The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
A look at Connecticut college scene
TEAM OF THE WEEK
Central Connecticut and Eastern Connecticut women’s cross country: Both teams won their conference titles with CCSU not only winning the Northeast Conference team title but also having the top finisher in Angelia Rafter. ECSU won its second Little East title in the last three years led by Sylvia Lawrence’s fifth-place finish.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Kayley DeLay, Yale, Roberto Piotto, Central Connecticut and Angelia Rafter, Central Connecticut: DeLay won the Ivy League women’s cross country individual title finishing the 6-kilometer course at Van Cortlandt Park in New York in 20:45.6, 3.6 seconds ahead of Columbia’s Katie Wasserman who was leading at 3.1 and 5.1 kilometers. Piotto won the Northeast Conference men’s individual title finishing the 8kilometer course at Stanley Quarter Golf Course in New Britain in 25:19 while Rafter led the CCSU women’s cross country team to the NEC crown.
HOMETOWN FOCUS
Alex Ostberg, Stanford: Fifth-year senior from Darien finished fourth in the Pac-12 men’s cross country championships posting a time of 23:08 over the 8-kilometer course at Ash Creek Preserve helping Stanford take third in the team standings.
BY THE NUMBERS
3: Finish by Yale sophomore Robert Miranda in Ivy League men’s cross country championships.
3: Goals in final 25 minutes by Quinnipiac women’s soccer team which rallied from 2-0 deficit to top Marist in MAAC quarterfinals. Selena Salas scored twice, Gretchen Kron had the game-winning goal and Ally Grunstein had two assists.
4: Players from Connecticut colleges ranked in top 50 in Division I in hitting percentage. Hartford’s Jenna Bridges (.398 hitting percentage) is 24th, Quinnipiac’s Kaleigh Oates (.395) is 28th, Yale’s Samantha Bray (.391) is 32nd, Fairfield’s Luci Albertson (.366) is 48th.
4: Finish for UConn’s Mia Nahom in American Athletic Conference women’s cross country championships.
4: Goals for Quinnipiac’s men’s soccer senior Eamon Whelan in wins over Siena and Fairfield. The New Fairfield native is third in program history with 35 career goals.
5: Finish for Southern Connecticut’s Connor Shannahan in Northeast-10 men’s cross country championships.
6: Shots by Moussa Wade who scored twice as UConn clinch- ed spot in American Athletic Conference men’s soccer tourna- ment with 6-3 win over Tulsa.
7: Different goal scorers in Sacred Heart men’s hockey team’s 7-1 win over Air Force. Braeden Tuck and Austin Magera led the way with a goal and two assists each.
8: Combined Ivy League wins for Yale’s men’s and women’s soccer teams heading into final two weeks of the season. The teams combined for three league wins last season.
9: Consecutive wins for Fairfield field hockey team which plays Sacred Heart in the Northeast Conference semifinals on Friday.
10: Number of 3-pointers by Hartford men’s basketball team in season-opening win over Central Connecticut. D.J. Mitchell led the way with three.
16: Program record for wins in the regular season by Eastern Connecticut men’s soccer team as Warriors are 16-2, 7-1 in the Little East Conference. Patrick Agyemang of East Hartford has led the way with 20 goals.
16: Goals by Western Connecticut’s Morgan Matthews this season including game winner against Salem State in Little East field hockey quarterfinals.
20: Saves by Tera Hofmann in Yale women’s hockey team’s 1-0 win over Dartmouth.
20: Points by Sacred Heart’s E.J. Anosike in men’s basketball team’s season-opening loss to Providence. Pioneers play at UConn on Friday. Anosike’s sister Nicky had a 3-0 record in games against UConn women’s basketball team when she played at Tennessee from 2004-08.
21: Regular season wins for Western Connecticut women’s volleyball team as Colonials earned top seed in Little East tournament.
26: Points by Yale men’s basketball junior Paul Atkinson in win over Stony Brook. It was best scoring game of his Yale career and he made two 3-pointers after only attempting one in his first two seasons.
37: Seconds remaining in second half when Paula Nunez scored tying goal against Stonehill as Southern Connecticut State women’s soccer team clinched spot in Northeast-10 tournament.
57: Seconds remaining in second half when University of Saint Joseph’s Michael Torres scored only goal in win over Albertus Magnus in GNAC men’s soccer quarterfinals.
67: Saves by Pierce Diamond as Albertus Magnus men’s hockey program began its inaugural season with a one-goal loss and tie against St. Michael’s.
GET OUT AND GO
Women’s soccer, Quinnipiac at Fairfield, Thursday, 7 p.m.: Bobcats set up MAAC semifinal showdown with 3-2 win over Marist.
Women’s soccer, Sacred Heart at Central Connecticut, Friday, 1 p.m.: Teams will meet for the second time in less than a week with a spot in the Northeast Conference title game on the line.
Men’s soccer, Brown at Yale, Saturday, 4:30 p.m.: The visiting Bears are looking to play the role of spoiler as Yale is looking to remain in first place in the Ivy League.
Field hockey, Big East championship at Quinnipiac, Sunday, 1 p.m.: UConn is the seven-time defending champion and was undefeated in conference play during the regular season.
Women’s basketball, Quinnipiac at Yale, Nov. 13, 7 p.m.: The Bobcats are expected to compete for another MAAC title despite the graduation of all five starters while Yale returns nearly its entire team including reigning Ivy League scoring champion Roxy Barahman.