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Merrimack Pregame Release & Notes Tickets: |
| The Game: Stonehill College travels to Merrimack College for the No. 3 versus No. 4 matchup as part of Northeast-10 Conference Championship Weekend. The Skyhawks look to close out their season on a winning note after dropping a 28-14 setback at first place Assumption last Saturday, while the Warriors have won four straight after a 21-14 decision at Southern Connecticut State University last weekend. Media Info: Live video of this afternoon's game is available free of charge via merrimackathletics.tv with Greg Kadetsky calling the action. Links to the webcast, as well as live stats will also be available via stonehillskyhawks.com. 
He's Honored: Senior wide receiver Gordon McLeod (Weymouth, Mass.) earned a spot on the Northeast-10 Conference's weekly honor roll on Monday. McLeod caught a career-high ten passes for a career-best 132 yards and a touchdown in Saturday's 28-14 setback at Assumption. His seven yard touchdown catch put the Skyhawks on the scoreboard in the third quarter.Championship Weekend History: Stonehill is 1-2 over the first three years the Northeast-10 has held its Championship Weekend, competing in the title match once in 2013. The Skyhawks posted their first Championship Weekend win with a 19-11 victory at Saint Anselm last season. Stonehill fell to American International 27-17 in the 2013 NE-10 Championship after losing to Southern Connecticut State at W.B. Mason Stadium 13-10 in 2012. 
#VoteChiocco: Fans can vote for senior defensive lineman Nick Chiocco (Mansfield, Mass.) for Allstate AFCA Good Works Team Captain through November 25 by going to espn.com/allstate. Fans can vote once per day per device for Chiocco, the first Stonehill football student-athlete named to the Good Works Team®. He is one of 11 out of the 22 honorees recognized from NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), Division II, Division III and NAIA out of a record 197 nominees from across all levels of college football. He was the lone Northeast-10 Conference student-athlete nominated and one of just three NCAA Division II student-athletes to earn a spot on the Good Works Team®.Reading More Than the Playbook: Senior safety Anthony Masucci (East Haven, Conn.) has earned a spot on the CoSIDA Academic All-Super Region 1 first team, as selected by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) members from the region for the second straight year. Masucci, who has earned a 3.59 cumulative grade point average as a finance major at the College, is the first two-time first team Academic All-District selection and the third two-time Academic All-District honoree in program history overall, joining Kevin Bonnett '09 and Sean Donahue '08. Masucci, an NE-10 Academic All-Conference selection last season as well, was among a program-record three Academic All-District honorees last season, along with junior tight end Colin Smith (Ipswich, Mass.), who did not qualify this season due to missing games to injury. Masucci is now eligible to be selected to the Academic All-America team by CoSIDA's Academic All-America committee. November Reign: Since head coach Robert Talley took over the program in 2007, Stonehill is 12-6 in the month of November heading into this weekend's matchup with Merrimack. The five losses are to Assumption last weekend, American International in the final game of 2007, as well as the 2013 NE-10 Championship, at Bentley to close out the 2010 season, against Southern Connecticut State in 2012 on NE-10 Championship Weekend and to Assumption at home last season. DE-FENCE!: The Stonehill defense ranks ranks second in the NE-10 (10th nationally) for total defense (286.7 yds allowed per game), leading the NE-10 (12th nationally) for passing defense (158.0 yds/gm) and ranking fourth for rushing defense (128.7 yds/gm) and scoring defense (21.6 ppg), ranking 37th nationally for the latter. Stonehill boasted the top ranked defense in the Northeast-10 in 2014, ranking No. 6 nationally. The Rest of the Story: Stonehill ranks fourth in the NE-10 for scoring defense, allowing just 21.6 points per game. However, of the 216 points the Skyhawks opponents have scored this season, seven came off a kickoff return, 14 off a blocked punt for a touchdown, six on a one yard run after a goal line fumble by the offense, seven on a touchdown off an interception to the Skyhawks six and seven off a fumble return for score. Opponents have scored just 154 points off offensive drives through ten games - an average of just 15.4 points per game. Three and Out: Stonehill leads the Northeast-10 and ranks eighth nationally in Division II for first down defense, yielding just 14.5 first downs per game this season (145 total). The Skyhawks rank second in the NE-10 (26th nationally) for third down percentage defense, limiting opponents to 31.7-percent (44-for-139) conversions on third down. Mr. 2,000: Sophomore quarterback Matt Foltz (Mount Joy, Pa.) became just the second quarterback in program history to surpass 2,000 passing yards in a season last weekend against Assumption. Foltz joined Logan Meyer '14 who passed for a program-record 2,266 yards in 2013 and 2,215 yards in 2012. Foltz ranks third among NE-10 leaders with 2,009 yards this season, ranking 24th nationally with 200.9 yards per game. Magic Number: Stonehill is 6-0 this season when scoring 20-plus points, improving to 43-14 in Head Coach Robert Talley's nine seasons when hitting that point total. Markus Moves On Up: Senior running back Colin Markus (Monroe, Conn.) has moved into third place on Stonehill's career rushing list with 2,316 yards in 37 career games played. His season-high 172 yards against Saint Anselm moved him past Mike McSharry '98 (2,102) and Mike McLucas '95 (2,160) on the Skyhawks all-time list. Markus also ranks fourth all-time for career attempts (456) and rushing touchdowns (16). Let Them Play: Stonehill converted on an impressive 10-of-13 third down opportunities against Saint Anselm in week nine and now leads the NE-10 on third downs, converting at 43.1-percent (62-for-144) for the season. |