2/19/2004 - Men's Lacrosse
Navy Lacrosse Opens Season at Lafayette
Files associated with this release:
2004 at Lafayette Notes
Sophomore Ian Dingman will lead the Mids' attack. |
Navy at Lafayette
Saturday, Feb. 21 * 1 p.m.
Rappolt Field (1,000) * Easton, Pa.
Radio: None.
TV: None.
Series History: Navy Leads, 4-0 (last meeting Apr. 25, 1931)
Navy Notations: The Navy men's lacrosse team kicks off the 2004 season Saturday at Lafayette in the season opener for both teams ... 23-of-36 letterwinners return for the 2004 season, including six of the 10 starters ... the Mids are returning 71% of their shot production, 70% of their goals and almost 80% of their assists ... senior Ben Bailey led the squad in shots last year with 66, while sophomore Ian Dingman was atop the list in goals (23), assists (17) and points (40) ... back in the net will be junior Seth DiNola who picked up 111 saves and 38 ground balls as a sophomore.
Leopard Ledger: Lafayette begins the 2004 season against Navy with a home opener, season opener and Patriot League opener ... ended the 2003 campaign at the bottom of the Patriot League standings ... the Leopards finished the season at 2-12, with an 0-6 mark in league action ... they were out-scored 152-86 on the year ... Lafayette returning players accounted for 28 of the team's goals last year ... two of the Leopards' top-five scorers from last season return ... seniors Robert McLean and Drew Weisman combined for 16 goals and 14 assists in 2003 ... the Leopards are coached by Terry Mangan ... Mangan is in his second season as a head coach and owns a record of 2-12 with an 0-6 mark in league action.
Starting Strong: Navy owns an impressive 83-12-1 record in season openers ... in 2003, the Mids posted a 12-1 victory over Marist in the season opener, a game which was suspended after three quarters due to inclement weather ... under head coach Richie Meade, Navy has accumulated a 7-2 mark in season openers ... in the 83 seasons that kicked off with a win, 74 have ended with the Mids owning a winning record ... Meade-coached teams have chalked up a winning season in four of the seven years that started with a victory.
Picking Up the Patriot League: The Midshipmen join the Patriot League for the 2004 season ... Navy had been part of the ECAC Lacrosse League since 2000 ... joining the league will add even more significance to the Army-Navy rivalry, as the Black Knights are also a member of the Patriot League in lacrosse ... the Mids own a 49-26-3 (.647) series advantage over Army and defeated the Patriot League Champions in the season finale last year, 12-11 ... Navy will have a chance to advance to the NCAA Tournament with the league's tournament champion earning an automatic bid ... the eight teams in the Patriot League are slated to play a round-robin schedule in 2004, with the top-four teams advancing to a championship tournament scheduled for April 30 (semifinals) and May 2 (finals).
Preseason Potpourri: Navy begins the 2004 campaign with a No. 14 preseason ranking by Lacrosse Magazine ... three Mids were selected to Face-Off Magazine's Preseason All-America Honorable Mention squad: sophomore attack Ian Dingman, junior midfielder Graham Gill and team captain Thomas Morris (long stick) ... Dingman came off the bench in 11-of-13 games to lead the Mids in scoring with 40 points on 23 goals and 17 assists ... Gill started every game last season and produced 22 points on 13 goals and nine assists ... Morris was named Navy's defensive MVP last year, despite missing two games because of a nearly severed finger.
Brothers in Arms: Last season, Navy had three pairs of brothers, but this season the Mids have a trio of Looneys ... Brendan Looney is a senior defensive midfielder, Steve Looney is a sophomore midfielder and Billy Looney is a freshman midfielder ... all three graduated locally from DeMatha Catholic in Silver Spring, Md. ... Dan Harris and Taylor Harris share the same last name, but are not related ... Dan hails from Manlius, N.Y., while Taylor is out of Clifton, Va.
Television Time: Two Navy contests will be broadcast by College Sports TV (CSTV) this season ... the Star Game at West Point (Mar. 27) and Navy's home contest against Johns Hopkins (Apr. 24) will both air on the network ... CSTV is available on Adelphia and Insight cable systems, and is also available on DirecTV (channel 610) ... for additional information, log on to www.cstv.com.
Radio Review: Six of Navy's 12 regular-season games will be broadcast live on WNAV-1430 AM ... Pete Medhurst will be back to call the action for the games: vs. Bucknell (Mar. 13), at Army (Mar. 27), at Georgetown (Apr. 3), at Maryland (Apr. 10), vs. Holy Cross (Apr. 18) and vs. Johns Hopkins (Apr. 24).
World Wide Web: For a complete report on Navy Athletics, checkout www.NavySports.com ... the latest information from the Patriot League is available at www.PatriotLeague.com.
