Dane Pound

Story in today's TU about CBA's Brian Monahan. He was named the TU's player of the year. I guess I missed his college announement because it says in the story he is going to DII St. Michaels. Meanwhile Josh Duell is headed to Burlington to join Vermont as they come back from the NCAAs. Am I missing something here? Player of the year going DII and the third or fourth best guy on his team is going to Vermont?

I second that, Welcome to the board Ace! If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to email me at danefan1@localnet.com. Glad you found us. Hope you enjoy the board!

I wasn't sure where the other A10 members go in that scenario. I'm assuming MJ thinks Delaware, NU, William and Mary and James Madison are going to go to the CAA which would leave room for Albany, the Brook, CCSU and maybe another NEC team if they want to go. I guess I'm surprised that 3 perenial top 20 teams would be willing to take 3 upstarts into their conference. Albany would be going from the 13th or 14th best conference in the country to the 2nd or 3rd in a matter of months. Great for us but I don't see what's in it for Maine and the other A10 teams other than they'd be desperate for members. Were we to get a new stadium and A10 football affiliation I'd have to update my UA wish list!

I'm curious MJ, is that the new A10 football lineup you have listed? Maine UNH UMass URI Central Connecticut Albany Stony Brook Villanova Richmond If it is I would be very happy with that configuaration although we'd be getting it handed to us for a few years on the field. I'm really doubtful about an AE football league just because it would require the AE to be proactive-something it hasn't proven it is willing to do. It would also require petition for an auto-bid in the 1-AA playoffs and the mood in the NCAA right now isn't favorable to doing anything to help low-mid major conferences.

If next year is a turnaround year for the men? If??? C'mon Patch it's the offseason, show some optimism. I had a $iena fan tell me our last place finish set us up for next year because he thought we could go from worst to first and be a great story. I'm pretty sure he wasn't being sarcastic

Since the public announcement of an upgrade to the football "stadium" we have now it's pretty clear we are moving up in terms of scholarship football. As has been discussed here many times 1-AA non-scholarship football is evaporating and by next year there may only be two viable leagues left-NEC and the Pioneer. For as long as we've been discussing it we've asssumed the Brook would be moving right along with us as they just constructed a new stadium and have mirrored us in every other aspect of D1. I agree the Brook will be going with us but I have to wonder what is going on in the AD's offices of the other football members of the NEC. They have to realize the same thing we do and McElroy does that non-scholarship 1-AA football is going away. I know Robert Morris is building a new stadium and they are smack in the middle of football country so they have no plans on discontinuing football. Sacred Heart has put a little more commitment into it's program over the last few years and Monmouth had a banner year winning the conference in football and going to the bowl game and winning in hoops and going to the NCAA. I have to think at least half the conference is considering moving up in terms of scholarships and I don't see why they wouldn't do it as a conference. I don't know CCSU or Wagner's situation and I'm pretty sure you'd lose St. Francis but it seems likely enough to me. I had thought we'd jump conferences but I don't see one to go to and have to wonder if the conference would just jump up in scholarships with most of it's teams on board. If it doesn't it probably won't exist in the future.

Story in today's TU about Patterson's contract extention. Dane96 I was thinking the same thing about Brown. I'm sure he will be rewarded next year. As much as I like him as a coach I can't see them announcing a contract extention after a season in which the men's team set a school record for losses. Brown certainly came into a much tougher situation that Patterson did who had a bunch of good players already here.

I'm not sure when this was announced. Interesting that she's only in the middle of a four year deal. I'm thinking maybe they expect the Lady Danes to have a big year next year and want to keep Patterson from looking elsewhere..(?) HEAD BASKETBALL COACH TRINA PATTERSON RECEIVES TWO-YEAR CONTRACT EXTENSION Albany, N.Y. – University at Albany Director of Athletics Lee McElroy announced today that head women’s basketball coach Trina Patterson has received a two-year contract extension. Patterson, who has two years remaining on her original four-year contract, was named the ninth head coach in the Albany women’s basketball program’s history on May 6, 2002. "I am extremely pleased with the progress that our program has made," McElroy said. "Trina and her staff have provided strong leadership and a positive environment for our student-athletes. The program’s improvement over the last two years has paved the way for continued success." Coach Patterson led UAlbany to its first-ever America East Conference postseason tournament appearance in 2003-04. The Great Danes, who finished 13-16 overall, and tied for fourth in the conference standings with a 9-9 mark, defeated Hartford in the quarterfinal round, before losing to eventual champion Maine in the semifinals. With Patterson at the helm, the UAlbany program showed a five-win improvement from the previous year with a 9-18 record in 2002-03. The Great Danes were 4-23 and winless in conference play the season prior to her appointment. "I am excited about the opportunity to continue to move our program in a positive direction," said Patterson, who served as an assistant coach on the 2003 USA Basketball Women’s Pan American Games Team. "This extension is a clear indication the administration is pleased with our efforts. Dr. McElroy, Gail Cummings-Danson (associate athletics director) and the entire University administration have been very supportive. I am thankful to my players and staff whose hard work and commitment have been instrumental in our progress."

We've lived with rumors of a new stadium for so long I'm having a hard time believing this is real. The fact that McElroy is talking about it publicly is encouraing not just for the stadium but for moving up in football in general. A combination lacrosse and football field would be awesome. I'm happy to see they understand going to Division I doesn't just mean sticking a roman numeral "I"after your name and leaving it at that. There is going to be some investment and it looks like that is happening. If this gets built there are a ton of events you could hold there-Empire State Game events, High School football playoffs and concerts. I can't imagine they would pay Sasaki Associates $60,000 and they wouldn't turn the stadium so the home fans don't have to sit in the shade for the whole game. I'm looking forward to seeing what Sasaki comes up with and I hope the University is as open with the plans as they have been with the inital phases of the process. Talking about it is great but I want them to say it with concrete!

Brendan Chivaro was POW in baseball and Chris Martocchia was selected POW in lacrosse. UALBANY’S BRENDAN CHIAVARO NAMED AMERICA EAST BASEBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK Boston, Mass.- University at Albany’s Brendan Chiavaro was named the America East Conference Player of the Week in baseball as announced on Monday, March 29 by the league office. Albany (13-3) is off to its best start as a Division I program, and owns its largest win streak since 1994 with seven straight victories. Chiavaro, a senior right fielder, went 6-for-13 at the plate with six RBI and two runs scored in UAlbany’s four-game sweep of Yale over the weekend. In game two of last Saturday’s doubleheader he drove in four runs, including a three-run home run that gave his team an 8-3 advantage, en route to a 10-5 victory. On Sunday, Chiavaro plated two more runs to help lead the Great Danes to an 8-0 victory in the nightcap of a twinbill. The Newburgh, N.Y., native has started all 16 games this season and is batting .302 with two home runs, 18 RBI and 13 runs scored. LACROSSE’S CHRIS MARTOCCHIA CHOSEN AMERICA EAST CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK Boston, Mass. – University at Albany’s Chris Martocchia has been named America East Conference Player of the Week in men’s lacrosse, as announced on Monday, March 29 by the conference office. Martocchia registered career-highs in points (7) and assists (4) in a 19-11 victory over Quinnipiac in the America East opener for both teams last Saturday. Martocchia, who scored three times and added three ground balls, had four points in the opening half as his team led 12-4 at halftime. The sophomore attackman’s previous best scoring total was five points (3 goals, 2 assists) against Princeton in last year’s NCAA opening-round contest. Martocchia is tied for fourth in the league in scoring (3.0 points per game) and is seventh in goals (1.60 pg). The Great Danes, who won their conference opener for the third straight year, are off to the program’s best start at the Division I level with a 4-2 record.

Seems like a pretty good athlete, she made the all-state team in field hockey as well.

I've been away for a week so I'm just catching up on some posts. In our brief D1 history I don't recall us every having a first team all state player before. This year we have one first team, a second team (Lillis) and a third team (Dyson). I was curious where the other first team all-state players from Iowa were going and was pretty impressed: Alex Thompson-Iowa Jimmie Binnie-Dayton Jason Bohannon-Just a sophmore, supposedly being recruited by Arizona. Carlton Reed-Iowa Brent Wilson-Albany Pretty good company. We've been following Lillis in part because he has been easier to find media coverage about. Meanwhile Brent Wilson has been having a terrific year.

Danes recruit Sherri Mikus was second-team all-state in PA. According to the story they are projecting her as a PG next year. Mikus story.

I admit I might have a case of march madness. While I was watching the Vermont-UConn game the other night I was trying to figure out how next years Danes would matchup with Vermont. Iati-Sorrentine PG Both were ROY with similar stats. Give an edge to Sorrentine because of his expereince. Wilson-Hehn SG Not even close. Wilson! Jordan or Levine-Gila SF I really like Gila but I don't think this one is close. Gila is not the offensive player either one of those guys is. Levine/Dyson/Wyatt-Coppenrath PF OK not even close. Coppenrath is better, much better. Zoellner/Dyson-Jones C OK so I've never seen Z or Dyson play. I'm projecting the 7'1 Big East transfer to be better than Jones. As Brown said on Wyland's show "I wish the season started tomorrow." This is a team that returns it's top 7 scorers from last year, it's top scorer from the year before and the top scorer from Loyola. That's four proven double digit scorers! I can't wait until next year. By the way Statefan, I thought you were an ACC guy? Surprised to see you pick a Big East team to win it all in the tourney challenge.

Agreed. Jordan is a good start toward that end although he wasn't actually recruited as a freshman. I'd like to see one or two local players on the roster as a way to tie the team to the community. It's tough to do when there are probably only a couple of players coming out each year that are D1 quality.

A story in today's Baltimore Sun sheds some light on the UMBC coaching situation. Apparently the team mutinied and decided they weren't going to play in the tournament for Sullivan. The story goes on to describe a tirade against a player on the bus ride home and again once they got back. That part of the story reminded me of Beeten and Dave Schloss a few years ago. Baltimore Sun story.

Glad to see some more of you entered your brackets. I forgot to mention it before but I'll give the winner a "Beat $iena!" button. I'm not sure what I'll do if someone from the AE Board wins.

There's a nice story about players from Section II in the NCAA tourney. Story includes Kim Corbitt (Colonie) from Maine, if they write this story next year hopefully it will be about Maree Jones and Lucious Jordan. Daring to Dream-TU.

A terrific win. Actually had people ask me about that game because they saw it on the news. That's really getting some exposure for the program with a huge win. Checking the ASP this week they have selected Kevin Rae as their Dane of the Week. According to the story the Johns Hopkins coached called after the game to say he was one of the best goalies they had seen. Here's the story Dane of the week.

Patterson was saying on the coaches show on Saturday (I tore myself away from Maine-Vermont) that she used Learn as an example to this years freshman. She said Learn decided right after the season was over last year that she was going to be a better player the following year. Hopefully Clark and James take that to heart and help move the Danes into the upper tier of teams next year.

As far as I can remember Lehigh is the only team the Danes have beaten the year they went to the NCAA's. Who would have guessed this would be the year it happened.

OK-I don't know what happened to that site. I went back to the ESPN brackets. After you register pick the BPF/America East group.Here's the link.

I've set up a bracket challenge for anyone who wants to play. It's located here. You'll have to register first and then select league BPF/America East. Instant Message me if there are any problems and good luck. You're sure to beat my picks! The password is "Monasch"

Would have been a tough game to win last night even with Ayers. Sounded like the Danes were overwhelmed by Maine's defense. They strung a couple of stops together in the second half but couldn't score themselves although for a while it didn't look like Schumaker could miss from outside. Nice quote by Maine's Heather Ernst This team is going to miss Sweetland next year especially early in the season. Returning four starters and finishing fourth this year I don't think the Lady Danes are going to be able to sneak up on anyone next year. Point Guard is the only question mark. James is certainly quicker than Sweetland but she hasn't show she can shoot. Hopefully she improves that part of her game. Otherwise I'd give the incoming freshman a chance to win the job with a strong showing. I had some hope Schumaker could develop into a PG but I don't think she's quick enough. If Clark can get a little stronger and develop her touch around the hoop she has a Mookie-like game with more shot-blocking. Majors gave good minutes during the Hartford game and is strong underneath. Hopefully the 6-4 Peterson kid coming in is good enough to challenge for minutes next year. As out-of-control as Stacy Johnson was early in the year hopefully she can mature in a defensive specialist and get some time next year. Bright future for both the men's and the women's team next year. I don't think it's unrealistic to expect them both to finish in the top half of the conference. I can't wait!

Maine in final again-Maine Today. Maine bounces UAlbany women-TU. Maine, Boston University Set Up Final Rematch-Hartford Courant.