Junior defensewomen Yvonne Turchetti (Red Hook, NY/Red Hook) was named to the UCAA first-team for the second year in a row. Turchetti led the Dutchwomen in scoring for the second consecutive year with nine goals and 21 points.
Union finished with an overall record of 6-9-0.
Turchetti, a three-year starter for the Dutchwomen, enters her final season with 19 goals, seven assists and 45 points. A UCAA second-team selection as a freshman, Turchetti led the Dutchwomen in scoring as a sophomore with 10 goals and 22 points and was named as Northeast Field Hockey Coaches Association's North Atlantic Regional Second Team All-American.
Turchetti, who was Union's “Outstanding Freshman Female Athlete, won the Women's Commission Athletic Prize last year. She also is a starter for the lacrosse team.
Senior forward Missy Matusewicz (Florence, MA/Northampton) was named the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association's co-Most Valuable Player. Matusewicz shared the honor with Meredith Eisenhut of St. Lawrence.
Tonia Deligiannis
The award adds to a long list of honors for Matusewicz, who is in the running to become Union' first national All-American in the sport of soccer. She finished the year with 20 goals and 45 points and ended her outstanding career holding every single one of Union's game, season and career scoring honors. Matusewicz, who started all 72 games of her career, finished with 69 goals, 23 assists and 161 points.
Stephanie Maychack
Senior midfielder Tonia Deligiannis (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) joined Matusewicz on the first team. Deligiannis, who had 20 points this year, led the Dutchwomen and the UCAA in assists with 10.
Sophomore forward Abby West (Dalton, MA/Wahconah) and junior back Stephanie Maychack (West Sand Lake, NY/Averill Park) were named to the second team.
Abby West
West finished behind Matusewicz in scoring with 11 goals and 31 points while Maychack was part of a defense that allowed just eight goals and set a team record with 13 shutouts.
Union won its second UCAA title in the last three years with a 6-1-0 record and finished with an overall mark of 15-2-2. The Dutchwomen were invited to the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive year and captured their second-straight NYSWCAA championship.
Defensive backs Devon Wimberly (24) and Brian Vegliando (25) are going to have to contain Widener's junior wide receivers Jim Jones (62 receptions for 1,439 yards and 14 TDs) and Mike Coleman (46 catches for 1,274 yards and 18 scores).
The Pioneers have been to the NCAA tournament 10 times since 1975, winning the national championship in both 1977 and 1981. This is their first trip to the national event since 1995 and their first trip under fourth-year head coach Bill Zwaan.
Widener won the Middle Atlantic Commonwealth championship, their conference-leading 14th title, with a 5-0 record and finished with an overall mark of 9-1. Widener is averaging 474 yards and 37.4 points. The Pioneers have scored 15 touchdowns on the ground and 33 through the air. Their defense has chipped in with three scores on interceptions returns and one TD on a fumble return. They also have a punt return for a score and have connected on five of six field goals with 38 PAT kicks and one pass completion for a two-point conversion.
Defensively the Pioneers are giving up 365.5 yards a game and 22.2 points. The opposition owns a rushing average of 105 yards (with 12 touchdowns) while averaging 260.5 yards a game through the air with 20 touchdowns.
Senior quarterback Mike Granato has completed 123 passes for 2,802 yards and 31 touchdowns this season and is the Pioneers' all-time leader in yards (7,824) and touchdowns (72). His two favorite targets are junior wideouts Jim Jones and Mike Coleman. Jones caught a single-season record 62 passes in 2000 for 1,439 yards
and 14 touchdowns while Coleman has pulled in 46 passes for 1,274 yards and a school-record 18 scores.
Union's offensive line has given up just 13 sacks this year while allowing quarterback Ben Gilbert and company to average 413 yards and 32 points a game.
In order for Union to get an NCAA invitation, the Dutchmen had to shut down the country's No. 1 rushing offense. Springfield went into last weekend's game averaging 447 yards on the ground and 45 points a game (which ranked them sixth). The Dutchmen Defenders held the Pride to just 257 rushing yards (with 74 of those coming on two plays late in the game against the Dutchmen's reserves). Union built a 48-6 lead before taking its first team off of the field.
This week the Garnet Wave will have to stop a passing attack that was ranked No. 11 in the country in passing offense, No. 11 in total offense and No. 15 in scoring offense through the first nine games of the season. Union's defensive numbers through the first nine games had the Garnet ranked No. 5 in pass efficiency, No. 3 in total defense, No. 13 in scoring defense and No. 11 in rushing defense.
Union comes into the contest with 30 quarterback sacks with ends, junior Josh Stinehour (Rochester, NY/Pennfield) and senior, Brevator Creech (Chico, CA/Chico) the leaders with 11 and six, respectively. Union's backfield has picked off 16 passes with cornerback junior Radney Wood (Newport, NY/West Canada) among the national leaders with seven. Junior corners James Weaver (Bronxville, NY/Iona Prep) and George Kandirakis (White Plains, NY/Valhalla) have three each. The Dutchmen will benefit from the return of senior Devon Wimberly (Albany, NY/Albany Acadmey) who missed two complete games after he was injured in the game against Coast Guard, and saw limited action last week against Springfield. Wimberly comes into the game with 11 career interceptions and 43 pass deflections to go along with his 139 total tackles, six fumble recoveries and seven blocked kicks.
Junion end Josh Stinehour leads the Dutchmen with 11 QB sacks.
Junior linebackers Mike Ranfone (Branford, CT/Hamden Hall) (75 total tackles) and Mike Rosenthal (Walpole, MA/Blair Academy) (68 total tackles) lead the Dutchmen while senior strong safety Brian Vegliando (Walkill, NY/Wallkill) is next with 58 hits. Senior linebacker Adam Tyksinski (Clinton, NY/Clinton) who has been bothered by injuries all year long, shows 46 tackles. Once again it will be up to junior tackle Anthony Linter (Ravena, NY/Ravena) and sophomore mate Justin Sievert (New Paltz, NY/New Paltz) to tie up Widener's offensive linemen and keep them away from the Dutchmen's active linebackers.
Offensively, Union will have to maintain the balanced ball control that has seen them improve their average to 413.5 total yards, which has produced an average of 32.5 points. In the last three games, the unit has produced 444, 505 and 490 yards, respectively. Last week against Springfield the Dutchmen threw for 301 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 189 yards and two scores. The previous week against Rochester, Union ran for 318 yards (against a team that was giving up an average of 95) and threw for 187. Three weeks ago against Hartwick Union was a balanced 245 yards on the ground and 199 yards in the air.
Junior quarterback Ben Gilbert (Brattleboro, VT/Brattleboro) has completed 142 of 247 passes (57.5%) for 1,909 yards and 21 touchdowns and is two TD passes away from tying the single-season mark of 23 set by Brett Russ in 1989 (a year in which Union played 14 games). Gilbert, who has two games in which he has thrown four touchdowns and four others in which he has two or more scoring strikes, is averaging 191 yards a game. Senior wide out Bryan Slekes (Rochester, NY/Gates Chili) has caught 38 of those passes for 582 yards and has set a new single-season record of 10 scoring receptions this season (breaking the previous mark of eight first set in 1967 and equaled in both 1982 and 1983). A total of 11 players have caught at least one pass with eight of those players surpassing the 100-yard mark this season. Besides Slekes, junior fullback Matt Laporta (Rensselaer, NY/Columbia) and tight end senior Rob Krickovich (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) have each caught three touchdown tosses. In all, six Dutchmen have found the end zone via the pass.
Senior end Brevator Creech has six of the Garnet Wave's 30 sacks.
Sophomore tailback George Beebe (Salem, NY/Salem) leads a ground game that is averaging 223 yards and has scored 18 times. Beebe, who has rushed for 1,170 yards and is averaging 6.8 yards a carry and 117.0 yards a game, set the Union single-season, regular-season record with his 11 rushing touchdowns. Behind Beebe is junior tailback Jasper Mills (Hamden, CT/Hamden Hill), who has 406 yards and three touchdowns on 101 carries.
Offensively, Union's offensive line of tackles, sophomore A.J. Bodden (Scotia, NY/Scotia) and junior Justin Forrester (Rochester, NY/Bridgeton), guards, sophomore Chris Lalonde (Queensbury, NY/Queensbury), and junior Mike Visconti (Marion, MA/Northfield) and sophomore center Alan Fiore (Staten Island, NY/Susan Wagner) have done an outstanding job protecting Gilbert and opening holes for Beebe and Mills.
Junior placekicker Andrew Ruffo (Conklin, NY/Susquehanna Valley) leads the Dutchmen in scoring with his 79 points. Ruffo, who had 12 points in the win over Springfield (six PATs and two field goals), has connected on 37 of 38 point after kicks and 14 of 20 field goals. Ruffo is six for six from between the 20s and eight of nine from between the 30s.
Union, which last appeared in the NCAA event in 1995, was one of 28 teams selected to this year's national championship tournament. The Dutchmen will host Widener College Saturday, November, 18 at noon. Widener, which won the Middle Atlantic-Commonwealth championship with a 5-0 record, finished at 9-1 overall.
Dutchmen were seeded third in the East Region and will host Widener in a first-round game of the NCAA Division III tournament on Saturday, November 18. If the Garnet wins its opener, it will host the winner of the Hobart-Bridgewater State game on Satur
“This is a great honor and a true reward for an outstanding group of players who have worked very, very hard since the end of last season,” said ninth-year head coach John Audino. “The tradition of Union football is one of excellence and earning a spot in the NCAA tournament puts us among the elite programs in Division III.”
Union is no stranger to postseason play or the NCAA tournament. This is the Dutchmen's 13th trip to postseason since 1983 and their ninth trip to the NCAAs. Union participated in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl for the national championship in both 1983 (losing to Augustana, 21-17 in the final three minutes) and 1989 (losing to Dayton, 17-7 in the Flyers last game as a Division III program). The Dutchmen's other NCAA invitations came in 1984, 1985, 1986, 1991, 1993, and 1995. Union has also won four ECAC championship games, winning titles in 1990, 1994, 1996 and last year when the Dutchmen defeated Ithaca, 31-7.
Head Coach John Audino
Union's explosive offense picked a total of 488 yards and scored 48 points while the Dutchmen's defense limited the nation's No. 1 rushing offense to just 257 yards in Saturday's 48-19 regular-season finale against previously undefeated, and highly regarded, Springfield.
The decisive victory enabled the Dutchmen to end the 2000 season with a seven-game win streak and a 9-1 record, both of which impressed the NCAA Division III selection committee. Union shared the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association championship with Hobart and Rochester at 3-1. Hobart, which finished at 8-1, will host Bridgewater, Massachusetts, on Saturday in another Eastern Regional game. It marks the first time in the six-year history of the UCAA that the league has sent two representatives to the NCAA tournament in the same season.
