A pair of victories over Rhode Island College brought coach Rick Quintin's Corsairs to within one game of the .500 mark last week, but a 3-0 loss to powerful Eastern Connecticut in the Little East Conference Tournament semi-finals left the Corsairs at 11-13 with six matches remaining. Since knocking off Southern Maine on October 11, UMass Dartmouth has posted a 7-3 record.

UMass Dartmouth opened the week with a 3-0 straight-set sweep over RIC, sparked by Amy Wilson's (Dartmouth, MA) 100% serving, seven kills and 23 digs. Stephanie Wilson (Dartmouth, MA) added 11 kills, nine digs and two blocks, while Cindy Brehaut (Dartmouth, MA) had eight kills, four blocks and 17 digs. Karyn Ferreira (Marion, MA) had four blocks for the Corsairs, who recorded 80 blocks as a team in a 15-8, 15-13, 15-6 sweep.

In the quarterfinals of the LEC Tournament at Willimantic, CT last Saturday, UMass Dartmouth opened its match with RIC by taking a 15-8 victory. RIC came storming back to take the next two sets, 15-4 and 15-11, for a 2-1 lead. But the Corsairs evened the match with a 15-9 decision in the fourth set and advanced to the semi-finals with a 15-7 victory in the final set. Eastern Connecticut swept the Corsairs out of the tournament with a 15-4, 15-3, 15-4 victory.

Brehaut was named to the All-Little East Conference squad after the tournament for her 11 blocks and 14 kills in the Corsairs' two matches. Among the other Corsairs who had strong performances during the LEC tournament were Ferreira (seven blocks, 11 kills), Amy Wilson (22 kills) and Heather Louro (Dartmouth, MA) (38 assists).

UMass Dartmouth picked up back-to-back victories over Merrimack College and Connecticut College, before being shutout by Plymouth State. Coach Marilyn Ritz's Corsairs are 9-8 overall with one game left on the schedule.

In the 3-0 victory over Merrimack College, the Corsairs jumped out to a 2-0 lead at intermission on goals by Erin McDonald (Greenfield, MA) and Ashley Dorman (Harwich, MA). McDonald's goal proved to be the game-winner because Becky Medeiros (Fall River, MA) made seven saves to shutout Merrimack College. McDonald's goal was assisted by Kelly Place (Ashland, MA) and less than three minutes later, McDonald assisted on Dorman's goal. Maureen Zukowski (Dartmouth, MA) added an insurance goal in the second half, with an assist from McDonald, for the 3-0 final.

Two days later, the Corsairs got past Connecticut College, 2-1, in overtime on a pair of goals by Dorman. Connecticut College took a 1-0 lead in the first half before Dorman's unassisted goal tied the score. The game remained tied through the second half and into sudden death when Dorman's second unassisted goal of the game gave the Corsairs a 2-1 victory. Paula Malcom (Milford, MA) made 10 saves in goal for the Corsairs. UMass Dartmouth gave up five first-half goals en route to a 6-0 loss to Plymouth State College to end the week. Medeiros had eight saves and Malcom added six in relief.

An 8-1 victory over Worcester State extended UMass Dartmouth's winning streak to eight in a row to improve the Corsairs' record to 11-2. Coach Warren Preti's team will wrap up its season on Oct. 28 against Salve Regina.

In winning five of six singles' matches against Worcester State, the Corsairs' winning singles players posted a 40-2 record in sets and 24-3 in doubles play. UMass Dartmouth's singles winners included Ashley Kennedy (Holliston, MA), Christina Bendzewicz (Tyngsboro, MA), Christine Mace (Abington, MA), Thien-Nga Nguyen (Shrewsbury, MA) and Megan Harvey (Boxford, MA). The Corsairs swept all three doubles matches with Mary Bourque (Rochester, MA) and Kasha Gula (Mansfield, MA) winning at #1 doubles, Ashley Kennedy and Olivia Cunha (New Bedford, MA) were winners at #2 doubles with Harvey and Nguyen at #3 doubles.

UMass Dartmouth hosted its second annual Intercollegiate Horse Show last Saturday and Coach Susan Yacubian's team turned in a solid performance. Five riders earned first place honors in their respective events with 12 riders overall placing in their events. Sarah Roberts (Pembroke, MA) took first place in Intermediate Fences and fifth in Intermediate Flat while Cara David (Mendon, MA) took first in Novice Fences and second in Novice Flats. Mary-Ellen Blombach (Hudson, MA) qualified for Regionals with a first place finish in Intermediate Flat and a fourth in Intermediate Fences. Andrea Dodge (E. Bridgewater, MA) took first in Intermediate Fences and third in Intermediate Flat and Melissa Sherlin (Rutland, MA) was first in Beginner Walk-Trot-Canter.

Lisa Haynes finished second in Novice Flat and Novice Fences, Becky Reddick (Walpole, MA) was second in Advanced Walk-Trot Canter and Sarah Richardson (Barrington, RI) was fourth in Novice Fences and sixth in Novice Flat. Among the Corsairs' other top finishers were Becky Torres (Mattapoisett, MA), third in Beginner Walk-Trot-Canter, Monica Asaff (Taunton, MA), fifth in Beginner Walk Trot Canter , Jill Pacheco (Dighton, MA) third in Beginner Walk-Trot Canter and Pam Silva was fifth in Walk-Trot.

UMass Dartmouth picked up its fifth consecutive victory with a 32-10 New England Football Conference victory at Fitchburg State College. Steve Wozniak (Whitman, MA) powered the Corsairs' offense with 201 yards and a touchdown, while Jay Furtado (Swansea, MA) connected on 13 of 24 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown. Furtado's favorite receiver, Ryan Bland (Dartmouth, MA), caught six passes for 102 yards.

Coach Bill Kavanaugh's Corsairs (6-1, 4-1 NEFC) got on the scoreboard first when Charlie Hogan (Waltham, MA) grabbed an eight-yard TD pass from Furtado for a 6-0 lead. Mike Masse (Wareham, MA) scored the first of his two touchdowns on a two-yard and Erik Lundell (Mansfield, MA) added the first of two extra points for a 13-0 lead. Fitchburg State narrowed the Corsairs' lead to 13-10 late in the first half, but Wozniak's two-yard TD with :16 left before halftime, sent the Corsairs to the locker room with a 20-10 lead.

After a scoreless third quarter, UMass Dartmouth finally put the game away with two fourth-quarter touchdowns. Masse scored the first on a five-yard TD run with nine minutes to play and Mike Cotton's (Middleboro, MA) 25-yard interception return for a TD closed out the scoring.

The Corsairs' victory improved their record to 6-1 overall and 4-1 in the New England Football Conference. Elsewhere in the NEFC last week, Westfield State snapped Worcester State's 22-game winning streak to hand the Lancers their first loss of the season. Bridgewater State faces Worcester State in a battle for first place this Saturday, Nov. 1. UMass Dartmouth has three NEFC games remaining, including a home game with Framingham State this Saturday. After traveling to Westfield State on Nov. 7, the Corsairs wrap up their season at home on Nov. 15 by hosting Bridgewater State.

Not including the Fitchburg State statistics, the Corsairs had two players in national rankings among Division III offensive leaders nationally. Furtado was ranked fifth in passing offense leaders with a 181.6 rating and 28th in total offense with an average of 225.3 yards per game. Bland was ranked 30th in pass receptions per game with an average of 6.2 per game.

The Corsairs' Andy Horsfall's 87-78 165 was UMass Dartmouth's low scorer at the annual New England Intercollegiate Golf Association Championships held last week at New Seabury. UMass Dartmouth placed 31st overall among all schools competing and ninth in Division III.

Four strokes back at 169 (89-80) was Matt Drake followed by Brendan Meehan at 85-85 170. Rounding out the scores for Coach Paul Fistori's squad were Matt Lane (Holden, MA) 80-94 174 and Bill Spellissy 90-91 181.

After a pair of ties with UMass Boston and Roger Williams University, the Corsairs dropped a 2-0 Little East Conference decision to Eastern Connecticut on Oct. 25. The loss dropped Coach Niall O'Donnell's record to 4-9-2 and 0-5-1 in the Little East Conference.

UMass Dartmouth had to settle for a tie against their former coaches' team last Thursday when the Coach Jim Cook's Hawks tied the game with 26 seconds left to play in the game. Playing with only ten men throughout the second half, the Corsairs were clinging to a 1-0 lead on a first half goal by Fabio Cardoso (New Bedford, MA) at 22:30 with an assist from Erik Reis (Westport, MA). But the Hawks' Tim Tagnucco tied the game for the Hawks with a goal in the final seconds for the 1-1 non-conference tie Mike Ring (Peabody, MA) made 12 saves in goal for the Corsairs.

Prior to the Roger Williams game, Coach O'Donnell's Corsairs matched UMass Boston goal for goal through regulation but neither team could score in overtime, producing the 2-2 tie. Reis scored UMass Dartmouth's first goal at 24:54 of the first half with an assist from Jamie Baganha (New Bedford, MA). Mike Takas' (Winchester, MA) second half goal at 79:17 with an assist from Baganha gave UMass Dartmouth a short-lived, 2-1 lead. But less than three minutes later, the Beacons got the equalizer for the 2-2 final. Rob Moles (Taunton, MA) went the distance in goal for the Corsairs, stopping five shots.

Eastern Connecticut jumped on the Corsairs for a pair of first half goals that stood up for a 2-0 victory over UMass Dartmouth. Moles made seven saves for UMass Dartmouth in a losing effort. Following this Saturday's LEC game at Western Connecticut, UMass Dartmouth concludes its season against Wheaton College Nov. 5.

UMass Dartmouth split a pair of Little East Conference games with UMass Boston and Eastern Connecticut last week along with a 2-0 loss to the top-ranked team in New England, Bowdoin College.

In the loss to Bowdoin College, the Corsairs (4-12, 2-4 LEC) held the Polar Bears scoreless through the first half. Bowdoin College broke open the scoreless game with a goal in the first two minutes of the second half and added a second goal12 minutes later for the 2-0 final. Jennifer Nelson (Medford, MA) made seven saves in a losing effort for UMass Dartmouth.

Barbara Carlin's (Burlington, MA) two goals lifted the Corsairs to a 4-1 LEC victory over UMass Boston on Oct. 22. Trailing 1-0 in the second half, Carlin scored the first of her two goals with an assist from Beth Salvia (Andover, MA) at 49:56. Carlin's second goal proved to be the game-winner with an assist from Michelle Cameron (North Reading, MA) at 59:27. An unassisted goal by Salvia at 71:20 boosted the Corsairs' lead to 3-1 and Vicky Tsatsis (Lynnfield, MA) closed out the scoring with an assist from Amy Prendergast (Sudbury, MA) at 74:38. Nelson needed to only make two saves to pick up the victory in goal.

In the loss to Eastern Connecticut, Salvia's unassisted goal at 2:38 of the first half tied the game at 1-1. Eastern Connecticut added two more first-half goals on the way to a 3-1 victory. Nelson made six saves for the Corsairs in goal.