The Week That Was

January 28, 1997 - February 5, 1997

by Jim Mullins
Assistant Director
Sports Information

Corsairs win streak reaches eight,
ranked #8 in NE Div. III poll

By winning its last eight games in a row, including four more last week, Coach Brian Baptiste's Corsairs have improved to 12-6, 6-2 in the Little East Conference. For the first time this season, the Corsairs also find themselves ranked among the top ten in the NCAA New England Men's Division III Basketball poll. With their 68-49 LEC win at UMass Boston on Feb. 4, the eighth-ranked Corsairs climbed into first place in the conference, a half-game ahead of sixth-ranked Western Connecticut (5-2). The Corsairs and Colonials will battle for first place in the LEC when Western Connecticut comes to the Tripp Athletic Center Feb. 8.

The Corsairs have been doing it with a balanced offense, featuring four players averaging in double figures and three among the LEC's top ten scorers. Mosadi Caldwell (Providence, RI) is the Corsairs' top scorer with 13.6 pts/game and top rebounder with eight rebs/game. He is not ranked among the LEC's top scorers or rebounders because he's only played in 13 games since joining the Corsairs in January. But in that time period, Caldwell has been named to the LEC Honor Roll three times, including last week for averaging 16 points and shooting 56.2% in three Corsairs wins. Senior co-captain Rick Taylor (Freetown, MA) is averaging 13.3 pts/game and 6.2 rebounds, while teammate Ryan Bland (Dartmouth, MA) is the third UMass Dartmouth player averaging at least 13 per game, with 13.06 pts/game and 5.6 reb/game. Jason Antonio (Mattapoisett, MA) is the fourth member of the Corsairs in double figures with 12.1 pts/game.

Caldwell and Taylor (three 3-pointers) were the high scorers in the 68-49 LEC win at UMass Boston on Feb. 4. The Corsairs' defense held the Beacons to 12 first-half points, including a scoreless stretch of almost 11 minutes. Caldwell grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds while Taylor added eight more. Bland had 13 points, five assists, five rebounds and four steals. Antonio scored 11 points with three rebounds and two assists. In a key LEC win at Lincoln, NH over Plymouth State on Feb. 1, UMass Dartmouth had four double figure scorers in an 82-77 win. Caldwell was high man with 16 points, Taylor had 13 and seven rebounds, Bland had 14 points, five rebounds and four steals and Antonio finished with 11 points.

In a non-league game at Framingham State on Jan. 30, the Corsairs exploded out of the gates in the first half, jumping to a 41-25 lead at intermission. From there, UMass Dartmouth never looked back, taking a 90-53 decision behind 17 from Antonio (three 3s), 16 from Caldwell, 13 from Taylor and 10 from Bland. Bland's game-high 19 points (4-7 on 3s) at Eastern Connecticut was one of five Corsairs in double figures along with Caldwell (16 pts, 11 reb), Tim Nelson (Reading, MA) with 12, Antonio with 11 and Tony Moreira (Pawtucket, RI) added 11 points and six rebounds. Holding a one-point lead at halftime in Willimantic, CT., UMass Dartmouth outscored the Warriors by 15 in the final 20 minutes.

UMass Dartmouth rebounds with
ECAC Central win over Suffolk

After dropping a pair of non-league games to Worcester State (3-2) and Framingham State (5-2), UMass Dartmouth (12-4-1, 6-2-1 ECAC Central) got back on track with a convincing 8-2 ECAC Central victory over Suffolk University on Feb. 4. Coach John Rolli's offense was firing on all cylinders against Suffolk University, scoring a pair of goals in first and third periods and adding four more in the middle session. Jarrod DiBona (Weymouth, MA) had a pair of goals and two assists, while Jason Ferranti (Waltham, MA) also scored a pair of goals. Louis Weimann (Burlington, MA) picked up the win in goal to improve his record to 4-2. Weimann faced only seven shots and got relief help from Scott Glinner (Everett, MA).

Trailing Suffolk 1-0, Jarrod DiBona's power-play goal evened the score and captain Marc Salvi (Cheshire, MA) scored another power-play just before the end of the period for a 2-1 lead. Second period goals by Pat Schultz (Wareham, MA), Jarrod DiBona's second (a short-handed goal) and Jason Cormier (Waltham, MA) gave the Corsairs a lead they would not relinquish. Ferranti's two goals were sandwiched around a Jamie DiBona (Weymouth, MA) goal to round out the UMass Dartmouth scoring.

In the two non-league losses last week, the Corsairs' offense was limited to two goals in each game. Chris O'Reilly (Belmont, MA) scored first against Worcester State, but the Lancers shut down the Corsairs, allowing only a DeFazio goal in the second period enroute to the 3-2 Worcester State win. Weimann stopped 30 shots in a losing effort in goal. Framingham State jumped all over UMass Dartmouth with four goals in the first period of their Feb. 1 game. Cormier and Salvi were the Corsair goal scores, while Ryan Sloper (Billerica, MA) (two saves) started in goal before being replaced by Weimann, who made 25 saves and picked up the loss.

UMass Dartmouth returns to Hetland Arena this Saturday, Feb. 8, after three straight road games by hosting St. Michael's College in a key ECAC Central matchup. Stonehill College will be the opponent on Feb. 13 in another ECAC Central game before the Corsairs travel to Tufts University for a third straight ECAC Central game on Feb. 15.

59-51 win over UMass Boston
snaps Corsairs' losing streak

During the Corsairs' 10-game losing streak, UMass Dartmouth (4-13, 2-6 LEC) twice dropped one-point decisions, including a 79-78 double overtime loss at Tufts University on Jan. 30. But the losing streak came to a halt on Feb. 4, when Coach Cathy Johnson's Corsairs shot 43% in the first half of their game with UMass Boston on the way to a 33-16 halftime lead. The shooting percentage cooled a little in the second half but the Corsairs were able to hang on for a 59-51 LEC victory in Boston. Cathy Danner (Mansfield, MA) was UMass Dartmouth's leading scorer with 14 points to go along with four rebounds, four assists and a steal. Jennifer Pitner (Millis, MA) contributed 13 points on six-of-nine shooting and Natarsha Silva (Brockton, MA) had 11 points and eight steals. Shannon Martin (Scituate, MA) hauled down 10 rebounds to go along with her seven points and four assists. UMass Dartmouth's leading scorer, Darilyn St. Germaine (Wareham, MA) (10.9 pts, 10.2 reb), was held to eight points, but grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds.

Prior to the UMass Boston victory, the Corsairs had dropped three last week, including a 73-42 LEC loss to Eastern Connecticut, the 79-78 double overtime loss to Tufts on Jan. 30 and an 89-53 LEC loss at Plymouth State on Feb. 1. In the Eastern Connecticut game, the Corsairs fell behind 38-14 at the half and could never get back into the game. St. Germaine and Danner had nine points each, while Silva added eight and Martin had seven. Trailing by four at halftime against Tufts University on Jan. 30, UMass Dartmouth came back to tie the game at the end of regulation, 64-64. The tie carried through the first overtime session at 69-69, before Tufts pulled out the one-point victory after the second extra session. Silva had a career-high 25 points for the Corsairs, shooting 11-16 from the floor. St. Germaine chipped in 17 points and 15 rebounds, while Danner had 14 points and seven rebounds. Kelly Berger (Buzzard's Bay, MA) had an off night shooting, but came up with 11 rebounds. Martin had 17 points and seven rebounds to lead the Corsairs in an 89-53 loss to Plymouth State on Feb. 1. St. Germaine finished with 15 points and eight rebounds and Silva contributed 11 points along with six rebounds.

Cardoza and Sousa take firsts, lead UMD to 4th place finish

First-place finishes by Bradley Cardoza (Mattapoisett, MA) and Mitch Sousa (Fall River,MA) helped UMass Dartmouth to a fourth-place overall finish in an indoor meet at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy on Feb. 1. Cardoza was the winner in the 35-lb. weight with a toss of 53-2 3/4. Sousa captured first place in the triple jump with a leap of 42-5, while teammate and co-captain Ken Papetti (Dedham, MA) was two spots back in third place with 40-11. Sousa also brought home a second-place finish in the long jump with a mark of 20-4 and a third-place in the 55-meter hurdles. Wayne Demery (Blackstone, MA) earned second-place in the 1000 meters in a time of 2:45 and teammate Bill Ferreira (Fall River, MA) took third in the mile run at 4:41.11. Tim Mannle (Milford, CT) was seventh in the high jump (5-8) and Fred Mello (Dartmouth, MA) was seventh in the 55 meters (07.09).

McDonald and Caselden lead Corsairs at Williams College meet

Maura McDonald (Greenfield,MA) and Laura Caselden (Westfield, MA) were UMass Dartmouth's top finishers in a meet held at Williams College on Feb. 1. McDonald finished second in the 1500 meters in a time of 5:03.51 and Caselden took second in the 600 meters, crossing the finish line in 1:50.26. Rebecca Robitaille (Acushnet, MA) and Erin Benoit (Shrewsbury, MA) finished third and fifth in the 55 meters with Robitaille posting a time of :07.92 and Benoit in :08.01. In the 1000 meters, Kristin Shea (Dartmouth, MA) placed third in 23:20.37 and McDonald was sixth in 3:31.61. Julie Briggs (Jefferson, MA) brought home a third-place finish in the 20-lb. weight with a throw of 42-5. Captain Ann Jones (Waltham, MA) placed fourth in the 200 meters (:31.22) and Jennifer Raxter (Fall River, MA) was fourth in the shot put (31-7 1/2).

Corsairs drop three meets but
post strong individual efforts

UMass Dartmouth found itself on the short end of three meets last week, but the Corsairs were not without some outstanding individual efforts. In a 146-69 loss to MIT on Jan. 28, Mike Lane (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) brought home UMass Dartmouth's only two victories of the meet. He captured the 200 Free in a time of 1:47.91 and was also victorious in the 200 Breast with a winning time of 2:11.96. Lane came back with two more wins in a 139-92 loss to Babson College on Feb. 1, taking the 100 IM (:64.63) and 100 Breast (:59.16). The Corsairs swept the diving events against Babson College as Israel England (Lakeville, MA) was the 1-meter winner with 152.17 points and Dan Ryan (Northampton, MA) duplicated the winning effort in the 3-meter event with 169.57 points. The only other Corsair first-place finish was the team of Will Whiting (Attleboro, MA), Matt Hodges (Riverside, RI), and tri-captains Jay Munnis (Braintree, MA) and Erol Moe (Windham, NH) taking the 400 Free Relay in 3:42.88. Lane came up with two more first-place finishes in a 65-42 loss to Tufts University, then joined the 200 Free Relay team in their victory. Lane captured the 50 Breast (:27.67) and 100 Breast (1:00.67) and also teamed with Jay Howe (Short Hills, NJ), Moe and Gary Jones (Seekonk, Ma) for a winning time of 1:34.69. Howe added a first-place finish of his own, winning the 100 Fly in :55.54. Jones took the 200 Free in 1:55.94. Ryan captured the 1-meter diving event with 202.05 points.

Defonzo qualifies for nationals,
Kuntz keeps posting victories.

For the third time this season, UMass Dartmouth's Lynn Defonzo (Milford, MA) qualified for the NCAA Division III National Championships with a pair of winning dives against MIT on Jan. 28 and another first-place dive against Babson College on Feb. 1. In a 117-54 loss to MIT, Defonzo posted national qualifying marks when she won the 1-meter event with 245.25 points and the 3-meter competition with 251.47 points. UMass Dartmouth's only other winner against MIT was Linda Kuntz (Billerica, MA), who captured both the 500 Free (5:29.75) and the 100 Free (:59.62). Defonzo was again a national qualifier with a 249.15 point performance in taking the 1-meter event in an 84-40 loss to Babson College. Again, Kuntz was the Corsairs' only first-place finisher, winning both the 100 Free (11:30.26) and the 500 Free (5:40.64). The Defonzo-Kuntz combination produced the Corsairs only winners in a 70-45 loss to Tufts University on Feb. 4, extending UMass Dartmouth's record to 0-9. Defonzo was the 1-meter winner with 247.42 points and Kuntz was the 200 Free winner in 2:07.16.

UMass Dartmouth Sports

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth alumnae are being invited to attend an all-classes reunion on Saturday, February 8, 1997 at the Tripp Athletic Center. The reunion will coincide with a basketball doubleheader featuring the women's and men's basketball teams playing host to Western Connecticut State University. Tap off for the women's game is 2 p.m. and the men's game is set for 4 p.m. Active members of the UMass Dartmouth Alumni Association and their families will receive free admission to the games by presenting their Alumni ID card at the door. Complimentary refreshments will be available during the intermission between the two games......One fan, picked randomly from the fans in the stands at one of the four remaining UMass Dartmouth men's basketball home games, will have an opportunity to attempt to make a lay up, free throw, three-point shot and a half-court shot within 30 seconds. Make all the shots within the time limit and the lucky fan will win $5,000. The Corsairs' remaining home games are Feb. 6 vs. Salem State, Feb. 8 vs Western Conn., Feb. 15 vs. Trinity College and Feb. 18 vs. Eastern Connecticut.

Jim Mullins
Assistant Director, Sports Information and Daily News
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
285 Old Westport Road
Dartmouth,MA 02747-2300
Phone: News (508) 999-8965 Sports (508) 999-8720
Fax: (508) 999-9200
JMullins@UMassD.edu
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 Last Updated On: 6/5/06