UMass Dartmouth Torch -- Sports


Thursday, March 8, 2007	The online edition of UMass Dartmouth's weekly newspaper	Issue 20, Volume 53
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SPORTS

Hockey wins ECAC, heading for D3 Tourney

By Jay Oza

Is it time yet to consider the UMD men’s hockey team a dynasty? We went through this debate with the local pro football team not long ago, but our Corsairs have now established themselves as New England’s latest arguable dynasty. With an absolutely thrilling 4-3 win over the Wentworth Institute of Technology, the Corsairs won their second consecutive ECAC Northeast Division championship. Hetland Ice Arena in New Bedford erupted when Junior forward Paul Garabedian shot a rebound past Wentworth goalie Justin Marriott for the game-winning goal with only 3:26 remaining. It was the first lead UMD had in the game.

The semifinal portion of the tournament took place last Wednesday night with UMass hosting archrival Fitchburg State. Emotions were high, and the students of UMD were providing the Corsairs with all the home ice advantage they would need and more. Chants of “@*#& you, Fitchburg,” “Bull$%*#,” and shouts regarding the sexuality of the Fitchburg goalie resounded, prompting UMD coach, John Rolli to stand up on his bench and motion for the crowd to stop.

The crowd did have a lot of cheering to do in this game. The Corsairs crushed the Fitchburg State Falcons, 7-3. A large, gutted fish was thrown onto the ice following the Corsairs’ first goal. This hockey tradition doesn’t appear to by dying anytime soon. Junior forward Jeff Grant scored one of the most fantastic goals of the season 3:53 into the second period. With the Corsairs trying to kill off a penalty, Grant intercepted the puck a center ice and was off on a breakaway. He deked in front of the net and went to the backhand score on the top shelf. The goal was of a spree that saw the Corsairs score three times within three minutes to put this one out of reach.

The other semifinal playoff game saw Wentworth upset Curry College. Curry, the favorite, fell to UMD in last year’s championship game. They would not earn a rematch due to a 4-3 loss at home.

The championship game was stressful for most Corsairs fans. Constantly down a goal, UMass alwasys had to battle back to tie the game. Wentworth scored on its first shot of the game, briefly silencing the crowd. UMass answered with a goal of their own. The second period started, and Wentworth once again scored early to give themselves another one goal lead. UMass tied it with about five minutes to play in the period.

Wentworth went up by a goal only two minutes into the third period, but the Corsairs answered right back to make it 3-3 for the majority of the third period. The rest was history. A clutch goal late in the game put the Corsairs ahead for good, as the faithful students of UMass Dartmouth watched the players and coaching staff celebrate a second consecutive division title.

“It was as good a collegiate hockey game as you are going to see,” said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach John Rolli. The standard of play in this division seems to have improved in the last couple years with the dominance of UMass Dartmouth. Coach Rolli was very pleased with his team’s ability to keep the game close despite falling behind Wentworth three times. “I thought that the key for us was to maintain our poise. We were behind three times in this game, and we just kept coming back.”

The season is far from over for the hockey team. The division championship gives the team an automatic bid into the Division III National Hockey Tournament. Last year, the team managed to win a first round game, before losing in the quarterfinals of the event. This year, the Corsairs have earned a bye in the first round of the tournament. They are the first team coming from the ECAC Northeast division to ever earn a bye in the first round of this tournament.

The State University of New York at Fredonia and Middlebury play each other on Wednesday, and the winner gets to face the red hot Corsairs. Hetland Ice Arena will host the game on March 10th. One more win would put UMass into the semifinals of the national tournament. The semifinals and finals are being held in Superior, Wisconsin.

March Madness has come to UMass Dartmouth in the form of hockey this year. With a chance to win national recognition, the Corsairs enter this tournament focused and confident. Their chances of winning it all are as good as ever, which is why the men’s college basketball tournament shouldn’t be the only collegiate tournament you pay attention to this March.

Head Coach John Rolli gets the troops ready for what would become last Wednesday’s 4-3 victory over the Wentworth Institute of Technology in the ECAC finals.

Corsairs take to the ice to celebrate their second consecutive ECAC championship victory.

UMD fights hard to keep Wentworth from dominating, finally taking the lead with 3:26 remaining.

PROFESSOR TORCH

March Madness: Bubble watch

By Scott Ferrara

Next week is championship week in the Division I college basketball season and brackets have already started being passed around. With Selection Sunday now rivaling Super Bowl Sunday, bubble teams will be watching ESPN intently to see if they will put on their dancing shoes and receive a bid to the 65 Team NCAA Basketball Tournament. I will be running down the top four and bottom four bubble teams. Will start off with the bottom:

Their bubbles are bursting:

Drexel- I have heard all season that this team could win their championship tournament and go at least to the Sweet 16. This is not possible, have you ever heard the saying, “Defense wins championships,” well Drexel has no sense of team defense. Their offense has been successful so far averaging 67.4 points a game, but only 10 defense rebounds per game, they are weak in the paint and will get chewed up by Old Dominion.

Forida State- Though they had a decisive win over conference rival NC State, their 6-9 ACC record speaks for itself. FSU is not a physical team and has trouble moving the ball around. Needless to say they are in the toughest division this year and with teams like Virginia and North Carolina, Florida State will have to watch the Final Four from heir dorm rooms.

Georgia- Being on the back end of a strong conference is what is going to knock out this team. The Bulldogs have played extremely well, though their record does not reflect it. Losing at the beginning of the season sealed the fate for this team. The unlikelihood of them winning the conference tournament and their tough schedule have taken their toll. There is always next year.

UMass Amherst- The Minutemen are at the top of the Atlantic 10 right now but it is unlikely that they will win their tournament. They lack the 6th, 7th and 8th men that help teams like Xavier and George Washington. The lack of bench players are going to pressure the starters to produce more and this young team will crack under the pressure.

Who’s going dancing?:

Old Dominion- Will come out of the gate swinging. Their dominance in the paint and there guards hitting almost half of their 3-pointers give this team a great one-two combination. A stout defense that will hold their own in tight games is the key to this team’s success. Old Dominion lost to Virginia Commonwealth in a tight game and will be playing as the number two spot for the Colonial Championship. OD will dominate the boards and receive a bid.

Illinois- Even with the Fighting Illini’s woes off the court they have a real chance in a tight division that is the Big Ten. They have a dogfight on their hands with the Wisconsin Badgers. Illinois has a great bench that produces when it has to and Bryan Randle would win the Sixth Man award in the NBA. This team has a chance to make the Final Four and even a slight chance to win the whole thing.

Georgia Tech- Will probably earn middle slot in the Tournament. Good team with a great balance of decent offensive and good defensive players. This well-rounded team and their enthusiastic coach will definitely make an impact. They are going to advance to the next round.

West Virginia- Had a great start this year and they have grown as a team dramatically. This group of young players has achieved a lot this season and making the Big Dance will be a perfect ending. They could upset a lot of teams and make it quite far. This is a great sleeper team, watch for them.

March Madness is contagious. I know that I have already started my brackets with the possible match ups. The great thing about college sports is that anything could happen. The sports writers are the ones that make the most mistakes. A great team is not made up of players with good statistics but a cohesive unit, which has a positive attitude and the will and desire to win.

Jodoin breaks record at ECAC Championships

MIDDLETOWN, CT- Junior Chris Jodoin (Uxbridge, MA/Maine) broke the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s team record in the 500 meter run as most of the Corsairs concluded their indoor seasons track at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships at Wesleyan University’s Bacon Field House Saturday.

Jodoin broke the 500 meter record set earlier this year by freshman Michael Boucher (Byfield, MA/Triton Regional HS) when he finished fifth in 1:07.24. Junior Sam Machuor (Newbury, MA/Triton Regional HS) was 10th in the same race in 1:08.33.

Junior Katie Malloy (Agawam, MA/Agawam HS), who has provisionally qualified for next weekend’s NCAA Division III Championships, was seventh with a jump of 5-1 3/4. Malloy remains 13th on the national list, pending other results this weekend. Invitations will go out Monday.

Senior Jennifer Munyon (Berlin, MA/Assabet Valley HS) finished fourth in the pentathlon with 2773 points. The distance medley relay team of senior Brian Vatcher (Stoneham, MA/Stoneham HS), Jodoin, sophomore Tyler Buck (Valley Center, CA/Valley Center HS) and junior Eric Holmes (Abington, MA/Abington HS) was 14th in 10:39.48, and the 4 x 400 meter relay team of Boucher, Vatcher, Machuor and Jodoin was eighth in 3:27.13.

“I was really happy with Chris Jodoin’s run,” said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Devlyn Lovell. “It’s very difficult to run the 500, and then come back for the relay, but Chris was very close to finishing in the top three, and it was good to see him do well. We were just trying to move Katie up on the list for nationals, so we passed at a lower height. She did great. Jen started out well in the pentathlon, but had a misstep in the long jump, and that was costly. Our 4 x 400 relay got pinched in a little bit, and could never catch up. It just wasn’t our day in the relay.”

The women finished 36th of 55 teams with seven points. St. Lawrence was first with 48 points. The men were 47th of 53 teams with four points, Brockport State won with 53 points.

The Corsairs will await a possible NCAA bid for Malloy on Monday.