Climbing to the top

By Shara Sarnelli

Having won the National Cheerleading Association (NCA) championship three times under division II/III, the UMass Dartmouth cheerleading team has made NCA history! Winning the championship first in 1999, then in 2001, and then again in 2006, Coach Scott Bouchard, assistant coach Lisa Pacheco and the team has been practicing extremely hard hoping to win the title this April for an incredible fourth time.

Scott Bouchard has been coaching at UMD for the past three years; however, he has been involved in cheering for the past eighteen years. Like most coaches, he started as a cheerleader; he then became a staff instructor for cheerleading summer camps, and he is now is a judge for other national cheerleading events and, of course, a respected coach for six different teams. But that’s not all! Bouchard also is a choreographer for high school and all-star teams, and he travels across the country to help teams put together mind-blowing routines.

This all-girl squad has a total of twenty-one members competing in the division II/III with senior Captains Nicole Minghella and Christine Maguire. UMD has previously qualified for the NCA collegiate national championships back in December after sending in a video showing that the team meets all the skills falling under the standard requirements set by the organization.

To prepare for the college national championship that will be held in Daytona Beach, Florida on April 5 and 6, the team has been having practices every week since the start of the school year. In order to progress and build a strong team, they were sure to start the season off with basic skills also ensuring safety. Once a skill was mastered, they moved up. And they keep moving up. Coach Bouchard claims that the routine this time around is much more “action packed” than last year. The difficulty level has been lifted, which also upped the requirements to make the team back in September.

The cheerleading squad has already begun to compete in competitions to help them further prepare for the big day in Florida. The 5-Star Academy Invitational took place on March 10 at Oxford High School where the team won first out of two squads in the division. Defeating Worcester State college, UMD has already set the bar level high. The team has also earned an award for having the best jumps. On March 18, the squad owned the mat again, winning first out of seven this time at the East Elite Invitational held at Marlboro High School.

If you’re interested in trying out for the team next semester, then send the coach an email, cheerscottieb@aol.com, to get a better idea of what he is looking for.

THE CORSAIR'S CORNER

The week in Corsairs Lacrosse

Corsairs blank Emerson, 10-0

The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s men’s lacrosse team took a 5-0 halftime lead and blanked host Emerson, 10-0, in a non-conference match at The Field at Rotch Playground Saturday evening.

Senior midfielder Ryan Trexler scored three goals (Agawam, MA/Agawam HS) and freshman attackman Matt Leary (Framingham, MA/Framingham HS) scored twice to lead the UMass Dartmouth attack. Freshmen attackmen Andrew Foster (Danvers, MA/Danvers HS) and Andrew Lewis (Longmeadow, MA/Longmeadow HS), sophomore attackman Jeff Pelton (Lowell, MA/Lowell HS), senior midfielder Mark Lapointe (Tyngsboro, MA/Tyngsboro HS) and sophomore midfielder Steve Colella (Wakefield, MA/Wakefield HS) each added a goal for the Corsairs.

UMass Dartmouth out shot the Lions, 65-8. Senior goalkeeper Craig Britton (Ashland, MA/Ashland HS) made two saves in playing the first 53 minutes, while junior Shawn King (Bellingham, MA/Bellingham HS) played the final seven minutes and made one save. Dean Smollar made 33 saves for Emerson.

The Corsairs improved to 3-1 with the victory, while the Lions fell to 1-2 with the defeat. UMass Dartmouth will return to action when they host Mass Maritime Thursday afternoon.

Corsairs fall at Pomona, 9-1

The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s women’s lacrosse team was held to a single goal and fell to host Pomona-Pitzer, 9-1, in the final game of their West Coast trip on March 22, at Zinda Field.

Junior midfielder Marie Spang (Wakefield, MA/Wakefield HS) scored the only goal for the Corsairs. Erin Bradley had three goals for the Sagehens, Emily Ferrell and Kayla McCulley each scored twice, and Liza Harman and Lindsay Slote each scored once.

Pomona-Pitzer out shot the Corsairs, 30-10. Junior goalkeeper Lauren Barber (Andover, MA/Andover HS/St. Anselm) made 22 saves for UMass Dartmouth, while Andrea Weiss and Laura Mitchell combined to make nine saves for the Sagehens.

UMass Dartmouth dropped to 1-3 with the defeat, while Pomona-Pitzer improved to 8-1 with the victory.

Corsairs fall to Salve, 10-5

Salve Regina raced to a 7-2 halftime lead and went on to defeat the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s men’s lacrosse team, 10-5, in a non-conference match at Cressy Field on March 20.

Josh Sallese and Ben Kelley staked the Seahawks to a 2-0 lead before senior midfielder Mark Lapointe (Tyngsboro, MA/Tyngsboro HS) halved the lead when he scored the Corsairs’ first goal midway through the first quarter. Robert Hoffman and Ryan Comerford gave SRU a 4-1 lead after the first period. Hoffman, Kelley and Daniel Vince scored in the second quarter for Salve, while freshman attackman Andrew Foster (Danvers, MA/Danvers HS) countered for UMass Dartmouth. The game was originally scheduled to be played at SRU, but was moved to Cressy Field due to poor field conditions.

Lapointe finished with two goals for the Corsairs, Foster and freshman attackman Andrew Lewis (Longmeadow, MA/Longmeadow HS) each had a goal and an assist, and sophomore midfielder Matt Swirbalus (Weymouth, MA/Weymouth HS) scored the other UMD goal. Hoffman had three goals and one assist for the Seahawks, Comerford and Sallese each had two goals and two assists, and Kelley finished with two goals and one assist.

“Salve has a very experienced team,” said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Kevin Mahoney. “They have almost everyone back from last year, they played very well for all four quarters, and (Head Coach) Pat (Cooney) does a great job. We have to use this as a learning experience and get better, which we hope to do beginning Saturday.”

The Seahawks out shot the Corsairs, 40-30. Junior goalkeeper Steve Chase (Boston, MA/Boston Latin HS) made 20 saves for UMass Dartmouth, while Brian Walker made 15 stops for SRU.

Corsairs’ spring break baseball news

By Ricky Smith

While the majority of UMD students spent their spring breaks either at home or partying in some dirty Mexican city, the Corsairs baseball team was hard at work facing teams in California and back in Mass.

Their biggest win of the break had to come on their California trip against nationally ranked Chapman University, defeating the Panthers, 8-5, at Hart Park. The Corsairs scored the first seven runs of the game against Chapman, who were ranked second nationally in the pre-season ratings by Collegiate Baseball and are two-time defending NCAA West Regional champs. UMass Dartmouth improved to 3-2 with the victory, while the Panthers dropped to 18-3 with the loss.

UMD dropped their first two games of the California trip, losing 18-6 to Cal Lutheran and 12-5 to Redlands. The Corsairs won their next three, beating Whitter, Principia, and the biggest win against Chapman. After the win against Chapman the Corsairs would drop their next three games all against Wesleyan, losing the first game 12-3. The second and third games were much closer, losing by a run in each game, 12-11 and 4-3. The Corsairs finished their trip out west with a 3-5 record and were, no doubt, looking forward to their home opener on March 25 versus Springfield, but the game was unfortunately postponed due to rain. The make up date has yet to be determined. Starting the 27 the Corsairs enter a stretch of six games in six days, all of which will be covered in the Torch in upcoming issues.

UMD coach nominated for Edward Jeremiah Award

GLOUCESTER, MA-For the second year in a row, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Head Coach John Rolli a finalist for the Edward Jeremiah Award, which is presented annually to the NCAA Division III Men’s Hockey Coach of the Year by the American Hockey Coaches Association.

The list of finalists includes head coaches of teams advancing to the NCAA Division III finals, as well as those named coach of the year in their respective conferences.

The finalists include Bill Beaney of Middlebury, who has won the award four times, as well as the coaches of the other teams advancing to the semi-finals of the NCAA Division III Championships, Tim Coghlan of St. Norbert, Ed Gosek of Oswego State and Keith Levinthal of Manhattanville, the ECAC West Coach of the Year.

Other finalists represent winners of conference Coach of the Year honors, including Rolli and R.J. Tolan of Wentworth, who shared ECAC Northeast Coach of the Year honors. They also include Chris Brown of Augsburg, the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year; Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association Coach of the Year Mark Ostapina of the Milwaukee School of Engineering; Wesleyan’s Chris Potter, Coach of the Year in the New England Small College Athletic Conference; ECAC East Coach of the Year Neil Sinclair of Skidmore; and Northern Collegiate Hockey Association Coach of the Year Terry Watkins of Wisconsin-Stout.

Rolli led the Corsairs to a 25-3-1 record and a berth in the NCAA Division III Quarter-finals this past season. UMass Dartmouth was the ECAC Northeast champion for the second year in a row, and advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament, where they lost to Middlebury.

The award is named in honor of the former Dartmouth head coach. It will be presented at the American Hockey Coaches Association Coach of the Year Banquet Saturday, April 28 in Naples, Florida.

McCullough finalist for Concannon Hockey Award

BOSTON — Gridiron Club of Greater Boston president Dave O’Brien has announced that senior forward Greg Osborne of Colby College is this year’s winner of the seventh annual Joe Concannon Award, which recognizes New England’s best American-born Division II-III hockey player.

Osborne, a resident of Stoughton, MA, finished his career at Colby with an outstanding season in which he scored 21 goals and 20 assists for 41 points in just 25 games. During his career, Osborne posted a balanced total of 48 goals and 57 assists for 105 points in 97 games for the White Mules. Osborne was named a first team NESCAC League all-star for the season and was named the league’s Player of the Year. He was team captain and led Colby to the NESCAC conference semi-finals where they lost a one-goal decision to eventual champion Middlebury.

A strong slate of finalist candidates, selected from the field of 18 smeifinalists, vied with Osborne for the Concannon Award. They included senior forward Kyle McCullough from UMass Dartmouth; senior defenseman Brett Smith from St. Anselm College; senior forward Ryan Moore from Fitchburg State; and senior forward Will Bennett from Wesleyan University.

McCullough, from Danvers, MA led the Corsairs to a second consecutive ECAC Northeast title and top seeding in the East for the NCAA tournament. McCullough finished the season with 17 goals and 31 assists for 48 points. For his career, Kyle had 64 goals and 90 assists for 154 points during 111 games at UMass Dartmouth.

Smith, from Hudson, MA, was a true impact player at both ends of the ice for the St. Anselm Hawks. His six goals and 13 assists for 19 points in just 22 games were among the team leaders in scoring, while he logged huge amounts of ice time each game.

The senior defenseman finishes his career at St. A’s with 35 goals and 69 assists for 104 points in 108 games.

Moore, from Randolph, MA was the ECAC Northeast Player of the Year in leading his Fitchburg State Falcons to the conference semifinals. He finished as the conference’s leading scorer with 23 goals and 19 assists for 42 points in just 27 games played.

Bennett, from Boston, MA, was co-captain at Wesleyan and helped lead the Cardinals to their best season ever. His team-leading 11 goals and 24 assists for 35 points helped propel Wesleyan to their first ever home- ice berth in the conference playoffs.

“This year has been maybe been the best season of competition at the Division II and III levels in New England college hockey,” noted Committee Chairman Tim Costello. All of our nominees had terrific seasons and our five finalists truly distinguished themselves from a very talented field. Greg has demonstrated great skills on the ice, leadership and sportsmanship and truly fits nicely among the group of illustrious past winners of the Concannon Award.”

The 2007 Joe Concannon Award will be presented to the winner at the New England Hockey Writers’ Dinner on Wednesday, April 11.