(Center Valley, Pa. – April 24, 2012) Colgate junior Peter Baum was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year while freshman Ryan Walsh was named Rookie of the Year, announced by the League office on Tuesday. A total of five Raiders were named to All-Patriot League teams.

Baum is just the third Raider to be voted the Player of the Year, behind Brandon Corp ’09 and Derek Laub ’93. Corp garnered the award three times (2007-09), while Laub earned the accolade in 1993.

Baum was named to the all-Patriot League first team along with senior Jeff Ledwick and junior Robert Grabher, while Walsh and sophomore Bobby Lawrence were named to the second team.

Baum, who was named the Preseason Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, did not disappoint in his junior campaign with the Raiders as he currently leads the nation in scoring with 68 points on 51 goals and 17 assists, and goals per game with 3.92. Baum’s 68 points are tied with Laub for second all-time in a single season, while he is just the third Raider to amass 50 or more goals in a season.

Walsh is the fourth Raider to claim Rookie of the Year honors and the first since Andrew Jarolimek ’06 did in 2003. Walsh leads all Patriot League rookies with 46 points on 28 goals and 18 assists, placing him fourth in the League among all players. He also ranks second in the nation among rookies in scoring and broke the Colgate freshman record for most goals with 28, snapping Baum’s record of 27 that he set in 2010.

Ledwick earned first team honors after contributing 24 goals and 11 assists to the potent Colgate attack. The senior captain’s 35 points are a career-high and rank third on the most efficient offense in the nation.

Grabher is just the second Colgate faceoff specialist to be named to the first team and the first since Chris Eck ’08 did in 2008. Grabher has successfully won 178-of-298 faceoffs this season for a League-best 59.7 percent success rate. Grabher has collected a League-high 105 ground balls this season, tying for second on the League’s single-season list, placing him 13 shy of the record of 118 set by Lehigh’s Ryan Snyder a year ago.

Lawrence leads the Raiders with 22 caused turnovers and has one goal and three points with 35 ground balls heading into the Patriot League Tournament. Lawrence has started every game this season during his sophomore season and finds himself matching up with the opponent’s top offensive threat every game.

No. 10/11 Colgate will host the Patriot League Tournament this weekend at Andy Kerr Stadium.
2012 Men’s Lacrosse All-Patriot League Team and Major Awards

First Team
Attack – Peter Baum, Colgate, Jr.
Attack – Billy Eisenreich, Bucknell, Sr.
Attack – Garrett Thul, Army, Jr.
Midfield – Nick Gantsoudes, Bucknell, Sr.
Midfield – Roman Lao-Gosney, Lehigh, Sr.
Midfield – Jeff Ledwick, Colgate, Sr.
Midfield – Devin Lynch, Army, Sr.
Face-Off Specialist – Robert Grabher, Colgate, Jr.
Defensive Midfield Specialist – Tim Henderson, Army, Sr.
Defense – Mike Huffner, Bucknell, So.
Defense – Brendan Buckley, Army, Jr.
Defense – Ty Souders, Lehigh, So.
Goalkeeper – Matt Poillon, Lehigh, Fr.
Goalkeeper – Kyle Feeney, Bucknell, Jr.
Goalkeeper – RJ Wickham, Navy, Sr.

Second Team
Attack – David DiMaria, Lehigh, Jr.
Attack – Tucker Hull, Navy, So.
Attack – Ryan Walsh, Colgate, Fr.
Midfield – David Dickson, Bucknell, Fr.
Midfield – Cameron Lao-Gosney, Lehigh, Sr.
Face-Off Specialist – Derek Sipperly, Army, Sr.
Face-Off Specialist – Ryan Snyder, Lehigh, Jr.
Defensive Midfield Specialist – Pat Kiernan, Navy, So.
Defense – Mike Noone, Lehigh, Jr.
Defense – Bobby Lawrence, Colgate, So.
Defense – Lukas Mikelinich, Lehigh, So.

Offensive Player of the Year – Peter Baum, Colgate, Jr., A
Defensive Player of the Year – Tim Henderson, Army, Sr., LSM
Goalkeeper of the Year – Matt Poillon, Lehigh, Fr.
Rookie of the Year – Ryan Walsh, Colgate, Fr., A
Coach of the Year – Kevin Cassese, Lehigh

Pictured is Ryan Walsh

(Center Valley, Pa. – April 23, 2012) Colgate junior Peter Baum along with freshman Ryan Walsh earned Patriot League weekly awards following the Raiders win over then-No. 18 Bucknell on Friday. Baum was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week, while Walsh was named the Rookie of the Week.

Baum scored with two seconds left in regulation to help the Raiders overcome a five-goal deficit to beat Bucknell 11-10 on Friday night at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. With the win the Raiders became the Patriot League regular season champions and will host the League tournament this weekend. Baum finished the game four points on three goals and an assist to extend his scoring streak to 40-straight games, which is the fifth longest in the nation. Baum also became just the third Raider to score 50 or more goals in a season (51) and is tied with Derek Laub ’93 for second with all-time with 68 points in a season.

Walsh finished with three points on one goal and two assists against the Bison. Walsh scored his lone goal of the game with 6:42 left in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 9-9, snapping a 3-0 Bucknell run that put the Bison ahead by a goal. Walsh’s two assists were on the bookend goals of the Raiders’ 7-0 run that erased a 6-1 deficit and put the Raiders on top 8-6 in the fourth. Walsh leads all Patriot League rookies with 46 points, placing him fourth in the League among all players.

Colgate will host the Patriot League Tournament this weekend at Andy Kerr Stadium.

Pictured is Chelsea Burns

(Center Valley, Pa. – April 23, 2012) Colgate University senior Chelsea Burns along with freshman Alicia Minella earned Patriot League weekly awards following their performances over the weekend. Burns was named the Patriot League Female Track Athlete of the Week, while Minella was named the Female Rookie of the Week.

Burns recorded the second fastest time in school history in 5,000–meter run to lead the Raiders on Friday at the Larry Ellis Invitational. Burns, who two weeks earlier set a personal record in the 5K on the same track, shattered that mark with a time 16:37.57 to finish seventh overall in the elite race that featured some of the top runners in the nation. Her time ranks first in the Patriot League this season.

Minella finished first in the 200-meter dash at the Greyhound Invitational on Saturday with a personal-record time of 24.74, which ranks second in the Patriot League this season. She then won the title in the 400-meter dash with another personal-record time of 56.02, which is the fastest time recorded in the League this season.

The Raiders return to the track next when a select group competes at the Penn Relays on April 26-28 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pa.

Pictured is Tera Vaughn.

(Bethlehem, Pa. – April 21, 2012) Junior Emmie Dolfi drove in two runs and six other Raiders recorded a hit in the first game, but it wasn’t enough as the Colgate softball team fell to Lehigh 4-3 on Saturday at Kaufman Field. The Mountain Hawks took the second game 10-0 in five innings.

In the first game, Colgate (16-21, 9-5) took a 3-0 lead in the top of the fifth inning on four hits, including a two run single from Dolfi, but the Mountain Hawks answered back with four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning on a grand slam form Liz Lucas to take the lead. All three runs for the Raiders came with two outs, including an RBI single for Tera Vaughn to bring home Haley Fleming from second. Courtney O’Connell started for Colgate and threw six solid innings allowing four runs on six hits in the loss, while Vaughn and Jennifer Ortega recorded two hits apiece.

In the second game, Lehigh (32-16, 13-1) scored seven runs in the second inning and added three more in the third inning to complete the sweep 10-0. Emily Bausher started the game for the Mountain Hawks and pitched five innings allowing only one hit, while striking out eight. Eileen Ornousky was the lone Raider to record a hit when she singled to left field in the second inning.

Colgate will be back in action on Wednesday, April 25 to conclude the four game series at Lehigh. The first game is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. at Kaufman Field.