Russell Grabs 2nd Straight Male Athlete of the Year Honors

The 2012 - 2013 Frostburg State Athletics Banquet was held Monday evening at the Bobcat Arena.  Team awards were given out to Ryan Russell, Chris Jones, Pablo Torrano, and Scott Wasser, while Russell and the men's soccer team were honored by the athletic department.

 Senior Ryan Russell was awarded with his second straight Male Athlete of the Year honor by the FSU athletics department.  Russell has had a remarkable career here at FSU.  In only two seasons of play for the Bobcats he will finish 10^th all-time in goals with 30, and points with 73.  He is the two-time CAC Player of the Year; he earned ECAC South Offensive Player of the Year this season, and was a NSCAA All-South Atlantic 1^st team selection this year.  Ryan led the CAC in goals and points the past two seasons and helped guide the men’s soccer team to two straight CAC semi-final and ECAC tournament appearances.  Ryan was also selected as the team offensive MVP.

 Junior Chris Jones was selected as the team’s defensive MVP.  He was the leader of a backline that only had one regular season loss and allowed 1.28 goals per game.  He also recorded 4 goals and 1 assist from his center back position.  Chris was awarded for his hard work as an All-CAC 1st team member and a NSCAA All-South Atlantic 3^rd team recipient.

 Pablo Torrano was selected as this year’s Bobcat award winner.  The Bobcat award goes to the individual that has the work rate and attitude that exemplifies what a true FSU soccer player is all about.  Pablo was third on the team in goals despite missing the middle of the season with a separated shoulder.  He fought hard to get back on the pitch and played a significant role in the conference playoffs.

 Scott Wasser is the 2012-13 recipient of the Gilbert Gray Memorial Award.  The Gilbert Gray award goes to the player who puts his team first and has the desire for excellence in his intellectual and physical self. 

 The men’s soccer team was also the winner of the Comeback Team Performance at the banquet with our 5-4 OT thriller against Bethany College.   Down 4-1 on the road at Bethany the men’s soccer team came back to win the game 5-4 in overtime.  Going into the game FSU was without 4 starters including leading goal scorer Ryan Russell.  After leading the game 1-0 just five minutes into the match FSU would go on to surrender 4 consecutive goals.  With just under 18 minutes to go in the game the Bobcats would go on a tear and score 3 goals in under 10 minutes to tie the match and would score the game winner just 2 minutes into overtime for the sudden death victory.

Ryan Russell, Scott Wasser, Chris Jones, and Pablo Torrano

 



FSU Men's Soccer Team at Banquet
 

Bobcat Stadium Construction - Phase II

Exciting news concerning the construction going on a Bobcat Stadium.  Phase II has begun and will hopefully be complete by the early fall.

Phase 1 began last summer with the destruction of the old bleachers.  The newest set of bleachers on the home side were moved to the away side to make for a more appealing visitors section.  The rest of the home bleachers were destroyed and a new set of bleachers were constructed.

Phase II which is currently in progress is the completion of the home bleachers, which will include an additional 8 rows and individual seating in the center of the stands directly below the press box.  The new press box will be equipped with a handicap accessible elevator, the Presidents box, and new sports communications suite and brand new team rooms.  The team rooms will be a great addition for pre-game and half-time talks.

Phase III which is still a few years away will be the re-configuring of the track and an expansion of the playing surface which will give us a wider field of play.

More Post Season Honors

Ryan Russell

Two FSU soccer players earned additional honors for the 2012 season.

Senior Ryan Russell was selected as the ECAC South Region Offensive Player of the Year and NSCAA All-South Atlantic First Team.

The senior forward capped his final season as a Bobcat leading the conference with 14 goals and 11 assists for 39 points. Russell led the team with five game winning goals. In his short 2 year career, Russell has tallied 30 goals and 13 assists, with 11 game winners.

Russell is the first ECAC South Region Player of the Year in program history and helped the team to a 12-3-4 overall record and a 3-1-2 slate in the CAC.  Complete ECAC South All Star Selections

Chris Jones

Junior Chris Jones was named as a NSCAA All-South Atlantic Region Third Team Honoree. 

Jones was selected to the third team after helping Frostburg post a 1.30 goals against average. The Bobcat defense posted five shutouts of their 12 victories during the season. Jones also contributed on the offensive end this year as he posted four goals and was fourth on the team in points.

Russell and Jones along with four players from York college were the only represnetatives from the Capital Athletic Conference on the NSCAA All Region team.

http://www.nscaa.com/news/2012/12/2012-ncaa-division-iii-men-all-south-atlantic-region

Three Bobcats Earn All-CAC Honors

Ryan Russell

Frostburg State men's soccer standout Ryan Russell grabbed the league's highest honor as the Player of the Year for the second-straight season as the 2012 All-Capital Athletic Conference teams were released Thursday.
Russell, who was named the 2011 Capital Athletic Conference Player of the Year after leading the league in points (34) and goals (16), earned the honor again this season after finishing first in the league in goals (14), points (39), and assists (11).

The senior forward from Waldorf, Md., is just the third player in conference history to earn the award in consecutive seasons, as Mary Washington's Tony Trepal won it in 1991 and 1992 while Jon Ports of York won in the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

Joining Russell on the All-CAC first-team are senior midfielder Shawn Baker and junior defender Chris Jones.  Baker joins the first team as a repeat selection from the 2011 All-CAC squad. Baker, a three-year starter for the Bobcats, was second in the conference in points with 21 and third in goals with eight.

Shawn Baker

The Baker and Russell connection posted the league's highest scoring numbers for a team duo combining for an impressive 50 points on the year. The tandem also combined to notch eight game winning goals this season.

Jones was selected to the first team after helping Frostburg post a 1.30 goals against average. The Bobcat defense posted five shutouts of their 12 victories during the season. Jones also contributed on the offensive end this year as he posted four goals and was fourth on the team in points.

Chris Jones

York (Pa.), Mary Washington and Salisbury all joined Frostburg with having three members named to the first team. York took home the Rookie of the Year with freshman defender Matty Martinez while Mary Washington's Jason Kilby was named the 2012 Coach of the Year.


http://www.cacsports.com/sports/msoc/2012-13/releases/2012_All_CAC_MSoc.pdf

FSU Downed by Marywood

Our season came to an end last Wednesday night as we lost to Marywood College 4-1 in the first round of the ECAC Tournament.

Going into the game I wasn't sure how the boys would respond coming off the heartbreaking loss to York. I was hoping we could put the loss behind us and focus on Marywood, but we just came out very flat and didn’t look like the team that gave it everything they had in the CAC semi-finals. We were controlling the ball fairly well in the beginning of the game, but we just never had that look in our eyes and after Marywood scored on their first shot of the game in the 17th minute we knew it was not going to be our night. Marywood would score again towards to end of the half and we would have to try and dig out of a 2-0 hole.

We made a few substitutions at the half to try and instill some life into the boys, but it was more of the same in the second period. With just seven minutes gone Marywood would score two more goals. One on a bad give away off a back pass to the keeper and then a penalty kick one minute later. We finally showed some signs of life after the goals, but it was too little too late. Shawn Baker would get one back for us in the 62^nd minute, but that would be our only tally of the game.

It was not the way we wanted the season to end, but the boys had put so much into the York game that there just wasn't much left for the ECAC's. The disappointment of not advancing to the CAC title game was still weighing on them and their hearts and heads were just not where they needed to be to compete in the ECAC’s. It's a disappointing way to wrap things up, but I am very proud of this team and the season they had. We didn't reach our goal of advancing to the CAC Championship, but we made some great strides towards being a nationally and regionally competitive team and a team that should always be in the talk come CAC playoff time. 

Our season concludes with a 12-3-4 record and ranked #5 by the NSCAA in the South Atlantic Region.

Bobcats Awarded #2 Seed in ECAC South Tournament

After finishing the regular-season with a 12-1-4 record FSU was selected as the No. 2 seed in the 2012 ECAC Division III Men’s South Soccer Championship.  The tournament is an eight-team field with quarterfinal, semifinal and championship rounds.  Former AMCC rival was selected as the No. 1 seed for the tournament.  Frostburg finished the season 12-2-4 after their CAC semi-final loss and ranked 4th in the South Atlantic Region.

In the first-round contests on Wednesday, November 5^th, Penn State Behrend (16-3-0) will host La Roche College at 1:30 p.m. while the second seed Frostburg State (12-2-4) will host No. 7 Marywood University (10-6-3) at 6:00 p.m. in Maryland.  No. 3 Lebanon Valley College (13-5-2) plays Neumann University at 2:00 PM. at Lebanon Valley and Penn State Abington (12-4-0) will take on Alvernia University (11-7-3) at 7:30 p.m. in the No. 4/No. 5 match-up at Alvernia.

The first-round winners will advance to the semifinals on Saturday, November 10^th at the site of the highest remaining seed.  The winner of Penn State Behrend/La Roche will face the winner of Penn State Abington/Alvernia in one semifinal, and the winner of Frostburg State/Marywood will play the winner of Lebanon Valley/Neumann in the other semifinal.  The semifinal winners will play Sunday, November 11^th for the championship.

2012 ECAC Division III South Men’s Soccer Championship

First Round – Wednesday, November 5^th

No. 8 La Roche College (8-8-0) at No. 1 Penn State Behrend (16-3-0), 1:30 p.m.

No. 7 Marywood University (12-6-3) at No. 2 Frostburg State Univ. (12-2-4), 6:00 p.m.

No. 6 Neumann University (12-8) at No. 3 Lebanon Valley College (13-5-2), 2:00 p.m.

No. 4 Penn State Abington (12-4-0) at No. 5 Alvernia University (11-7-3), 7:30 p.m.

Semifinals – Saturday November 10^th at highest remaining seed

PSU Behrend/La Roche winner vs. PSU Abington/Alvernia winner, 11:00 a.m.

Frostburg State/Marywood winner vs. Lebanon Valley/Neumann winner, 1:30 p.m.

Championship – Sunday, November 11^th

Two Semifinal Winners, 1:00 p.m.

Bobcats Eliminated from Playoffs

Thursday night saw our hopes of competing for the CAC Championship come to an end. In a wild semi-final match-up against York College we lost 4-3 in double overtime.

The game started out with some very physical play as Ryan Russell was taken down the first five times he touched the ball. York would pick up 3 yellow cards on 3 successive fouls on Russell. Michael Cronauer scored what we thought was the first goal of the game when he headed in a short corner from Russell. To everyone except the official and the linesman it looked like the ball had crossed the line and had hit the back part of the net before the goalie was able to reach back and throw the ball back out of the goal. The game tape would show what we had initially thought and that the ball had crossed the line, but unfortunately we would have to live with the referee's decision and try and get our heads back into the game.

We would fall behind 2-0 before Chris Jones would re-direct a free kick past the York keeper with just minutes remaining in the half. York would open up a 3-1 lead, but after Pablo Torrano was thrown to the ground during a fight for the ball on a free kick, a penalty kick was awarded. Shawn Baker would step up an convert his 4th penalty kick of the season. With under a minute to go we were awarded another free kick and with everyone pushed forward including the goalkeeper, Pablo Torrano found a way to get his head on it and directed it into the side of the goal for a dramatic come from behind last second tie.

The referee once again was unsure of the goal and would have to ask the linesman for help again, but this time the goal was awarded. York would score the heartbreaking game winner three minutes into the second overtime. The heart and resiliency that the boys showed in coming back in a game of this nature goes a long way towards describing the character of this team. I was very proud of the way that they kept fighting and never quit despite being down or feeling like the referee was against them.

We will now have to wait and see where we get seeded for the ECAC Tournament as we do not expect to receive an at-large-bid to the NCAA Tournament.