Posted on Nov 28, 2001
Senior defensive end Josh Stinehour (Rochester, NY/Penfield
High School) was among 45 student-athletes to be recognized for their performances during the recently concluded fall season. Stinehour, a four-year letterwinner and two-year starter for the football team, is a top-10 finalist for the prestigious Gagliardi Trophy (the equivalent of the Heisman Trophy) as the best
Division III player in the country. The winner will be announced on December 13.
Stinehour, who picked up 33 quarterback sacks in the last two
years (including a nationally-ranked 20 sacks this year), was also named the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association's “Defensive Player of the Year.” A first-team All-Conference selection the
last two seasons, Stinehour was named to this year's Verizon Academic All-East team (which advances him to the national ballot) and was a member of the UCAA All-Academic team. A computer science major with a mathematics minor, Stinehour is very active in community service
which includes the renovation of housing for low-income families in
Schenectady.
The Dutchmen's fourth-leading tackler this year with 51 total tackles, Stinehour has also been nominated for several All-American honors as well as the Woody Hayes National Scholar-Athlete Award. He finished his
career with 133 total tackles, six fumble recoveries, and eight forced fumbles, to go along with his 33 quarterback sacks.
Senior placekicker Andrew Ruffo (Conklin, NY/Susquehanna
Valley) joined Stinehour on both the Verizon All-East team and the UCAA All-Conference squad. Ruffo set the Union record for career field goals (38) and finished with 114 point after
touchdown kicks and 228 total points. He was named to the UCAA All-Conference squad as a first-team punter and a second-team placekicker.
Other Dutchmen named to the UCAA All-Academic team were senior
linebacker Mike Ranfone (Branford, CT/Hamden Hall), senior defensive backs Radney Wood (Newport, NY/West Canada Valley) and James Weaver
(Bronxville, NY/Iona Prep), and junior defensive tackle Justin Sievert (New Paltz, NY/New Paltz).
The Dutchmen had 10 players named to the UCAA All-Conference first team, six players named to the second team, and two named to the honorable mention squad.
First-team honorees included: senior fullback Matt Laporta
(Rensselaer, NY/Columbia); senior offensive linemen Justin Forrester (Rochester, NY/Bridgton Academy) and Mike Visconti (East Boston, MA/Northfield Mount Hermon), who picked up his third-straight first-team award; senior linebacker Mike Rosenthal (Walpole, MA/Blair Academy), who finished fourth on Union's all-time tackle chart with 279 total tackles and earned his third consecutive first-team award; senior defensive back George Kandirakis (N. White Plains, NY/Valahalla); junior tailback George Beebe (Salem, NY/Salem); junior tight end Pat St. Denis (Voorheesville, NY/Bouton); junior offensive lineman A.J. Bodden (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glenville); Ruffo, and Stinehour.
Senior quarterback Ben Gilbert (Brattleboro, VT/Brattleboro
Union), who set several Union records including career yards (8,208), career touchdown passes (75), and touchdown passes in a season (27), while leading the Dutchmen to a four-year record of 33-9 and into postseason play the
last three years, headed the seven players who were named to the second team. Junior wide receiver Ryan Gallo (Troy, NY/Catholic Central), junior offensive line Chris Lalonde
(Queensbury, NY/Queensbury) joined Ranfone, Sievert, Wood, Ruffo, and Weaver on the second team. Junior offensive lineman Alan Fiore (Staten Island, NY/Wagner) and junior
defensive lineman Dan Croce (Modena, NY/Wallkill) were both honorable mention selections.
Senior field hockey standout Yvonne Turchetti (Red Hook,
NY/Red Hook) was the most decorated female athlete of the fall term. Turchetti was named to the UCAA All-Academic as well as to the All-Conference first team (for the third consecutive
year). She was also a second-team
all-state selection as well as a second team National Field Hockey Coaches Association. Turchetti, a defensive player, was the Dutchwomen's leading scorer for the third consecutive
year. She finished her career with 24 goals and 57 points.
Joining Turchetti for field hockey recognition were senior Heather Babcock (Farmington, CT/Farmington), who was UCAA All-Academic and All-Conference second team, senior Lindsay Simon (Madison, CT/Loomis
Chaffee), and sophomore Lauren Updegrove (Portsmouth, RI/Portsmouth Abbey School), who qualified for the All-Academic squad.
The women's soccer team had two of its members qualify for the
UCAA All-Academic team, three players voted to the All-Conference first team, and two players chosen to the All-Conference second team. Five Dutchwomen were voted to the All-State team.
Sophomore forward Stephanie Mole' (Newton, MA/Newton
North) recorded the hat trick as she was named UCAA All-Academic, All-Conference first team, and All-State after leading the Dutchwomen in scoring with her 13 goals and 31 points. Junior goaltender Carolyn Stead (Portland, ME/Deering) joined Mole' on the UCAA
All-Academic team while senior defender Stephanie Maychack (Averill Park, NY/Averill Park) was selected to both the UCAA All-Conference first team
and the All-State squad. Senior
midfielder Lauren Byrne (Northport, NY/Northport) was a UCAA All-Conference first-team selection, and freshman midfielder Molly Flanagan
(Simsbury, CT/Loomis Chaffee) and sophomore midfielder Erin Holmes (St. Louis, MO/Corjesu Academy) were both selected to the All-State and UCAA All-Conference second team. Senior defender Carrie Price (Wakefield, MA/Wakefield) was an All-State selection.
The volleyball squad saw three of its players honored as junior Corinn Jordan (New Hyde Park, NY/Herricks) earned a spot on both the UCAA All-Academic and All-Conference teams. Sophomore Sarah Pontius (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta) and freshman
Susan Gestwick (Charlton, NY/Burnt Hills) were both All-Conference picks.
Senior defender David Kahn (Port Washington, NY/Schreiber) headed the list of four men's soccer players who achieved postseason recognition. Kahn was qualified for the UCAA All-Academic team and was voted to the All-Conference first team. Classmate Elliot Ziebel (West Hartford, CT/Hall), a midfielder, was an All-Academic member while junior forward Graham Lombardo (Bristol, RI/Suffield Academy) was voted to the All-Conference
first team after leading the Dutchmen in scoring with 38 points. Lombardo's 18 goals broke the College's
single-season record of 17 set by Craig Jeffries in 1975 while the 38 points ties Jeffries' single-season standard. Sophomore Peter Devine (Millbury, MA/St. John's) was voted to the
UCAA second team.
Three members of the women's tennis team-senior Kelly Stewart (Aspen, CO/Aspen), junior Megann Denefrio (Blauvelt, NY/Saddle River Day), and sophomore Ann Rutter (Rocky Point, NY/Rocky Point) were all chosen to the UCAA All-Academic team.
Cross country placed four of its members on the UCAA All-Academic team. Junior Jeff Fairfield (Kennebunkport, ME/Thornton Academy), sophomore Katie Beck (Basking Ridge, NJ/Ridge), junior Jennifer Moon (Morrisville,
NY/Morrisville), and sophomore Rebecca Seaman (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington) all qualified.
In order to be a member of the UCAA All-Academic team, a
student-athlete must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or higher and be a significant contributor to the team. Freshmen are not eligible.
FALL TEAMS EXCEL
All the individual successes translated into a banner season for the fall teams. Union's eight varsity programs produced an overall record of 70-43-1, for a winning percentage of .623.
Women's soccer headed the field as the Dutchwomen earned their third consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament and finished with a record of 15-3-1. The volleyball team established a school record for wins with its 25-13 mark (breaking the old standard of 24) and was invited to its first-ever ECAC postseason tournament. The Dutchwomen also participated in the New York State Women's Collegiate Athletic Association tournament for the second-straight year.
The football team earned its third consecutive postseason
invitation and won the ECAC Northwest championship to finish at 9-2. The men's soccer team posted its first winning season since 1993 with its 10-7 record and the women's tennis team placed seventh of 16 teams in the state tournament. While the field hockey squad finished with a sub-.500 record (6-10), the Dutchwomen were in every contest, losing six games by only one goal.
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