The U.S. Coast Guard Academy team successfully defended its championship by running away with the team title at the 25th annual UMass Dartmouth Invitational, but the Corsairs' Gary Mello (Woburn, MA) was the individual winner.

The sophomore covered UMass Dartmouth's cross country course in 25:41, 17 seconds ahead of the race's second-place finisher, Soloman Tsegai of Bridgewater State. Mello's victory was the first by a UMass Dartmouth runner since Deon Barrett captured the men's individual race back in 1994. It was also the seventh time in the race's 25 years that the host school has provided the men's individual champion.

With all seven runners finishing in the top 30, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy team took first in a field of 16 teams with 66 points. Wesleyan University was second with 108 points and Trinity College was third with 119. UMass Dartmouth did not field a complete squad for the event, however, the Corsairs' Pierre Reyne (Fontbellon, France) and Jeff Reed (Westport, MA) competed in the event. Reyne place 60th with a time of 28:51 and Reed finished 74th in 29:21.

Maura McDonald's (Greenfield, MA) 10th place finish was UMass Dartmouth's top individual performance at the UMass Dartmouth Invitational. McDonald covered the UMass Dartmouth course in a time of 19:01. As a team, the Corsairs finished 11th in a field of 20 teams.

Trinity College edged Southern Connecticut for the team championship, finishing with 67 points. Trinity had four runners in the top 13 to give it the edge by nine points over Southern Connecticut. Springfield College finished third with 80 points. Sara Titus of Southern Connecticut was the overall women's winner with a time of 18:46.

With McDonald leading the Corsairs with a 10th-place individual finish, the Corsairs had four other runners compete in the annual invitational race. Tara Carson (Beverly, MA) was the Corsairs' second runner to cross the finish line, placing 40th with a time of 20:09. Melissa Ying (Andover, MA) was third for the Corsairs, taking 58th in 20:38, followed by Karla Jarquin (Shrewsbury, MA) in 81st at 22:25 and Robin Holzer (Groton, MA) in 149th in 28:06.

Coach Rick Quintin's team dropped four of its five matches to open the season, but the one victory was a significant one. UMass Dartmouth's 3-0 victory over Framingham State College in the Brandeis University Invitational Tournament was Quintin's first victory as the Corsairs' coach and UMass Dartmouth's first since the 1995-96 season. The victory snapped a 30-game losing streak for the Corsairs, dating back to an October 31, 1995 victory over Framingham State College.

Amy Wilson (Dartmouth, MA) and Cindy Breahaut (Dartmouth, MA) led the Corsairs (1-4) to the 15-3, 15-3, 15-7 victory over Framingham State with 10 kills each. Setter Gen O'Brien (Swansea, MA) had a very solid outing for UMass Dartmouth with nine assists. In the first match for UMass Dartmouth, the Corsairs took the opening game against Trinity College, 15-10, before dropping the next three in a row for the 3-1 loss. Heather Lauro (Dartmouth, MA) had 11 kills for the Corsairs and Stephanie Wilson (Dartmouth, MA) added seven blocks. In their third and final game of the tournament, the Corsairs again started quickly, taking the first game, 15-13, before dropping the next three to St. Joseph's (ME). Lauro led the Corsairs with 14 digs and Wilson scored six straight points on her serve.

The Corsairs opened their season with a pair of 3-0 losses to Wellesley College and Babson College. In the season-opening loss to Wellesley, Marci Lima (Dartmouth, MA) had five kills and nine assists. Lauro had eight assists and eight digs and O'Brien added five kills and six digs. Lauro had 10 digs and Wilson had seven kills in the loss to Babson College. Brehaut added three aces and nine points for the Corsairs.

The UMass Dartmouth men's golf team made its season debut under new Coach Paul Fistori with a second-place finish in a three-team match at Nichols College. Assumption College took first with a combined score of 399, while the Corsairs were second at 408 and Nichols third with 424. Jon Ruel (Mattapoisett, MA) turned in the low round for the Corsairs, shooting a 77, two shots ahead of Matt Drake's 79. Matt Lane (Holden, MA) carded an 82, followed by Andy Horsfall's 83, Brendan Meehan's 87 and Bill Spellissy with 95. The Corsairs return to action October 1 at Emerson College.

Wheaton College handed UMass Dartmouth (2-1) its first loss of the season, taking a 7-2 decision over the Corsairs in Norton. Wheaton College took five of the six singles matches and two out of three in doubles competition. Kelly Berger (Buzzards Bay, MA) was the Coach Warren Preti's lone winner in singles, taking her #4 singles match in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3. Playing at #2 singles, Stephanie Hauser (Germany) dropped her first set, 6-3, before coming back to take the second set, 6-1. But in the third and final set, she dropped the deciding set, 6-3. UMass Dartmouth's #1 doubles team came through with a narrow 9-8 victory. Mary Bourque (Rochester, MA) and Burger teamed up for their second #1 doubles wins in as many matches.

When Ryan Bland (Dartmouth, MA) grabbed a 75-yard TD pass from Jay Furtado (Swansea, MA) late in the second quarter, the Corsairs had a 16-7 lead over two-time defending New England Football Conference Champions Worcester State. That scored turned out to be UMass Dartmouth's last score of the day as Worcester State came back with a TD of its own just before halftime, then added two more scores in the second half for a 25-16 victory over the Corsairs (1-1, 0-1 NEFC).

Erik Lundell's (Mansfield, MA) 32-yard field goal at 7:24 of the opening quarter had given the Corsairs a 3-0 lead before a Lancer's TD early in the second quarter put Worcester State ahead, 7-3. A couple of series later, the Corsairs took advantage of a Lancer turnover as John Lydon (Weymouth, MA) returned a fumble 80 yards for the go ahead score. Lundell's extra point boosted the Corsairs to a 10-7 edge with 10:18 before halftime. Bland's 75-yard TD pass gave the Corsairs a nine-point edge before Worcester State began its comeback.

Last week's Golden Helmet Award winner, Furtado connected on 13 of 36 passes for 255 yards and a touchdown. Bland was Furtado's favorite receiver, grabbing five passes for 111 yards, including the touchdown. Sean McGlynn (Swansea, MA) had four catches for 73 yards.

Worcester State's defense played a big role in the Corsairs' first loss of the season. UMass Dartmouth, ranked #6 in last week's ECAC New England Division III poll, was held to minus 14 yards rushing on 19 carries and the Lancers, ranked #10 in the ECAC poll, recovered two of four Corsair fumbles plus a pair of interceptions.

Coach Marily Ritz's Corsairs managed to score only one goal in its last three games, but they scored it in the right game. Kelly Place's (Ashland, MA) first goal of the season proved to be the game-winner in UMass Dartmouth's 1-0 victory over Worcester State College. Place's goal, assisted by Maureen Zukowski (Dartmouth, MA), came at 20:23 of the second half and lifted the Corsairs to their second victory of the season against two losses. Paula Malcom (Milford, MA) made three saves as the Corsairs outshot the Lancers, 6-4.

The Worcester State victory snapped a two-game losing streak for the Corsairs. Earlier in the week, Wheaton College edged the Corsairs, 1-0, and Wellesley College cruised past UMass Dartmouth in a 6-0 decision. Becky Medeiros (Fall River, MA) had 11 saves in the loss to Wheaton College as the Corsairs were outshot, 15-13. Against Wellesely College two days later, Medeiros started in goal and faced nine shots. Malcom came on in relief and faced five shots. Wellesley College scored three goals in each half and held a 40-10 edge in shots.

After falling to 1-2 with a 4-0 loss at Salem State to start the week, Coach Niall O'Donnell's Corsairs put a pair of victories together to move to 3-2 on the young season.

Rob Costa (Taunton, MA) had five saves and Gilson Timas (Brockton, MA) added 14 more in the 4-0 loss to Salem State. Two days later, Timas got the start in goal and came up with his first win of the season, making four saves in a 3-2 win over Salve Regina in Newport, RI. Trailing 1-0 late in the first half, Jame Baganha (New Bedford, MA) scored his first goal of the season with an assist from Fabio Cardoso (New Bedford, MA). Baganha's goal at 35:20 tied the game, but less than four minutes later, Salve Regina score its second goal for a 2-1 lead at intermission. UMass Dartmouth's defense kept Salve Regina off the scoreboard in the second half, setting the stage for the Corsairs' comeback. Chris Gridelli (Woburn, MA) tied the game with his first of the season, assisted by Jeff Grossi (Wilbraham, MA, at 64:00. Less than 10 minutes later, Robert Workman's (Bridgewater , MA) unassisted goal, his first of the year, lifted the Corsairs to the 3-2 victory.

Workman maintained his scoring touch two days later, scoring UMass Dartmouth's first two goals in a 6-3 win at Worcester State College. Workman scored his second and third of the season with assists from Tory Terrassi (So. Easton, MA), on the first, and Erik Reis (Westport, MA) on the second, for a 2-0 lead. Gridelli's goal followed the Lancers' first of the half, sending the teams to the intermission with a 3-1 Corsair lead. Worcester State came roaring back with a pair of goals to tie the game at 3-3. Chris Serafini (W. Springfield, MA) scored what proved to be the game-winner for UMass Dartmouth less than ten minutes later with the first of two goals and an assist. Serafini's goal at 66:56 was assisted by Gridelli and followed by an unassisted goal by Serfini at 80:29. Adison DaSilva (Dorchester, MA) rounded out the Corsairs' scoring with a goal from Serafini at 81:13 for the 6-3 final.

Coach Alex Silva's Corsairs split a pair of non-conference games, knocking off Bridgewater State, 2-1, before traveling to Springfield College for a 4-1 loss. The Corsairs' record stands at 2-3 with their Little East Conference schedule set to open Sept. 27 with a home game against Rhode Island College.

Stephanie Oles (Putnam, MA) put the Corsairs ahead against Bridgewater State with her second goal of the season. Oles' goal at 32:11 of the opening half was assisted by Aja Folino (Rockland, MA). The Bears tied the game early in the second half before Corraine Butler (Beverly, MA) scored what proved to be the game-winner. Liz Salvia (Andover, MA) got credit for an assist on Butler's goal that came at 64:12. Jennifer Nelson (Medford, MA) made 14 saves in goal as the Corsairs hung on for the 2-1 victory.

Against Springfield College, the Corsairs started quickly, scoring the game's first goal within the first two minutes. Jennifer Tolson (Whitman, MA) netted her second goal in five games with an assist from Folino for a 1-0 Corsairs' lead. The Pride came back less than 30 seconds later to tie the game and added another goal just before intermission for a 2-1 lead. Springfield College kept the pressure on Nelson all game long, forcing the Corsairs' goalie to come up with 21 saves for the game. The Pride added two more goals in the second half for the 4-1 final score.

Tuesday, September 23

Women's Volleyball @ Brandeis University
Women's Soccer @ Wheaton College
Field Hockey @ Framingham State

Wednesday, September 24

Men's Soccer @ Bridgewater State
Women's Tennis @ Roger Williams University

Thursday, September 25

Women's Soccer @ Babson College
Field Hockey vs. Clark University
Women's Volleyball vs. Regis College

Saturday, September 27

Men's Cross Country @ RIC Invitational
Women's Cross Country @ RIC Invitational
Men's Soccer @ RIC
Women's Volleyball @ Fitchburg State
Women's Tennis @ Connecticut College
Field Hockey vs. WPI
Women's Soccer vs. RIC
Football vs. Massachusetts Maritime Academy