May 31, 2007

STONY BROOK, N.Y. - Three UMass lacrosse seniors were selected in the 2007 Major League Lacrosse Draft held at Stony Brook University on Thursday evening. Brett Garber and Dan Whipple went to Boston with picks 38 and 48, respectively. Andrew Recchione was drafted by San Francisco with the 47th overall pick. Also of note, Brian Jacovina was not drafted. The two-way midfielder was invited to the Warrior Major League Lacrosse Challenge, but the night went by without his name being called.

Brett Garber, the grandson of UMass lacrosse legend Richard Garber, had a tremendous four-year career playing midfield. He finished his career with 90 points on 65 goals and 25 assists. He will be joining current UMass assistant coach Jake Coon, who is a goaltender with the Cannons. The assistant coach of Boston is Garber's father and former UMass head coach, Ted Garber.

Garber's senior season proved to be his breakout campaign as he recorded 32 points on 26 goals and six assists. He was named Honorable Mention All-American, Second-Team All ECAC Performer, and First Team All-New England. Garber scored an overtime goal over Penn State on March 31 to give the Minutemen a dramatic win. He also scored a hat trick on Senior Day in a 9-7 win over Syracuse. The win eliminated the Orange from the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 24 years.

Joining Garber in Boston is defensive midfielder Dan Whipple. The Longmeadow native was the leader of the Minutemen in 2007. The senior captain finished his career with 127 groundballs and 60 caused turnovers. He led the team with 52 groundballs as a senior and was third on the team with 13 caused turnovers. He was a Preseason Honorable Mention All-American, named Second-Team All ECAC, and Second Team All-New England. Whipple will have to adjust to playing defense in the MLL as there are no long-stick defensive midfielders due to only three long poles being allowed on the field at one time.

Andrew Recchione is headed across the country to play for the San Francisco Dragons. The midfielder had a breakout season as a junior, scoring 21 goals and dishing out two assists, helping lead UMass to the National Championship Game. The biggest goal of his career came in the first round of the NCAA Tournament when he scored the game-winner to send UMass to the Quarterfinals.

Recchione started slow as a senior, but turned it up at the end of the season. Over the last three games, he recorded a hat trick at Fairfield, a goal against Syracuse, and two tallies at Rutgers. He finished his senior season with 12 goals and five assists for 17 points.

UMass tied for the most players selected from the ECAC. In total, eight players were selected, two in the first round. Pat Heim of Penn State was selected first overall by the Chicago Machine and Fairfield midfielder Greg Downing went sixth to Los Angeles. In total there was one from Penn State, one from Fairfield, three from Loyola and three from UMass.

2007 Collegiate Draft Order Round 1
Round 1
1) Chicago - Pat Heim (M) Penn State
2) Boston (from Washington) - Kip Turner (G) Virginia
3) Rochester - Alex Smith (FO/M) Delaware
4) Denver (from Long Island) - Drew Westervelt (A) UMBC
5) Chicago (from New Jersey from Philadelphia from New Jersey) - Bill Looney (M) Navy
6) Los Angeles - Greg Downing (M) Fairfield
7) Rochester (from San Francisco) - Greg Rommel (M) Syracuse
8) Boston - David Mitchell (A) Cornell
9) Boston (from Denver) - Ray Megill (D) Maryland
10) Long Island (from Denver from Philadelphia) - Matt McMonagle (G) Cornell

Round 2
11) Chicago - Jordan Hall (M) Delaware
12) Los Angeles (from Washington) - Mitch Belisle (D) Cornell
13) Rochester - Andrew Spack (M) Loyola
14) Denver (from Long Island) - Zachary Jungers (D) Princeton
15) Chicago (from New Jersey) - Steve Whittenberg (D) Maryland
16) San Francisco (from Los Angeles) - Colin Hulme (D) Colgate
17) Los Angeles (from San Francisco) - Alex Buckley (M) Brown
18) San Francisco (from Boston) - Jake Byrne (A) Johns Hopkins
19) Rochester (from Denver) - Matt Dasinger (M) Salisbury
20) Chicago (from Philadelphia) - Dan Kallaugher (FO/M) Loyola

Round 3
21) Boston (from Washington from Chicago) - Drew Thompson (M) Virginia
22) Washington - Frank Resetarits (A) Albany
23) Rochester - Brian Clayton (M) Cornell
24) Chicago (from Long Island) - Steve Panarelli (D) Syracuse
25) New Jersey (from Chicago from New Jersey) - Chris Colliniates (FO/M) Villanova
26) Washington (from Los Angeles) - Ricky Smith (D) Virginia
27) Philadelphia (from San Francisco) - Peter Trombino (A) Princeton
28) Chicago (from Boston) - Dan Deckelbaum (M) Delaware
29) Denver - Scott Sowanick (M) Princeton
30) Philadelphia - Ian Dingman (A) Navy

Round 4
31) Long Island (from Chicago) - Adam Crystal (D) Drexel
32) Washington - John Henry Flood (FO/M) Harvard
33) Rochester - Joseph Thon (D) Mercyhurst
34) Long Island - Nick Bonacci (A) Dartmouth
35) New Jersey - Ryan Hotaling (A) Nazareth
36) Los Angeles - Julian Watts (M) Hofstra
37) San Francisco - Chris Heier (D) Salisbury
38) Boston - Brett Garber (M) UMass
39) Denver - Jesse Schwartzman (G) Johns Hopkins
40) Philadelphia - Mike Graham (D) Loyola

Round 5
41) Long Island (from Chicago) - Brian Hubschmann (A) Notre Dame
42) Washington - Luis Gonzalez (M) Salisbury
43) Rochester - Chad Amidon (M) Nazareth
44) Washington (from Long Island) - Eric Pittard (A) Cornell
45) Chicago (from New Jersey) - Harry Alford (G) Maryland
46) Los Angeles - Jim Borell (M) Maryland
47) San Francisco - Andrew Recchione (M) UMass
48) Boston - Dan Whipple (D) UMass
49) Denver - Peter Hein (M) Vermont
50) Philadelphia - Mike Fillipone (M) Drexel