Tuesday, November 23, 2010

This Week in SMC Athletics

Winter sports celebrated five wins last week and the fall season officially came to a close, commencing with a strong showing by both cross country squads at the NCAA Regionals in Boston on Sunday.

Freshman Gabrielle Naranja (Fort Kent, Maine/Fort Kent Community) powered the Saint Michael’s women’s cross country team to a 13th-place finish out of 30 teams at Regionals. Naranja, the foundation of the team the entire season, paced the Purple Knights with a 16th-place finish in the 187 runner field, finishing the six-kilometer race in 23:41. Junior Caitlin Ferland (Vergennes, Vt./Bay Path) finished second for Saint Michael’s and 74th overall in 25:21. For the men, junior Matt Smith (Winchester, Mass./Muhlenberg) ran the 10-kilometer race in 34:10 to finish in 69th place. Sophomore Colin Delaney (Lake Placid, N.Y./National Sports Acad.) finished three seconds behind Smith for 70th place.

The men’s basketball team posted an 86-79 come-from-behind win over Concordia at home on Saturday to cap a 1-1 week, marking first-year head coach Michael Harding’s first win at the Ross Sports Center. Saint Michael’s trailed the Clippers well into the second half, trailing by eight points with 10 minutes to go. Harding’s squad scored 10 of the next 12 points to tie the game at 68 heading into the final seven minutes, and a 9-0 run helped the Purple Knights pull ahead for good. Freshman Michael Holton, Jr. (Portland, Ore./The Winchendon School) tallied 21 of his game-high 27 points in the second half, helping the hosts erase an eight-point second half deficit. Holton also handed out seven assists without committing a turnover in the win, and averaged 21 points and 5.5 assists per game during the week. Sophomore Travis Warech (Pine Brook, N.J./Montville) tallied 20 points for the third time in four games, and junior Tyler Schilling (Excelsior, Minn./Minnetonka) recorded his third double-double of the season with 10 points and 13 rebounds. The Purple Knights return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Franklin Pierce at 7:30 p.m.

The women’s basketball team scored 49 points in the second half on their way to beating UMass Lowell 80-64 in the season-opener at home on Wednesday. Saint Michael’s held a slim four-point lead at the half and the River Hawks pulled within four (52-48) again with 10:49 to play, but the Purple Knights answered with a 14-2 run that put them in the driver’s seat the rest of the way. Saint Michael’s combined to hit 12 three-pointers, tying the program record for a single game set against Saint Anselm on Jan. 19, 1994. Freshman Cara Deroy (Camden, Conn./Hamden) and junior Caitlin Quinn (Oakdale, Conn./Montville) each had 15 points for Saint Michael’s. Seniors Logan Pintka (Schenectady, N.Y./Colonie Central) and Mandy Scott (Vergennes, Vt./Vergennes Union) had 14 and 11 points, respectively, rounding out the four Purple Knights in double figures. The win marks the first time the Purple Knights have won by 16 points since Jan. 9 of last year and the first 80-point game since winning 85-74 in overtime at Dominican Jan. 21, 2008. Saint Michael’s returns to conference play on Tuesday on the road against Franklin Pierce at 5:30 p.m.

The men’s hockey team opened its season in grand fashion and scored a combined 11 goals in home wins over Southern Maine and the University of New England. In a true sharing of wealth, six different Purple Knights scored in Friday’s 6-2 win, and five different players scored in Saturday’s 5-0 victory. Juniors Brady Earle (Columbia, Md./The Gunnery School) and Reave MacKinnon (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Winnipeg Saints) each tallied four points over the weekend. Earle and sophomore Josh Geary (Wellesley, Mass./Phillips Andover Acad.) were the two Purple Knights to score twice, and MacKinnon and senior Alex Higgins (Phoenix, Ariz./Kent School) each dealt out three assists. Senior goalie Brendan Rimmer (Newbury, Mass./Pingree School) earned his first career shutout by way of a 5-0 score over the Nor’easters on Saturday. The Purple Knights open their Northeast-10 schedule on Tuesday when they host Assumption at 7 p.m.

The women’s hockey team suffered back-to-back losses to UMass Boston and Saint Anselm over the weekend, falling to the Beacons 2-1 on Friday before being shut out 6-0 by the Hawks on Saturday. Junior Madelena Santore (Millington, N.J./New Jersey Rockets/Rutgers Univ.) scored the lone goal for Saint Michael’s, extending her team-leading total to five goals. The Purple Knights will see some time off until they travel to Sacred Heart for a two-game series on Dec. 3-4.

The women’s swimming and diving team took its third decisive win of the season, beating Norwich 212-56 on Wednesday. The men’s side fell 169-121. For the women, senior Hannah Houley (Brookline, Mass./Brookline) won both one-meter dives, and junior Eileen Mullowney (Burlington, Vt./Burlington) continued her strong performance with 50- and 200-yard freestyle wins. Mullowney also helped win the 200-yard freestyle and medley relays. For the men, junior Nick Franks (Needham, Mass./Needham) won the 50- and 100-yard freestyles, and swam the first leg in the winning effort of the 200-yard freestyle relay. The Purple Knights return to action on Dec. 4-5 at the Bentley Invitational.

Contact: Tony Bonvechio - Phone: (802) 654-2929

Friday, November 19, 2010

Women's Ice Hockey: My first semester.

Hey all!
I am quite new to this blogging thing, so here goes nothing. I am a senior Biochemistry major and Religious Studies minor here at Saint Mikes. This year has been quite difficult for me and being a part of the ice hockey team thus far because I also was one of the captains of the field hockey team. According to an adjustment from the NCAA, our field hockey season was extended to two weeks longer than previous seasons. The meant that our last game was on November 13th.

Being a part of the ice hockey team as well I missed all of dry land (which starts in September, so I always miss that) and a month of on ice practices including five games. This has been really hard to deal with because I haven't quite been able to connect with all the new players. That being said, my first game with the team was November 19th at 4:00 vs. UMass Boston, after only 3 days of practice. That game went pretty well in my eyes, though we did lose 2-1. The next day, the 20th, we lost to Saint Anselm 6-0. This game started off well, but as it went on we began to lose our intensity and allowed a few unanswered goals. This of course is never good becuase in most games it is hard to pick yourself and your team up after being down by a few goals.

The next weekend I missed our two games at Sacred Heart University, a Division I school. I was in Louisville, KY for the NFHCA Division II Senior All-Star game. It was an honor to be selected to play, and was a lot of fun getting to know some of the girls who I had been playing against for the past four years. Though I was not present at the Sacred Heart game I felt great pride and joy for my teammates as I texted one of them to find out what had happened. The first game my team had ended up losing by one, but on Saturday we came out with a victory! This was quite an accomplishment since we are a Division III school in ice hockey.

The weekend after that (December 10th and 11th), I was able to travel with my team to play Potsdam. This weekend marked the official beginning of my ice hockey season as I saw it, because there would be no more interruptions from field hockey events. We struggled with the puck that weekend and although we scored 5 goals, pretty good for us, they scored more. We ended up losing both games by 3 goals. This was disappointing and frustrating to every one of us because we knew we could have given them better games. Sometimes the outcome of all your hard work is not always what you would like it to be.

So this ended our fall semester with a record of 2-8-1. We were looking forward to a better half of the season with the start of Winter break and the New year.

- Kaleigh

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Alpine Skiing: The Road to Winter

Hey Purple Knight fans!
This is Gabbi from the Alpine Ski Team. Learn about me here: http://bit.ly/ajBteN
Now, onto what is important: The team! We have spent this fall getting into shape and craving snow. Mondays and Wednesdays are for cardio and agility workout. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we do a weight lifting program. On Fridays, we have game day, where the team participates in soccer or speed-ball. It lets everyone work off the aggression of not yet having snow. :-P Mostly, it's just a fun break from the normal workouts and it's good for the fancy footwork.
This year, we have ten women and ten men trying out for the team, but we will only be able to name 9 of each. (To meet the athletes, head to the Ski Team Blog.) This has made everyone extra motivated to get in shape and participate in things like team dinner. Despite the individual competition, the team has very close over the past few months, which is a great indicator that the team will be cheering their teammates on in the start gate and at the finish line!
We also have a new coaching situation this year. Our head coach is Angus "Gus" Macleod and our assistant coach is Molly Macleod. (See their bios here: http://bit.ly/aMS9xq) Gus was with the team last year, but this will be Molly's first season. She has been with the team full-time as of Nov. 8th. She is going to be a fabulous addition to the Alpine Ski Team.
Below are some pictures of the team and I will be posting pictures after the team gets on snow at Stowe this weekend! For more frequent updates on the team, head to the blog, Twitter, or Facebook page.
Andrew Keating does TV watchers

JD Levine on the Skier's Edge

Ashley Langlands and Gabbi Hall for the ball

Kevin OBrien and Peter Benedetto '10 in the sand

Team Dinner at Gus's House

Christina Billotti does ski prep!