2011-12 YIR__Final Website .Pdf
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ATHLETIC ACHIEVEMENTS • Three of the league’s most iconic a back-to-back third team honoree. Sacred Heart’s Jackie Carbonetto (first figures were inducted into the sec- team) and Nicole Trudell (third team) also earned All-America recognition. ond NEC Hall of Fame class last Trudell was a second team pick a year ago. December. The three-member class • The Northeast Conference contin- was comprised of Marist men’s ued to earn national acclaim in men’s basketball player Rik Smits, Saint soccer. Monmouth ranked as high Francis (PA) women’s basketball as 18th in the country in the NSCAA player Beth Swink and former Fair- Top-25 poll and won its seventh leigh Dickinson basketball coach consecutive NEC regular season Tom Green. Smits (‘88) was a two- title. The seven-year run at the top time NEC Player of the Year who led is the tied for the longest in league the Red Foxes to conference titles history in any sport behind Mount in 1986 and 1987. The “Dunking St. Mary’s women’s basketball, Dutchmen” went on to star for the which won seven straight regular Indiana Pacers, and enjoyed a 12- season championships from 1989- year NBA career. The winningest 96. The Hawks also won their third coach in NEC men’s basketball his- straight NEC Tournament crown, tory, Green’s tenure at FDU spanned then slipped past visiting Stony 26 years from 1983-2009. He won a Brook in penalty kicks to advance school record 407 games over that to the second round of the NCAA time and his 263 wins against NEC Tournament for the second time competition are over 100 more than any other coach in league annals. Green in school history. Monmouth then piloted the Knights to four NEC championships. fell to third-seeded UConn, 2-1, in a • Sacred Heart took home its fifth straight Brenda Weare Commissioner’s tightly-contested match. Cup, tying UMBC’s record for most consecutive Cup wins. The Pioneers • Monmouth senior defender RJ Allen was chosen as an NSCAA All-American also claimed a sixth straight Joan Martin Women’s Commissioner’s Cup. for the second straight season. He was a second team honoree in 2011, a Monmouth won the Men’s Cup for the 11th time in the last 15 years. year after taking home third team plaudits as a junior. Allen was subsequently • Two-time NCAA women’s bowling champion Fairleigh Dickinson nearly chosen fifth overall by Chivas USA in the MLS Supplemental Draft. added a third title to its trophy case the past April, coming up just short • Albany football ranked 23rd in the against Maryland-Eastern Shore in the national championship match. Seeded final FCS Coaches’ poll and finished 2011-12 NEC YEAR-IN-REVIEW second in the field, FDU was one of just out of the top-25 in the final the last four teams standing in the Sports Network poll. The Great tournament for the eighth time in Danes, who claimed the NEC’s the last ten years. automatic bid to the FCS playoffs, • Fairleigh Dickinson was joined engaged in a thrilling battle with in the NCAA Women’s Bowling Stony Brook in a first round NCAA Tournament field by Sacred Heart, matchup. The game went down to which won its second NEC cham- the final moments and with Albany pionship in the last three years. just three yards away from the game- It was the fifth appearance at winning score, the Seawolves inter- nationals for the Pioneers. In just its fourth year sponsoring the sport, the cepted a pass in the end zone and came away with a 31-28 victory. Duquesne, NEC featured an incredible nine teams ranked in the top-20 of the NTCA poll the NEC co-champion, also received votes in the final Sports Network poll. during the 2011-12 season. In addition to top-ranked FDU, Sacred Heart • Bryant running back Jordan Brown (Sports Network), Monmouth defensive (reached second), Kutztown (eighth), New Jersey City (10th), Adelphi (11th), back Jose Gumbs (Sports Network) and Duquesne safety Serge Kona (AP, Saint Francis (PA) (14th), Monmouth (16th), St. Francis (NY) (16th) and Saint Sports Network) were all named FCS All-Americans. Brown was also a final- Peter’s (20th) were also ranked. ist for the Walter Payton award, which recognizes the top FCS running back • NEC women’s bowling produced four NTCA All-Americans this past season. in the nation. Following the NFL Draft, Gumbs signed a free agent contract FDU’s Danielle McEwan was named the NTCA Division I Bowler of the Year with the New Orleans Saints. and picked up first team All-America honors for the second straight season. McEwan was joined on the All-America team by teammate Joely Carrillo, herself WWW.NORTHEASTCONFERENCE.ORG ATHLETIC ACHIEVEMENTS wins as well. Robert Morris, which won the NEC regular season crown with a perfect 5-0 record, knocked off #18 Ohio State, 9-7. Sacred Heart beat #15 Yale, 13-12, and the Mount beat #16 Delaware, 12-10. • Robert Morris senior Kiel Matisz was named a USILA third team All-American, marking the third straight year a Colonial has claimed All-America honors. • The Quinnipiac women’s cross country program maintained its dominance with a seventh straight Northeast Conference championship last fall. It marks the longest active title streak in the conference and is tied for the longest streak in league annals (Mount St. Mary’s women’s tennis, 1989-95). • With Brooklyn native Spike Lee leading the cheers, top-seeded LIU Brooklyn • Monmouth earned a sweep at the Northeast Conference outdoor track & field won its second straight NEC men’s basketball title with an 90-73 win over championships for the fourth straight year and sixth time in school history. Robert Morris before a sellout crowd at the WRAC and nationwide audience Joe Compagni has been at the helm of the program in each of these instances on ESPN2. The Blackbirds have now won a league-record 52 games over and with 25 NEC Coach of the Year awards to his credit, is the most honored the last two seasons and have posted a remarkable 32-4 record in NEC play coach in league history. As if that wasn’t enough, the Hawks also posted a over that span. LIU junior forward Julian Boyd was named NEC Player of the sweep at the 2012 NEC indoor track and field meet. Year. He was also tabbed an honorable mention AP All-American and earned 2011-12 NEC YEAR-IN-REVIEW a spot on the Lou Henson All-America team. • Chosen in the supplemental first round by the Boston Red Sox, Monmouth righthander Pat Light became the highest MLB Draft pick in league history. • The NEC sported three men’s basketball teams (LIU, Robert Morris and Light, with a fastball in the mid-90s, was taken with the 37th pick. He was also Wagner) with 25+ wins, and for the second time in league history sent tabbed to the Collegiate Baseball/Louisville Slugger All-America third team. three teams to the postseason. In second round NCAA Tournament play in Columbus, OH, LIU took on #1 seed Michigan State. Robert Morris won two • The CCSU men’s cross country team and the Saint Francis (PA) women’s road games in the CIT, beating Indiana State and Toledo, while Quinnipiac swimming and diving team both won their third consecutive NEC titles. faced Penn in the CBI. • LIU freshman golfer Cristina Felip shattered the NEC championship 54-hole • Playing on its home floor and before a coast-to-coast audience on ESPNU, record by eight strokes and topped the 2012 field by 11 strokes with a one- Sacred Heart won its third NEC women’s basketball championship in the last under 216 (73-70-72) at the conference meet in Daytona Beach, FL. seven years with a 58-48 triumph over Monmouth. The Pioneers have now • LIU Brooklyn senior Jessie posted at least 18 victories and won at least 12 NEC games in each of the last Gaines (triple jump), CCSU junior 11 seasons. Sacred Heart’s Callan Taylor was tabbed the NEC Player of the Year Aaron Radden (200 meters) and and was also named the NEC Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Sacred Heart senior Bertony • NEC women’s basketball reached all-time high with a conference RPI rank- Jean-Louis (60 meter hurdles) ing of 15. There were a host of marquee non-conference wins that played were all named USTFCCCA sec- a part in the league’s rise. LIU beat Oklahoma State to win the Reno-Tahoe ond team All-Americans for their Classic, and Quinnipiac downed Minnesota and Saint Mary’s to capture the performances at the NCAA Indoor St. Mary’s Thanksgiving Classic Track & Field Championships. • For the second straight year, three NEC women’s hoops teams went on to • Only one program - LIU Brook- compete in the postseason. Sacred Heart claimed a #13 seed and met up lyn softball - can lay claim to with Georgia Tech in first round NCAA action in Chapel Hill, NC. Quinnipiac being the winningest in the took on Temple in the WNIT and Robert Morris faced Manhattan in the WBI. history of the Northeast Confer- • In just its second year as a spon- ence. The 13 NEC championship sored NEC sport, men’s lacrosse trophies won by the Blackbirds began to make noise on the national are the most in the league in any scene. NEC tournament champion sport, the most recent coming Bryant entered the USILA Coaches’ in impressive fashion this past Poll at #19 in April and remained May.