New Haven, Conn. – With another successful winter athletic slate in the books at Albertus Magnus College, the spring season is set to begin in early March. With longer days of sunlight and warmer temperatures on the horizon, the baseball, softball, men’s lacrosse, women’s lacrosse and men’s tennis teams are anxiously awaiting their upcoming seasons.
“As the season changes, so does our focus,” Albertus Magnus College Director of Athletics Jim Abromaitis said. “Our student-athletes have been working hard to get ready for what will be an exciting spring. Having all of our teams play their games on campus or at nearby Rochford Field will, for the first spring ever, give all of our teams true ‘home’ contests.”
Baseball
Albertus Magnus is coming off an 11-21 campaign in which the squad advanced to their fifth straight GNAC Tournament as the No. 6 seed thanks to a 4-10 mark in league play. This season, the squad will look to a strong core of returners and some new talent at the dish and on the bump to move up in the GNAC standings.
This spring, AMC will look to bevy of newcomers on the mound to set the tempo. A pair of Division II tansfers in junior righty Michael Terzi and southpaw Adam Olszyk have performed well in preseason workouts. Freshmen pitchers Malachi Emond and Derwin Nunez will look to shine during their first collegiate campaigns.
Behind the plate, the duo of seniors Ted Gravel and Mike Saia bring experience and leadership to help the young pitching staff.
Offensively, All-GNAC honorees Tyler Robertson and Justin Poirer will look to pace the Falcon attack. Robertson hit .314 last spring and knocked four doubles to go along with 17 RBIs, while Poirer led the squad in hits (35), batting average (.354), doubles (10), stolen bases (6) and ranked second in RBIs (18).
Albertus Magnus was picked to finish sixth in the 2016 GNAC Preseason poll voted on by the league’s head coaches. The Falcons earned 22 points to finish two points ahead of seventh-place Norwich and 10 back of fifth-place Rivier.
"We have an extremely young team with 19 new players to the program this year,” Head Coach Brian Leighton said. “Fortunately we have some key returners that will provide a good mix of talent, experience, and leadership for those newcomers. This team's success will be determined by how quickly we can mature and develop those newcomers within our system."
Softball
Albertus Magnus is coming off the best season in program history, finishing 2015 with a 27-15 overall record and a 16-5 mark in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action. The 27 wins marked a new program high as the squad finished as the runner up at both the GNAC Tournament and the ECAC Tournament.
With plenty of returning experience and firepower, including the GNAC Rookie and Player of the Year, the Falcons will look to once again advance deep into post-season play this year.
In the circle, AMC returns its top-two pitchers from a year ago and the team has added arms in freshmen Shayla Gladden and Kristen Cunning. In 2015, Samantha Maselli went 16-5 with a 2.81 ERA and 74 strikeouts in 132 innings of work. Megan Ferraro went 10-5 with a pair of saves during her freshman campaign, registering a 3.10 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 97 innings.
Offensively, the top-three hitters are returning for the Falcons as well. Reigning GNAC Rookie and Player of the Year Gillian Fortier, senior outfielder Alyssa Puccilli and sophomore Melissa Castillo all hit over .325 last season and will look to duplicate their success. Fortier led the team in batting average (.464), on-base percentage (.500), slugging percentage (.696), home runs (5), doubles (11), triples (3), hits (64) and RBIs (32) last spring.
Albertus Magnus was picked to finish second in the 2016 GNAC Preseason poll voted on by the league’s head coaches. The Falcons received two first-place votes to earn 127 points and finish five points behind first-place and defending GNAC Champion Johnson & Wales.
“Of course we want to be better than we were last year, which will be hard to duplicate,” Head Coach Ed Emielita stated. “If we play quality defense and have quality pitching, then we will be a competitive team.”
Men’s Lacrosse
Entering just its third varsity season, Albertus Magnus is coming off a 3-11 campaign that featured victories against Mitchell, Anna Maria and Lyndon State. The triumph against the AMCATS was the third conference win in team history.
This season, the squad will look to a strong core of returners and some new talent to move up in the GNAC standings.
Between the pipes, sophomore Jack Kerner and freshman John Brunetti will anchor the Falcons backline. Last year, Kerner recorded all three of the team’s wins and registered 243 saves to go along with a .563 save percentage in over 800 minutes of action.
Three of the squad’s top-five point produces from 2015 are back this spring. Greg Buck is the top returning scorer, having potted 29 goals to go along with 14 assists for 43 points. Other threats to find the back of the net are Justin Bennet, Paul Mirmina and Adam Earl. Bennet netted 14 markers and dished out 11 helpers for 25 points, while Mirmina contributed 10 goals and five assists last season.
Albertus Magnus was picked to finish eighth in the 2016 GNAC Preseason poll voted on by the league’s head coaches. The Falcons earned 19 points to finish ahead of ninth-place Anna Maria and six points back of seventh-place Saint Joseph's Maine.
“The team is returning a veteran core who have been with the program since its inception,” Head Coach Darryl Delia noted. “Led by Seniors Adam Earl and Paul Dombrowski, Juniors Justin Bennet, Greg Buck and John Gravius the 2016 AMC season should be an exciting one.”
Women’s Lacrosse
Heading into the third season in program history, Albertus Magnus is coming off a 1-14 campaign in which the Falcons scored a 22-8 home victory against Bay Path. In the triumph, the 22 goals marked a new program record and their second straight win against the Wildcats.
This season, the squad will look to a strong core of returners and some new talent to move up in the GNAC standings.
The team returns three of its top-four scorers from last season led by sophomore Jenny Luna. During her first year on campus, Luna scored a team-high 24 goals and added four assists for 28 points. She also had 33 ground balls and 39 draw controls for the Falcons. The other top returner for AMC is senior Miranda Jassil. Last spring, Jassil netted 11 goals and added 10 caused turnovers.
Albertus Magnus was picked to finish tenth in the 2016 GNAC Preseason poll voted on by the league’s head coaches. The Falcons earned 10 points to finish eight points behind ninth-place Saint Joseph (Conn.).
“We are looking forward to the 2016 season,” Head Coach Joe Caruso said. “With the freshman class and first-year transfers that we've added to the roster, combined with the experienced returners, we are feeling confident about having a great season with such a young team.”
Men’s Tennis
Coming off the best season in program history, Albertus Magnus returns a strong contingent of student-athletes led by All-GNAC performer Peter Zacharias. Last spring, the Falcons finished 8-2 overall and went a perfect 5-0 at home. The team netted shutout victories against six different opponents, including Rutgers-Camden in league play. In 2016, the team will look to build on last year's successes.
AMC returns four of its top-six singles players from last season, led by Zacharias who went 7-3 on the year earned one win conference win competing at the No. 1 position. Other key returners in singles play are Mathew Mezzei and Daniel Constantinidi.
Two of the team’s top-three doubles tandems from 2015 return in 2016. At No. 1, Zacharias finished 6-3 with a pair of conference wins with his teammate. Constantinidi and partner Ahmed Abdulateef will look to build on their 7-1 mark a year ago. The duo won two GNAC matches at No. 3 and ended the year with a victory.
Albertus Magnus was picked to finish third in the South Division in the 2016 GNAC Preseason poll voted on by the league’s head coaches. The Falcons earned 12 points to finish in a third-place tie in the South Division with Rutgers-Camden. Albertus Magnus and the Raptors were both six points back of second-place Rutgers-Newark in the poll.
