Thursday, March 8, 2012 (Newton, Massachusetts) - The Mount Ida College men’s lacrosse team has topped the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) pre-season poll to start the 2012 spring season with a total of 51 first place votes heading into Head Coach Andrew Fink’s 10th season at the reigns of the program.
Fink and the Mustangs captured their first GNAC championship title in the inaugural season joining the league against neighboring rival Lasell College winning 9-6 back on April 28, 2011 at Mount Ida in dramatic fashion. Fink would also be named the GNAC’s Coach-of-the-Year after an outstanding finish to the year.
Mount Ida also harnessed two Player’s-of-the-Year at season’s end. Graduate attacker Matthew Savage (Peabody, MA/Peabody) was named Offensive Player-of-the-Year while senior netminder Jimmy McAllister (Smithfield, RI/LaSalle Academy) was selected as Defensive Player-of-the-Year. Both players were also honored with GNAC first team All-Conference recognition.
In 17 games played last season, Savage scored 34 goals and dished out 11 assists good for 45 total points leading the Mustangs in scoring for the year. Savage finished 2011 ranked sixth overall in goals per game (1.93) in the GNAC good for a .400 shooting percentage Savage was the key offensive component to Mount Ida’s success this season. Out of the 17 contest’s he played in 11 of them were double digit goal performances. Savage ended his Mount Ida career with 203 total points and became the fifth member to join the 200 point club.
McAllister, who was fifth overall nationally in save percentage (.649) and ranked 12th in the nation for saves per game (14.17), was honored with a first team all-conference selection as well as a GNAC all-tournament team selection. McAllister was impressive in the 14 contests he saw between the pipes with three 20 plus save games including two with 25 or more coming against non-conference Western Connecticut State University (25) and in a 7-6 GNAC regular season victory over visiting rival Lasell College for a career high 26 stops. McAllister went 4-0 in GNAC conference play and was a key part in the 2011 championship run.
Four other Mount Ida men’s lacrosse players were honored with All-Conference recognition including senior captain Carl Grimo (Bristol, RI/LaSalle Academy) and junior’s Nick Yacuzzi (Worcester, MA/St. John’s-Shrewbury) and Nick Maurais (Peabody, MA/Peabody).
The Mount Ida College women’s lacrosse team, under the direction of fourth year Head Coach Peri Steere, was selected to finish third in the GNAC pre-season poll. The Mustangs compiled a 9-9 overall finish and a league slate of 4-4 in 2011.
Steere and the Mustangs captured a quarterfinal victory winning 9-8 against Simmons College back on April 7, 2011 for their second consecutive season to make the league post-season tournament since their inception as a varsity program in 2009.
Four Mustangs were honored with All-Conference honors for the women’s lacrosse program led by senior captain Jeileen Rivera (Springfield, MA/Springfield Central) as a first team defender. Rivera was impressive all year and it showed statistically leading the team in caused turnovers (70) which was good for second nationally. She was impressive in the ground ball game scooping up 91 for the year also landing her seventh in the country in the category. She was number one overall in both caused turnovers and groundballs throughout the GNAC statistics.
GNAC MEN'S LACROSSE PRE-SEASON POLL HERE
GNAC WOMEN'S LACROSSE PRE-SEASON POLL HERE