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University of Massachusets Athletics
UMass Enjoys Another Special Year
 |  The hockey team celebrates its dramatic 5-4 overtime victory over Boston University. |
June 25, 2003
The University of Massachusetts had another stellar sports season. Highlighted below are the major accomplishments of each month.
September:
Soccer: The UMass men's and women's soccer programs received a new home when Rudd Field was officially dedicated for play on Sept. 8. The 120 x 75-yard sand-based natural turf playing surface features an electronic scoreboard and a message center. The field was built due to a $500,000 commitment from Jinny and Andrew Rudd, trustees of the Rudd Family Foundation and parents of women's soccer player Alexi Rudd.
October:
Football: The Minutemen won five straight games from Oct. 5-Nov. 2, defeating Richmond, 34-13, Maine, 20-10, Villanova, 17-16, James Madison, 14-7, and Delaware, 17-7.
Men's Soccer: Jeff Deren became UMass' all-time leading scorer when he tallied his 41st career goal in Massachusetts' 7-1 win over St. Bonaventure on Oct. 20.
November:
Football: In the last game of the season on Nov. 23 R.J. Cobbs rushed for 187 yards and tied a school record with five touchdowns in UMass' 48-21 win over Rhode Island. Cobbs finished the season with 1,067 yards, becoming just the third freshman in A-10 history to reach the 1,000-yard plateau in a single season. The Minutemen finished the season at 8-4 overall and 6-3 in the Atlantic 10.
Following the conclusion of the season Adrian Zullo was named the 2002 recipient of the Jerry Nason Award, presented by the New England Football Writers. The award is given to the senior football player in New England who has persevered against all odds to succeed in football.
Men's Soccer: After clinching the regular-season Atlantic 10 title and earning the top seed in the A-10 Tournament, several Minutemen received conference postseason accolades. Jeff Deren repeated as the Atlantic 10 Conference Offensive Player of the Year for the second year in a row while Head Coach Sam Koch was named the A-10 co-Coach of the Year. Deren, a first team All-Conference selection, was joined on the first team by Yuri Morales and Derek Rhodes. Morales tallied 27 points (9 g, 9 a) on the season and set a school record with 27 career assists. Rhodes earned a spot on the All-Conference team when he tallied nine points (2 g, 5 a) as a defenseman.
Field Hockey: The Minutewomen earned the second seed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament after posting a 4-2 conference record. UMass defeated the No. 3 seed, West Chester 2-1 in the semifinals of the tournament to earn a spot in the finals where it fell to Richmond, 4-1. In its second place effort, three Massachusetts student-athletes were named to the All-Tournament team as Patricia Borneo, Heather Kenney and Adrianne Monaco received the honors.
December:
Men's Basketball: UMass won three straight games spanning from Dec. 23-Jan.2, defeating Rider 76-54, Marshall 81-58 and No. 24 N.C. State, 68-56. The success resulted in conference honors for Jeff Viggiano, who was named the A-10 Rookie of the Week on Dec. 29 after averaging 15.0 ppg and 4.5 rpg in UMass' wins over Rider and Marshall.
Hockey: Chris Capraro scored the game winning goal 4:19 into the overtime session to lead UMass past No. 13 Boston University, 5-4, on Dec. 6.
Women's basketball: UMass knocked off Villanova, 55-50, on Dec. 11 at the Curry Hicks Cage. It marked the fifth straight win for UMass (8-1), giving the team its best start to a season since the 1968-69 squad began the year 9-0.
January: Football: Valdamar Brower, Jeremy Cain and Maikel Miret were named All-Americans by Don Hansen's National Weekly Football Gazette. Brower and Cain were both second-team selections while Miret was named to the third team.
Men's Basketball: Anthony Anderson was named the A-10 Player of the Week on Jan. 6 after scoring a career-high 25 points and tying a career-high with nine rebounds in the team's victory over No. 24 North Carolina State.
Hockey: The Minutemen earned their first win over No. 7 Boston College in the last eight meetings between the two teams when Chris Capraro scored the game-winning goal at the 15:45 mark of the third period to give UMass the 3-2 edge. The win, coupled with the Minutemen's 5-4 victory over Providence two days later, propeled the Minutemen into the national rankings for the first time in school history.
Men's Soccer: Jeff Deren was named to the College Soccer News All-America third team on Jan. 2. It marked the second straight season the senior earned All-America honors.
Hall of Fame: On Jan. 31 UMass inducted six new members into the Hall of Fame as former Assistant Sports Information Director Dick Bresciani, basketball's Doug Grutchfield and Jim McCoy, soccer's April Kader, swimming's Brian McIver and softball's Allyson Rioux all were honored.
February:
Men's Basketball: For the second time this season the Minutemen were able to win three straight games, downing Richmond 54-53, St. Bonaventure 82-76 and Duquesne 70-55.
Hockey: The Minutemen earned a school-record ninth Hockey East victory on Feb. 21 when they defeated No. 3 Maine, 4-2, in front of the eighth-largest crowd (5,084) in UMass hockey history.
Skiing: The UMass women's ski team captured first place while the men's team placed second at the USCSA Eastern Regional Championship Feb. 23-24. Beau Gibson won the giant slalom event for the Minutemen while Carolyn Lewenberg clinched first place in the slalom for the women's team.
Men's Swimming: Massachusetts claimed its third straight Atlantic 10 title on Feb. 23 when it came back on the final day of the three-day conference meet to defeat St. Bonaventure, 805-752.5. Several Minutemen earned individual accolades as Ryan Zaucha was named the Most Outstanding Performer of the Meet and the Most Outstanding Performer of the Year. Head Coach Russ Yarworth was also honored by the conference when he was named the Men's Coach of the Year. Zaucha, Justin Houck, Tommy Keane, Conner Townsend and Dylan Smith were also selected to the All-Conference team.
Women's Swimming: Kate Allery was named the Most Outstanding Diver of the Year by the A-10 after she won the one-meter dive and the 11 dive three-meter events. Her score of 468.60 in the 11 dive three-meter set a new UMass record. UMass Diving Coach Mandy Hixon was rewarded for her efforts with Allery at the A-10 meet when she was named the Women's Diving Coach of the Year.
Softball: Kelli Arnold was named the Louisville Slugger / National Fastpitch Coaches Association Player of the Week on Feb. 26. The sophomore pitcher earned the honor after she led UMass to a 3-0 record to clinch the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Ga.
March:
Hockey: UMass earned a trip to its first-ever Hockey East semifinals match-up at the FleetCenter when it swept No. 4 Maine in the first round of the conference tournament. Playing in Orono, Maine, the Minutemen tallied 5-3 and 4-2 wins to down the Black Bears in the best-of-three series. Thomas P?ck and Stephen Werner were named to the Hockey East All-Tournament team, the first Minutemen ever selected to the squad. P?ck led UMass in the playoffs with five points (1 g, 4 a) while Werner tallied four points (3 g, 1 a). UMass concluded the season with a 19-17-1 record, marking its first winning season since joining Hockey East in the 1994-95 season. Coach "Toot" Cahoon earned Hockey East and New England Coach of the Year, while P?ck earned second team All-Hockey East honors and Greg Mauldin was an honorable mention choice.
Women's Swimming & Diving: Kate Allery finished sixth in the three-meter dive and seventh in the one-meter dive at the NCAA Zone A Regionals on March 13-15.
Women's Basketball: Jen Butler was named the A-10 Defensive Player of the Year at the conference's annual championship banquet on March 5. She ended the season as the nation's leading rebounder with 14.4 boards a game and led the conference in steals with 2.41 spg. Butler was also third in the A-10 in scoring with 17.0 ppg and was fifth in blocks with 1.30 bpg.
Women's Skiing: The Minutewomen claimed the USCSA National Championship on March 7 in Truckee, Calif.
Softball: Elaine Sortino became the 13th Division I coach to reach the 800-win plateau when UMass swept a doubleheader with La Salle on March 28. The wins improved Sortino's record to 800-350-3.
April:
Men's Lacrosse: The Minutemen defeated two top 10 foes when they downed No. 3 Georgetown on April 19 and topped No. 7 Syracuse on April 26. The 11-8 victory over the Hoyas handed Georgetown its first loss of the season as Jeff Zywicki recorded four goals to lead UMass to the victory. The following week, Massachusetts continued with its winning ways as it edged past Syracuse 14-13 in overtime. Zywicki's goal at the 1:10 mark of the overtime session gave UMass its first victory over the Orangemen since the 1981, a span of 21 games.
Women's Tennis: Massachusetts advanced to the championship round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament as the fourth seed, where it fell to second-seeded Temple, 4-1, on April 19. The Minutewomen were rewarded for their postseason success when Judy Dixon was named the A-10 Coach of the Year and Stephanie Price and Jafra Depontes were selected to the All-Conference team on April 28.
Women's Basketball: Jen Butler became the first Minutewoman to ever be drafted by a WNBA franchise when the Cleveland Rockers selected her in the second round of the 2003 WNBA draft on April 25. Butler was the third selection of the second round and the 15th pick overall.
Crew: UMass claimed their eighth straight Atlantic 10 title on April 26 when they won four out of nine races to post 45 total points.
May:
Men's Lacrosse: After defeating Hofstra in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Richard F. Garber Field the Minutemen traveled to Syracuse, N.Y., to take on No. 3 Maryland in the quarterfinals, where they fell to the Terrapins, 13-7. Following the season's successes four Minutemen were tabbed All-Americans as Chris Fiore was the first UMass player to be named first team All-America since 1993. Kevin Leveille was a second team selection, Zywicki was a third team selection and Matt Garcia received honorable mention. UMass received other postseason accolades when Leveille was named the New England Player of the Year and Fiore was selected as the ECAC Player of the Year.
Men's Track & Field: The Minutemen captured third place at the A-10 Outdoor Track and Field Championships on May 3-4, led by two first-place finishes from Kwesi Frimpong-Boateng. The senior set new A-10 meet and UMass records in both the 100- and 200-meter dash on his way to winning the gold in both events. Frimpong-Boateng's achievements earned him the meet's Outstanding Track Performer honor. Frimpong-Boateng carried over his success to the New England Championships on May 9-10 and the IC4A championships on May 16-18 when he captured the 100-meter dash title at both meets.
Women's Lacrosse: As the No. 2 seed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament the Minutewomen defeated third-seeded Richmond, 12-11 in overtime in the semifinals of the conference tournament before falling to host school and top-seeded Temple, 15-9, in the championship game. After recording the most wins (11-8) since the 1983 squad finished 12-3-1, UMass earned a bid to the ECAC Tournament. Playing in the postseason tournament for the first time since 1998, the Minutewomen fell to No. 13 Cornell, 14-8, in Ithaca, N.Y.
Women's Track & Field: Brandy Green set a new meet record as well as a school record at the 2003 New England Outdoor Championships on May 11 when she cleared the 12'3-1/2" mark to win the pole vault title. Green also captured the pole vault title at the A-10 Outdoor Championships, helping her team secure a fifth place finish.
Softball: On May 10 Massachusetts claimed its ninth straight Atlantic 10 Softball Championship when it defeated Temple, 1-0. The win gave UMass several postseason accolades when Emily Robustelli was named the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player and Kaila Holtz, Anna Perey and Brandi Cross all joined her on the All-Tournament team. Prior to the start of the postseason tournament, six Minutewomen were honored by the A-10 as Robustelli was named the Player of the Year and Kaila Holtz was named the Pitcher of the Year, and Cross, Perey, Aisha Franke and KJ Kelley were all chosen to the All-Conference squad. The Minutewomen's win over Temple earned them an automatic bid to the NCAA Regional Tournament in Tuscaloosa, Ala. UMass was eliminated from the tournament on May 18th when it fell to Southern Illinois, 6-2, to earn its second loss. Massachusetts ended the season with a 39-15 overall record. UMass' postseason success resulted in more individual accolades as Robustelli was named a third team National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American on May 21 and Cross was named the Verizon Softball Academic All-American of the Year on May 29.
Baseball: The Minutemen advanced to the A-10 Championship series after downing Xavier in the Atlantic 10 Tournament in Norwich, Conn. Facing Richmond in the best two-out-of-three series in Richmond, Va., the Spiders defeated UMass in two games to end Massachusetts' season on May 24. The Minutemen received postseason accolades for their 26-19 season when Scott Ratliff was named to the first team All-Conference and Eric Chown was selected to the second team All-Conference. Following the Championship series, Chown, Frank Curreri and Matt Reynolds were named to the 2003 All-Atlantic 10 Championship team. Prior to conference postseason play, freshman pitcher Matt Torra received both A-10 and national honors when he was named the National Pitcher of the Week and the Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week after he threw two nine-inning complete games against Temple and St. Bonaventure on April 28 and May 4, respectively.