Nov. 16, 2011
• College Soccer News praises Ryan Anatol
• 2011 Virtual Guide
Men's Soccer Gameday
Game #20: Stony Brook Seawolves (10-6-3) vs. No. 23 Monmouth (14-5-1)
NCAA College Cup First Round
Thu., Nov. 17 • The Great Lawn • West Long Branch, N.J. • 7 p.m.
LIVE: STATS | VIDEO
GAME NOTES: PDF
Stony Brook Seawolves (10-6-3, 4-2-1 America East)
2011 America East Champions
Head Coach: Ryan Anatol, first season
Career Record: 10-6-3
Record at SBU: same
Monmouth Hawks (14-5-1, 7-3-0 Northeast Conference)
2011 Northeast Conference Champions
Head Coach: Robert McCourt, seventh season
Career Record: 101-33-25
Record at Monmouth: same
The Scene: Stony Brook makes its third appearance ever in the NCAA College Cup as it takes on the Monmouth Hawks. The Seawolves are the champions of the America East Conference after winning their semifinal and final games at home, and Monmouth is the champion of the Northeast Conference and defeated Central Connecticut State and Fairleigh Dickinson in the conference tournament held at Fairfield. This is the first-ever meeting between these two teams
Last Time Out: Stony Brook notched its third America East Championship title last Sunday with a 4-2 win over Hartford in the final at LaValle Stadium. Sophomore Will Casey got the scoring started with a goal in the fourth minute. Hartford tied it in the 17th minute and seemingly grabbed the momentum, but the Seawolves stole it back with junior Leonardo Fernandes' goal in the 42nd minute to send SBU into halftime up 2-1. Fernandes added insurance with another goal in the 50th minute, and junior Kyle Schlesinger put the game out of reach with a 79th minute tally.
Scouting Monmouth: The Hawks are making their third straight NCAA College Cup appearance. They have won three straight Northeast Conference championships and have also won at least a share of the regular season seven consecutive seasons. Monmouth is coached by Robert McCourt, who is in his seventh season at the helm and has a record of 101-33-25 (.714). The Hawks had four All-NEC first team performers this season, including defenders RJ Allen and Anthony Vazquez and defensive midfielder Max Hamilton. Monmouth is known for defense, and the team has produced shutouts in 60 percent of its matches (12 out of 20). Goalkeeper Alex Blackburn has stopped 81% of his shots and allowed only 12 goals.
Common Opponents: Stony Brook and Monmouth have never met before on the soccer field, but the two teams have had some common opponents this season. Both teams have played Boston University, Fairleigh Dickinson and Sacred Heart. Monmouth was 3-1-0 against those three teams, and Stony Brook was 1-2-0.
Leo the Lion: Junior Leonardo Fernandes was named the America East Championship Most Outstanding Player after putting up three goals and two assists in two matches. In the championship final vs. Hartford, he had the go-ahead goal that broke a 1-1 tie and then the game-winning goal a few minutes later. His five-point night vs. Hartford set the America East Championship record and his eight total points in the tournament matched the league mark. Fernandes is Stony Brook's all-time Div. I goal scorer with 22 career goals and is second in points (54).
All-Conference Honors: Stony Brook was well represented in the major awards handed out by America East. Junior Berian Gobeil Cruz was named the America East Striker of the Year and first-team All-America East. Junior Leonardo Fernandes repeated as America East Midfielder of the Year and first-team All-America East. Senior Kyle McTurk was also named first-team All-America East as a defender, and freshman Keith McKenna was named to the All-Rookie team.
Talented Junior Class: The Seawolves junior class represents 42% of the team's roster (10-24) and has a force both on the offensive and defensive sides. Of those 10 juniors, eight of them are starters and the other two are major contributors. The juniors have scored 25 of the team's 31 goals and have 15 of the team's 19 assists. Two of the team's top defenders are also juniors.
Stony Brook's NCAA Championship History: This is Stony Brook's third all-time appearance in the NCAA College Cup, also making it this far in 2005 and 2009. In 2005, the Seawolves topped Yale, 2-1 in overtime, to advance to the second round. That was Stony Brook's first Div. I NCAA Tournament win in any sport. The Seawolves went on to play Connecticut and lost to the Huskies, 2-1. In 2009, the Seawolves played at Brown in the first round and suffered a heartbreaking 1-0 loss in double overtime.
Potential Second Round: The winner of this game will take on the No. 3 seed Connecticut Sunday in Storrs, Conn., at 1 p.m. The Huskies are No. 5 in this week's national rankings and No. 1 in the Northeast Region.
