RAIDERS LAND FIVE ON ALL-PATRIOT LEAGUE LACROSSE
HAMILTON – Peter Baum earned his fourth All-Patriot League First Team recognition in as many years to highlight Colgate’s contingent on the 2013 men’s lacrosse awards list, released Tuesday by the conference office in advance of Friday’s tournament.
Raiders teammate Bobby Lawrence also was named to the first team for the second year in a row, while Jimmy Ryan earned a spot on the first team as well. Ryan Walsh and Robert Grabher were selected as second-team members.
“I’m excited for those guys,” Colgate head coach Mike Murphy said. “It’s a credit to their teammates and, obviously, a credit to their own hard work.”
Baum this past Saturday played in his 60th career game and made his 50th collegiate start. The senior captain leads the Raiders this season with 46 points and is tied with Walsh for team honors in goals with 33.
Earlier this year, Baum moved to the top of the Colgate and Patriot League record books in career goals with 163. He is Colgate Lacrosse’s all-time leader in points scored with 222. Also this season, Baum is one of 10 national finalists for the Senior CLASS Award.
“Peter probably thought he would have a few more points here and there and we would have a few more wins, but it’s still been a good senior year for Pete,” Murphy said. “Four years as an All-Patriot League first-team guy is something special. That’s impressive.
“And he’s still in that neck-and-neck race with (Army’s) Garrett Thul to see who’s going to be the Patriot League’s all-time goal scorer.”
Lawrence, Ryan on First Team
Lawrence leads the Raiders with 28 caused turnovers, and his career total of 74 ranks seventh among active Division I players. He matched his season high with four caused turnovers at Lehigh. Lawrence also has 56 ground balls this season, which is tops outside of team face-off specialist Grabher (96). Lawrence posted a career high nine ground balls two weeks ago at Lafayette.
“I’m very excited for Bobby,” Murphy said. “Unfortunately for us, Bobby’s play gets overshadowed by losses or whatnot. But Bobby is the heart and soul of our defensive unit.
“He definitely has shown he’s one of the top defenders in this league, and we’ve got some good ones with Brendan Buckley and Mike Noone joining him on the first team. Ty Souders and Mike Huffner are unbelievable defenders, and they made the second team after being first-teamers last year.”
Ryan has 15 goals and eight assists for 23 points. Colgate’s junior captain scored a career-high four goals, including the game-winner in overtime, during the season opener at Bryant. He also matched his career best with three assists at Dartmouth.
“Jimmy’s been a workhorse for us and has really paced our midfield group all year long,” Murphy said. “Jimmy’s a throw-back; he’s a two-way guy. So many teams are specialized where offensive and defensive guys stick to their sides of the field, but Jimmy does both.
“Jimmy’s a great leader and a great junior captain for us. He understands what being a student-athlete’s all about. It’s a credit to his hard work to be named to the first team because there are some pretty good midfielders in our conference.”
Second Team for Grabher, Walsh
Grabher played in his 56th career game Saturday and owns a .525 face-off percentage for this season that is third in the Patriot League. He also has picked up 96 ground balls to lead the conference in that category and stand eighth nationally.
“Robbie’s had a good two-year stretch for us, and we’re going to need him Friday night,” Murphy said. “He always has the ability to really get us going offensively or to stop the other team from putting together a run against us.”
Walsh is tied with Baum for the team goals lead at 33, and is second to the senior in points with 44. Walsh has scored at least one point in all 31 of his collegiate games played, and his streak of 29 straight games with a goal scored is second among active Division I lacrosse players.
“It’s unfortunate for Ryan that this is such an attack-heavy league,” Murphy said. “But to see Ryan recognized the way he has been his first two years is good for him. Hopefully, that will continue.”
The Raiders open Patriot League Tournament play Friday night at 7:30 in the second semifinal against host Lehigh. Bucknell meets Army in the 4:30 p.m. opener. Sunday’s championship game is set for 3 p.m.
All three games are being televised live on the CBS Sports Network. Colgate’s Friday night semifinal has an encore showing Saturday at 3 p.m., also on CBS Sports Network.
2013 All-Patriot League Team
First Team
John Glesener, Army, So., A
Garrett Thul, Army, Sr., A (**!)
Peter Baum, COLGATE, Sr., A (***)
David Dickson, Bucknell, So., M (!)
Thomas Flibotte, Bucknell, Fr., M
Jimmy Ryan, COLGATE, Jr., M
Brendan Buckley, Army, Sr., D
Bobby Lawrence, COLGATE, Jr., D (*)
Mike Noone, Lehigh, Sr., D (!)
Alex Daly, Army, Fr., FOS
Pat Kiernan, Navy, Jr., LSM (!)
Matt Poillon, Lehigh, So., GK (*)
Second Team
Chase Bailey, Bucknell, Sr., A
Ryan Walsh, COLGATE, So., A (!)
David DiMaria, Lehigh, Sr., A (!)
John Hannan, Holy Cross, Sr., M
Patrick Corbett, Lehigh, So., M
Brian Hess, Lehigh, Sr., M
Mike Huffner, Bucknell, Sr., D (**)
Jackson Place, Bucknell, Jr., D
Ty Souders, Lehigh, Jr., D (*)
Ryan Gutowski, Bucknell, Sr., FOS
Robert Grabher, COLGATE, Sr., FOS (*)
Ryan Snyder, Lehigh, Sr., FOS (*!)
Jimbo D’Aprile, Army, So., D-Mid
Sam Somers, Army, So., GK
Second team features 14 student-athletes because of a tie in the voting.
* – Number of previous first-team accolades.
! – Number of previous second-team accolades.
2013 Patriot League Major Awards
Offensive Player of the Year – John Glesener, Army, So., A
Defensive Player of the Year – Brendan Buckley, Army, Sr., D
Rookie of the Year – Sean Doyle, Bucknell, Fr., A
Goalkeeper of the Year – Matt Poillon, Lehigh, So.
Coach of the Year – Jim Morrissey, Holy Cross
BAUM NAMED SENIOR CLASS AWARD FINALIST
HAMILTON – Colgate’s Peter Baum is one of 10 finalists announced Wednesday for the 2013 Senior CLASS Award in collegiate men’s lacrosse.
Baum leads the 7-3 Raiders in scoring with 26 goals and 37 points. Already this season Baum has broken the career records for goals at Colgate and in the Patriot League, and also set a Raiders record for all-time points scored. In January, the senior captain was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the Major League Lacrosse Draft by the Ohio Machine.
Last year, Baum won the 2012 Tewaaraton and Lt. Raymond J. Enners awards as the nation’s top player. He became the first Colgate, Patriot League and West Coast player to win the Tewaaraton Award. Baum also was named 2012 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year after leading the country with 97 points from 67 goals and 30 assists.
Baum also is an excellent student at Colgate, majoring in geography with a 3.61 cumulative grade-point average. He was honored in 2011 and 2012 by making the Patriot League Lacrosse All-Academic Team, and six times has made both the Colgate Academic Honor Roll and Colgate Dean’s List.
Baum already had been named a 2013 Senior CLASS Award semifinalist back in February. Now he is the only one of the 10 finalists who plays the attack position.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total-student athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
The finalists were chosen by a media committee from the list of 20 candidates announced in February. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to help select the winner. Fans are encouraged to vote on the Senior CLASS Award website or on the Senior CLASS Award Facebook fan page through May 13. Fan votes will be combined with media and Division I head coaches’ votes to determine the winner.
The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced May 25-27 during the 2013 NCAA Lacrosse Championships in Philadelphia.
2013 Senior CLASS Award Men’s Lacrosse Finalists
Peter Baum COLGATE Attack
Jesse Bernhardt Maryland Long-Stick Midfield
Brendan Buckley Army Defense
Clay Del Prince Brown Defense
Jason Gonos Harvard Defense
Mike Huffner Bucknell Defense
Peter Johnson Yale Defense
Matt Miller Notre Dame Defense
Jason Noble Cornell Defense
Scott Ratliff Loyola (Md.) Long-Stick Midfield
RAIDERS COMPLETE STADIUM SWEEP 11-3-CRUISE PAST NAVY
BALTIMORE – The Peter Baum-Ryan Walsh combination recorded matching hat tricks for the fourth consecutive game and Colgate overwhelmed Navy 11-3 here Saturday at the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic.
The Raiders, 7-2, won their fourth in a row and improved to 2-0 in the Patriot League.
Walsh, actually, made it five straight games with at least three goals scored after matching his career high with seven points against the Midshipmen. The sophomore attackman had four goals and three assists and now has scored a goal in 25 consecutive games.
For the year, Walsh owns 24 goals and eight assists.
Baum added three goals for his 32nd career hat trick. He leads the Raiders this season with 26 goals and 37 points, and now has 156 goals and 213 points for his Colgate career.
Navy, 3-6 and 1-3, scored the fewest goals by a Colgate opponent since the Raiders beat the Midshipmen 5-4 two years ago in Annapolis. It also matched the fewest goals scored by Navy in the 16-game series against Colgate, since the Raiders won 6-3 in 2006.
Colgate’s defense was solid across the line. Bobby Lawrence, James Queeney, Kevin Boyle and goalkeeper Conor Murphy all picked up four ground balls apiece, with Lawrence causing three of Navy’s 21 turnovers and Boyle four.
Saturday’s game at M&T Bank Stadium wrapped a two-game set of classics for the Raiders within a seven-day period. Last Sunday, Colgate beat Michigan 10-7 in the Metropolitan Lacrosse Classic at New York’s Citi Field.
Colgate is home next Sunday against Army in a Patriot League matchup. Start time is noon from Andy Kerr Stadium, with the CBS Sports Network televising the game.
BAUM, RAIDERS DEEP-SIX BEARCATS, 12-5
HAMILTON – Colgate’s first homestand of the season couldn’t have come at a better time.
The Raiders routed Binghamton 12-5 here Tuesday afternoon with the help of six Peter Baum goals to complete a two-game Spring Break sweep at Andy Kerr Stadium. Combined with Saturday’s 14-6 pasting of Holy Cross, Colgate improved to 5-2 this season.
Just maybe, the lamb-like start to the month is turning into more of the Colgate lion everyone expected.
“We were really disappointed following that week with Cornell and Hobart; we certainly didn’t play the way we wanted to play,” Baum said. “But we went back to work and tightened the screws, found some things we could improve upon.
“These last two games have been a much better direction for the team.”
Colgate’s senior captain made things easier for his squad Tuesday by finding the net six times for the fifth time in his collegiate career. In the process, Baum broke Colgate’s all-time scoring record of 200 points set by Derek Laub from 1990-93.
Baum is up to 205 points and counting.
Earlier this season, the defending Tewaaraton and Lt. Raymond J. Enners award winner set the career goal-scoring records both for Colgate and the Patriot League. Tuesday’s final goal was his 150th.
McCann Clicking with Baum
Baum scored Colgate’s first two goals midway in the first quarter, added three more in the third and then capped his afternoon with a final tally in the fourth. Brendon McCannassisted on three of the goals, and the other three were solo efforts.
“Some days you’re feeling it shooting it,” Baum said. “I felt good despite the weather, so it was good to be able to find some corners and find some space. Brendon did a really good job getting me the ball.
“We were clicking today, and I was just shooting the ball well.”
Colgate combined to outscore their two home opponents 26-11. The Holy Cross win began the Patriot League season with a blast, and then Tuesday’s handling of Binghamton cooled off a hot club. The Bearcats were riding wins over Hobart and at Delaware after a five-goal loss at Cornell.
All three of those decisions certainly had Colgate’s attention.
“I really challenged them because of the way Binghamton had come in – the way they played Cornell and then the Hobart and Delaware wins,” Raiders head coach Mike Murphy said. “And our guys today did a very good job of matching that intensity, and even bringing it up a level.
“It was a good team win, and I was very impressed with our guys there.”
Balanced on Both Ends
The Raiders were balanced throughout, scoring at least two goals in every quarter while limiting the Bearcats to single tallies each of the first three periods. Scores for the quarter breaks were 3-1, 6-2 and 10-3.
Ryan Walsh added four goals to keep his terrific season on track. The sophomore attacker scored in each quarter Tuesday and now has 17 for the season, just three behind Baum’s team-leading 20. Walsh is the only Raiders player with goals in all seven games this year.
Baum matched his best scoring game of the season, which was a four-goal, two-assist afternoon at Dartmouth back on Feb. 23. Previous games of six goals for the senior captain were at Dartmouth on Feb. 26, 2011; at Army on March 31, 2012; and against Hobart on March 6, 2012.
Baum’s career high of eight goals took place at Robert Morris on March 3, 2012.
“We had a good game plan and I was able to slide around into some different spots above the goal, behind the goal, and find some seams,” he said. “It just worked out.”
Murphy noticed his squad’s improvement on both sides of the midfield stripe. Colgate outshot Binghamton 42-20, won the ground balls category 30-19 and controlled face-offs 13-8. No extra-man goals were scored in the game – Colgate 0-of-3; Binghamton 0-of-4 – and the Bearcats committed 13 turnovers to Colgate’s season-low of seven.
“I was happy with the way we played offensively Saturday, really happy with the way we played offensively today,” Murphy said. “And our defense is getting better. You look at that Binghamton team – their midfield is fantastic. We were really nervous going into the game.
“Conor Murphy played much better today than he did Saturday. That was good, because they are a dangerous shooting team. They don’t take a lot of shots, but they are relentless in the way they play.”
James Queeney and Kevin Boyle picked up four ground balls apiece for the Raiders, while Matt Yeager had three. Face-off specialist Robert Grabher won 13 of his 21 attempts at the X.
Binghamton, now 2-3, was led by two goals from Kelly Donigan, a junior from nearby Skaneateles.
Big-League Showcases
Two big-league venues are next on the Colgate docket. The Raiders travel this Sunday to the New York Mets’ Citi Field for a date with Michigan as part of the Metropolitan Lacrosse Classic. Start time is 3 p.m. after Navy meets Holy Cross in the first game of that noon doubleheader.
Then on March 23, it’s the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic and a Patriot League matchup against Navy at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Super Bowl-champion Ravens. Colgate and the Mids play the 2 p.m. opener ahead of a Johns Hopkins-Virginia nightcap.
ESPNU is televising both upcoming Colgate games.
“We’re really excited,” Baum said. “I’ve played in a couple of big venues – last year in the quarterfinals, for instance. But Citi Field certainly will be something else and then going down to M&T in Baltimore. We’re definitely excited.”
Murphy’s job is to keep the focus on the field and not on the surrounding superstructure.
“We’re doing a good job of continuing to get better every day, and we’re looking forward to getting back to work and getting ready for Michigan,” he said. “Our guys will be excited to play down at Citi Field, but we’ve got to remember that it’s a business trip. We’re going down there to finish off our out-of-conference schedule with Michigan.”
RAIDERS PICKED 2ND IN PATRIOT LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL
Three Raiders on Preseason All-League Team; Patriot League Release
HAMILTON – Colgate and Lehigh are preseason picks to battle once again for a Patriot League men’s lacrosse title, and three Raiders have been tabbed for all-conference honors heading into the 2013 campaign.
The Patriot League Men’s Lacrosse Preseason Poll favored Lehigh by a slight edge over Colgate, 69 points to 65, in voting by the conference coaches and sports information directors. The Mountain Hawks received nine first-place votes and the Raiders the remaining five, according to Wednesday’s release. Voters were not allowed to select their own teams and players in the voting.
Colgate and Lehigh split two meetings last season. The Raiders won 11-10 in overtime during the regular season, and then dropped a 16-14 decision in the Patriot League tournament final. Colgate went on to its best season in school history – a 14-4 record and advancement to the NCAA quarterfinals.
The teams meet April 6 in Bethlehem, Pa., with CBS Sports Network carrying the telecast. It’s one of five nationally televised games already scheduled for the 2013 Raiders.
Last year’s national player of the year, attackman Peter Baum, is the unanimous pick as 2013 Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. Baum was joined on the All-Patriot League preseason squad by a pair of senior teammates, midfielder Matt Baker and face-off specialist Rob Grabher.
“I’m excited because it’s a new group, and every year we want to make sure that our seniors go out on a winning note,” Colgate head coach Mike Murphy said. “Our young guys are doing a good job working for their seniors.
“We can’t worry about the things we did last year. That was last year; that was last year’s group. The senior leaders on this team – it’s a group that has experienced some serious lows as freshmen to serious highs as juniors, and we need to stay consistent in the things we do, and make sure we’re getting better every day.”
Colgate, Army and Lehigh each placed three representatives on the 12-man preseason team.
The Raiders open their 2013 season Feb. 9 at Bryant. The home schedule begins March 9 against Holy Cross.
2013 Patriot League Preseason Poll
Team Votes (1st Place) 2012 Records
1. Lehigh 69 (9) 14-3 (5-1 Patriot)
2. COLGATE 65 (5) 14-4 (5-1)
3. Army 48 7-8 (4-2)
4. Bucknell 43 9-7 (3-3)
5. Navy 35 6-6 (3-3)
6. Holy Cross 20 5-10 (0-6)
7. Lafayette 14 3-10 (1-5)
