May 23 2013

Mass. College Sports: News & Links From Across The Web

By Matt Noonan 

As the college sports season slowly winds down, there still remains some news to share, so below are a few links from across the web.

* Tufts University’s women’s lacrosse team will have a new coach next season as the athletic department announced on Wednesday the hiring of Courtney Farrell, who was the Associate Head Coach at SUNY Cortland. For more on the new coach — HOP HERE

* Williams College’s men’s and women’s tennis teams capped their seasons with a national championship. The men’s team claimed their first NCAA Division III crown since 2002, while the women’s team earned their sixth straight title.

* Stonehill College’s Dana Borges (Taunton, MA) and St. Michael’s Chris Moskal (Springfield, MA) are two of three male student-athletes that were selected as finalists for this year’s Northeast-10 Conference Man of the Year Award.

* MassLive.com has a piece on Westfield State baseball coach Ray Arra, who is “calling it quits after 50 years of coaching baseball.”

May 22 2013

Assumption’s Colabello Called Up By The Minnesota Twins

By Matt Noonan 

The Worcester Tornadoes may not be playing baseball this summer, but one of their former players, Chris Colabello, will have the chance to suit up for the Minnesota Twins this afternoon against Atlanta, according to multiple reports.

The Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported this morning that the Twins purchased Colabello’s contract from Triple-A Rochester, which will provide the former Assumption College star and Milford High graduate, a spot in Minnesota’s dugout.

Colabello spent seven seasons with the Tornadoes (Can-Am League) and hit .317 with 86 home runs before joining Double-A New Britain last season where he hit .284 with 19 home runs and 98 RBIs in 134 games.

The 29-year-old, who was currently playing for Rochester, was hitting .358 with 12 home runs, 17 doubles and 39 RBIs.

According to the Star Tribune, Colabello will replace Trevor Plouffe, who was placed on MLB’s new 7-day concussion disabled list.

May 21 2013

Mass. College Softball: Tufts Wins First NCAA Championship

(Postgame video courtesy of the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire’s YouTube channel)

By Matt Noonan 

The Tufts University softball team claimed its first NCAA Division III crown on Monday as the Jumbos rallied past SUNY Cortland for a 6-5 win at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire’s Gelein Field.

The Jumbos, who were making their fourth appearance in the NCAA Finals, won all four of its contests in the winners bracket to cap their season with a 46-3 mark.

“That was quite a battle,” Tufts coach Cheryl Milligan said after her team defeated the Red Dragons. “We had a little bit of nerves I think out there, but it was just fantastic to come out on top, so proud of these guys, proud of our seniors for how they carried us, it’s just unreal.”

Excluding their first national title, Tufts also won its second straight NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference) crown, eighth overall, and second consecutive NCAA Regional, fourth overall, according to the athletic department’s release.

Tufts became the first New England team to win the NCAA Softball Championship since Eastern Connecticut State University defeated The College of New Jersey in 1990.

The Jumbos softball team isn’t the only team to earn some hardware in the 2012-13 season as the field hockey team won its first national title in the fall.

For more on the Jumbos victory, here are some links from around the web, which we’ve provided below:

* Tufts University Jumbos athletic release

* Boston Globe recap

* NCAA.com’s feature/recap

* NCAA 2013 Division III Softball Bracket

* Tufts University Photography – Photos from the Championship

* Syracuse.com’s recap

* Salem News recap

May 20 2013

Nichols’ Widdison & Dyakiv Earn Academic Honors

By NoontimeSports.com 

Courtesy of the Nichols College sports information department, here’s this afternoon’s release about Emily Widdison and Anna Dyakiv that were each named to the 2012-13 Capital One District 1 NCAA Division III First Team:

DUDLEY, Mass. – Nichols College senior field hockey student-athlete Emily Widdison (Greenfield, Mass.) and junior women’s tennis student-athlete Anna Dyakiv (Amsterdam, N.Y.) have each been named to the 2012-13 Capital One Academic District 1 NCAA Division III First Team.

A member of the 2012 Longstreth/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division III All-America Third Team, Widdison led the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) in goals (24) and points (57) this past season, both of which are Nichols single-season records. In the process, she became the program’s all-time leader in goals (51) and points (134). Widdison – who was also named CCC co-Player of the Year as well as Senior Scholar Athlete of the Year – recorded nine games with at least three points and scored two-or-more goals in seven games – including three against Fitchburg State on Sept. 13.

Widdison graduated last week with a degree in accounting & finance. Last fall, she was named to the NFHCA Division III National Academic Squad for the fourth-consecutive season.

“I am thrilled to hear that Emily Widdison has earned a spot on the Academic All-District First Team,” said field hockey head coach Kristan Mallet. “Along with being a talent on the field, she was impressive in the classroom throughout her four years at Nichols College. I am proud of the person she has become and know that she will continue to strive for success. She has left Nichols College with broken records, has raised the bar for all athletes, and her legacy will remain.”

Dyakiv, meanwhile, was named CCC Player of the Year for the third time in 2012 while adding a third All-CCC First Team singles nod and an All-CCC Second Team doubles selection to her resume. Despite being sidelined with an injury for part of the year, Dyakiv went 4-0 in singles and 5-0 in doubles to help the Bison remain undefeated in conference play for the third-straight year. In the final week of the regular season, Dyakiv posted a 3-0 ledger in both singles and doubles play and teamed with senior Jillian McQuiggan (Weymouth, Mass.) to clinch a key match at Endicott. In three years, Dyakiv has amassed a 21-0 singles and a 22-0 doubles record in CCC regular season competition.

A double-major in sport management and international business, Dyakiv is an ITA Scholar Athlete who was avolunteer at UEFA EURO 2012 and has also worked as a translator for officials from Belarus at Fed Cup. She is also a member of Chi Alpha Sigma, Zeta Alpha Phi, and Delta Mu Delta.

May 20 2013

Mass. College Sports: Highlights And Notes From The Weekend

By Matt Noonan 

There were a variety of local teams competing this past weekend in baseball, softball and lacrosse NCAA tournaments, and below are a few highlights and notes.

* Endicott College’s run toward the NCAA Division III World Series ended with a 9-0 setback to Southern Maine on Sunday. The Gulls set a program record with 35 wins this season, as well as won their first Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) title since 2006.

* Endicott won three of their first New England Regional games against Saint Joseph’s (ME), Wheaton College and Southern Maine.

* Colin Sitarz and Tyler Hitchcock (Abington, MA) each represented Endicott on the All-Tournament team.

* Amherst College saw its season conclude, too, as the Lord Jeffs, who set a program record for wins, fell to Cortland in the New York Regional.

* Tufts University’s softball team will play for the Division III championship this afternoon against the winner of Cortland-Salisbury. The Jumbos haven’t lost a game in the championship bracket as they’ve defeated Texas-Tyler, Montclair State and Cortland. Tufts have only surrendered one run in all three contests, too.

* Finally, Westford’s David Lawson netted a game-best five goals, including the game-winner for Duke against Notre Dame in NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse tournament. Lawson now has 32 goals and 15 assists for the Blue Devils this season.

May 20 2013

Mass. College Hockey: BU’s Durocher Signs Contract Extension

By NoontimeSports.com 

Courtesy of the Boston University sports information department, here’s this afternoon’s release about women’s ice hockey head coach Brian Durocher, who signed a contract extension:

BOSTON - After guiding the Boston University women’s ice hockey team to its second trip to the national title game in the last three seasons, head coach Brian Durocher has signed a contract extension to remain at BU through the 2018-19 season, Assistant Vice President and Director of Athletics Mike Lynch announced Monday.

“I’m excited that Coach Durocher has agreed to lead our women’s ice hockey program for many more years to come,” Lynch said. “We knew we hired a terrific coach when he took over the program at its inception nine years ago, but he has exceeded every expectation and continues to elevate the program to new heights each year. It’s incredible how far this team has come in just eight seasons as a varsity program, and that is thanks to Brian’s exceptional leadership.”

Durocher has been at the helm of the women’s ice hockey program since its inaugural season in 2005-06. In eight seasons, Durocher has guided the Terriers to three Hockey East championships, four straight NCAA tournament appearances and two trips to the NCAA title game. He holds a record of 159-93-37 and has won 20 games in each of the last three seasons, including a program-record 28 victories this past season.

“I’d just like to thank Boston University, director of athletics Mike Lynch, his staff, Drew Marrochello and Nancy Lyons for the tremendous support they’ve given to our program and the opportunity for me to remain at a place I love and have a great appreciation for,” Durocher said.

Under Durocher, BU has become the premier program in Hockey East and is consistently among the top five teams in the nation. The Terriers, Hockey East regular-season champions for the second time in 2013, are the only team in Hockey East history to have played for a national championship, doing so in two of the last three seasons. BU has also finished in the top five of both national polls in each of the last three years.

The 2012-13 season was the best in program history, with Durocher guiding the team to a 28-6-3 record. The six losses were a program low and the team’s winning percentage was its highest ever (.797). Durocher garnered national attention, as he was named a finalist for the AHCA Division I Women’s Ice Hockey Coach of the Year award. BU bested six of the other nine teams in the final USCHO.com poll, winning eight games against top-10 opponents. The Terriers boasted four Hockey East All-Stars and two New England Division I All-Stars along with six different 15-goal scorers.

BU will return 18 letter winners from last season’s squad, including four skaters who scored at least 20 points in 2012-13. Starting goaltender Kerrin Sperry, the reigning Hockey East Tournament MVP, will be back between the pipes for her senior season after setting a new program record for career wins with 64. Louise Warren was named captain and classmate Kaleigh Fratkin will be an assistant captain while First-Team All-Star Shannon Doyle and All-Rookie honoree Sarah Lefort will each return.

May 17 2013

Mass. College Sports: Friday Scoreboard

By NoontimeSports.com 

Here are the results from today’s NCAA baseball and softball games.

New England Baseball Regional: 

* No. 4 Western New England 5, No. 6 St. Joseph’s (ME) 3

* No. 2 Wheaton College 3, No. 8 Daniel Webster 1

* No. 3 Endicott College 5, No. 1 Southern Maine 2

* No. 4 Western New England 8, No. 2 Wheaton College

Ithaca Regional: 

* No. 1 Ithaca College 3, No. 6 Amherst College 2

NCAA Division III Softball Championship: 

* Tufts University 6, Texas-Tyler 0

May 17 2013

Mass. College Baseball: Wheaton Defeats Daniel Webster, Remains In New England Regional

By NoontimeSports.com 

The Wheaton College baseball team kept their season alive with a victory against Daniel Webster this afternoon in the NCAA Division III New England Regional. Wheaton will attempt to extend its season to tomorrow when they return to the diamond later this evening against Western New England, who defeated St. Joseph’s (ME) earlier this morning.

Courtesy of the Wheaton athletic department, here’s the release from their win against the Eagles:

HARWICH, Mass. – Second-seeded Wheaton College, ranked no.15 overall in the latest D3baseball.comnational poll, eliminated eighth-seeded Daniel Webster from the NCAA Division III New England Regional double elimination tournament with a 3-1 triumph on Friday afternoon at Whitehouse Field in the first-ever meeting between both squads.

The Lyons (32-11) will play Western New England University in an elimination game later tonight at 8 p.m. The Eagles season comes to a close at 29-12 overall.

Junior right-hander Nick Filloramo (Rochester, Mass./Old Rochester Regional) improved to 6-3 overall on seven innings pitched, four hits, one run (earned), zero walks and five strikeouts on 89 pitches (68 strikes). Sophomore Mike Bisceglia (New Boston, N.H./Goffstown) hurled a scoreless eighth yielding just one hit and junior closer Ryan Grant (Easton, Mass./Avon Old Farms School) locked down his 12th save of the season on two strikeouts in the ninth. Grant surpassed Mike Spavento ’02 for the all-time career lead in saves as both relief pitchers were tied at 35 entering this afternoon’s contest.

Daniel Webster senior Syed Ali (Dracut, Mass./Dracut) was dealt the loss over seven innings, eight hits, three runs (all earned), three walks and two punchouts.

Wheaton opened up the scoring with two outs in the top of the third as senior Dan Gusovsky (Andover, Mass./Andover) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to take a 1-0 advantage. Gusovsky knocked in his team-leading 23rd two-out RBI of the season.

Senior Eric Jensen (Gorham, N.H./Gorham) reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second base and advanced to third on an infield single to third base from classmate Sean Ryan (Norton, Mass./Norton). After Ryan swiped second, sophomore Apolinar De la Cruz (Providence, R.I./Classical) worked a seven pitch walk to set up the scoring. Ali held the Lyons offense in check with a ground out to first to end the threat.

Freshman Matt Lavanchy (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) gave the Lyons a 2-0 lead in the fourth with a sacrifice bunt RBI in between the pitcher’s mound and home to plate senior Paul O’Neill (Framingham, Mass./Framingham)from third. O’Neill led off the frame with a single to center field and used his speed to advance from first to third on a base hit to center by senior Justin Connor (Arlington, Mass./Arlington).

In the sixth, Lavanchy hooked a run-producing double on the chalk of the right field line to push Wheaton ahead 3-0. Sophomore Justin Peluso (North Andover, Mass./Saint John’s Prep) scored from first base as Lavanchy’s hit bounced into the Lyons open bullpen down the line in foul territory. Peluso got the offense started in the inning with a leadoff single up the middle.

Daniel Webster answered in the bottom half on a sacrifice fly to right field off the bat of senior Elliot Kilgore (Milford, N.H./Milford), his 17th RBI of the season. Classmate Darrik Marstaller (Spofford, N.H./Keene) notched a single to right-center, stole his team-leading 17th base of the season and advanced to third on a ground out for the Eagles lone run.

Filloramo used a ground out to end the inning and three more in the seventh to erase a two-out double down the left field line from freshman Devin DeCarteret (Pelham, N.H./Pelham) to close out his outing. Bisceglia allowed a one-out single in the eighth, stranding a runner at second base with three ground outs. Grant retired the side in order in the ninth on a strikeout swinging, a 1-3 ground out and a strikeout looking for his 36th career save. Grant is also the all-time leader in games finished (69) in program history and third all-time in appearances (72) as a junior.

Lavanchy collected Wheaton’s only multi-hit game going 2-for-4 with two RBI. Lavanchy now has 18 multi-hit games this season. Jensen extended his hitting to nine games while De la Cruz pushed his to eight and Gusovsky moved his to seven as all three hitters had just one hit in the contest.

May 17 2013

Mass. College Sports: Friday’s Schedule

By NoontimeSports.com

A couple local squads will be competing in various NCAA tournaments this morning, afternoon and evening, and below are the times.

NCAA Division III New England Baseball Regional:

* No. 4 Western New England vs. No. 6 St. Joseph’s (ME), 9:30 a.m. — Elimination Game

* No. 2 Wheaton College vs. No. 8 Daniel Webster, 1 p.m. — Elimination Game

* No. 1 Southern Maine vs. No. 3 Endicott College, 4:30 p.m.

* St. Joe’s/WNE vs. Daniel Webster/Wheaton, 8 p.m. — Elimination Game

NCAA Division III Ithaca Regional:

* No. 1 Ithaca College vs. No. 6 Amherst College, 4:30 p.m.

NCAA Division III Softball Championship Tournament:

* Tufts University vs. Texas-Tyler @ Eau Claire, WI, 5 p.m.

May 16 2013

Mass. College Baseball: Endicott Tops Wheaton, 3-2 (10 Innings)

By NoontimeSports.com 

The second day of the NCAA Division III New England Regional concluded with an exciting late-inning contest as No. 3 Endicott College defeated No. 2 Wheaton College, 3-2, in 10 innings.

Below is the release courtesy of the Wheaton athletic department:

HARWICH, Mass. – Endicott College graduate student Colin Sitarz (West Hartford, Conn./Hall) laced an RBI single up the middle in the bottom of the tenth inning to lift the Gulls to a 3-2 walk-off victory over second-seeded Wheaton College, ranked no.15 overall in the latest D3baseball.com national poll, on day two of the NCAA Division III New England Regional double elimination tournament on Thursday night at Whitehouse Field.

The Lyons (31-11) will take on eighth-seeded Daniel Webster tomorrow at 1 p.m. in a winner-take-all game at Whitehouse Field. Third-seeded Endicott (34-12) plays first-seeded Southern Maine tomorrow at 4:30 p.m.

Gulls freshman reliever Mike Walkowicz (Amherst, Mass./Amherst) earned the win on one-and-two-thirds innings pitched, one hit and one walk. Endicott starter Mike Nich (Orange, Conn./Amity) picked up the no-decision over three innings of work, six hits and two runs (both earned).

Wheaton freshman Eric Dumas (Brookline, Mass./Brookline) suffered the loss over one inning of work, two hits, one run (earned), one walk and one strikeout. Junior Alec Palioca (Wrentham, Mass./King Philip Regional)was handed the no-decision on seven-and-two-thirds innings pitched, six hits, two runs (one earned), five walks and a career-high 11 strikeouts.

With one out in the bottom of the tenth, sophomore Harry Oringer (Dartmouth, Mass./Coyle Cassidy)notched an infield single to second base to jump start Endicott’s rally. Senior Brett Holmgren (Middleboro, Mass./Coyle Cassidy) worked a walk on five pitches seeing three-straight balls to start the plate appearance. Sitarz followed with the game-winning hit, ripping a single up the middle on a 1-1 pitch.

Walkowicz escaped a bases loaded, two out-jam with a ground out to second base in the top of the tenth inning to allow the Gulls a chance for the walk-off win.

Wheaton took a 1-0 advantage in the third as senior shortstop Eric Jensen (Gorham, N.H./Gorham) knocked in classmate Justin Connor (Arlington, Mass./Arlington) with a single through the right side of the infield. Sophomore Apolinar De la Cruz (Providence, R.I./Classical) made it 2-0 with a sac fly to left field, scoring Jensen.

Connor led off the inning with a double down the right field line and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt from freshman Matt Lavanchy (Walpole, Mass./Walpole). After Jensen singled Connor home, he proceeded to steal second base and advanced to third on a base knock to center field off the bat of senior Sean Ryan (Norton, Mass./Norton). De la Cruz followed and was robbed of an extra-base hit as Sitarz made a diving catch in the left field gap only allowing Wheaton to score one run on the sac fly.

Endicott evened the score at 2-2 in the bottom half of the inning on a fielding error and an RBI single to left field by Holmgren. Palioca escaped any further damage with the Gulls having base runners on first and second with his sixth strikeout at the time.

In the seventh, Wheaton nearly scored the go-ahead run with runners on second and third base, but De la Cruz was gunned down at home on an inning-ending double play (1-3-2).

Palioca stymied the Endicott offense in the next half inning recording his tenth career pickoff to head back into the dugout after freshman Cody Hall (Rutland, Mass./Wachusett Regional) singled with one out earlier in the frame. Palioca’s tenth career pickoff moved him into first place all-time in the category breaking a tie at the top of the list with teammate Frank Holbrook (Middletown, R.I./Portsmouth Abbey School).

Hall robbed the Lyons of another potential go-ahead run in the ninth making a diving catch on a liner from De la Cruz to turn a 6-4 inning-ending double play with runners at first and second.

Sophomore Mike Bisceglia (New Boston, N.H./Goffstown) and Dumas combined for three outs in the bottom half of the ninth to force extra innings. Bisceglia induced one fly out while Dumas registered a fly out to left and a ground out to third.

Wheaton falls to 12-5 overall against Endicott in the all-time series. The Gulls have won two-straight versus the Lyons claiming a 5-3 victory on April 24, 2012 in the last meeting. Wheaton is now 3-2 overall in extra innings in postseason play and 2-2 at Whitehouse Field.