Interview with Dan Gaspar

Hartford Athletics provided this great interview with men's soccer head coach Dan Gaspar following the 1-0 victory over Central Connecticut St.

Hitting the Links: 9/11/2010

Good afternoon, AExtra! It is Saturday, and it is starting to feel like the fall is setting in. Sure, it is technically summer for a bit more than a week, but America East teams have filled their fall schedules and are in full swing.

Speaking of swings, let's head to the tee box and hit some links for today's front nine!

It turns out that sometimes, certain numbers do not matter to two groups of Boston U. Terriers. Specifically, seven and 22 mean nothing to the Terrier field hockey and women's soccer teams, respectively. Those numbers represented the national rankings of those two squads' opponents Friday night. Field hockey topped No. 7 Boston College while women's soccer bested No. 22 William & Mary.

The Binghamton men's soccer team also played a ranked opponent yesterday in No. 11 Ohio State. Unfortunately for the Bearcats, they did not pull off the upset. However, their 1-0 loss was covered by the Binghamton Press Connect. The lone goal of the game was scored on a penalty kick. Aside from that, Binghamton held Ohio State scoreless.

Also getting some local ink for men's soccer are the Vermont Catamounts. After winning just one game last season, the men, led by junior Nick O'Neill, already have three wins this season. The team's most recent triumph was yesterday afternoon, a 4-0 "rout," as the Burlington Free Press called it, of Presbyterian College to open up a weekend tournament hosted by the Catamounts.

Away from the pitch, the preseason buzz for basketball is heating up in the national sports media. With preseason rankings being released, it looks like many members of the media like either the Maine Black Bears or Stony Brook Seawolves to pace America East in men's basketball. The Lewiston, Maine Sun Journal reports that Maine was picked first by the Sporting News while Lindy's puts Stony Brook on top. For more on this, you can also check out AmericaEast.com.

Albany is also starting to bring basketball to the forefront. One way the Great Danes are doing this, as reported in the Albany Times Union, is with "The Program." The program is based on military training and is geared not only towards fitness, but also towards leadership and teamwork. Hopefully for the Great Danes, "The Program" will translate to success on the court.

The Great Danes athletic department is also making an impact on the community. According to the Times Union, the Albany baseball and women's basketball teams, as well as the cheerleaders and dance team, are working to recruit runners for the Race for Hope, a 5K charity race hosted by Capital Region Special Surgery. The race is scheduled for Saturday, September 18 at 10 a.m.

Finally, the Stony Brook men's and women's cross country teams did some running of their own last weekend, hosting the Stony Brook invitational to open the season. As reported by northshoreoflongisland.com, both Seawolves' squads finished second in the meet. In the women's race, a pair of Stony Brook runners finished one-two, with juniors Hayley Greene and Patricia Barry finishing in that order, respectively. For the men, senior Ian Whitfield finished second while freshman Eric Speakman came in third. Stony Brook Cross Country runs today in the Boston College invitational.

That will do it for the Saturday edition of the Links. The front nine stories have been played. Now please, feel free to run along yourself. Just be sure to run back for the weekend's back nine from the Links tomorrow!

Electrifying Crowd Sends Madison Bingaman Memorial Tournament Into Final Day

By Curtis Schickner, UMBC ‘12





“It was amazing. We haven’t felt that much excitement and energy in the gym since we beat Binghamton last year,” exclaimed senior Sabrina Hoeks after tonight’s prime time game against Ohio State University, in Baltimore. The Retrievers went head-to-head against one of the best teams in the Big Ten conference and held their own. Starting five freshmen, UMBC exploded out of the gates, keeping up with the taller and more experienced Buckeyes. The first game teetered back-and-forth as both teams flaunted thunderous serves and towering blocks until 21-21. Two errors eventually gave way to a Buckeye win in the first game, 25-22. And although the Retrievers lost the match in three straight sets, the dawgs were able to take a lot from the game tonight. Sabrina added on the moral of the team, “No one is disappointed that we lost this game tonight. There were a couple of little mistakes that kept us from the win but other than that we played great. Everything we’ve been working on since last week and preseason is really starting to come together.”

The Retrievers can attribute most of their confidence to the huge turnout of fans for tonight’s game. Students packed the stands waving rally towels, blowing horns, and chanting after every point. Student-athletes from each team were on hand to add “boom” onto every one of Sabrina’s serves.

Freshman Hallie Carter turned out her best match of the season, recording twelve digs at libero and seeming to return almost every spike of the 6’3” outside hitters from Ohio State. For a team that has recently entered matches slow and on their heels, the Retrievers were on their toes from the very first serve tonight. When asked about her feelings going into the match tonight, Hallie explained, “You’re always nervous before a game, especially when you’re playing such good opponents like Ohio State. The important thing is you just have to go out there and play. The crowd certainly did help a lot in terms of calming us down and getting us fired up. But ultimately it was our energy, and our confidence, and our concentration on just playing that made it a lot easier to get over the nervousness.”

Hallie was right, the crowd did have an impact on the game tonight. Ohio State Head Coach Geoff Carlston pointed out, “It was loud…I was commenting earlier that this [arena] is a perfect size for volleyball…this has got to be one of the biggest crowds we’ve had this season…” As every athlete knows, bigger crowds add more excitement to the game. Sabrina talked about the impact of the crowd, “It really feels nice to have our school behind us, knowing that we have fans and people who actually support us. It’s a big energy lifter. When it’s quiet in here it’s hard for us to be loud and energized, but when we have a good crowd it’s awesome.”

Half time featured a serving contest for all the students in the crowd. T-shirts were strewn across the court as students hit volleyballs over the net and tried to land them on the shirts. Those lucky enough to land a ball on the shirt went home with a Retriever shirt from the athletic department.

The Retrievers play two more games on Saturday against Brown University and Sacred Heart University. The tournament finishes up when Towson University takes on Ohio State University at 7:00pm.

Hitting the Links: 9/10/2010

Welcome back to school, AExtra!

Okay, so maybe we are a little into the fall semester at this point, but being the end of maybe the second week of classes, it is still safe to say that the year is only just beginning. (Besides, most classes don't even get into the heavy stuff until now, anyway.)

With this in mind, The Links is heading back to campus, hitting the student publications at each of the nine America East universities. So grab your pads and pencils...I mean, laptops...and get ready to take some notes. Class is in session!

The University at Albany is off to a great start on the field hockey field. As reported in the Albany Student Press, the women started the season with two wins in the Capital Land Classic. The Great Danes went undefeated for the weekend, coming away with victories over VCU and Hofstra. Since that weekend, Albany, led by senior forward Suzy Clephane (pictured), has improved to 3-0 and has entered the national rankings at No. 18.

Over in Binghamton, the men's cross country team is looking for a little success of its own. Picked to repeat as America East champions, the Bearcats open their title defense tomorrow. Binghamton's Pipe Dream previewed the upcoming season. Returning 11 of its top 12 runners, the team is poised for continued success in 2010.

At Boston U., a number of teams are finding success already this fall. As The Daily Free Press chronicles, the men's soccer team is enjoying an undefeated season to this point. They put that record on the line this weekend as they take on the Seton Hall Pirates. The field hockey Terriers are also undefeated, and currently are ranked No. 15 in the nation. Tonight though, they face their toughest test of this young season as they face N0. 7 Boston College in Newton, Mass. A win would give the Terriers (4-0) their best start in school history.

In Hartford, both the men's soccer team and women's volleyball team got into the win column for the first time this season. The Hartford Informer covered the soccer Hawks as they took down in-state rival Quinnipiac, 2-0, at Al-Marzook Field at Alumni Stadium. Junior midfielder Andrew Liapis scored the goal that proved to be the game-winner. It was also his first career goal. The paper also covered the volleyball team's five-set win over Holy Cross last Tuesday.

The women's soccer team at the University of Maine has had "mixed results" in the early stages of its season, according to the Maine Campus. The paper profiled the team, which currently holds a 2-3-0 record heading into a Sunday match at Rhode Island. While the women on the pitch may be having a shaky start, there is no doubt the field hockey team has had a strong start to its season. The Black Bears sit just outside the top 20 in the national rankings and have a big win over Michigan to their credit.

At America East's southern tip, UMBC has found success on the pitch due in part to freshman Pete Caringi III. The Caringi name is familiar to Retriever fans, as Pete Caringi Jr. has coached the men's soccer team at UMBC for 20 years. The father-son soccer tandem was profiled by The Retriever Weekly.

In New Hampshire, men's soccer is also making some headlines. As reported by The New Hampshire, the Wildcats have been making waves on the pitch, winning the UNH Nike Fall Classic. The Wildcats leaned heavily on goalkeeper Colin O'Donnell to go 1-0-1 for the weekend en route to the tournament championship.

Out on Long Island, the Stony Brook men's soccer team has been having a bit of a difficult time in the early season. As reported in The Statesmen, the Seawolves, last year's America East champion, has lost three straight matches after starting off the season with a win. The most recent loss came at the hands of South Florida on the road. The Seawolves will look to rebound this weekend, as they face Holy Cross and Dartmouth.

Finally, up in Vermont, the early success of the men's soccer team has the Catamounts, and The Cynic, buzzing. After a one-win season in 2009, the Catamounts already have a win in 2010. Sure, it may only be one win right now, but it is a win over a ranked Stanford club. The win has Vermont looking up at the rest of its schedule with an optimism that was not there last season.

Well class, you have now learned about the student newspapers on America East campuses. And here is your (on-going) homework assignment: keep going to these sites. Show these students, and these papers, your support!

That's it for today. Class dismissed!

BU Men's Soccer / Big East Weekend Preview

Boston University coach Neil Roberts speaks before his team's two game road trip against Seton Hall and No. 15 St. John's. Video is courtesy of Boston University Athletics.

Field Hockey Squads On A Roll

If you've missed the first two weeks of the 2010 field hockey season, here's a few numbers that should get you up to speed...

16-8: compiled record of all 6 America East field hockey teams
3: number of teams still undefeated
28-9: the combined score of those three undefeated teams vs. their opponents this season
5: number of shutouts handed out by America East teams so far
2: number of ranked teams (plus two more receiving votes)

And to put all of this into perspective, the numbers haven't been put up against slouches for competition. Non-conference play so far has seen the likes of the Big East and Big Ten, along with the Atlantic-10 and the traditionally strong Colonial.

#18 Albany (3-0), #15 Boston U. and New Hampshire have managed to stay undefeated so far. The Great Danes and Terriers have vaulted into the national coaches' poll, and UNH and Maine (2-2) are both on the cusp with 97 and 77 votes, respectively. Vermont (1-3) and Fairfield (2-3) have also seen some success already, with the Stags most recently picking up a 2-1 win over Lehigh Wednesday night.

This coming weekend is a big one though, with several ranked opponents on tap. The Terriers and reigning America East Player of the Week Allie Dolce start it off facing cross-town rival #7 Boston College Friday night at 7 p.m. on the Eagles' turf. The Wildcats will also have a pair of tough tests at the Terrapin Invite. UNH faces the host #2 Maryland team Saturday morning, and then turns around to play #20 American Sunday at noon. The Great Danes only have one game this week, but it is at home against #4 UConn Sunday at 2 p.m.

Vermont will also host their Sheraton Catamount Classic this weekend, where Maine, Pacific University and Harvard will join. The Stags travel cross-town to play Sacred Heart on Friday afternoon, and then return home to host Siena on Sunday afternoon.

Support your field hockey teams this weekend by going out and cheering them on!

Albany's overtime game-winning goal over Hofstra (Courtesy of Albany Athletics)




Player of the Week Allie Dolce talks after Boston U.'s most recent win over UMass (Courtesy of Boston U. Athletics)



(P.S.... Allie, the last time Terrier field hockey started 4-0 was 1987!)

UNH field hockey started the year by winning their own Wildcat Invitational. Here are some highlights! (Courtesy of UNH Athletics)

Women’s soccer team starts season with mixed results

The University of Maine Women’s Soccer team has the right to be optimistic. With such a young squad featuring only three seniors, little was to be expected from this developing team.

“Heading into the season, we knew we were a young team,” head coach Scott Atherley said. “So far, we’ve had good moments and bad ones, but we knew it was going to be that way.”

The Black Bears started off the season right and early, with a victory on Aug. 18 over Burlington. That was followed with an exhibition victory overIona. The team hit a rough patch early on with a demanding road trip, which had them play three games in six days. UMaine dropped all three games to Fordham, Charleston Southern and The Citadel consecutively, scoring only two goals, while allowing seven.

The Black Bears recovered during a much needed return to Orono. In the home opener, they were pitted against the Pioneers of Sacred Heart University. UMaine started out strong offensively, controlling most of the play. UMaine forward Carolyne Nellis started the offensive surge for Maine, crossing in a nice free kick that was slapped away by Sacred Heart goalie Meghan Reichelt. Black Bear midfielder Kelsey Wilson added a barrage of shots midway through the first half, none of which found the net.

The second half featured a little more even play, as Sacred Heart started the half with a few scoring opportunities. On the other end, Nellis almost squeaked one by the Sacred Heart end line, but it was snuffed out by Sacred Heart’s defense.

The scoring finally began midway through the second half as UMaine forward Courtney Harnais crossed the ball in, which found Wilson’s foot for the back of the net.

It took just seven minutes for Sacred Heart to respond, as forward Lucy Gildein tied it up with a loose ball goal in UMaine’s box.

UMaine responded quickly and ferociously when Nellis fought off two Sacred Heart players in the corner to cross the ball into the box, which was beautifully misdirected on the full-volley by UMaine forward Courtney Harnais.

Sacred Heart fought back again, tying the game with nine minutes to go after Sacred Heart midfielder Leigh Dogmantis delivered a rip that found a home in the back of the net.

The contest headed to overtime, but didn’t stay there for long as the Black Bears sealed the victory with a misdirection header by UMaine midfielder Maddie Hill off the corner taken by Wilson.

“It’s amazing coming out with the victory, especially after such a challenging road trip,” Harnais said.

Harnais, who came in the game as a sub, controlled the left side of the field, capitalizing on the space given to her by the Pioneers.

“They were giving us space, and our midfielders were looking ahead to us,” Harnais said.

“There were a tremendous amount of positives to take from the game,” coach Atherley said. “I liked our resiliency, fighting back after giving up those leads. A victory like this can establish confidence.”

Moving forward, the team’s next game is against the Anchormen of Rhode Island College, and Atherley is emphasizing offense.

“We’re always addressing our attack. It takes great coordination, which takes time to accomplish,” he said.

UMaine’s next contest against Rhode Island College in Providence on Sept. 1

This article originally appeared in the Sept. 9 issue of "The Maine Campus" you can view it at www.mainecampus.com

University Of Vermont Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Nike Fall Classic Preview

In anticipation of the classic here at UVM this weekend here is a video preview for everyone. Enjoy!

UMaine field hockey team off to .500 start

Even though most students are still creasing back the front pages of our new textbooks, the University of Maine Field Hockey team is well into this year’s campaign. After splitting the first four games, UMaine looks to move forward with two early victories as building blocks, and head coach Josette Babineau sees more promise in this team than the .500 record might indicate.

The field hockey team has cycled between wins and losses through its first four games, beating Providence College 3-0, then following up with a shutout loss to the University of Connecticut 3-0. The Black Bears once again showed up for the home crowd, pulling out a thrilling last-second victory against Michigan.

“The beginning of the season is going quite well,” Babineau said. “We had some really tough opponents early on, and we got the two big wins at home. We had a good outing against UConn, and we just let theNortheastern game slip away from us.”

With 12 seconds to go against Michigan, UMaine forward Stephanie Gardner crossed the ball in and found the stick of midfielder Kallie Aldus, who put it in the goal to secure the Black Bear victory.

“That last 30 seconds all came from the heart,” Aldus said. “It was determination. This was a big game and it will improve our confidence.

That confidence may have been squandered a bit, with a 3-2 rebound loss on the road against Northeastern on Sept. 5. Once again, Coach Babineau doesn’t read too much into that loss.

“I knew it would be difficult, recovering from such an emotional win,” Babineau said.
Babineau said her team had been convalescing physically. The game against Michigan was played on Thursday in over 90 degree temperatures, which made it difficult to rebound on such short notice.

Babineau said there was still work to be done, especially with conference play right around the corner.

“We still need to work at both ends,” she said. “Our defense is a big focus, as well as our defensive philosophy and decision making.

The field hockey team shouldn’t have any problem recuperating for their next game. The Black Bears have six days before their next game when they take on Harvard this Saturday at the University of Vermont’s Catamount Classic

This article originally appeared in the Sept. 9 issue of "The Maine Campus" you can view it at www.mainecampus.com

Hitting the Links: 9/9/2010

Happy Thursday, AExtra! It's early afternoon and the week is preparing to wind down, but The Links is running at full speed towards the weekend, seeing the sites along the way.

Why not start our cross-conference trip with some cross country coverage in Maine? The University of Maine women's cross country team was featured in the Bangor Daily News this morning. The team, anchored by America East individual champion junior Corey Conner (pictured), finished second at the conference championship last year. The women look to improve on that team finish this season as they compete this Saturday at Franklin Park in Boston.

Maine's women and men began their cross country seasons last weekend, as did Albany, UMBC, New Hampshire and Stony Brook. Binghamton, Boston U., Hartford and Vermont begin competition this Saturday.

Also out of Maine and the Daily News is a release about Black Bear's swimmer Brian Landry, who appeared last night on Discovery Channel's "Surviving the Cut." This story could also be found right here on AExtra. In case you missed the show last night, you can catch it when it re-airs on Discovery. According to Discovery Channel's TV schedule, the episode will be showing again Monday, September 13, at 10 p.m.

A group of Binghamton women will probably have to try to catch the rerun. The Bearcats' women's soccer team and volleyball team both were too busy winning last night to tune in. Women's soccer jumped out to a lead on the road at Bucknell, defeating the Bison, 3-0. Sarah Furminger scored two goals for the Bearcats in the win. The volleyball team held on to win a marathon five-set match at Niagara. Michelle McDonough and Anna Lejina combined for 43 kills and 21 digs for the Bearcats in the match. The sports staff at the Binghamton Press Connects will also have to catch a later airing, as it was busy covering those matches.

At Boston University, a women's soccer player is getting off to a solid start to her college career. Freshman Emma Clark has two goals in the Terriers' first six games this season. Clark, a York, Maine native, had her early success covered by Seacoastonline.

The New Hampshire fall sports were covered this morning by the Foster's Daily Democrat. The Wildcats were covered in all fields... and courts... of the fall. Men's soccer, volleyball and field hockey all won match ups covered in The Democrat. The women's soccer, unfortunately, had a loss documented in the UNH Roundup.

Finally, three (or four) cheers to a group of America East universities. Two former America East laxers, (1)Albany's Dave Brock and (2)Stony Brook's Steve Waldeck were selected in last night's National League Lacrosse draft. For more on this story, check out americaeast.com. Another former America East athlete, (3)Vermont women's basketball player Courtnay Pilypaitis, made the Canadian national team. Finally, (4)Hartford will be adding audio to its All-Access broadcasts, bringing on Brian Irizarry to do play-by-play for all its broadcasts. Prior to this, Irizarry did play-by-play for radio broadcasts of Hartford women's basketball.

That wraps up the Links for this afternoon. Site-seeing from your desktop...how convenient! Until tomorrow, so long.

UMBC to Host 2nd Annual Madison Bingaman Memorial Tournament

 

By Curtis Schickner, UMBC '12

Starting tonight, and continuing through Saturday night, UMBC will host the second annual Madison Bingaman Memorial Tournament at the RAC Arena and the Towson Center Arena. Madison Bingaman was a highly touted recruit from Austin, Texas in 2007. While traveling from Texas to UMBC for preseason training her freshman year, Maddie and her mother were involved in a fatal car accident. Last year, the UMBC coaching staff and players decided to host their annual tournament in memory of Madison Bingaman.

The tournament brings 6 different conferences to the Baltimore area this weekend: UMBC (America East), Ohio State (Big Ten), Towson (CAA), Brown (Ivy League), Howard (MEAC) and Sacred Heart (Northeast). The tournament should be a good test for the young Retriever volleyball team as they continue to prepare for upcoming conference weekends, and give tribute to a lost teammate. 2010 is the last season for Sabrina Hoeks and Bianca Sande, two seniors recruited to play in the same class as Maddie. This is a great opportunity for fans and students to check out the competition in different conferences, while also paying tribute to Maddie, in the Madison Bingaman Memorial Tournament.


Tournament schedule:

Thursday, September 9
7:00 pm - Towson vs. Howard (Towson Center Arena)

Friday, September 10
11:00 am – UMBC vs. Howard (UMBC RAC Arena)
11:00 am – Towson vs. Sacred Heart (Towson Center Arena)
2:00 pm – Ohio State vs. Brown (UMBC RAC Arena)
4:00 pm – Sacred Heart vs. Howard (Towson Center Arena)
7:00 pm – UMBC vs. Ohio State (UMBC RAC Arena)
7:00 pm – Towson vs. Brown (Towson Center Arena)

Saturday, September 11
11:00 am – UMBC vs. Brown (UMBC RAC Arena)
1:30 pm – Ohio State vs. Sacred Heart (UMBC RAC Arena)
4:00 pm – UMBC vs. Sacred Heart (UMBC RAC Arena)
7:00 pm – Ohio State vs. Towson (UMBC RAC Arena)

Albany Men's Soccer off to Great Start

The Albany men's soccer team is off to a 2-0 start in the 2010 season, with victories over Fairfield (2-0) and St. Francis N.Y. (2-1). What makes this start even more impressive is the fact the Great Danes ended the 2009 season without a victory. Here are highlights from the 2-1 victory over St. Francis N.Y courtesy of Albany Athletics.


Albany 2, St. Francis N.Y. 1

Hitting the Links: 9/8/2010

Good afternoon, AExtra. I realize that the holiday, and a lull of a Tuesday turned Hitting the Links into The Missing Links. Never fear, I found the Links. And here they are, at your fingertips.

The Links is hitting the greens today, but with a field hockey stick, not a putter. That is because two America East field hockey teams have landed themselves on the Kookaburra/NFHCA Division I National Coaches' Poll. The Boston U. Terriers and Albany Great Danes have both earned rankings in the National Top 20. Boston U. (4-0) enters the rankings at No. 15. Albany (3-0) checks in at 18.

Two other America East teams, New Hampshire and Maine also received votes, sitting just outside the national rankings at 23 and 25, respectively.

Field hockey is not the only sport with a lot of green landscape. Soccer can join in this mix, too. The UMBC Retrievers men's soccer team is again getting attention from the Baltimore Sun. The Sun reported that four Retrievers were named to the all-tournament team for the UMBC/Navy Kickoff Soccer Tournament. Among those four are freshman Pete Caringi III and junior transfer Nirav Kadam. That pair got more ink in the paper this morning. It is a bit buried in the article, but if you dig, you'll find that Caringi was named America East Rookie of the Week and Kadam was named to Top Drawer Soccer's Team of the Week.

A closer look at topdrawersoccer.com will also show you a lot of information about America East soccer, both on the men's and the women's side. The site proves to be much more than just a sweet spinning soccer ball icon in the browser tab. It also gives its Top 20 players to watch in America East. Here, you can find this list for the women and the men.

The five women, according to the site, are:
1. Breeanna Robinson, Hartford
2. Lisa Kevorkian, Boston U.
3. Jessica Luscinski, Boston U.
4. Shayla Bergeron, Albany
5. Chelsea DeVerna, Albany

The men's top five shakes out this way:
1. Levi Houapeu, UMBC
2. Andrew Bulls, UMBC
3. Colin O'Donnell, New Hampshire
4. Aaron O'Neal, Boston U.
5. Jake Keegan, Binghamton

Away from the field and onto the hardwood, the Stony Brook men's basketball team was profiled by collegehoops.net as the top team in America East for the 2010-2011 season. The Seawolves come in as No. 111 nationally. Boston University also was profiled by the site, ranking just a few spots behind Stony Brook at No. 115.

Also from basketball, two former Vermont players, Maurice Joseph of the men's team and Courtnay Pilypaitis of the women's team, have signed pro contracts overseas. As reported by the Birlington Free Press's "On-Campus" blog, Joseph will be playing in Israel with Hapoel Afula. Pilypaitis, the Free Press reports, will being playing with VICI Kaunas in Lithuania.

Finally, the Links would like to send its best wishes to Maine Black Bears pitcher Jimmy Cox. According to the Bangor Daily News, Cox, a fifth-year senior on the Black Bear baseball team, "is likely to miss the 2011 season after he undergoes surgery next month to repair a torn rotator cuff and labrum in his right shoulder," (Pete Warner reporting). This injury comes after he fought to recover from Tommy John surgery. We here at AExtra would like to wish Cox a speedy and complete recovery.

Well that is the Links for this Wednesday afternoon. Check in tomorrow for more links to America East. If, in the meantime, you are hungry for more, you can always follow all that is America East at americaeast.com, Twitter and Facebook!

Maine Swimmer to Appear on Discovery Channel

The America East will be represented on "Surviving the Cut" when it premieres tonight on the Discovery Channel. Brian Landry, a junior on the University of Maine men's swimming team, will appear on the show when it airs at 10 p.m. tonight. Be sure to check out this preview clip from tonight's episode (Preview Clip)

Here is some background on Landry and his involvement with the show, provided by the University of Maine. Any fans that want to read the entire press release can just click here (Press Release)

"Landry took part in the Special Forces Underwater Combat Divers Courses over the summer. The course is geared toward training Special Forces and Army Rangers to become combat divers. Landry was chosen as one of 24 to go for a tryout. He spent two weeks at the United States Military Academy at West Point. From this course, 12 were selected to go on to the actual courses in Key West, Fla. for six weeks. Atotal of 56 took part in the schooling. Landry was trained in a variety of fields including physical training in and out of the pool, running underwater lengths of the pool up to 50 meters and underwater harassment. The tactical portion of the course followed which consisted of beach infiltrations, zodiac boat work, and jumping out of helicopters (helocasting).

Landry was one of 33 to make it through the vigerous training and graduate from the course."

This should be a great television show to watch for any fan of the America East Conference. Congratulations to Brian Landry for his appearance and this great accomplishment!!!!

Boston University Men's Soccer Stays Undefeated

The Boston University men’s soccer team continued its undefeated start to the season with two wins over Labor Day weekend. While the Terriers’ offense was able to put the ball in the net, both the University of Hartford (1-2) and Columbia University (0-2) failed to score against redshirt freshman keeper Brandon Briggs.

Boston University first faced America East foe Hartford on September 4th in a match that did not count in league play. It only took senior Aaron O’Neal and the Terriers 69 seconds to quiet the fans in what was their home opener. Junior Ben Berube found a streaking O’Neal, who put the ball past keeper Matt McElroy on the right side from 15 yards out.

Less than 14 minutes later, O’Neal scored his second of the night, when he redirected a pass from junior Stephen Knox into the back of the net. Senior Ben Havey capped off the scoring for the Terriers with his first career goal in the 22nd minute. After Havey gathered the ball at the top of the box from sophomore Ade Akinsanya’s midfield pass, his shot beat McElroy and put an exclamation mark on the first half.

“The first 35 minutes were very, very good,” Boston University coach Neil Roberts said. “Defensively, we played very well. We attacked well. We finished off chances.”

The Terriers went into halftime with a 7-0 shot advantage, and finished the game with 13 total shots to only two by Hartford. As Boston University’s lead grew, the game became more and more physical. In the 76th minute tempers reached a boiling point. Hartford defender Thomas Boyle threw junior Michael Bustamante to the ground. Bustamante retaliated by getting up and pushing Boyle. These actions led to red cards for both players.

Boston University’s defense continued to keep the Hawks in check and helped to guarantee Briggs the first shutout of his Terriers’ career.

“We owed them one from last season,” Havey said. “We were really up for this game. They beat us twice last year and hopefully we can beat them twice this year.”

The Terriers returned to Nickerson Field on September 6th to face Columbia University without Bustamante in the lineup, who was serving his one game suspension for his red card against Hartford. The first half saw Columbia setting the pace and having the better scoring chances.

“The first half we were all pretty lethargic, no excuses at all,” Havey said. “We didn’t work hard enough and they out ran us.”

“In six days we played three games,” Roberts said. “That is very difficult and there were some tired guys out there, especially in the first half. It is a lot to ask of three games in six days. So I think that was a little bit of the problem in the first half."

Columbia had three great chances in the first half, but Briggs was on his game and made some highlight real saves, including a diving save on a header in the box. Briggs finished the night with seven saves.

“Briggs saved us, he kept us in the game in the first half,” Roberts said. “He made three really big saves and we left him out to dry."

The Carson City, Nevada native has let up only one goal in 291 minutes of play, has a 0.31 goals against average, and an astounding .909 save percentage. Most importantly he is playing with the confidence that one rarely sees from a redshirt freshman.

“Without a doubt Briggs was the hero tonight,” Havey said. “Without Briggs we could have been two or three [goals] down at halftime. All three games so far this season, considering he’s pretty inexperienced, he’s been faultless.”

The Terriers settled down and found their legs in the second half. They started to apply pressure onto Columbia keeper Alexander Aurrichio, who finished the night with six saves. It appeared that the game was headed to a draw, until Havey decided to take the game into his own hands. Some fancy footwork outside the box in the 77th minute led to Havey beating a Columbia defender, and putting a shot from inside the box past Aurrichio who was off his line.

“It was pretty scrappy. I picked up the ball in the middle of the offensive half and I just ran for goal,” Havey said. “Luckily the keeper came out and I was able to slide it underneath him.”

The Terriers put the icing on the cake in the 90th minute when Havey again used his footwork to assist on O’Neal’s third goal of the season. Havey split two defenders, and at the last moment, slid a pass over to O’Neal who put a shot into the open net.

During the game, Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore stopped by The Pack to talk with students. Below is one of the pictures he took of The Pack. Thanks for your support Dean Elmore!

Lady Terriers Struggle on Labor Day Weekend

While students enjoyed their Labor Day weekend, the Boston University women’s soccer team unfortunately could not say the same. The Terriers lost two tight contests, each by one goal, to No. 6 Boston College and Monmouth University, 1-0 and 2-1 respectively.

The Terriers (2-4) capped off a five-game home stand against city rivals Boston College on Saturday September 4th. The game was initially set for a 7 p.m. start on Friday, but it was postponed due to Hurricane Earl. The change in game time unfortunately had a negative effect on the attendance at Nickerson Field, as many students were enjoying sleeping in for the first time this school year.

The first half was fairly even as both teams had limited opportunities to score, with both keepers making no mistakes. The first 45 minutes were mostly spent getting a feel for the game and avoiding any major letdown, which resulted in limited offensive opportunities.

In the second half Boston College showed why its ranked sixth in the nation. The Eagles out shot the Terriers 7-4 in the second half, and scored the game-winner on a corner kick in the 64th minute. Boston College’s Hannah Cerrone took the corner kick. What looked like a ball that could have been headed out of danger by a defender, instead snuck into the box and right to the foot of Kristen Mewis, who put it in the bottom left part of the net past an out of position Alice Binns.

The Eagles continued to apply the pressure offensively with the hope of gaining an insurance goal. Within two minutes, Binns made two impressive saves to keep the Terriers close. One save came when Boston College’s Stephanie Wirth had a breakaway on net, but Binns made the point-blank save at the top of the box. The other came from a shot that looked like it was heading to the top corner, but Binns was there again to deflect it away.

Goalkeeping has been a question mark this season, as last year’s starter Janie Reilly graduated, leaving the door open for a new go-to keeper. So far this season Terriers’ fans must be happy with the play of Binns and freshman Kelly King.

“We’ve had outstanding goalkeeping, and we couldn’t have been more pleased with the two of them,” Boston University coach Nancy Feldman said. “The goalkeeping has been terrific. They are very brave, they’re gamers, and they’ve done everything they can to put us in positions to win.”

After the goal, the Boston College defense locked down in hope to prevent a late equalizer by the Terriers. Boston University had one great opportunity to tie the game in the closing 20 seconds. Graduate student Lisa Kevorkian found herself with the ball in the box, but pressure by two Boston College defenders caused her to put the ball just over the crossbar.

As a fan watching from the stands it looked as if the Terriers were playing well tactically, but without any emotion. It was almost as if they were without their normal “mojo.” Coach Feldman echoed a similar sentiment during her post game press conference.

“I thought we played hard. I thought there were lots of moments where we played well,” Feldman said. “I didn’t quite feel like we were as connected as we’ve been in the first four games. There was something missing. I’m disappointed that we didn’t make more of this opportunity because if we have played a little bit more together, more unified, and a more connected I think we would have won the game.”

Although any loss to Boston College is hard for fans and members of The Pack to swallow, there was one moment in the game that made everyone smile. Thanks to Ryan McKetchnie who was able to photograph Rhett wrestling with a stuffed animal of Baldwin the Eagle.





Two days later, the Terriers faced their first away game of the season against a quality Monmouth squad. The Hawks (4-0) struck first less than six minutes into the contest, but the Terriers clawed their way back only seven minutes later. Kevorkian sent a nice ball into the box that found the head of freshman Emma Clark, who put the ball past Monmouth keeper Lia Fierro. For Clark, the goal was her second of the season, and put an end to Monmouth’s 281-minute shutout streak. Unfortunately the Hawks had the last laugh, as a goal in the 70th minute ultimately doomed the Terriers. Monmouth currently is receiving 12 votes in the NSCAA national poll.

Next up for Boston University is a trip to Charlottesville where they will participate in the University of Virginia Tournament. The Terriers first face the College of William & Mary on the 10th, before competing against host University of Virginia on the 12th.

O'Neill Named America East Player of the Week

UVM junior forward Nick O’Neill has been named America East men’s soccer player of the week.

O’Neill is in his first season with Vermont, having transferred into the program from Creighton. Thus far, O’Neill has recorded five points on two goals and an assist in his first three games with the team.

The two goals have both been game-winners, with the first coming against No. 13 Stanford, and the second a diving header with 20 seconds left in the second OT to beat Wisconsin- Milwaukee.

Hopefully for Vermont, O’Neill can build on his stellar start this weekend when the Catamounts host the 20th annual Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Class at Centennial Field.

Interviews from Boston University Men's Soccer victory over Columbia

The Boston University men's soccer team continued its tremendous start to the season with a 2-0 victory over Columbia on Monday. Here are some great post-game interviews courtesy of Boston University Athletics.

Head Coach Neil Roberts discusses the performance:




Redshirt Freshman goalkeeper Brandon Briggs talks about the victory:




Senior midfielder Ben Havey put together a tremendous individual performance:

Interview with Kaitlyn Cook

This is a great interview with Kaitlyn Cook, who was named Binghamton Athlete of the Week. The video is courtesy of Binghamton Athletics.

Terriers' Field Hockey off to a Great Start

The fall sports season is in full swing at Boston University. Expectations are high for both soccer programs, as both were picked to finish first in the America East preseason coaches’ poll. Consequently, it can be easy for both Boston University students and America East followers to forget about the Terriers’ field hockey team.

The Terriers, who have won the America East Championship four times in the past five seasons, are once again predicted to take home the hardware. They received four first place votes and a total of 23 points to edge Albany in the preseason poll. Last season the Terriers lost 3-2 in overtime against Stanford University in the NCAA play-in game. As a result expectations are high both in conference and on a national level.

Four games into the season Boston University has proven why they are the team to beat in the America East. The Terriers (4-0) started the season with three contests on the road. The first two games were part of the Capital Land College Classic which took place in Albany, NY.

In the season opener Boston University shutout Hofstra University 3-0, thanks to two goals by junior Andrea Greene and one from senior captain Allie Dolce. Coach Sally Star gave both senior Amanda Smith and sophomore Julie Collins each a half in cage.

The next day the Terriers came from behind to defeat Virginia Commonwealth 2-1 thanks to a goal in the 70th minute from sophomore Nicole von Oosterom. Last season von Oosterom led the team with 10 goals and garnered America East All-Conference second team and All-Rookie honors. Watch for von Oosterom to build off of a successful freshman season and highlight herself as an elite player in the America East.

Boston University then traveled to Providence College to battle the Friars on September 4th. The Terriers dominated offensively, while the defense kept the Friars in check. The contest finished with Boston University holding a 13-6 shot advantage and a 6-0 advantage on penalty corners. Both Dolce and Greene tallied a goal and an assist in the win.

The Terriers had their first home contest of the season this Labor Day weekend against the Minutewomen of the University of Massachusetts. Dolce scored her third goal of the season only fifty seconds into the game to give the home team the early lead. Less than 14 minutes later sophomore Jacinda McLeod scored her first goal of the season to give the Terriers a two goal cushion. McLeod’s goal would prove to be the game winner, as UMass tallied a goal in the second half, but Boston University held on for the 2-1 victory. The Terriers did not wear their customary red and white jerseys, but rather pink jerseys to support breast cancer awareness.

For the Terriers it is the first time since 1987 that the team started 4-0. In the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) preseason poll, Boston University was in the receiving votes category with 131 votes. Do not be surprised to see the Terriers climb up the rankings when the first regular season rankings are released today.

While Boston University field hockey has proven to be one of the most successful programs on campus, they still struggle with attendance. The reason for this is because they play at Jack Barry Field located on the campus of MIT. Boston University Athletics does a great job in promoting field hockey matches. In addition, both the school paper, The Daily Free Press, and radio station, WTBU, have beat reporters present at the matches. Speaking from a fan’s perspective, I can only hope that increased success on a national level can make other Terriers’ fans make the effort to attend field hockey contests.

The videos below are courtesy of Boston University Athletics.

UNH Men's Soccer at the Nike Fall Classic

Monday concluded the 21st Annual Nike Fall Soccer Classic held at Bremner Field in Durham, with the Wildcats as the champions after playing to a 0-0 tie on Saturday against the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and a 1-0 victory over CCSU Monday.

The Nike tournament is held yearly in Durham at the beginning of the season. Four teams play in the tournament pool, while each team plays two games, and a winner is determined from the eventual standings. This year, the University of Vermont participated in the tournament as well, and ended third in the standings after dropping their first game, and winning an incredible double overtime matchup with Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Vermont coach Jesse Cormier said that the season is still young, and he saw a lot of promise from the win in Durham, and the victory against Stanford, who they beat the previous week.

"We struggled a little bit with our consistency," Cormier said. "But in saying that, we handle failure pretty well. The boys came out with an attitude to be successful today. With a young team sort of hot and cold, and to teach them to be hot more than cold is going to be the challenge."

Vermont's matchup on Monday was highlighted by a game-winning header in double overtime.

The Wildcats controlled the ball for a majority of the game against CCSU, and doubled up the Blue Devils in shots for the game, 18-9. The lone goal in the game was scored at 34:16 of the first half by freshman Steve Palumbo, his first collegiate goal. UNH head coach Rob Thompson said that his team has made a jump up from the scrimmages they played last week in time for the start of the season.

"I didn't like what I saw," Thompson said. "I thought we didn't really have an identity. This weekend I saw a jump from our team. I was happy that we saw a team that was hard to play against and made it difficult. The identity is that we're going to play hard and try to outwork the other team, and that's the starting point for us."

Palumbo's goal was off an assist from his twin brother, Robert. Steve said that he and his brother have been playing together their whole lives, so they work off each other and have a sense of what the other will do.

"It's kind of a connection we have," Palumbo said. "It's great playing with [Robert]. We work off each other very well, and we just try to do that every game."

The Wildcats return to action on Friday in Burlington, Vt., for the Smith Barney Nike Fall Classic tournament. UNH will play Cornell on Friday. Game time is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

Hill Delivers Walk-Off Win for Maine

The term "walk-off" win is well known in the world of sports. It's always a special moment when the home team wins in thrilling fashion in front of their own fans. While its most often associated with baseball or softball, walk-off wins can happen in other sports. It takes the perfect situation for one to occur in basketball or football, but in hockey or soccer all it takes is an overtime goal by the home team. That's exactly what happened yesterday in Orono, Maine. Maddie Hill scored off a corner kick from Kelsey Wilson in the 93rd minute and sent the crowd at Alumni Field into a frenzy. The score gave the Black Bears' women's soccer team a thrilling 3-2 win over Sacred Heart. Not a bad ending for a home opener. Not bad at all.

UMBC Volleyball Highlights and Preview

The UMBC Retrievers Volleyball team begin their season this past Friday with a doubleheader against Coppin St. and Loyola. UMBC put together a great performance in the 3-0 victory over Coppin St., dominating from beginning to end. Here are some highlights of the performance, courtesy of UMBC Athletics.







For a complete preview of the upcoming season for UMBC Volleyball, check out this great video from UMBC Athletics.

Hitting the Links: 9/5/2010

Hello all, and happy holiday Sunday. How about a quick look at the back nine at the Links this Sunday afternoon?

Let's get going.

As was examined in the Links yesterday in the front nine, Hartford hosted Boston University in its men's soccer home opener at Alumni Stadium. The Terriers spoiled the start of the Hawks' home schedule, beating Hartford, 3-0. Boston U. senior forward Aaron O'Neal scored two goals in the win. For more coverage of the match, including an interview with Hartford head coach Dan Gaspar, check out this recap.

Another America East men's soccer team, the Vermont Catamounts, received some media coverage. The Burlington Free Press ran a recap of the Catamounts' 1-0 loss to Central Connecticut State.

Vermont soccer might be in season now, but a former Catamount basketball star is also showing up in the news. Two-time America East Player of the Year Marqus Blakely has been making some waves with the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers. He sat down recently for an interview with ClipperBlog.

A pair of former Binghamton Bearcats have also been making an impact in the pros. Two former pitchers for the Bearcats' baseball team have been succeeding with their Minor League teams this season. Scott Diamond of the Triple A Gwinnett Braves nearly no-hit Norfolk last week. His gem of a start was covered in the Gwinnett Daily Post. Murphy Smith has also had a solid summer on the mound for the Class A Kane County Cougars. He posted an 8-2 record and a 3.64 ERA for the Cougars. For more of Smith's summer stats, check out his player profile on MiLB.com.

That'll do it for this weekend' s editions of the Links. Nine out, nine in. Now rest up, enjoy the day off from whatever laboring you may have, and enjoy all that is America East this weekend.

BU Athletics Welcome Back BBQ Part II

Boston University Athletics got a chance to talk to senior Krystyn McIntyre during their Welcome Back BBQ. In addition to being a member of both the women's basketball team and softball squad, McIntyre is the president of Boston University's Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC). Check out the video courtesy of Boston University Athletics to hear SAAC is planning for the 2010-2011 academic year.