Senior tailback George Beebe (Salem, NY/Salem High) headed the list of 14 Dutchmen who were selected to the 2002 Upstate Collegiate Athletic Conference's All-Conference team. Beebe and senior center
Alan Fiore (Staten Island, NY/Susan Wagner) were both voted to the first team on offense. Senior linebacker
Mike Ranfone (Brandford, CT/Hamden Hall), senior linebacker Dan Lombreglia (Sparta, NJ/Blair Academy), and junior back
Dan Mehleisen (Latham, NY/CBA) were all selected to the First-Team defense.
Second-Team honors went to senior wide receiver Ryan Gallo (Troy, NY/Catholic Central), senior defensive tackle
Justin Sievert (Hudsonville, MI/New Paltz, New York, High), sophomore defensive end
Alex Smith (Gloversville, NY/Gloversville), junior placekicker Cliff Eisenhut (Mohawk, NY/Mohawk), sophomore special teams specialist
Chris Nappi (Scotia, NY/Niskayuna), and junior offensive lineman Jon Woods (Nescanset, NY/Smithtown). Sophomore wide receiver
Carm Taglione (Mechanicville, NY/Mechanicville), freshman offensive lineman
Pat Hatch (Meridan, CT/Maloney), and freshman punter Sean Losier (Waltham, MA/Waltham) were all voted to the Honorable Mention team.
“I couldn't be prouder of all these players,” said head coach John Audino, who concluded his 11th season at the helm of Union's program. “We were very disappointed in our season (the Dutchmen finished at 5-5 overall and in second place in the UCAA at 3-1), so it is nice to have so many deserving players recognized by the coaches in our league.”
All five First-Team players are eligible for the ECAC's Upstate New York All-Star team, which will be announced later this month. It marked the third consecutive season that Beebe has earned first-team honors. For Fiore it was his third UCAA All-Conference selection, but the first time he has earned First-Team honors. He was a second-team selection after his sophomore season and was selected to the honorable mention squad last season.
Beebe, who has been a starter for the last three and a half years, finished as Union's all-time leading rusher as he finished with 3,615 career yards. His 30 career rushing touchdowns puts him second on the Dutchmen's all-time list behind the 33 Chris Irving (Class of '95) accumulated. Beebe, who also owns Union records for longest run from scrimmage (a 96-yard touchdown), and most rushing yards in a game (272), picked up 935 yards this year, (averaging 4.4 a game, 93.5 per game) while scoring six of the Dutchmen nine rushing touchdowns.
Fiore, a four-year starter at center, helped Union average 325.3 yards and 20.2 points a game.
Lombreglia, two-year starter, had 61 first hits, 50 assists, this year for 111 total hits, each category is a team-high. He was second on the team with 6.5 tackles for loss for 22 yards.
Ranfone, a our-year starter, was second on the team with 78 total tackles (34-44) including four tackles for loss for 23 yards, and two sacks for 20 yards. He was one of the defensive captains.
Mehleisen is a three-year starter who was third on the team in total tackles with 67 (39-28). He tied for second with two interceptions, with 24 return yards, and had four pass break-ups and one fumble recovery.
Gallo, a two-year starter, led Union receiving the last two years. This year he had 49 catches for 795 yards (16.2 yards a catch, 79.5 yards a game), with eight touchdowns. Gallo set a Union record for single-season yards (795), breaking the old mark of 735 set in 1965 by Craig Swan (Class of '66–Craig Carlson (Class of '66) had 728 yards, also in 1966. His eight touchdowns ranks second among Union's single-season record. Gallo had 965 career catches for 1,597 yards and 14 touchdowns while playing in only 28 varsity games during his outstanding career.
Sievert, a three-year starter and one of this year's defensive captains, was sixth on the team's tackle chart with 43 total tackles (16-27) and had two tackles for loss.
Smith finished fifth on Union's tackle chart with 23 first hits, 24 assists, 47 total tackles. He led Union with 9.0 tackles for loss for 48 yards and also led Union with 4.5 sacks for 36 yards.
Eisenhut led the Dutchmen in scoring with 51 points (5.1 per game) while converting 11-of-14 field goals with a long of 42. He also hit on 18-of-23 PAT attempts. Eisenhut was four-for-four in field goals against both RPI and Alfred.
Nappi, who led Union in all-purpose yards, had 395 rushing, 98 receiving, 325 in punt returns, 469 in kickoff returns, for 1,227 total yards (a 122.7 per game average).
Woods and Hatch, who were both first-year starters, helped Union average 325.3 yards and 20.2 points a game.
Taglione, another first-year starter, finished second to Gallo with 310 yards on eight receptions. He averaged 16.3 yards a catch and 38.8 yards a game with three touchdowns.
Losier averaged 34.0 yards a kick on 61 kicks and had 16 punts inside the 20. The opposition returned 29 punts for an average of 8.0 yards a return.
Conference champion and NCAA representative, Hobart, placed a league-high 19 players on the squad, including a league-high 14 First-Team selections (six on offense, five on defense, and all three special teams positions). Rensselaer was next with 14 (including three First-Team players), followed by Union, Rochester, with 11 (including two First-Teamers), and St. Lawrence, which had one First-Team selection among its six representatives.
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