3/25/2004 - Men's Lacrosse
#8 Navy Takes on #9 Army

Files associated with this release:
2004 vs. Army Notes

Game #7 * Navy at Army
Saturday, March 27 * 12-Noon
West Point, N.Y. * Michie Stadium
Series History: Navy leads, 49-26-3 (last meeting: W, 12-11 on April 26, 2003)

TV: CSTV, Jason Knapp (play by play), Paul Carcaterra (analyst)
Radio: WNAV-1430 AM, Pete Medhurst (play by play)

Rankings Report: The Mids are ranked No. 8 heading into this weekend's match-up against No. 9 Army ... the last time that the two schools were both ranked in the top 10 was in 1993 - Navy was No. 8 and Army was No. 9 ... that year, the Mids took a 10-8 win in Annapolis.

Navy Notations: The Mids are now 5-1 this season with a 4-0 mark in the Patriot League ... after winning its last-four games, Navy has earned top-10 rankings in the USILA/STX, media and InsideLacrosse Power polls ... the No. 8 USILA/STX ranking is its highest this season ... Navy's 21goals in the victory over Colgate are the most by a Division I team this season ... five Mids scored at least two goals in the game, with sophomore Ian Dingman leading the charge with five goals ... the Mids recorded their biggest victory of the season in Chapel Hill with a 9-8 overtime win over then-fourth-ranked North Carolina ... after the Ohio State loss dropped Navy out of the polls, the Mids jumped back in with their second-straight win over the Tar Heels ... the Mids have won four-straight games with victories over UNC, Bucknell, Hobart and Colgate ... the Mids will travel to Army on Saturday before matching up against non-conference foes Georgetown and Maryland ... Dingman leads Navy with 17 goals and 10 assists ... senior Joe Bossi is right behind him with 14 goals and two assists ... junior Graham Gill has netted seven goals and tabbed five assists ... sophomore Jon Birsner has contributed one goal and 10 assists ... 17 different Midshipmen have scored at least one goal this season and 20 Mids have tacked on at least one assist ... sophomore Matt Russell earned the starting role in goal at North Carolina and has picked up a 4-0 record in the net ... Russell has 34 saves and has allowed 26 goals in his 250:39 of play.

Army Analysis: The defending Patriot League champions, the Black Knights, are also on a four-game win streak and own a 4-1 record with a 1-0 mark in the Patriot League ... Army has played and won the last-four games in West Point ... Army opened the season at Syracuse with a 19-15 loss ... its biggest win of the season came at the expense of then-No. 4 Rutgers ... Army dropped the Scarlet Knights, 12-11 ... the Cadets have only played one Patriot League game this season, winning a 16-7 decision over Holy Cross ... Jeff Bryan is atop the scoring list for the Black Knights with five goals and 20 assists ... Jim Wagner has netted a team-high 16 goals, while John Walker has scored 11 goals ... in the net, Matt Darak is allowing an average of 11.17 goals per game while picking up 80 saves in the five games this season.

Picking Up the Patriot League: The Midshipmen have joined the Patriot League for the 2004 season ... Navy is atop the standings with a 4-0 mark in league play ... Army is the only other undefeated team in the conference with a 1-0 mark ... 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 ... 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).

Navy-Colgate Wrap-Up: Navy is 3-0 against the Raiders after blasting Colgate 21-6 last Saturday in Orlando ... the Mids' 21 goals is a season high for all NCAA Division I teams ... eight Mids scored at least one goal in the contest and three netted at least four goals ... Conor McKenzie picked up the first goal of his career, and then scored three more times ... Dwayne Osgood only had one-career goal before Saturday, but he scored four in Florida ... Ian Dingman led the barrage with a five-goal effort, the second time this season he has netted five goals in a game.

Penalty Points: The Mids have only been called for 12 penalties in the first-six games of the season, although, Navy collected five in the Hobart contest ... the Mids did not allow their opponents a man-up goal in the first-three games, but Bucknell finally converted an advantage and finished the day 2 for 2 on EMOs ... the Mids' opponents are 4 for 11 (.636) on the season.

Fourth-Quarter Shutouts: In their first-three games against Patriot League opponents, the Mids posted a shutout in the fourth quarter of each contest ... Navy is outscoring league foes 9-2 in the final 15 minutes ... with a 16-4 lead over Colgate in the third period, Navy switched to back-up keeper Colin Finnegan ... the freshman goalie allowed two goals in his first appearance in the cage ... Matt Russell has allowed a combined five goals in the conference second halves ... the Mids have outscored their league opponents 28-7 in the second half this season.

Giving up Goals: The Navy defense has made it tough for opponents to score this year ... the Mids lead the league, allowing only 40 goals in six games for a 6.64 average ... the Mids' scoring defense is ranked No. 7 in the nation ... on the offensive side, the Mids are ranked No. 4 in the country in scoring with a 12.83 goals per game average ... Navy is second in the Patriot League behind Army, the No. 3 team overall, with 13.2 goals per game.

One-Goal Games: Navy has battled to 33 one-goal games since head coach Richie Meade came to Annapolis in 1995 ... the Mids have won their last-two one-goal games (at UNC in 2004 and at Army in 2003) ... last season, the Mids were 2-3 in games decided by one goal - W, 9-8 (4OT) vs. UNC ... L, 10-9 at UMass ... L, 4-3 (OT) vs. Georgetown ... L, 5-4 at Penn State ... W, 12-11 vs. Army.

Face-Off Facts: The Mids take an early advantage over their opponents, having won 88 of the 138 face-offs this season ... Navy is atop the league standings with a .638 average and are ranked No. 5 in the nation ... Chris Pieczonka has won 58 of his 89 face-offs, already tying him for the 10th-best single season total in school history ... Pieczonka is now seventh in the Navy record book with 111-career face-off wins ... William Wallace has won 11 of 18 ... Tommy Wallin has taken 17 of his 28 face-offs and Steve Looney has picked up two of three ... the Mids dominate the league rankings, as Looney has the best percentage in the league, Pieczonka is ranked second, and Wallace and Wallin are ranked third and fourth, respectively.

Tewaaraton Watch: Sophomore Ian Dingman, a preseason All-American, is on the list of 30 candidates in line to receive the fourth annual Tewaaraton Trophy ... the Tewaaraton Trophy is recognized as the pre-eminent lacrosse award honoring the top female and male varsity collegiate lacrosse player in the United States.

Preseason Potpourri: Navy began 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 ... halfway through his sophomore season, Dingman has scored 17 goals and 10 assists ... Gill started every game last season and produced 22 points on 13 goals and nine assists ... in Chapel Hill on March 5, Gill netted three goals to help the Mids upend then-No. 4 North Carolina ... Morris was named Navy's defensive MVP last year, despite missing two games because of a nearly severed finger.

Patriot League Praise: Joe Bossi was the third Mid to earn Patriot League Player of the Week ... Bossi tabbed four goals against Hobart, including the game winner ... Bossi followed up with a three-goal showing against Colgate to earn Offensive Player of the Week on March 23 ... last week, attacker Ian Dingman and defender Mitch Hendler were named the Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively ... Dingman helped the Mids to an 11-5 victory over Bucknell with four goals and two assists, while Hendler held the Bison's top-scorer, Chris Cara, to only one goal.

Multiple Madness: Ian Dingman might wear the number one on his jersey, but when it comes to scoring, he prefers larger numbers ... Dingman tallied a career-high five goals at Lafayette and against Colgate, chalked up three assists the home opener against Ohio State and netted a pair of goals at North Carolina ... he has 11 multiple-goal games in his career (out of 19 games played) and 10 multiple-assist contests ... Graham Gill added a two-assist effort against Bucknell, the fifth multi-assist game in his three years ... Gill tacked on three goals against UNC, his fifth multi-goal game ... Joe Bossi seems to like the back of the net when he faces Patriot League opponents ... he scored four goals against Hobart and recorded three goals against Lafayette, Bucknell and Colgate ... he has 10 multi-goal games in his career (two as a sophomore, four as a junior) ... Jon Birsner recorded the fifth multi-assist game of his career with a four-assist effort against Colgate ... Chris Pieczonka had never scored a goal coming into the match-up with the Tar Heels, but netted two in the Mids' 9-8 overtime victory ... Ben Horn and Steve Looney each picked up a hat trick in Navy's 13-8 win over Hobart last Tuesday ... Dwayne Osgood, Conor McKenzie and Ben Bailey all joined the multiple club after the Colgate contest ... Osgood and McKenzie netted four goals apiece, while Bailey chalked up two goals.

Optimizing Opportunities: In the first game of the season, the Mids took advantage of their six extra-man opportunities, scoring on five attempts ... at Lafayette, Ian Dingman scored two of the five goals, while Joe Bossi, Dwayne Osgood and Billy Looney each tabbed a man-up goal ... but the Mids faced a drought in their next two contests, failing to convert in four attempts ... against Bucknell, Graham Gill netted his first extra-man goal of the season ... but the Mids' struggles continue, as they did not take advantage of their six opportunities against Hobart and failed to score in their one chance against Colgate ... in 13 games last year, Navy converted on only 5 of its 35 extra-man chances ... the Mids are 6 for 17 on EMOs this season ... Navy's opponents have scored on four of their 11 attempts this season, after the Mids' man-down defense had not allowed a goal in four chances during the first-three games.

DiNola Details: Junior Seth DiNola started in goal in all 13 games last season and the first two contests this year ... after the loss to Ohio State, the coaches made a switch at goal and DiNola committed to the field full-time ... he has traded in his goalie stick for a pole and short stick ... he has played in each of the last-four games at the wing position for face-offs, as well as in the defensive midfield.

Premier Performances: A slew of Navy players have scored their first career goal this season ... Conor McKenzie netted his first goal against Colgate, and then added three more during the game for good measure .... Steve Looney picked up his first-career goal against Bucknell - and then recorded his first multi-goal game with a three-goal showing against Hobart ... Chris Pieczonka picked up his first goal at North Carolina on March 5, just six seconds into the fourth quarter, giving the Mids a 7-4 lead ... the face-off specialist added Navy's only other fourth-quarter goal to put the Mids ahead 8-7 with 8:12 to go in regulation ... senior Matt Midura netted his first-career goal against UNC ... his score gave the Mids a 4-2 lead in the second quarter ... Taylor Harris, who made only one appearance as a freshman, has seen action in both games this year and scored his first goal against Ohio State on Feb. 28, giving the Mids a 3-1 lead in the first quarter ... three Mids found the back of the net in the 14-1 victory over Lafayette on Feb. 21 ... Dwayne Osgood was sidelined with knee injuries his first two seasons but played in his first game against the Leopards and scored his first collegiate goal on an extra-man opportunity in the fourth quarter ... Billy Looney and Trevor Hoselton also notched their first career goals in the season opener.

Television Time: This weekend's matchup against Army is one of Navy's two contests that will be broadcast by College Sports TV (CSTV) this season ... Jason Knapp will handle the play by play at West Point and Paul Carcaterra will be the analyst for the Star Game ... Knapp, a Syracuse graduate, has provided play-by-play for a plethora of collegiate events since joining CSTV' a year ago ... Knapp's has called one Army-Navy match-up prior to this game ... he worked sprint football's Pride Bowl last October when Navy posted a 14-0 victory ... Carcaterra, a former Syracuse All-American midfielder, was a member of Syracuse's 1995 national championship squad ... he currently coaches Fox Lane High School in Bedford, N.Y. ... Navy's home contest against Johns Hopkins (Apr. 24) will also 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: The Star Game is also one of Navy's five remaining regular season games that will be broadcast on WNAV-1430 AM ... Pete Medhurst will be back to call the action for the game at Army ... he will also be on the air at Georgetown (Apr. 3), at Maryland (Apr. 10), vs. Holy Cross (Apr. 18) and vs. Johns Hopkins (Apr. 24) ... Medhurst is a veteran of Navy broadcasts, as he co-hosts the Navy pre-game football show ... Medhurst has also picked up the call for Navy men's and women's basketball.

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.

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.

Service Selection Saga: The members of the Class of 2004 recently learned where they're headed after graduation!
Ben Bailey... Naval Flight Officer
Jared Bosanko... Surface Warfare Officer
Joe Bossi... Navy Pilot
Dan Eddy... Navy Pilot
Brendan Looney... Intelligence
Matt Midura... Navy Pilot
Thomas Morris... Navy Pilot
Adam Reel... Navy Pilot