QU Men's Lacrosse Travels to Hartford for Tuesday Afternoon Contest

Tuesday, March 20

West Hartford, CT

3:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

University of Hartford

QU Men's Lacrosse Travels to Hartford for Tuesday Afternoon Contest

3/19/2018 10:32:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse

By: QU Athletic Communications

Tuesday, March 20, 2018 | 3:00 PM
QUINNIPIAC BOBCATS (4-3) vs. HARTFORD HAWKS (2-4)
West Hartford, Conn. | Al-Marzook Field\
Follow Live Stats: HartfordHawks.com
Live Video: ESPN3

HAMDEN, Conn. - Fresh off a dramatic 12-11 win over Siena on Saturday, the Quinnipiac men's lacrosse team will face local rival Hartford in a series that has been historically full of drama, making the short trip to West Hartford to take on the Hawks on Tuesday at 3 p.m.

LAST GAME
Junior midfielder Matt Frost had a career-high six points on three goals and three assists, including the game-winner to break an 11-11 tie with just over four minutes remaining, as the Bobcats captured a 12-11 win over Siena on Saturday in their MAAC opener. The Bobcats led 9-4 early in the third quarter, thanks to a first half in which they went 4-4 on extra-man opportunities, but Siena responded with a 6-0 run to lead 10-9 heading into the fourth. Senior Brian Feldman and freshman Jake Tomsik scored goals to put the Bobcats back in front, and after Siena tied it back up at 11-11 with less than six minutes left, Frost responded just over a minute later with the game-winner off a rebound.

HARTFORD SERIES
Quinnipiac and Hartford have played each other 19 times since the Bobcats joined the Division I ranks in 1999, meeting every year except in 2009. Hartford holds a narrow 11-8 lead in the series, which has been characterized by intensely-fought, close contests in recent years. Each of the last 10 regular meetings between the teams have been decided by three goals or less, including six by one goal (four of which were in overtime). The teams also met in the postseason two years ago, with the Bobcats taking a 14-9 NCAA Opening Round win at the old Quinnipiac Turf Complex, the final game ever played at the facility before the current stadium was constructed.

DEFENSIVE CLINIC
Quinnipiac used a dominant defensive effort to capture an 11-3 home win over Wagner on March 10. The Bobcats did not allow a single even-strength goal the entire day, allowing only an extra-man goal in the second quarter and two on EMOs in the fourth. Sophomore goalie Joe Zukauskas had eight saves, while the close defense of Riley Palmer, Mike Ruane, and Bryce Nalls (pictured) helped hold the Seahawks to only 20 shot attempts in the contest.

FELDMAN JOINS CENTURY CLUB
With a second-half goal at Fairfield on March 6, senior midfielder Brian Feldman became only the fourth player in Quinnipiac history to score 100 goals in a career. The other three players to accomplish the feat did it over a two-year span from 2001-02, meaning that Feldman's milestone is one that had not been accomplished by any Bobcat over a span of 16 years. Twin brothers Mike Baglio '02 (144) and Joe Baglio '02 (140) are the only previous Bobcats to score 100 goals entirely at the Division I level. Alan LoGiudice '01 (117) had 80 goals in Division I, and 37 as a freshman at Division II. Feldman is coming off a four-goal effort against Siena on Saturday, marking his 18th career hat trick and first of this season.

QUINNIPIAC TOP CAREER GOAL SCORERS
1   144    Mike Baglio '02
2   140 Joe Baglio '02
3   117 Alan LoGiudice '01
4 106 Brian Feldman '18
5 94 Ryan Keenan '16
6 88    Corey Pronsky '97
7   84    Michael Sagl '15
84    Andy Pelletier '04
9 79    Jack Oppenheimer '11
10   77    Dylan Webster '14

QUINNIPIAC 100-PONT CLUB
1.   207    Joe Baglio '02
2.   187   Mike Baglio '02
3.   183   Michael Sagl '15
4.   159    Alan LoGiudice '01
5.   131   Ryan Keenan '16
6.   126   Corey Pronsky '97
7.   124    John Giordano '03
8.   123    Andy Pelletier '04
9. 121 Brian Feldman '18
10. 109    Josh Murray '06
109 Jack Oppenheimer '11
12. 103   Dylan Webster '14
103 Frank DeRubeis, Jr. '96

CUOMO EARNS MAAC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior attack Foster Cuomo was named the MAAC Offensive Player of the Week on March 5 after setting career highs in both goals (5) and points (7) in a win over NJIT. Cuomo had a hat trick in the first quarter alone to help stake the Bobcats to a 7-0 lead after the first 15 minutes. He became the fifth different Bobcat to be honored by the MAAC this season, including three in the same week after a win over No. 17 Brown (Offensive Player of the Week Mike Fletcher, Defensive Player of the Week Will Vitelli, Scholar-Athlete of the Week Matt Frost).

BOBCATS DEFEAT #17 BROWN FOR FIRST WIN IN NEW STADIUM
Quinnipiac fell behind 4-0 early, regrouped to take a 9-7 lead after three quarters, and then captured a dramatic 12-11 overtime win over No. 17 Brown on Saturday, Feb. 17 for its first-ever win at the new Quinnipiac Lacrosse Stadium. Junior attack Mike Fletcher had four goals and an assist, including the game-winning goal in overtime, an unassisted tally when he took the ball from behind the net on a restart, circled all the way around to the front, and buried a shot into the top corner. After the Bobcats went ahead 9-7, Brown started the fourth quarter on a 3-0 run to earn the lead back, but junior midfielder Matt Frost stopped the run with a tying goal. The Bears went ahead once again, but freshman Sam Witt knotted it up at 11-11 with just over four minutes left, and neither team could score during the rest of regulation. Senior Will Vitelli was 19-27 on face-offs, including the one to start the overtime session, leading to the game-winner.

GREAT START FOR TOMSIK
Freshman attack Jake Tomsik was named the MAAC Rookie of the Week on Feb. 12 after a strong effort in his collegiate debut against UMass Lowell. Tomsik finished the game with four goals, scoring on all four of his shot attempts, and added an assist to classmate Sam Witt for the first goal ever scored at the new Quinnipiac Lacrosse Stadium. He added two more goals against both Brown and Vermont to start his career with three straight multi-goal games, and is currently in a close battle for the team lead in points with 19.

HOME, SWEET HOME
Quinnipiac is playing in a brand new 1,500-seat stadium this season, and earned its first win in the new facility with a 12-11 overtime victory on Feb. 17 against nationally ranked Brown (No. 17). A year ago, the Bobcats played all five home games at Yale, and lost the five games by a combined seven goals. The previous season, Quinnipiac won six games in a row on campus at its old facility, including a MAAC Championship win over Marist and an NCAA win over Hartford.

QUINNIPIAC NAMES 2018 CAPTAINS
Quinnipiac will have five seniors who will share the captain duties for the 2018 season, as announced in January by Head Coach Eric Fekete. Defenseman Riley Palmer, long-stick midfielder Adam Bellamy, and midfielders Blaise Buffalino, Ryan Corcoran and David Glynn will serve as team captains for their final collegiate seasons.

FOUR PLAYERS HONORED BY MAAC IN PRESEASON
The Bobcats had four players who were chosen to the Preseason All-MAAC team, which was released on Jan. 31. Junior Foster Cuomo and senior Riley Palmer were All-MAAC selections, while senior Adam Bellamy was the Preseason Long-Stick Midfielder of the Year and senior Will Vitelli was the Preseason Face-Off Specialist of the Year. As a team, the Bobcats were picked third behind preseason favorite and defending champion Monmouth in first and Marist in second.

SENIOR CLASS
If the Bobcats are to return to the form that earned them the 2016 MAAC Championship two years ago, it will be largely due to the leadership of a very large senior class. Last season, Quinnipiac had only four seniors, but this year, Senior Day ceremonies will take a little longer, with a total of 14 seniors on the roster.

SATURDAYS...IN THE PARK (OR STADIUM)
Quinnipiac fans can get used to Saturday afternoon lacrosse games at the school's brand new stadium. The Holy Cross game this weekend will mark the seventh straight Saturday in which the Bobcats are scheduled at home to start the season. After a road game at Detroit on March 31, the Bobcats will meet Manhattan (April 7) and Canisius (April 14) to finish a stretch in which it plays home game on nine of 10 Saturdays.

REPEAT FOR VITELLI
Senior face-off specialist Will Vitelli is coming off a season which saw him earn his second straight MAAC Face-Off Specialist of the Year honor. After walking onto the team as a freshman and giving face-offs a try for the first time, Vitelli had a huge sophomore year, including a game in which he was 19-19 at the X, earning him the National Player of the Week honor from Inside Lacrosse.

WHERE THERE'S A WILL
Senior face-off specialist Will Vitelli has had several games in his career where he has completely dominated his position, including his 19-19 performance at Marist as a sophomore (see above). He nearly added another perfect day on March 10 against Wagner, starting 14-14 before losing the opening face-off of the fourth quarter and finishing 15-16. Here is a look at some of his top efforts at the X over the last three seasons:

VITELLI'S TOP FACE-OFF PERFORMANCES
2016
3/26 Siena 16-21 (.762)
4/2 at Marist 19-19 (1.000)
4/23 at Monmouth 12-16 (.750)
5/7   vs. Marist   20-25 (.833)
2017
3/4 NJIT 19-22 (.864)
4/1 at Manhattan 17-22 (.773)
2018
2/17  No. 17 Brown 19-27 (.709)
3/3 NJIT 20-22 (.909)
3/10 Wagner 15-16 (.938)

NEW FACES BETWEEN THE PIPES
Fifth-year senior and captain Jack Brust graduated off last season's men's lacrosse team, opening the door for some new players to take over the goalkeeping role. Senior Carson Cocco, who had not played in his first three seasons, earned the opening day start against UMass Lowell and then got the win in the second game of the season, a 12-11 overtime victory over No. 17 Brown. Cocco was temporarily out of action with an injury, and sophomore Joe Zukauskas, who started three games last season while Brust was injured, took over to start the last four contests. Zukauskas went the distance without allowing an even-strength goal against Wagner on Saturday, while making eight saves. Freshman Brendan Engel also saw some action in relief against both Vermont and NJIT, giving the Bobcats three goalkeepers now with collegiate experience to choose from.

BOBCATS MAKE HISTORY IN 2016
The Bobcats had their most successful season in program history a year ago, sweeping the MAAC regular season and postseason titles with a perfect 8-0 record against conference foes, earning their first-ever NCAA Tournament bid, and picking up a win over Hartford in the NCAA preliminary round. The Bobcats are hoping to return to that form this year after missing the MAAC Tournament last spring.

NEXT UP
The Bobcats will play their final non-conference game of the season when they host Holy Cross on Saturday for a 12 noon contest.