Nyack High School graduate Caroline Chesterman, with 22 goals, 13 assists and 17 ground balls, has helped the University of Florida women’s lacrosse team earn the No. 1 ranking in the IWLCA coaches’ poll, receiving all 20 first-place votes.
Additionally, UF is ranked No. 1 in the Inside Lacrosse/deBeer Media poll and received the No 1 overall seed for the NCAA Tournament.
The Gators unseated defending National Champion Northwestern, which had been ranked No. 1 in every poll of 2012, after defeating the Wildcats for the second time this season in the ALC Championship game.
The Gators (17-2) start their NCAA Tournament journey on Saturday when they host the Albany Great Danes in the NCAA first round. Opening draw at Dizney Stadium in Gainesville, FL, is set for 1 p.m.
Florida—whose only losses were at North Carolina, 11-9, in its season opener, and in overtime to Syracuse on March 3 -- is the first new women’s lacrosse team to be ranked No. 1 since Northwestern first achieved the top spot in the poll on March 21, 2005, during NU’s fourth season as a reinstated program.
The Gators, who became the highest-ranked second-year program in poll history last season, rising to No. 2 in the nation after defeating the Wildcats for the first time, join North Carolina as the only third-year programs ever to achieve No. 1 status. UNC, established in 1996, first earned the No. 1 ranking on March 9, 1998, staying at the top spot for six weeks before finishing the season at No. 2.
The Tar Heels received the No. 2 seed in the 1998 NCAA Tournament, then a field of 12, and advanced the furthest to date of a third-year program, falling to the eventual National Champion Terrapins, 14-9, in the National Semifinals.
The Gators became the youngest program in history to capture the top seed for the NCAA Tournament.
--
Chargers recognized
Dominican College baseball players Andrew Camardella of Pelham, junior outfielder Tony Blake of Windsor, CT, and freshman infielder Oliver Christensen of Coral Springs, FL, earned All-Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) accolades.
Camardella, a junior first baseman, was named to the first team, while Blake and Christensen received second-team honors.
Camardella led the team in hits, batting average, doubles, slugging percentage and on-base percentage in the regular season, finishing second in RBI.
Camardella ranks eighth in CACC in batting average, while leading the CACC in doubles and ranks in the top ten in the nation in doubles per game. Last season he was named to the all-CACC second team.
The Chargers, seeded No. 3 in the CACC Championship Tournament, lost Thursday to second-seeded, host Wilmington University, 1-0, in first-round action at New Castle, DE. Dominican was held to one hit, and lost when Wilmington pushed across a run in the bottom of the ninth inning after sophomore Ryan Calby of Huntington Station had thrown eight scoreless innings, allowing just five hits and striking out five. Freshman Matt Festa of Staten Island took the loss, his first of the season.
--
Mortarboard musings
- Junior pitcher Spencer Samelson of Larchmont and the Onondaga Community College baseball team opens play today in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region 3 Division III tournament at Veterans Memorial Park in Little Falls.
- The Nyack College baseball team concluded its season at 23-23 following a 5-4 loss to Bloomfield (NJ) College in the opening round of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Championship (CACC) in Newark, NJ. Phil Delisle of Quebec led the team in hitting with a .366 batting average and 17 RBI, followed by J.D. Calabrese of Paramus, NJ, with a .359 average and 16 RBI. Kevin Earlie of Moriches led the pitching staff with a 6-0 won-lost mark and a 2.49 ERA.
- Dominican College softball players Delaney Childers of Johnstown, OH, Ashley Corrao of Staten Island and Julie Plante of Swansea, MA, were named to the National Fast Pitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II all-East Region team. The Chargers finished an outstanding season at 39-17 following a 4-3 loss to Molloy College at C.W. Post in the NCAA Division II East Regional Championship. Shelby Wassman of Loudon, VA, went 2 for 3 in the loss.
- The top-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas College baseball team advanced with a 9-5 victory over No. 4 University of Bridgeport in the opener of the East Coast Conference Championship at Provident Bank Park in Pomona. The Spartans, who improved to 34-16, were led by Nicholas Barbalato of Mahopac, who went 3 for 5 with three RBI, and Frank Salerno of New City, who went 2 for 4 with an RBI. Ken Frawley of White Plains picked up his second save with a spotless two and one-third innings in relief of southpaw Eric Cooper of Brooklyn, now 6-1.
- Freshman Genevieve Stickney of Bayport had four goals to finish the season with a team-high 54 as the St. Thomas Aquinas College women’s lacrosse team (8-8) fell to Molloy College, 19-11. Anne Buttafuoco of Williston Park added three goals, and Margaret Sharp of Suffern had a pair to complete a solid season with 51. Buttafuoco finished with 43.
- Pace University baseball coach Hank Manning was selected Northeast-10 Coach of the Year for the first time after guiding the Setters to a 29-19 overall record and the NE-10 Southwest Division title with a 17-4 division record. Outfielder Chris Roemer of Ardsley had a fine season, hitting .272 and driving in 24 runs. Infielder Joe Lombardi of Briarcliff batted .235, but made his hits count with 25 RBI.
- Kevin McQuade of Mamaroneck and Mike Sarni of Shelton, CT, each batted .339 for the Purchase College baseball team. McQuade knocked in 19 runs, and Sarni drove in 21 for the Panthers, who were hampered by injuries and finished at 12-24. Frank Fiumara of Port Chester hit .272 with 22 RBI while pitcher/third baseman Mike Marrone hit .200 in his senior season.
- Freshman hurler Bryan Greig of New City went 2-2 with a crisp 2.96 ERA for a Mercy College baseball team that struggled through a 7-39 campaign. The durable Greig, a graduate of Clarkstown South, made nine appearances for the Mavericks, with seven starts, totaling 49 innings
