April 29, 2003

Stony Brook, N.Y. - The Stony Brook men's lacrosse team (7-9, 3-2) will begin its defense of its America East crown at Albany (8-5, 4-1) on Wednesday afternoon. The 2002 America East champs will again enter the tournament as the No. 3 seed and hope to repeat its performance from a year ago when the Seawolves put together back-to-back road wins to capture the conference title. Face-off is 3 p.m on the University of Albany campus.

Series Notes: * Stony Brook owns a 5-3 series edge. * Albany earned a 12-8 win over Stony Brook back on April 12 * Stony Brook defeated Albany 8-6 in last year's America East Championship game

Last Time Out: Stony Brook earned a hard-fought 6-5 win over Hartford in the rain last Saturday, handing the Hawks their only conference loss of the season. Jason Cappadoro scored the game-winning goal with 2:01 remaining to give SBU the win. Cappadoro notched three goals and an assist to lead the Seawolves.

Scouting The Great Danes: * UA finished as the No. 2 seed after earning the No. 1 seed a year ago * Attackman Luke Daquino is one of the most potent offensive players in the conference as he ranks second in league in points per game (3.5). * Albany has finished first in the conference the last two seasons.

About The Seawolves: * The Seawolves finished the season winning two of their last three games, both of those wins coming on the road. * Freshman Jason Cappadoro wrapped up the regular season with 39 points to lead the team. * Kyle Pearl leads the team with 97 ground balls. * Errol Wilson started the last three games of the season in goal.

A Low Scoring Affair: The Seawolves enter Wednesday's playoff game having scored 94 goals so far this season. Prior to this season, the program record for fewest goals in season was 105 that was set in 1999 (8.1 gpg.) The Seawolves are averaging only 6.8 goals per game over 14 contests.

Tipping The Cap: Rookie Jason Cappadoro, one of the best newcomers in the America East, finished the regular season with a team-best 39 points (24g, 15 a). He had eight multiple-goal games and on two occasions was named America East Rookie of the Week. The Levittown, N.Y. native, who ranks third in the America East in points per game (2.79), is only two points shy of equalling Steve Conlon rookie point scoring record of 41 that he set last season. On Monday, he was named America East Rookie of the Week for his three-goal, one-assist effort in the win over Hartford. He has been named AE Rookie of the Week three times this season.

From Three To 1: For the second straight season, Stony Brook enters the America East Championship as the No. 3 seed. The No. 3 seed proved to be no obstacle for the Brook in 2002 as the Seawolves went on the road to defeat Hartford and then Albany to capture the title and advance to the NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse tournament.

Facing-Off: Face-offs are vital in any lacrosse matchup and it will be no different when the Seawolves and Great Danes square off on Wednesday. In the last game between the two teams, Dennis Nafte won 19 of 22 draws as SBU won 20 of 23 face-offs on the game. Nafte has won 64.8 percent of his face-offs this season, good enough to rank him tops in the conference and among the top five in the nation.

The Backstop: Sophomore netminder Errol Wilson has given the Seawolves a boost since he got back in the starting lineup against Vermont. Wilson has gone 2-1 in his last two games and made 12 saves against Hartford in the season finale. Wilson has a 8.49 GAA and a .564 save percentage in four starts.

A Force On The Ground: Kyle Pearl has totaled an astounding 97 ground balls in 2002, an average of 6.9 per game. He leads the America East in ground balls per game and currently ranks among the top three in the country. Pearl scooped up a career-best 14 last week against North Carolina. Pearl's 97 ground balls ranks as the fourth-best single-season effort in program history, the best ever at the Division I level. The sophomore defenseman has scooped up the most ground balls by a Division I player at Stony Brook since Chris Theofield recorded 82 in 1995. Chris Scaduto holds the all-time record of 146 set in 1984.

A LaFlare For The Game: Stony Brook junior George LaFlare has put together his best season in a Seawolf uniform in 2003. Running both at attack and midfield, LaFlare has totaled 33 points on 16 goals and 17 assists to rank second on the team in scoring. He has recorded two or more points in five of his last six games, including a goal and two assists in the win over Hartford. LaFlare's previous season-high point total was 19 that he set last season.

Shea Hey: Senior attackman Kevin Shea is quite a success story. After seeing limited action last year, Shea has been a major force as a senior with 23 goals and four assists. He ranks second on the team in goals and third in scoring. He put together his career-best effort against Albany back on April 12 as he scored five times in the loss.

He's On The Mark: Freshman Adam Marksberry has scored a point in eight of his last nine games and now ranks fourth of the team in scoring with 14 goals and five assists.

Freshmen Influence: Wednesday's starting lineup will most likely feature three freshman and six players who didn't appear in last year's title game against Albany. Freshman have accounted for 41 percent of Stony Brook's scoring in 2003.

Last Year: Stony Brook rallied from a 6-5 fourth quarter deficit to score three straight times to win its first-ever conference title in last's year title matchup with the Great Danes. Senior Denis Scannell equalled the score at six and less than a minute later, SBU's Tris Gillen scored the game winner.

Special Teams: A look at Stony Brook's special teams: Man-up: .291 (16-55) Man-down: .662 (51-77)

Road Facts: Stony Brook is 3-4 away from home in 2003 but has won its last two road games.