The 2009-2010 academic year marked what was perhaps the “year of new heights” for at least three Franklin Pierce athletic franchises that exceeding their prior franchise win totals.
The women’s basketball team had another strong year with only one regular season loss and an overall record of 32-2 (21-1 Northeast-10) that carried the team into the NCAA Division II Final Four. Before their 2009-2010 campaign, the team’s record for wins was 29-6 (18-4 NE-10) set in their previous season (2008-2009) when the team advanced to the NCAA Division II National Championship game.
2010 State Farm/WBCA Division II National Player of the Year senior Johanna Leedham led the team in scoring with 26.9 points per game that put her on pace to eventually break the NE-10 women’s basketball record for points in a single season. Leedham finished the season with 915 points that also helped her capture the record for most career points in NCAA Division II women’s basketball history with 3,050.
The men’s hockey team, whose first NCAA season came in 2002-03, was the first to do so by achieving a 7-15-2 overall regular season record (4-4-1 NE-10) when their season ended in February. Prior to this season, the team’s record for wins was 6-16-2 (1-4 NE-10) set in the 2004-2005 season and tied at 6-19 (1-4 NE-10) in their 2007-2008 campaign. Second year head coach Jaymie Harrington now also has more wins in a single season than any other head coach in the program’s history and maintains the highest NE-10 conference winning percentage than any of the previous head coaches with approximately a 0.422 (42.2%) career winning percentage in conference contests during the regular season.
Sophomore Anthony Chighisola, freshman Roscoe Sweeney, and senior Phil LaBreck who contributed 17, 12, and 11 goals respectively in the regular season led the team offensively. Time in net was split between sophomore Ben Siok and senior Jon Tuttle. Both goaltenders had under a 4.25 goals against average and had over .850 save percentages.
This spring, the men’s lacrosse team was able to tie their previous win total within their first three games in the season and eclipse their previous record by their fourth game. The team, whose varsity program began in 1998, set their regular season wins record this season with a 5-8 overall record (2-8 NE-10). Their previous regular season wins record was 3-12 (1-9 NE-10), set back in the 2004-2005 season and tied 3-11 (0-9 NE-10) in the 2007-2008 season. At 5-8, first year head coach Rick Senatore now holds the single highest winning percentage among FPU men’s lacrosse coaches at .385.
Freshman Brendan Cahill and junior Nate Wood led the Ravens offensively. Cahill had 37 points in the form of 23 goals and 14 assists while Wood netted 27 goals and 7 assists. Junior Shea Campbell primarily performed goaltending duties and posted an 11.2 goals against average, which is the best in program history, and a .531 save percentage.
Between the performances of these teams and those of the other 14 varsity teams, FPU athletics had a strong showing across the board and one can only imagine what these teams will bring to the table in the upcoming academic year.
Be the first to comment on this article!