,000 career points in basketball and is ninth all-time in rebounding.
Brock Matheson (William B. Jaffe Award) was the ECAC Hockey’s best defensive defenseman.
Kelsey McElroy (Junior Scholar-Athlete) was a Presidential Scholarship recipient from the field hockey team.
Kaitlin Camilleri (ECAC Medal of Merit) finished fourth in the hammer throw at the ECAC Outdoor Championships.
Sean Aaron (William A. Pike Award) was a USILA second-team All-American after finishing second in the league in goals-against average, save percentage and saves per game on the lacrosse team.
Kyle Christine (Sophomore Scholar-Athlete) was the starting face-off midfielder as both a sophomore and junior on the lacrosse team.
Kaleigh Ahern (Sophomore Athletic Prize) was an NCAA qualifier in both the 50 free and 100 breast in women’s swimming.
Keith Kinkaid (Harold R. Moore Sophomore Athletic Prize) was an AHCA first-team All-American goalie, Union’s second ever.
Adam Herzog (Freshman Scholar-Athlete) was the Liberty League Rookie of the Year in men’s swimming and diving.
Melissa Mansfield (Terry Lynch-Jackie Havercamp Cuttita Memorial) was the a Liberty League first-team selection in women’s soccer and led her team in scoring.
Mat Bodie (Freshman Athletic Prize) was named to the ECAC Hockey all-rookie team.
Categories: College Sports
