Stevens Institute of Technology Captain Andrew Misthos answered some questions for Skyd about his team, giving us an inside look of the 2nd team from the Metro East to qualify for DIII Nationals. They were able to snatch up one of the last bids in their region, after some DIII schools elected to go DI and others fizzed out on Sunday. Last year we saw Connecticut College come out of nowhere at Nationals and take second in Pool D – could Stevens be another surprise team at Nationals from the Metro East?
Stevens' program is fairly new, but they have a solid core of experienced upper classmen.
Notable Roster turnover, young team? Veteran team?
Andrew Misthos: We have not lost any significant players from our roster in the last two years. That being said, we have added a quite a few players over the last two years. Our starting lines are mostly juniors and seniors, with a couple of very talented freshmen making up the rest of the spots. We are a veteran team, but still won’t be losing too many players after this year.
Up and Coming players, guys on your team that are going to be making plays come the season
Andrew: We have a few players who have really started to shine, and will be the core of our team in a year or two.
Marques Brownlee – A freshman out of Columbia High School, has really made an impact this year. He has a great ultimate background and has a complete understanding of many nuances of the game. He has the ability to completely control a game.
Jon Lee – A sophomore from Portland Oregon, Jon Lee is a defensive powerhouse with seemingly endless amounts of energy. He has the ability to shut down just about any player on the opposing team.
Zack Smith – A promising freshman from New Jersey. Despite never playing ultimate before coming to tryouts, he has shown great promise. Zack has developed a good understanding of the game and his natural athletic ability allows him to make a difference on the field.
Andrew Misthos gets up to make a sick grab at High Tide this past spring.
Star Players, who would be your Callahan nominee? Who are the big playmakers and leaders?
Andrew: Earlier in the season, we were described by an opponent, not very kindly, as being “a team of studs and scrubs.” A couple of our studs stand out from the rest.
Our Callahan nominee would be Senior Captain Mason Compton. In his fourth year out of five, Mason is the head of our D-line. He can mark up against just about anyone on any team we have ever played, and then turn around a run the offense with great precision. He can contend with most people in the air, and his relentless defense forces at least 4 or 5 turnovers every game. He has great leadership characteristics, both in game and in practice, and plays with a level of sportsmanship that is second to none.
In addition, we have a couple of other key playmakers. Junior Chris Fairfield, a cutter on O-line, is good for at least 4-5 scores per game and Senior Zack Zaorski, a handler on O-line, can huck a backhand from just about anywhere.
Editor’s Note: Andrew was unwilling to talk about himself, but his consistency, experience, and ups make him key part of Stevens’ success. He’s also a three year captain, and created Stevens’ team from next-to-nothing when he entered college. It’s people like him who are moving this sport forward.
What tournaments are you planning on going to in the spring?
Andrew: A little late, but we played at Session 2 of High Tide, in the Open A division. Despite a roster that was missing a few key players due to prior obligations, we took third in that division.
Additionally, we went to the 17th Annual Layout Pigout, where we took second to Temple.
During the last weekend of the regular season, we played at Garden State Open II, where we went 6-1, only losing to Bowdoin on Universe Point in the Championship Final.
We are headed to the Metro NY DIII Conference Championship, April 14-15.
Editor’s Note: At Conferences, they fell to Princeton twice – who would take the D1 route – and at Regionals they beat Connecticut College for the 2nd bid.
Mason Compton rolls a curve around the mark.
Who are the big DIII teams and players to look out for, both in your region, and in the entire division?
Andrew: In our region, big time schools will be Princeton, RPI, Weslyan, and SUNY-Fredonia. We’ll have to see where teams decide to go (DI or DIII), but any way about it, the Region could be represented at Nationals by any number of different schools.
Note: Both Princeton and Weslyan elected to go the DI route.
Is this your first time competing DIII? If so, what made you change your mind from last year? If not, how did you do last year?
Andrew: Last year was our first year competing in Division III, and only our second time competing in the college series at all. We took third in the Metro East DIII Region, and are looking to improve on that for this year. For us, Division III is the obvious choice because we can’t quite match the depth of talent of the Division I schools in the area, such as UConn and Cornell.
Do you have anything else you want to publicize? I know it’s hard as a smaller school to get any press, but here’s your opportunity!
Andrew: Marques Brownlee, our star rookie, has a great Youtube channel, MKBHD. Refer any tech questions you have to him…Also, he invented a dance, ask him about it sometime.
Editor’s Note: Look out for me at Nationals, I’ll hit up Marques for the dance.
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