Opening Round Matchups for this weekend’s America East Championship:
No. 4 Boston University Terriers (4-13, 2-3) vs. No. 5 Hartford Hawks (0-15, 0-4)
One word immediately comes to mind when thinking about this matchup: “ouch.” Both teams have struggled mightily on the courts and one has to believe that top seed Binghamton University is salivating at the thought of facing the winner of this match in the semifinals. Here’s the tale of the tape on this opening round contest:
Head coach:
Terriers — Tim Lipsky, first year
Hawks — Michael Raymond, second year
Impact Players:
Terriers — Jeff Chudacoff (sophomore), Charles Weinstein (junior) and Giulb Gallarotti (senior)
Hawks — Fillip Miletic (freshman), Emmett Drake (senior) and Artur Muller (junior)
Impact doubles team:
Terriers — Chudacoff/Weinstein
Hawks — Muller/William White
2007 Tournament result:
Terriers — Finished fourth (Lost to SBU 4-0, Lost to Binghamton 4-1)
Hawks — Finished fifth (Lost to Binghamton 4-0)
The Positive:
Terriers – Shutout Hartford twice this season
Hawks — Dismal record could cause teams to take them too lightly
The Negative:
Terriers — Were shutout six times this season and had zero quality wins
Hawks — No wins in 15 tries and have only won six points all season. Miletic is the only Hawk to win more than once.
Momentum:
Terriers — Nine consecutive losses heading into the conference tournament is never good for a team’s psyche
Hawks — Talk about losing your way into the playoffs: Hartford is 0 for 15 this season and have not won a match in over a year
The Verdict:
Boston will take care of Hartford in sweeping fashion for the third time this season. Weinstein played his freshman season for Binghamton and no doubt would enjoy facing them in the semis.
First Round Match:
No. 2 UMBC Retrievers (15-6, 2-0) vs. No. 3 Stony Brook Seawolves (9-6, 2-1)
You can’t ask for a much more compelling matchup as this one features the last two America East champions squaring off against one another. Stony Brook, with a young lineup, has been steady all season while the veteran Retriever lineup has been great all year long. Here’s how it breaks down:
Head coach:
Retrievers — Keith Puryear
Seawolves — Gary Glassman, ninth season
Impact players:
Retrievers — Chris Meyer (sophomore), Nick Savage-Pollock (junior), David Jackson (senior) and Fredi Voorman (sophomore)
Seawolves — Artem Baradach (freshman), Alex Markovich (sophomore), Youssef Fassi-Fehri (junior) Ivan Rummel (freshman)
Impact doubles team:
Retrievers — Jackson/ Irfan Shamasdin
Seawolves — Baradach/Markovich
2007 Championship:
Retrievers — Champions (Def. Binghamton 4-2, Def. Stony Brook 4-1, lost to Duke 4-0 in NCAA tournament)
Seawolves — Finished second (Def. Boston 4-0, lost to UMBC 4-1)
The Positive:
Retrievers — Defending conference champions have shutout four opponents and have six more wins than Stony Brook, a team they defeated earlier this season
Seawolves — Have four shutout victories this season, a coach with a winning reputation, and won the tournament in 2006
The Negative:
Retrievers — Lost to two programs that Binghamton defeated this season
Seawolves — Lost to UMBC earlier this season, had very few “big” wins this season
Momentum:
Retrievers — The reigning champions finished the season on a hot streak, winning their last seven matches and have lost only twice since February 24
Seawolves — Stony Brook has appeared in a whopping six consecutive conference championship games but have lost five of them
The Verdict:
UMBC is red hot right now and have the confidence of defeating the Seawolves last season for the title and will win a battle 4-3, ending Stony Brook’s streak of reaching the finals