Nov. 10, 2010

America East Championship Semifinals

No. 6 Vermont Catamounts (7-7-4) at No. 3 Stony Brook Seawolves (10-6-3)

Saturday, Nov. 6  |  LaValle Stadium  |  Stony Brook, N.Y.  |  5 p.m. 

LIVE: STATS | VIDEO

 

UMBC Retrievers (10-4-2, 4-1-2 America East)
Head Coach: Pete Caringi, 20th season

Career Record: 210-131-39

Record at UMBC: same 

Stony Brook Seawolves (10-6-3, 3-2-2 America East)
Head Coach: Cesar Markovic, seventh season
Career Record: 154-125-34
Record at SBU: 58-58-22

The Matchup
Stony Brook and UMBC are both one win away from reaching their second straight America East Championship final, but only one of the two teams will do so as they square off in the semifinals in Baltimore. The Seawolves defeated the Retrievers in the 2009 final, and just last week, UMBC exacted revenge with a 1-0 win to clinch a first-round bye and force Stony Brook to play a first-round match. This is the 11th all-time matchup between the two clubs, and the series is tied at 5-5-0.

Scouting the Opponent
UMBC is having another strong season under 20th year head coach Pete Caringi, as he has the Retrievers offense running on all cylinders. The team has had three goals or more in six matches this season, leads the America East in goals, assists and points and sports the top goal-scorer in the league and the America East Striker of the Year in Levi Houapeu (12 goals), the top assist man in the league in Andrew Bulls (13 assists) and the top two overall scorers in the league (Houapeu and Bulls with 27 and 21 respectively). The Retrievers are looking to avenge last season's America East Championship title game loss to the Seawolves and are still seeking their first-ever conference championship.

Last Time Out
Stony Brook knocked off Vermont 2-0 in the first round last Saturday to advance to the semifinals on the strength of goals from Raphael Abreu and Berian Gobeil Cruz. It was the sixth goal of the season for both athletes, tying them with Leonardo Fernandes for tops on the team. Keeper Stefan Manz continued his spectacular season with four saves to record his league-leading eighth shutout of the year.

Last Time Versus UMBC
Stony Brook suffered a 1-0 loss to UMBC at LaValle Stadium on Oct. 31, snapping a five-match unbeaten streak. The Seawolves allowed a fluke goal in the second half when Andrew Bulls's free kick deflected off a Stony Brook defender and changed directions into the goal. The Seawolves had some good scoring opportunities, but Dan Louisignau made seven saves for the Retrievers, who snatched away the No. 2 seed for the America East Championship.

All-Conference Stars
Four Seawolves were named All-Conference by the America East this season. Leonardo Fernandes headlines the group by earning Midfielder of the Year honors, the second-ever Stony Brook player to earn the accolade. He and Greg Tinari were named named first-team All-America East. Raphael Abreu and Mladen Ramic were both named second-team All-America East.

Honored by the Big Apple
Raphael Abreu was named the BigAppleSoccer.com College Player of the Week for scoring the game-winning goal to lift Stony Brook to a 2-0 win over Vermont in the first round of the America East Championship. 

Kings of the Road
Stony Brook was one of two teams in America East to run through the conference schedule unbeaten on the road (UMBC being the other). The Seawolves were 3-0-1 in conference road games, but unfortunately they went winless in conference home games (0-2-1). Stony Brook did win at home in the first round of the America East Championship.

In the Rankings
Stony Brook is No. 3 in this week's BigAppleSoccer.com top 10 poll, up one spot from No. 4 last week. The Seawolves trail Monmouth and St. John's, but rank ahead of St. Peter's, Fairleigh Dickinson, Fordham, Adelphi and Hofstra.

Rafa Rules
Raphael Abreu earned numerous accolades for his two-goal performance on Oct. 23 at Binghamton. He was named America East Co-Player of the Week and was selected to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week. His game-winning goal was named BigAppleSoccer.com's Goal of the Week. 

Timely Keeping
Stefan Manz has had a strong performance in net this season. After a shaky start, he has won nine of his last 14 matches (9-2-3) and has allowed only four goals over his last nine matches. His 2-0 win over Vermont on Nov. 6 was his eighth shutout of the season, tying him for first in America East. He is also second in saves and third in GAA.

Fernandes on Top of the Conference Once More
On Oct. 11, Leonardo Fernandes was named America East Player of the Week for the second time this season after scoring the game-winning goal to lift Stony Brook to a 2-0 win at Albany. Fernandes is tied for second in the conference in goals and game-winning goals. He is also fifth in overall points.

Learning on the Road
Stony Brook's 2-0 win at Albany on Oct. 9 was the program's first America East road victory since Oct. 27, 2007, a 2-0 win at Maine. The Seawolves had gone 0-4-3 away from LaValle Stadium since.

A Late Bloomer
Leonardo Fernandes leads Stony Brook in goals, and all of them have been timely. All six of his goals this season have come in the 60th minute or later and three of them have been game-winners.

Most Valuable Player
When Leonardo Fernandes scores, Stony Brook is usually in good shape. The Seawolves are 4-1-0 this season and 8-2-1 all-time when he scores a goal in a match.

Gobeil Cruz earns an accolade
Berian Gobeil Cruz was named BigAppleSoccer.com's Men's College Player of the Week on Sept. 27 after scoring a pair of goals to lead Stony Brook to a tie against Harvard and a win over Quinnipiac.

Fernandes Earns Multiple Honors
Leonardo Fernandes scored seven points the weekend of Sept. 17-19 and has been recognized for his efforts. He was named the America East Player of the Week and the SimplexGrinnell Stony Brook Athlete of the Week and was selected to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week.

Four Goals A Plenty
Stony Brook had an offensive outburst against Central Connecticut State Sept. 17, beating the Blue Devils 4-2. The four goals were the most by a Stony Brook team since putting five on the board on Sept. 11, 2005.

Beating One of the Best
On Sept. 12, the Seawolves knocked off Dartmouth 1-0 on its home field in the Dartmouth Classic Tournament. Stony Brook got a goal from Berian Gobeil Cruz in the 34th minute and keeper Stefan Manz made four saves to preserve the shutout. The victory was big for SBU considering that Dartmouth was receiving votes in that week's NSCAA/hendrickcars.com National Rankings and was fourth in the Northeast Region poll.

Looking For Two Straight
Last season was a magical one for Stony Brook as the Seawolves finished the regular season with a five-match unbeaten streak to get into the America East Tournament, where they dispatched Hartford and UMBC to win the conference title, just the second in program history. This season's squad will look to replicate that success and bring the Seawolves back to the NCAA Tournament.