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UMass Athletics:
October 2010 Archives
Here's our weekly look at UMass products in pro football.
Check out Adam Zagoria's story on SNY.tv about how former Knick and UMass Hall of Famer Marcus Camby stole the show from Amar'e Stoudemire in his home debut at Madison Square Garden.
"It was definitely electrifying," Portland center Marcus Camby said after the unbeaten Blazers beat the Knicks in a 100-95 victory. "I think Amar'e has brought a lot of excitement to the city and they're adapting to [head coach Mike] D'Antoni's style. And I feel that this is a better product out there than they threw together the last couple years. I expect this team to do great things this year."
In the end, though, it was Camby, the 36-year-old former Knick, who helped spoil Stoudemire's first game as a Knick at MSG. As Stoudemire drove to the basket for a potential game-tying basket with 6.5 seconds remaining, Camby knocked the ball out of his hands, sending it out of bounds. The officials initially awarded possession to New York, but then overturned it and gave the ball to Portland.
Continue reading SNY.tv: On Stoudemire's Night, Camby Stars.
In the Springfield Republican, Ron Chimelis has a column on how UMass' football win was a big one.
Coaches tend to avoid calling one win bigger than another, but Kevin Morris knew this one was very special.
"I won't rate it (against others), but it was definitely one we needed,'' the University of Massachusetts football coach said after Saturday's 21-14 win at James Madison. "We try to stay away from the highs and lows. Everybody had been a little frustrated, so (the coaches) just wanted them to enjoy the competition and refocus.''
Continue reading Republican: Football Passes Chemistry Test.
According to reports, UMass alum Stephane Lasme has signed with the D-League's Maine Red Claws. Read about it on ESPN Boston's Blog and The Examiner: Red Claws announce the first 6 training camp invitees.
Lasme was one of the Boston Celtics final cuts and is hopeful of recall by playing for the team's D-League affiliate.
Be sure to join Coach Derek Kellogg for a MISSION 1000 Tour stop at Theodore's in Springfield, tonight at 6 p.m.
Theodore's is located at 201 Worthington Street - Springfield, MA 01103 - 413.736.6000
Come out and support Coach Kellogg and buy your UMass basketball tickets by joining MISSION 1000.
The Newark Star-Ledger has a nice feature story on UMass alum Victor Cruz and how he is dealing with being out for the remainder of the season on the New York Giants injured reserve.
"This is not even close," said Cruz, who became the first person on his mother's side of the family to earn a degree. "With school, it felt like I hit a brick wall. As much as I wanted to say, 'Screw this,' and go home, I couldn't do it. I just had to keep pushing. So this is something I can manage. I can rehab and get better."
Continue reading Star Ledger: Cruz Staying Positive Despite Injury.
Best wishes for a Happy Birthday to women's lacrosse freshman Shannon Defliese and women's swimming & diving Kaitlyn McKenna on Oct. 30.
Here are previews of the Saturday's CAA battle at James Madison.
Here are various stories on the James Madison football team.
Lacking healthy defensive linemen for last Saturday's game at Villanova, James Madison's football team looked to a player whose season once appeared to be over. Junior defensive tackle Max Alexandre suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in a knee during spring practice in April, prompting JMU to announce that he would miss the 2010 season.
An Early Gift For JMU's D-Line
The Daily Collegian's Stephen Hewitt has a preview of UMass Rowing's Head of the Fish Regatta this weekend in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The Minutewomen will be competing in 11 races during the two-day regatta.
"This is a fun race," UMass coach Jim Dietz said. "It's one of the shorter head races, and most of the gals will race two or three times. It's to get out there as many times as we can and just enjoy it."
All-time UMass rushing leader Marcel Shipp scored his UFL-best fifth touchdown of the season last night as his Las Vegas Locos moved to 5-1 with a 24-10 win over the Omaha Nighthawks.
Here are stories on the game: UFL, Las Vegas Journal-Review, Box Score News, Omaha World-Herald.
The Cleveland Plain-Dealer has a feature on new Cleveland Indians general manager and UMass sports management program alum Chris Antonetti. The Connecticut native started his climb into the upper ranks of Major League Baseball as an unpaid intern for the Montreal Expos. Read the full story which has quotes and information from UMass' Glenn Wong and more.
Here's a snipet.
When Dave Littlefield and Neal Huntington, former UMass sports management grads running the Montreal Expos farm system at the time, told Wong they were looking for an intern, he recommended Antonetti for his work ethic and people skills.
Continue reading UMass Alum, Indians GM Chris Antonetti Feature Story.
The Springfield Republican has a preview of the UMass at JMU game set for Saturday.
The team has slumped after a fast start, and takes a 4-3 record into Saturday. The offense has moved the ball, but penalties have hurt. The coach says the mood remains positive.
Sounds just like the University of Massachusetts, right? But the description applies to James Madison, too.
"We're 4-3, but we played some good football teams and we have some good wins,'' Dukes coach Mickey Matthews told media this week in the lead-up to Saturday's UMass-James Madison game at Harrisonburg, Va. "It's not like we're having pity parties on Sunday. All the kids are good.''
Continue reading Republican: Two Teams Playing Survival Game.
As the calendar nears November, the chatter about who will and won't get into the Championship Subdivision playoffs is getting louder. While his team is still in the mix despite two tough losses in its last two games, University of Massachusetts coach Kevin Morris is trying not to focus on the postseason as his team gets set to head south for Saturday's 3:30 p.m. game at James Madison.
After losing to Richmond 11-10 and getting routed by New Hampshire 39-13, Morris said the Minutemen are focused on recapturing what launched them to a 4-1 start to open the season.
"This week is all about coming out with an attitude and enjoying playing football. The kids have been good. I think they're over it. They came out ready to move on. The Richmond thing didn't go our way at the end and against UNH we didn't play well at all. Let's shake that off and start anew and let's go," Morris said. "Guys are tired of being frustrated. Let's go out and play. This week is all about us and playing our brand of football. It's been very positive."
Read the full story in the Daily Hampshire Gazette.
Continue reading Gazette: Football Tries To Recapture Early "Attitude".
In the Daily Hampshire Gazette, Matt Vautour reports on Javorn Farrell's ankle injury.
"It's a bad high ankle sprain," UMass coach Derek Kellogg said. "I was hoping it would be something where he could come back quick, but it ballooned up pretty quickly."
Continue reading Farrell Suffers Ankle Sprain.
Mike Wood of the Daily Collegian previews the field hockey team's two games this weekend. The Minutewomen close the regular season by playing at West Chester on Friday at 3 p.m. and at La Salle on Sunday at noon.
In his story, Wood points out that though the Minutewomen are 5-0 in conference and the A-10 Championship is just a week away, they are still focused on this weekend's opponents.
UMass has won seven-straight games, the fourth-longest streak in the country, and haven't lost in over a month. Also check out the UMassAthletics.com weekend preview.
With two weeks left in the Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer season, things are starting to heat up. The Minutemen, currently in 2nd place, host Fordham who is log-jammed in a six-way tie for fourth today at Rudd Field (2:30 PM). La Salle, who is also tied with Fordham, visits Rudd Field on Sunday (1 PM) which will be Senior Day for the Minutemen.
Daily Collegian Preview: Minutemen wrap up home schedule over weekend
Daily Collegian Sidebar: DeVivo impressing in freshman season for Minutemen
DeVivo hasn't had much playing time with the Minutemen this season, so one must wonder if this recent string of success will have any impact on him playing more often.
"It's tough, we've got to come out and practice everyday and that's how we base our playing time," DeVivo said. "I just come in and do my role. Coach talks about playing your role and if everyone does that, we'll be successful. So I'm just going come in and do what I have to do when I come in and see how it plays out."
Matt Vautour has a preview of this weekend's hockey series against Providence which starts tonight at the Mullins Center (7PM, CBS3 Now) before wrapping up tomorrow night in Providence at Schneider Arena (7 PM, COX-TV).
Minuteman coach sees win in hockey team's near future
University of Massachusetts hockey coach Don "Toot" Cahoon has been encouraged by the growth of his young team and the effort his players have put in so far in this season. But as the Minutemen head into their fourth game of the year at 0-3-1 (0-1-1 Hockey East), he said his team needs to get a victory.
"It would be enormous. That's the positive feedback. I can put so many spins on this, but these kids want to feel fulfilled for all the work that they put forth," Cahoon said. "Winning is one of the most central pieces to this whole equation and it's where the fun is. We need to get some W's."
The Minutemen will try to break into the win column with a home-and-home series with Providence. The teams will play tonight at 7 at the Mullins Center and Saturday at 7 p.m. at Providence.
A quick update on several other former UMass hockey players who are now in the professional ranks:
Jonathan Quick - L.A. Kings - 6 W, 1 L, 1.96 GAA, .928 Sv%, 429 min.
After being recalled from the AHL Houston Aeros yesterday for the Minnesota Wild's game versus the Washington Capitals, Casey Wellman played just over 11 minutes in the 2-1 win. Here is the official box score along with highlights.
Wellman Recalled From Houston
Thursday, 10.28.2010 / 2:48 PM / News
Minnesota Wild
Minnesota Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher today announced the National Hockey League (NHL) club has recalled forward Casey Wellman from the Houston Aeros of the American Hockey League (AHL).
Wellman, 23 (10/18/87), has posted three points (2-1=3) in six games for Houston this season. The 6-foot, 186-pound native of Brentwood, Calif., began the season with Minnesota, playing in one game, Oct. 8 against Carolina. Last season, Wellman signed as a free agent with the Wild on March 16, and totaled four points (1-3=4) in 12 games with Minnesota. Wellman, an undrafted free agent out of the University of Massachusetts, wears No. 17 with the Wild.
Tonight's UMass Football Radio Show will feature seniors John Ihne and Torrey Esalomi. Join us at the Hangar at 7 p.m., or listen on 100.9 FM WRNX and 1510 The Zone.
College Football Performance Awards has announced its Watch Lists for Running Back and Wide Receiver of the Year Awards and UMass senior wideout Anthony Nelson has made the list.
The transfer from Hofstra leads not only the Minutemen, but the CAA in receptions and yardage this season. Nelson has caught 47 passes for 610 yards and two touchdowns in seven games.
Check out this great story from Fan House on the success of CAA in the FCS. There are several mentions of UMass including comment from head coach Kevin Morris.
"We're always open to finding the best kids that are going to help UMass football," Minutemen coach Kevin Morris said. "Character is a big issue for us. We want to fully vet each kid and make sure we got the kid we want in the program, in the locker room and on campus. And obviously, athletically does he fit a need for us and does he make us better? All these guys want to come in and play right away."
Continue reading FanHouse Calls CAA The "SEC Of The FCS".
Less than a month ago, Celtic Tony Gaffney was, perhaps more than any NBA player, living his dream. He had grown up in a Massachusetts bedroom with parquet floor, covered in Celtics memorabilia. After college at the University of Massachusetts, then stints with the Lakers, and in Israel, he was a few weeks from wearing green in an NBA regular season game for the first time. Alas, there are no promises at the NBA's fringes, and Gaffney was cut in training camp. He quickly signed with Telekom, in Ankara, Turkey. He has agreed to update TrueHoop readers from time to time from abroad. His first installment: on ESPN.com True Hoop.
Continue reading ESPN True Hoop Updates Gaffney In Turkey.
UMass alum and 2008 star Gary Forbes made his NBA debut with the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night. He scored three points, grabbed three rebounds in just over five minutes of action. The Nuggets beat the Utah Jazz 110-88 at Pepsi Center. Watch Forbes in action here.
Nick Bellofatto of the Daily Collegian previews the men's and women's swimming & diving teams' road meet at Stony Brook this weekend. Both teams are riding high coming off a sweep of Army in the home opener last weekend. Bellofatto points out the the Minutemen and Minutewomen will both be looking for their first victory of the season in enemy waters as both teams fell at Boston University in the season opener two weeks ago.
Scott Cournoyer of the Daily Collegian has a story on the UMass tennis team's trip to the ITA Northeast Regional last weekend at Dartmouth. As the headline states, the Minutewomen came away with mixed results, but among the bright spots has been the early season play of sophomore Julia Comas. Click Here for the complete recap of the ITA Regionals.
Happy Birthday wishes to football senior Brandon Flanagan and lacrosse sophomore Colin Fleming
The men's lacrosse team finished its Fall Ball schedule against Stony Brook at Garber Field on Saturday. LaxUnited has a video highlight clip. Check it out.
Also on Inside Lacrosse, there is a nice photo of UMass in action against Vermont from earlier this October.
Adam Miller of the Daily Collegian has a nice column on the veteran leadership provided to the men's soccer team by goalkeeper Chris Piekos.
Goalkeeper Chris Piekos is not your average senior. You only need to look at his age - 26 years old - to figure that out.
To put that in perspective, when the keeper graduated high school, midfielder Stuart Amick - also a senior - just graduated junior high.
While he is significantly older than any of his teammates, Piekos isn't playing for the Massachusetts men's soccer team at his age because of academic problems, but because of his willingness to serve for his country.
After his freshman year at Rivier College, Piekos served two deployments over four years in Iraq and received a Bronze Star. Needless to say, his background is a little off the beaten trail for a soccer player.
Piekos's maturity leads Minutemen
The annual Halloween series against Providence kicks-off Friday night in the Mullins Center before returning on Saturday night to Schneider Arena. The Daily Collegian has previews of the weekend's action.
With the Cincinnati Bengals secondary dealing with a lot of injuries, UMass alum and practice squad member Jeromy Miles could be activated by the NFL team. According to The Cincinnati Enquirer : Marvin Lewis mentioned during this pre-practice press conference that the Bengals were a little banged up as they began preparations against the Dolphins. We didn't know how bad until we got out on the practice field. During the first 30 minutes that were open, cornerbacks Leon Hall, Johnathan Joseph (ankle) and Morgan Trent, safety Chinedum Ndukwe, safety Roy Williams (knee) and linebacker Brandon Johnson were not practicing. For those scoring at home, that left Brandon Ghee as the only active corner practicing along with safeties Chris Crocker, Reggie Nelson and Tom Nelson. Safeties Jeromy Miles and Rico Murray are on the practice squad.
Said Lewis about the open roster spot: "We will make another move here, obviously. We'll see as we go today and tomorrow and Friday. We have some guys on the mend and some guys that are a little slow from Sunday's ballgame. We'll go from there."
Also on Bengals.com, here is their info:
The Bengals will see how the week develops before they opt to fill Adam Jones' spot. Head coach Marvin Lewis indicated they would do it via the practice squad, where first-year safety Rico Murray and rookie safety Jeromy Miles are the only DBs on the practice squad. Murray, from Kent State via Cincinnati's Moeller High School who played in five games last season that included the postseason, has played all three spots: Corner, safety, nickel corner.
The Kansas City Chiefs added wide receiver and UMass product Jeremy Horne to the practice squad on Wednesday. He appeared in three games with the Chiefs but was waived last week. Here are various mentions: Kansas City Star, KCTV, ESPN.com, NFL.com.
The Massachusetts football team travels to James Madison on Saturday with an imbalanced offensive performance to show for a balanced conference record. Read the preview in the Daily Collegian.
Continue reading Collegian: Minutemen Prepare For JMU.
The Daily Collegian has a feature on senior wide receiver Anthony Nelson and his emergence.
The loss of former wide receivers Jeremy Horne and Victor Cruz has not been felt by the Massachusetts football team this season, due in large part to transfer Anthony Nelson.
The senior, now is in his first and only season at UMass after departing from Hofstra, is providing quarterback Kyle Havens with a reliable receiving target down the field.
Nelson leads the Colonial Athletic Association in receptions per game (6.71) and receiving yards per game (87.1). Those statistics both rank 13th in the country, making Nelson not only one of the best receiver on the Minutemen and in the conference, but one of the best in the nation.
Continue reading Collegian: Nelson Filling Cruz, Horne's Shoes.
The University of Massachusetts men's basketball team has added an exhibition game for a good cause. The Minutemen announced Tuesday they will host Division III Brandeis University at 7 p.m. on Nov. 4 at the Mullins Center. The game will benefit The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. Read stories in the Daily Hampshire Gazette, Springfield Republican.
Playing as a UMass Hall of Famer for the first time in regular-season, Marcus Camby posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds in the Portland Trailblazers 106-92 win over Phoenix. Here are some stories on the Camby-Man.
• Oregon Live: Trail Blazers 106, Suns 92 - Final
• NBA.com: Strong beginning
• Blazer's Edge: Media Row Report: Blazers 106, Suns 92
The Massachusetts men's basketball team has some holes to fill after losing its top scorer Ricky Harris to graduation.
"In losing Ricky, we lost 20 points a game and a guy who's been here and scored the ball his own career," UMass coach Derek Kellogg told the Daily Collegian. "It's going to be hard to replace." Stepping up for the Minutemen will likely be guard Anthony Gurley, who averaged 13.6 points a game last season including a career-high 24 points against Richmond in the Atlantic 10 Quarterfinals.
Despite having an experienced scorer waiting in the wings, Kellogg is looking to put "men" on the court.
"When I say a man, a man is a guy who never quits," Kellogg said. "He never gives in, he fights from the second he walks in the gym until the second he leaves. It's a constant effort, constant toughness."
Continue reading Daily Collegian: Hoops Looks To Fill Holes.
Check out this interesting story from Russ Held in the Springfield Republican about the Pro-Am Springfield Slamm, a team which Gary Forbes played for this summer before heading to Denver Nuggets training camp.
The system is working. And working well.
Springfield Slamm men's basketball coach Steve Sobel has had plenty of reasons to smile the last few weeks, most notable being the news Monday night that former player Gary Forbes had landed an NBA job. Forbes survived the Denver Nuggets' final cuts and will be in uniform Wednesday night, when the team hosts Utah at 8:30 in its 2010-11 opener. "We were absolutely ecstatic," Sobel said. "It has all gone beyond expectations. We knew all along that Gary had the physical talent and he has proven that he is willing and able to make any adjustment to help any team in the NBA."
Continue reading Republican: Springfield Slamm Pipeline To NBA.
One of the most popular birthdays among student-athletes at UMass is Oct. 27. Six birthdays to celebrate including five members of the track and field squads, here's a rundown:
Men's Track Daniel Barry, Women's Soccer Meghan Collins, Men's Track twins David Johnson and Kevin Johnson, Women's Track Jaime Mastrorio and Women's Track Jennifer Simao
Barry Collins D. Johnson K. Johnson
Mastrorio Simao
The worse the University of Massachusetts men's basketball team shoots, the better conditioned it will be.
"If somebody takes a bad shot in practice, everybody on his (scrimmage) team runs. They all do a quick sprint,'' coach Derek Kellogg said. "I'm the judge of whether it's a bad shot. And if it is, and it goes in anyway, I give them the points but they still run.''
Read the full story in the Springfield Republican.
Continue reading Republican: Hoops Making Shots Count.
Stephen Hewitt of the Daily Collegian has a recap of UMass Rowing's performance at last weekend's Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston.
The Minutewomen only have three races remaining on their 2010 Fall schedule, and will head to Saratoga, N.Y. for the Head of the Fish on Saturday
In the Daily Hampshire Gazette Matt Vautour has a column on making the Colonial Clash even "classier." He has four ways to make the event even better.
Continue reading Gazette: Making The 'Clash' Even Classier.
Here are various stories on UMass alum Gary Forbes making the opening roster for the 2010-11 season with the Denver Nuggets.
"It's been a great experience. It still hasn't hit me yet," the former University of Massachusetts standout told the Daily Hampshire Gazette on Monday. "It feels good to cross that off my to-do list in life. Now it's on to some bigger and better goals."
• Daily Hampshire Gazette: Forbes achieves NBA dream with Nuggets
• Springfield Republican: Forbes, former UMass star, makes Nuggets opening day roster
• Denver Post: Opener against Jazz just what Melo wants
In his blog on Daily Hampshire Gazette, Matt Vautour caught up with former UMass head coach and current Oklahoma State head coach Travis Ford to get his comments on Forbes making the Denver Nuggets roster.
Here's what Vautour's blog had...
When Gary Forbes was a player at UMass, he and then Minuteman coach Travis Ford were tight. They had similar competitive streaks and Forbes was a perfect player in Ford's system.
So I called Ford tonight to get a comment on Forbes' reaching the NBA. The former UMass coach was excited at the news.
I've talked to him quite often. We stayed in contact and talked a lot lately. It was great to get the phone call from him.
Ford said Forbes tried to play it nonchalant when he called
"He was like 'Hey coach, how're you doing?' and I was like "Did you make it?!"
"Here's a kid who just kept believing in himself more than anything. When he was playing over in Stillwater he'd come over and spend time with me in Stillwater. He kept saying 'Coach I'm going to make it.'"
"Last season he went for the money which I thought was a smart idea, but he kept saying he was going to make it. I think he finally got in the right system."
"He's done the hardest part. The hardest part is getting in. He's a guy that could stick around for a while. He's played well in the preseason and has been able to show what he's capable of doing. He's gotten a lot better since he's left UMass."
"It goes two ways. I'm still in touch with a couple players, who played for me in my first year at Oklahoma State. If you see a guy like that it makes you want to keep trying. But a very small percentage accomplish what Gary is able to accomplish. A very very small percentage. Guys who've been out of college for two years don't usually make it. Some of these guys I'm talking to probably aren't going to make it, but this gives them a little bit of hope to keep going. Players don't realize who hard it is to make the league."
Happy Birthday wishes to tennis senior Candynce Boney sophomore swimmer Lauren Mark
and men's lacrosse senior Mael Walkowiak.
Check out the Plays of the Week for Oct. 18-24!
After a stout start to Atlantic 10 play with four shutouts and just one goal allowed, the UMass men's soccer team is starting to climb the ranks of the national defensive stat charts.
Click Here For The Full Listing: NCAA® Ranking Summary
Keeper Chris Piekos now ranks 8th nationally in save percentage (.870), 9th in saves per game (5.58) and 26th in goals-against average (0.739).
With 6 assists, Ben Arikian ranks 29th in total assists and 36th in assists per game.
In the Atlantic 10 (Conference-Only Stats Leaders), UMass leads the league in goals allowed (1), goals-against-average (0.19), and shutouts (4) in five games played. Piekos leads the league in GAA, Shutouts and save percentage (.962).
In today's MassLive.com UMass Hockey Blog, Dick Baker looks at face-offs and Hockey East. The Minutemen will face Providence this Friday and Saturday in a home-and-home series that starts at the Mullins Center.
The men's soccer team had a huge weekend sweeping Temple and Saint Joseph's on the road this past weekend to remain undefeated (4-0-1) in Atlantic 10 play to stay in 2nd place in the league standings.
Daily Collegian: Minutemen finish strong over Saint Joseph's & Temple
New England Soccer News: UMass edges St. Joseph's 1-0
The Denver Post has a nice segment on UMass' Gary Forbes.
A good half-hour after practice, Al Harrington was entrenched in an intense one- on-one game with Gary Forbes, trash talk and all.
Forbes, who plays guard and forward, has assimilated himself quite nicely into the team this month, and Karl suggested Sunday that Forbes and post Melvin Ely, both free-agent invitees, will make the roster.
The front office will officially make a decision on the two players today.
Forbes had arguably his best preseason game in Denver's finale, scoring 25 points at Phoenix on Friday.
"He's an NBA player," Denver forward Carmelo Anthony said. "He's got an NBA body, a guy who's willing to learn. He's just a good addition to the team."
Karl said Forbes deserves to be on the roster, and that his intensity and scrappiness is somewhat reminiscent of former Denver defensive stalwart Dahntay Jones.
"I've always had work ethic, playing for Travis Ford at UMass," Forbes said. "It comes as second nature for me to try to always work harder than somebody else."
In the preseason, Forbes averaged 10.1 points in 19.1 minutes, and Ely, an NBA veteran, averaged 3.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in 20.1 minutes.
Ron Chimelis has a story in the Springfield Republican about the football team's offense.
The University of Massachusetts opened its football season successfully by winning as a team. The Minutemen are now losing the same way. They to hope to fix the leaks at James Madison, where Saturday's tough road game awaits.
"James Madison is going to be physical, and they're always fast,'' UMass coach Kevin Morris said. "It's JMU, they have quality kids running around out there. They'll bring the total package.''
Continue reading Republican: Football Seeks To Balance Offense.
Women's soccer picked up a pair of important Atlantic 10 victories this weekend, a dominant 5-0 win over Temple on Friday and a thrilling 1-0 overtime win against Saint Joseph's on Sunday.
David Martin has a recap of both victories for the Daily Collegian and also has this nice column on the six seniors on the squad who were honored before Sunday's match.
Friday's win against the Owls, which featured a hat trick by junior Deanna Colarossi, was covered by New England Soccer News.
The Minutemen currently stand at No. 18 in both the Sports Network and FCS Coaches Poll.
UMass' opponent this week James Madison is 15th in both polls. It sets up another Top 20 showdown for the Minutemen.
From the CAA, the following team No. 3 William & Mary, No. 5 Villanova, No. 6 Delaware, No. 10 New Hampshire, No. 14 Richmond, No. 15 James Madison, No, 18 UMass.
Continue reading Football Stands At No. 18 In Both Polls.
Listen back to what UMass head coach Kevin Morris had to say on his weekly conference call
Also, check out the comments from James Madison head coach Mickey Matthews
News from out west is that UMass alum and recent cut of the Boston Celtics, Stephane Lasme, will be working out for the Phoenix Suns in hope of earning a roster spot with the team. Here are mentions.
On Oct. 25, we wish Happy Birthday to sophomore soccer goalkeeper Brian Frame and freshman footballer Dominic Wooten.
More coverage on Monday after UMass lost in the Colonial Clash at Gillette Stadium before a conference record attendance of 32,848.
Recaps Of The Colonial Clash
It was a big weekend for the UMass field hockey team as it improved to 5-0 in A-10 play and ran its winning streak to seven with wins over Temple (1-0) on Friday and Saint Joseph's (4-1) on Senior Day on Sunday. Below is all the coverage.
Dick Baker had several updates over the weekend on his MassLive.com UMass Hockey Blog. Be sure to check it out each day as he offers a ton of information on the UMass Hockey program!
UMass hockey has game time change for Dec. 4
Close game on Friday night, but the Minutemen were unable to pull out a 'W' against a tough Terrier club. Here are the recaps and highlights from Friday night:
Examiner.com Recap
Chris Phillips, of the UMass Examiner has a preview of the 2010-11 UMass basketball squad.
Season three of Derek Kellogg's mission to return the UMass Minutemen basketball team to glory is upon us. For the second straight season the Minutemen will be looking to replace a key member of their starting five. Last season it was center Luke Bonner, forward Tony Gaffney and point guard Chris Lowe. This year the issue will be replacing leading scorer Ricky Harris who graduated after last season and is now playing in Lithuania.
Last season Harris moved into third place on the all-time scorers list at UMass with 1,960 points, trailing only Monty Mack (2,183) and Jim McCoy (2,374). His 19.8 points per game was also the ninth highest season average for a Minuteman and lead a team that only scored 70.7 points per game. Finding someone to fill that void will be key for Coach Kellogg.
Continue reading Examiner Previews UMass Men's Hoops.
Check out these stories on the Colonial Clash, as close to 33,000 fans came out to watch UMass and New Hampshire in the first-ever college football game at Gillette Stadium.
• Boston Globe: Wildcats are the class of Clash
• Boston Herald: Minutemen routed at Gillette
• Boston Herald: A big miss for UMass
• Worcester Telegram: Minutemen humbled at Gillette Stadium
• Daily Hampshire Gazette: Mistakes doom Minutemen in loss to UNH at Gillette
• Springfield Republican: UMass loses to New Hampshire before 32848 at Gillette
• Springfield Republican: UMass playoff hopes are slipping toward a precarious ledge
• ESPN Boston: UNH gets big CAA win at Gillette
• NBC22: UNH beats UMass in Colonial Clash
• Union-Leader: No close shave: UNH rolls to big win
• Seacoast Online: Football: UNH routs rival UMass in 'Colonial Clash'
• Concord Monitor: Rejuvenated 'Cats drive home point
• Nashua Telegraph: 'Cats go wild at Gillette
• Nashua Telegraph: Colonial Clash draws CAA record 32848 fans
The Boston Globe has a front page story comparing the football programs at UMass and UConn. It has lots of detail and information.
Continue reading Globe: UMass Has An Eye On UConn Play Book.
UMass product Jeremy Horne has been released by the Kansas City Chiefs. The former Minuteman receiver played in three games with the Chiefs.
Here are a few stories: WIBW TV and Arrowhead Pride.
UMass alum Gary Forbes is close to earning a spot with the Denver Nuggets for the regular-season in the NBA. He had a preseason-best 25 points in the team's exhibition finale, a 144-106 win over Phoenix. Read more about the game in the following recaps: Colorado Springs Gazette, TSN.
Watch Forbes hit a 3-pointer in this video, 1:00 into the footage.
As the Saturday morning previews start to roll in, check them out here on Just Take A Minute.
His college football career has not reached the midway point, and already Darren Thellen has built a strong foundation. As a red-shirt freshman, the safety from Brockton broke into the University of Massachusetts starting lineup last season.
He got to play alongside Jeromy Miles, now a member of the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad, while starting seven of 11 games in 2009.
Read the full story in the Enterprise News.
Continue reading Enterprise News Feature On Darren Thellen.
The Boston Blazers announced today the one-year signing of forward Dan Teat from the Philadelphia Wings along with the signings of offensive players Jamie Rooney, Brett Queener, and Sean Morris.
Stephen Hewitt of the Daily Collegian of this weekend's prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston. The UMass Rowing team will be competing on Sunday in the Lightweight Single, Lightweight 8+ and Championship Four. Head Coach Jim Dietz will also be racing in a single on Sunday morning.
Mike Lucas has a great feature on UWBadgers.com Insider profiling current Wisconsin women's soccer head coach, UMass Hall of Famer Paula Wilkins.
Lucas writes: "UW athletic director Barry Alvarez has a clearly-defined reference point for what it takes to be successful from his own personal experience as a Hall of Fame college football coach.
So his words carried more weight when he was asked to list the strengths of Badger women's soccer coach Paula Wilkins. Especially when he delved beyond the obvious. That is, she's a winner."
Read more of Lucas' profile of Wilkins.
Last night in the NBA preseason, UMass products squared off in Portland as the Trailblazers and Marcus Camby beat the Denver Nuggets and Gary Forbes, 90-83. Camby started, played 34 minutes and had 17 rebounds along with eight points.
Forbes came off the bench to play 12 minutes and had six points and three rebounds. He looks closer to securing a roster spot for the regular-season.
The business goals of Saturday's Colonial Clash seem sure to be reached. All that remains for the University of Massachusetts football team is the not-so-small goal of beating New Hampshire at Gillette Stadium.
The first college game at the stadium in Foxborough looks almost certain to draw more than 25,000 fans. UMass athletic director John McCutcheon deemed the project a success.
"If we got between 25,000 and 30,000, we'd be very pleased. That looks to be about where we'll be at.''
The largest crowd ever to watch UMass play another Football Championship Subdivision school is 23,454 for the 2006 NCAA semifinal at Montana. That seems sure to be surpassed.
Read the Springfield Republican.
Continue reading Republican: Gillette Crowd Approaching 30,000.
More on the Colonial Clash from the The Enterprise with a feature on Greg Niland.
He has sat in the stands at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro on a number of occasions since the facility opened in 2002. "I've been to Gillette so many times watching the Patriots or going down to see a concert,'' said University of Massachusetts offensive lineman Greg Niland of East Bridgewater. "It's an awesome place.''
On Saturday afternoon, Niland will get the opportunity to play at the home of the Patriots on Route 1.
Continue reading Niland Featured In The Enterprise.
In the Daily Hampshire Gazette, Matt Vautour has this preview of the UMass-UNH game aka the 2010 Colonial Clash.
After his team faced its first true adversity of the season in Saturday's 11-10 loss to Richmond, University of Massachusetts football coach Kevin Morris was optimistic about how his team will bounce back this weekend.
"We've shown the maturity to be able to come back and win in the fourth quarter," said Morris, citing his team's three come-from-behind wins. "Now it's a whole different question. But with the same maturity in mind, can we bounce back from a game that we should have won and come back with a real strong contest and win the following week? It's another test."
Saturday's 3:30 p.m. game against New Hampshire at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough figures to be an easy game for both teams to get motivated for. Any game in the Patriots' stadium is a big one. As is any game against rival New Hampshire. Add in the fact that it can significantly impact the Colonial Athletic Association standings as well as both teams'
Continue reading Gazette: UMass Taking On UNH At Gillette.
Read Ron Chimelis' preview of the UMass-UNH game in the Springfield Republican.
Darren Thellen has this matchup pegged. "They don't like us. We don't like them. It's a great rivalry,'' the University of Massachusetts safety said of his team's relationship with New Hampshire, which faces UMass Saturday at Gillette Stadium.
Dubbed "The Colonial Clash,'' this 73rd meeting of the onetime Yankee Conference teams will be the first college game played at the Patriots' stadium in Foxborough.
Continue reading Republican: UMass Gears Up For UNH.
Southcoast Today has a feature on wide receiver Nick Jablonski, a reserve receiver for the Minutemen and area foe Justin Mello of UNH. Read the full story here.
Continue reading Hometown Feature On Football's Nick Jablonski.
The Metrowest Daily News has a story on Scott Duggan. He has already had his seminal moment in college athletics, blocking a punt in front of 110,000 people at Michigan Stadium. Thing is, the UMass football player isn't sure that will be his career highlight.
The Worcester Telegram has a nice feature story on Hudson native Scott Duggan, who will have his second chance to play a dream game this season -- Saturday at Gillette Stadium. Playing at the Big House earlier this season was a lifelong dream come true for Duggan.
Continue reading Pair Of Features On Fullback Scott Duggan.
Here are various stories on the UMass basketball team and Atlantic 10 Basketball Media Day held at Chelsea Piers and CBS College Sports studios in New York City.
Continue reading Stories On Atlantic 10 Basketball Media Day.
The pre-game focus for this year's University of New Hampshire vs. Massachusetts football game has understandably been on the venue. For the first time ever, Gillette Stadium will host a college football game, and the Patriots' brass chose this long-standing New England rivalry.But once 3:30 p.m. rolls around and all the alumni functions, tailgating and honorary coin-flipping is over, it will boil down to two Colonial Athletic Association teams that need a win and can ill afford another conference loss.
From the New Hampshire perspective, here are several stories on the Colonial Clash:
Continue reading Colonial Clash Stories From New Hampshire View.
Sitting atop the Atlantic 10 standings, the UMass field hockey team (9-6, 3-0 A-10) faces two tough conference tests this weekend in the final two home games of the season at Garber Field.
On Friday, the Minutewomen take on Temple at 3 p.m. at Garber, while on Sunday it will be Senior Day as UMass faces Saint Joseph's at noon.
Here are some previews of this weekend's action:
In Dick Baker's MassLive.com UMass Hockey Blog, he has an update on John Wessbecker and keys to tonight's game against #8 Boston University.
Former Minuteman Wessbecker Playing In Arizona
It's the home opener for the UMass hockey team as the Mullins Center prepares to welcome fans for the first time in 2010-11 tonight at 7 PM with the No. 8 Boston University Terriers coming to town. WWLP NBC22 and the Daily Hampshire Gazette both have previews for tonight's action.
The men's soccer team continues its march to the Atlantic 10 Tournament this weekend with a pair of games down in Philly starting today at Temple (2:30 PM). The Minutemen will then face Saint Joseph's on Sunday at 1 PM.
With UMass alum Stephane Lasme being waived by the Boston Celtics, it is likely that he could end up with the Maine Red Claws of the D-League, the Celts' minor league affiliate. Here are various stories mentioning Lasme's future.
• ESPN Boston: Lasme expected to join Red Claws
• Boston Herald: Lasme Could Head To Maine
• Providence Journal: Von Wafer gets final Celtics' roster spot
• ESPN: C's officially waive three
Continue reading Lasme Could Be Headed To Maine In D-League.
Pawtucket Red Sox TV/radio broadcaster Dan Hoard's latest entry on his blog, Heard It From Hoard, is entirely dedicated to former Minuteman pitcher Chad Paronto, who was a member of the PawSox this past season.
Paronto had a weekly radio segment on the team's radio broadcasts called "Hangin' With Chad" that featured him interviewing his teammates. (Listen to the segments here)
Click here to read the blog posting, which includes a link to this video, which prominently features Paronto.
Wishing HAPPY BIRTHDAY to a pair of football players: Anthony Dima and Thad McCummings as well as women's soccer player Rachel Miranda on Oct. 21.
2010-11 Atlantic 10 Preseason Accolades
First Team
Lavoy Allen, Temple
Kevin Anderson, Richmond
Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure
Damian Saunders, Duquesne
Chris Wright, Dayton
Second Team
Juan Fernandez, Temple
Chris Gaston, Fordham
Tu Holloway, Xavier
Delroy James, Rhode Island
Shamari Spears, Charlotte
Third Team
Chris Braswell, Charlotte
Cody Ellis, Saint Louis
Chris Johnson, Dayton
Lasan Kromah, George Washington
Aaric Murray, La Salle
All-Defensive Team
Lavoy Allen, Temple
Kevin Anderson, Richmond
Dante Jackson, Xavier
Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure
Damian Saunders, Duquesne
All-Rookie Team
C.J. Aiken, Saint Joseph's
Langston Galloway, Saint Joseph's
Jordan Latham, Xavier
Rob Loe, Saint Louis
Juwan Staten, Dayton
Preseason Poll (# first place votes), Total Points
1 - Temple (19), 350
2 - Xavier (3), 325
3 - Richmond (3), 311
4 - Dayton (1), 310
5 - Rhode Island, 233
6 - Saint Louis, 223
7 - Charlotte, 218
8 - Duquesne, 172
9 - La Salle, 133
10 - George Washington, 130
11 - Massachusetts, 126
12 - Saint Joseph's, 91
13 - St. Bonaventure, 80
14 - Fordham, 28
From ESPN Los Angeles:
Just one day until the UMass hockey home opener against #8 Boston University in the Mullins Center. Tomorrow night's game starts at 7 PM and will be televised live on NESN. There is no better way to see the game, though, than live in the stands!
As University of Massachusetts senior defensive end Bob McLaughlin watched the New England Patriots play the Baltimore Ravens on TV Sunday, it didn't sink in that he was looking at the field he was going to play on six days later.
The Minutemen will face rival New Hampshire Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in the Colonial Clash at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough.
"I didn't think of it during the game, but when I came down to practice and we started talking about it, I thought back to the game and thought, it's going to be pretty fun getting to play out there," said the Brewster native and lifelong fan of the Patriots. "We're really excited to get to step out on that field. It's going to be a good time."
Read this full story in the Daily Hampshire Gazette.
Continue reading Gazette: N.E. Rivals Looks Forward To Gillette.
On an average Sunday during the fall semester, Northeastern University football players gathered for a meeting on the basketball court, as they customarily did in the day or two following each game.
Players chatted familiarly with each other, cracking the usual jokes while sharing stories about their weekends. They awaited the arrival of their coach for what they assumed was a typical recap of their most recent game, a 33-27 win over Rhode Island in their season finale on Nov. 21 of last season.
Junior running back John Griffin arrived at the gym as he did in week's past, expecting an assessment of his own and the team's performances amidst analysis of game film. Yet, something about this meeting seemed a bit peculiar.
Read the full story in the Daily Collegian.
Continue reading Daily Collegian: Griffin Eyes Title With UMass.
Despite the building anticipation and likeliness that this weekend's crowd will set a record, UMass coach Kevin Morris is getting his team to concentrate on playing New Hampshire.
Read this preview in the Daily Collegian.
Continue reading Daily Collegian Previews On Colonial Clash.
The Union-Leader has a football notebook on the Colonial Clash.
A crowd of at least 25,000 and maybe up to 30,000 is expected for the hugely important Colonial Athletic Association rivalry game, said Steve Metcalf, the UNH deputy athletics director who helped set the contest up.
Also, check this story in the Concord Monitor which looks at the Wildcats as they head into the UMass game.
Continue reading Union-Leader, Monitor Notebooks On Colonial Clash.
It's called the Colonial Clash. UMass and New Hampshire will play at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough on Saturday.
The stakes are high for both 12th ranked UMass and 10th ranked New Hampshire. The winner will have an inside track at a playoff spot, the loser will likely have to win out the rest of the year to make the FCS tournament.
Stephane Lasme has been waived by the Boston Celtics. He could still be signed by another NBA team or could end up in the D-League.
Read about it in the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, ESPN Boston, Masslive, Celtics Hub.
Ron Chimelis has this story in the Springfield Republican about UMass venture to Gillette Stadium.
The University of Massachusetts football coach played a high school game at Giants Stadium more than 25 years ago.
"The place holds 75,000 people. There were about 25,000 there. There might as well have been 10,'' Kevin Morris said. "But for a high school kid, it was fantastic. The thrill is in the experience.''
On Saturday, UMass plays New Hampshire at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. A great rivalry is about to be taken to another level.
Continue reading Republican: Gillette Game Will Be Cool.
The Colonial Clash is raising awareness across the state.The Fall River Herald News has a story on junior defensive back Shane Viveiros.
You'll have to excuse Viveiros if he isn't awed playing this game in Gillette. Last month, the Minutemen's starting rover (strong safety) played the University of Michigan before 100,000-plus fans in Ann Arbor. UMass lost that wild one 42-37.
Continue reading Viveiros In Fall River Herald News Article.
The Walpole Times has a wonderful lengthy feature on freshman Ryan Collins from Walpole.
When the time came it seemed like everyone in Massachusetts knew where Walpole's Ryan Izzo, the state's all-time football scoring leader, was going to college.
When his time came, only Izzo's Super Bowl champion teammate, Ryan Collins knew where he was going.
Ironically, they both ended up in the same place, UMass-Amherst, where Izzo is playing lacrosse and Collins football. And that makes Collins the benefactor of an exciting new concept that will be kicking off this Saturday at Gillette Stadium: The Colonial Classic.
Continue reading Walpole's Collins Has UMass appeal.
The Daily Collegian ran its 2010 preview for the UMass Hockey Team on Wednesday. Check out the articles featured in today's paper:
Check out this video of Derek Kellogg talking about the UMass sophomore class heading into practice for the 2010-11 season.
Here is a video of Tuesday's MISSION 1000 event at the Rumbleseat in Chicopee. Lots of big UMass fans and new season-ticket holders.
Here is a great feature story on Greg Niland in the Taunton Daily Gazette.
The bus carrying the University of Massachusetts football team to its opening game on Sept. 4 was getting close to McGuirk Stadium. Greg Niland of East Bridgewater, who was about to make his debut as a left guard for the Minutemen, began thinking about the strange journey that brought him to Amherst.
The Coyle-Cassidy High School graduate was supposed to be starting his final season at Northeastern University that weekend, not suiting up for a new team to face William & Mary.
When NU dropped its football program last Nov. 22, though, it left Niland and his Huskies' teammates scrambling to find new homes, and UMass is where he landed.
Continue reading Feature Story on Greg Niland In Taunton Gazette.
Check out the slideshow of photos from the Daily Collegian from UMass field hockey's 2-1 Atlantic 10 victory over Lock Haven last weekend.
Nice feature in the Springfield Republican, on senior point guard Gary Correia. In Gary Correia's first three years at the University of Massachusetts, point guards have come and gone, often passing him on the depth chart along the way.
It nearly caused Correia to leave, before he changed his mind about transferring to Boston University, just before the paperwork went through. As the 2010-11 men's basketball season beckons, Correia is a senior leader on a young team, and for now at least, finally a starter.
Continue reading Republican: Ball Is In Correia's Court.
The Daily Hampshire Gazette has a story on the way the Colonial Clash came into being. Check it out.
New Hampshire Athletic Director Marty Scarano was skeptical at first when Associate Athletic Director Steve Metcalf first informed him of Gillette Stadium's interest in having the UNH football team play a game there. "I wasn't sure we'd want to give up a home game," Scarano said. "The more we talked, the more it made a lot of sense. I thought it was a great opportunity for UNH." Phil Buttafuoco had been making a similar pitch to University of Massachusetts Athletic Director John McCutcheon. "It came together simultaneously for both of us," McCutcheon said. "When they were interested and we were interested it made sense for us to do a two-year deal and work on it together."
Continue reading Gazette: Gillette Presents Unique Opportunity.
Seacoast Online has a story on the stout defenses of both UMass and UNH.
It's the "Colonial Clash." Not the "Colonial Shootout."
Fans heading to the game between the University of New Hampshire football team and UMass at Gillette Stadium Saturday would do well to file away those Yankee Conference images from a generation ago, high-flying battles that gave us scores like 64-42. There's a good chance defense could rule this day.
And that's just one storyline for a game that's been highly-anticipated across two states since last winter, when New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft agreed to open the doors to his 68,000-seat modern marvel to one of New England's best rivalries. The teams will also play there in 2011.
Here are some football notebooks and information on CAA Football.
• Daily Hampshire Gazette: CAA football coaches lobby for playoff bids
• Springfield Republican: An unforgettable memory is nice, but the UMass needs a win more• Richmond Times-Disptach: Richmond QB goes from scout team to starter
• UMass Daily Collegian: Villanova trounces Maine during CAA weekend
• The UNH New Hampshire: Saturday's Colonial Clash will be start of new tradition
• NCAA.com: Week 7 Instant Replay: A Thrilling Return
• Virginia Daily Press: Peninsula products fuel Richmond's upset of UMass
• Laconia Citizen: College football: Wildcats flying high after JMU win
If you haven't seen it, check out the UMass Minuteman Marching Band's Tribute to George Parks from halftime of Saturday's Homecoming Game.
If you missed watching the UMass Hockey Show on CBS3 Springfield this past Saturday, you can watch it online. Host Josh Maurer and Coach Don "Toot" Cahoon break down the team's series against Minnesota and looks ahead to the next few games. We also learn about captain Paul Dainton, and the meaning behind the symbols on his goalie helmet. Plus, a couple of local players are leading the team's offense. And we take a few minutes to chat with Michael Marcou, and former UMass great Jon Quick.
UMass junior bigman Sean Carter give his take on the start of UMass basketball practice with a little insight on the UMass freshman and sophomore classes. Check out the video.
Here's a recap of UMass products in action in pro football this past weekend:
In the NFL:
In the CFL:
In the UFL:
Here's Ron Chimelis' Tuesday morning story on the UMass football team from the Springfield Republican.
Whatever festive backdrop was attached to Saturday's University of Massachusetts football game at Gillette Stadium has been replaced by a sense of urgency. With Richmond's stunning, last-second 11-10 win over UMass last weekend, the Minutemen's upcoming Colonial Athletic Association game against New Hampshire has showcase trappings but a must-win reality.
"Anytime you lose the way we did, you get the kids' attention,'' UMass coach Kevin Morris said Monday. "(The team says) that can't happen, it should have never happened. But it did happen. We need to stand up and fight and finish. You throw in that we're playing UNH, a great rivalry game every year, and at Foxborough, and nobody is sleeping through this one.''
Continue reading Republican: UMass Needs Win Over UNH.
Heading into the Colonial Clash, here are a few nuggets of information.
UMass At NFL Stadiums
• The last time the UMass football team played a game at an NFL stadium come on Nov. 2, 1991, as the Minutemen beat Northeastern as Foxboro Stadium, 27-12. That game was a home game for Northeastern and drew a crowd of 4,620.
• The previous other known game that UMass football played at an NFL Stadium -- while it was in use by the NFL -- came on Sept. 28, 1968, when UMass lost at the University of Buffalo, 23-0 at Buffalo War Memorial Stadium, affectionately known as the "Rockpile." It was home to the Buffalo Bills from 1960-72 and also was where "The Natural" with Robert Redford was filmed.
• Prior to that, UMass played games at Nickerson Field, against Boston University for many years. Nickerson was home to the AFL's Boston Patriots from 1960-62 and the NFL's Boston Braves in 1932.
• The last UMass team in any sport to play at an NFL Stadium came in 2006 as the men's lacrosse team played in the NCAA Championship and Semifinals at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. The Minutemen played in front of a then-lacrosse record crowd of 49,562 on May 27, 2006 in a Final Four win over Maryland. Two days later 47,062 watched UMass fall in the championship game to Virginia.
Largest Crowds For FCS Games
• Saturday's game at Gillette Stadium is sure to be a new record for a crowd to watch a UMass football game against an FCS team. The largest crowd to watch UMass play an FCS opponent came in the 2006 NCAA Semifinals at Montana. A crowd of 23,454 watched UMass upset the Grizzlies, 19-17 and advance to the National Championship Game.
• The largest regular-season crowds to watch UMass in FCS action have all come at Delaware, which has one of the largest seating capacities in FCS. The most to see the Minutemen in the regular season came on Oct. 22, 1988, when 22,301 watch them lose at Delaware, 10-7. There have been several other crowds at Delaware of more than 22,000 to watch UMass.
• Overall, the largest crowd to ever watch UMass came earlier this season at Michigan, when 110,187 watch UMass narrowly fall at Michigan Stadium on Sept. 18, 2010.
The UMass football team now stands 12th in the Sports Network Poll. New Hampshire comes in at No. 11. The CAA still has six teams in the Top 12: No. 2 Delaware, No. 4 William & Mary, No. 6 Villanova, No. 10 New Hampshire, No. 11 James Madison and No. 12 UMass. Richmond is also at No. 16.
In the FCS Coaches Poll, UMass is also No. 12 with UNH coming in at No. 9. From the CAA, here are the rankings: No. 2 Delaware, No. 5 William & Mary, No. 6 Villanova, No. 9 UNH, No. 11 James Madison, No. 12 UMass, No. 15 Richmond.
Continue reading UMass Football Stands 12th in Both Polls.
Check out these two videos from CBS 3 Springfield as the basketball team started practice this weekend. Also, the football team and Head Coach Kevin Morris took part in the JDRF Walk at Six Flags New England.
The field hockey team recorded two huge Atlantic 10 victories over the weekend to take over first-place in the conference standings at 3-0. On Friday, the Minutewomen knocked off previously conference unbeaten Lock Haven, 2-1 at Garber Field. On Sunday, UMass travelled to defending A-10 champ Richmond and defeated the Spiders, 2-1 in overtime. Below is more coverage of the wins.
On Sunday morning, the UMass football team led by head coach Kevin Morris was out in full force at Six Flags Agawam to Walk For a Cure for Juvenile Diabetes. The players and many staff members took part in the walk throughout the park to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Check out Coach Morris and his wife Rebecca -- the co-chairs of the Western Mass chapter of the JDRF -- with Mr. Six at Six Flags.
Here are few more stories/mentions from the media on Saturday's football 11-10 loss to Richmond at McGuirk.
• Daily Hampshire Gazette: Spiders stun Minutemen with late TD
• Daily Hampshire Gazette: Unexpected defeat skews playoff landscape a bit
• Boston Herald: Report: Rhode Island mulling shift to NEC
• Daily Collegian: Turnovers, penalties plague UMass against Richmond
• Daily Collegian: Spiders stun Minutemen
Springfield Republican sports writer Dick Baker, who many of you may know for his MassLive.com UMass Hockey Blog, was honored last weekend by the Northeast-10 Conference with the Dick Lipe Media Award. He was presented the award at halftime of Saturday's American International/New Haven football game.
The award, selected by a vote of the sports information directors, has been presented since 2002 "in honor of continued excellence in promoting the athletic and academic endeavors of the NE-10 student athletes and their institutions."
Dick is the second media member who covers UMass hockey to receive an award this year. At Hockey East Media Day in September, UMass Sports Network color analyst Brock Hines was presented the Joe Concannon Media Award.
Here are the recaps and analysis from Saturday night's 2-2 tie at No. 10 Boston University for the UMass hockey team. The two team's will meet again this Friday night (7 PM) in the home opener for the Mass Attack at the Mullins Center. The game will be televised on NESN.
Daily Collegian Recap
Daily Free Press: Call Doesn't Go Terriers Way
With the 1-0 win at Rhode Island on Saturday night, UMass remains unbeaten in the Atlantic 10 (2-0-1) and sits in third place in the league standings. UMass is two points out of second (Xavier) and and five out of first (unbeaten Charlotte) - both teams have played one more game than the Minutemen.
Here are various stories on the football team's 11-10 loss to Richmond on Saturday.
• Boston Globe: UMass thrown for loss
• Boston Herald: Big crowd sees flop
• Springfield Republican: Decimated Richmond edges UMass in 11-10 football squeaker
• Springfield Republican: This UMass football defeat threatens to undo a lot of good work
• Richmond Times-Disptach: UR stuns UMass with late touchdown
• The Richmond Collegian: Gray TD in waning seconds secures 11-10 win at UMass
• Worcester Telegam: Fourth-string QB beats Minutemen at end
In the Celtics' 97-84 win over the Knicks in Hartford on Saturday night, UMass alum Stephane Lasme played 19 minutes and scored seven points, making all three of his field goals while grabbing four rebounds.
Against the defending NBA Champion Lakers, the Denver Nuggets with Gary Forbes lost 102-95 on Saturday at Staples Center. Forbes was the first sub into the game for Denver and played 25 minutes. He tallied 10 points, had three rebounds and two assists.
After kicker Lawrence Tynes struggled to make it through Saturday morning's walk-through, the Giants signed veteran kicker Shayne Graham and placed rookie wide receiver Victor Cruz on injured reserve.
According to the Newark Star-Ledger. Cruz, who was a preseason sensation with the Giants, strained his hamstring Monday while running sprints. He said Friday he'll "definitely be back in there with the guys" next week, but that won't be the case now that he's on injured reserve.
The Giants did not give Cruz a "minor" designation, which would have indicated he'd be waived when healthy. That means the team plans on keeping Cruz on IR all season. Cruz was active for three games this season, although he did not catch a pass.
Check out Derek Kellogg's Minutemen in action on Day 2 of practice at the UMass Rec Center on Oct. 16.
The rain has cleared and Saturday looks like a great day for Homecoming 2010 as the Minutemen host Richmond at 3:30 p.m. Be sure to join us for a high-power CAA clash between two of the Top 20 teams in the nation. There will also be a special tribute by the UMass Band and Alumni Band at halftime in honor of the late George N. Parks.
Here are preview of the game:
Dick Baker had two additions to his MassLive.com UMass Hockey Blog last night. The first features freshman goalie Jeff Teglia in a comparison with BU netminder Kieran Millan who was in a similar position during his freshman year. The second focuses on UMass' early season success recently against Boston University and what the Minutemen must do to emulate that.
Teglia Can Find Confidence At Other End Of The Rink
One of the main story lines heading into tonight's game (and next Friday) against Boston University will be brother's Michael Pereira (UMass freshman) and Joe Pereira (Boston University senior captain). Stuck in the middle of the battle will be the family and friends who will cheer for both team's. Matt Vautour has a feature today in the Daily Hampshire Gazette.
After being assigned to the Minnesota Wild's AHL affiliate Houston Aeros last weekend, Casey Wellman is already making an impact. Last night, he scored the game-winning goal against the Oklahoma City Barons in overtime.
The Boston Herald has a nice feature on UMass junior captain Email Igwenagu. Check out John Connolly's story.
Some players are men for all seasons. UMass co-captain Emil Igwenagu can best be described as a man for all positions. In three-plus seasons (including his redshirt year) with the Minutemen, the 21-year-old junior has played fullback and linebacker, served on scout teams, been a special teams performer, and finally found a home at tight end.
"I don't really have a favorite. I like what I'm doing now," said Igwenagu, who will be in action today (3:30 p.m.) when No. 8 UMass (4-1) hosts No. 20 Richmond (2-3) on Homecoming. "(My versatility) helps me out. It's true. As a tight end, I feel I can do a little bit of everything. I'm not strictly a blocking tight end and I'm not strictly a receiving tight end. I do a little bit of both.
Continue reading Boston Herald: A Player To Emil-ate.
Matt Vautour of the Daily Hampshire Gazette was at the first practice of the season last night at the Rec Center and filed a story.
Whether it is better than it was a year ago still has yet to be determined, but the University of Massachusetts appears to be starting the 2010-11 season as a much fitter basketball team.
For the second straight season, UMass eschewed the bells and whistles of Midnight Madness for a more traditional first practice. It was held at the campus' new recreation center so students could watch if they wanted to.
"We're looking better. Stronger. We're in way better shape than we were last season," junior big man Sean Carter said. "It's going to pay off in the long run for us."
Continue reading Gazette: Hoop Team Shows Lighter Side.
Check out Derek Kellogg assessment of the Minutemen as 2010-11 official practice starts on Friday night. The coach talks about how he will be "playing the men" that have made UMass tougher mentally and physically heading into the season. Watch it here.
The women's cross country squad is heading to Warwick, R.I. this weekend for the Rothenberg race slated to start at 3:40 pm on Friday, while the men head to Fayetteville, Ark. for the Chili Pepper Festival at 9:45 am on Saturday.
"After both competing in the same place at last week's New England Championships, the Massachusetts men's and women's cross country teams are traveling to two very different locations for meets this time around" writes Ben Lambert.
Stephen Hewitt of the Daily Collegian has a preview of the Pumpkin Head Regatta, hosted by UMass Rowing on Saturday at 8 AM on the Connecticut River. "The event will serve as a practicing platform as UMass prepares for its biggest race of the fall season on Oct. 24 when it heads to Boston to compete in the Head of the Charles," Hewitt wrote.
Head Coach Jim Dietz and the Minutewomen will enter in two races on Saturday and will look to improve upon their performance from the Housatonic last week.
The Massachusetts women's soccer team will return to action on the road as it travels to play against Atlantic 10 conference opponent Rhode Island on Sunday.
Both UMass (5-8-0, 2-2-0 in A-10) and URI (1-11-1, 1-3-0 in A-10) are coming off losses via the shutout. The Rams closed out their non-conference schedule on Wednesday afternoon with a 3-0 loss to Brown.
Read the rest of Michael Counos' preview in the Daiy Collegian here.
David Martin also has this column about the Minutewomen's play on the road.
Matt Vautour caught up with UMass alum Gary Forbes, who is pushing for a spot with the Denver Nuggets. Check out his story in the Daily Hampshire Gazette.
Gary Forbes has been trying to tune out the praise, and there's been a lot of it to tune out. The 25-year-old former University of Massachusetts swingman has gotten his share of it in preseason training camp as he's trying to make the Denver Nuggets.
"It's been pretty good. It won't mean anything until I make the regular season roster which is what I'm here trying to do," said Forbes Wednesday night shortly after the team landed in Los Angeles for Thursday night's game against the Clippers. "I'm doing some good things, but still nothing."
Continue reading Gazette: Forbes Making Case For NBA Spot .
Read this game preview of the UMass-Richmond game in the Springfield Republican.
This one looks almost preordained for the University of Massachusetts victory column, judging from circumstances. It's not. Not by any means.
Five weeks since their last home football game, No. 8-ranked Minutemen return to McGuirk Alumni Stadium Saturday against Richmond, whose offense looked lost after quarterback Aaron Corp suffered a season-ending knee injury last week.
Continue reading Republican: Previews Football Game Vs. Richmond.
Don't forget to tune-in or set your DVR's, TIVO's, or if you are old-school, VCR's to check out the UMass Hockey Show which will air this Saturday, October 16 at 11 AM on CBS3 Springfield.
The show will recap the Minnesota weekend, preview the upcoming games against Boston University, feature insight into the program from head coach Don "Toot" Cahoon and show you sides of several players you may not have known about.
There are several features on Paul Dainton, Michael Marcou, T.J. Syner and Kevin Czepiel, plus you can meet several of the team's freshmen and Kevin Moore finds out what guys must do to get ready for games. It's a show any UMass hockey fan will not want to miss!
The newest edition of One Moore Minute has been produced with UMass hockey goalie Kevin Moore following Anthony Raiola on his trip home to Minnesota last weekend. Kevin takes you behind the scenes of the trip and you can see a unique perspective of "Razor" as his teammates call him (TEEMU as his hometown friends call him) back in his hometown of Minnesota.
Dick Baker has several updates on his MassLive.com blog from yesterday and Wednesday on the UMass hockey team.
UMass Picks Up Television Support
The hockey team opens its Hockey East slate on Saturday at Boston University for the only game of the weekend. The two teams will rematch next Friday night at the Mullins Center in a game televised live on NESN. Here are several previews for Saturday night's match-up in Agganis Arena.
Daily Free Press Preview
In the Boston Globe today, Nancy Marrapese-Burrell has a feature on how Paul Kelly and College Hockey, Inc., are working to keep top level college hockey players from leaving early or going to play in the Canadian Junior Leagues which makes them ineligible for the NCAA.
The organization is reaching out to players' families, too, so they can understand the opportunities in college and the long-term benefits of an education. According to Kelly, just 5 percent of elite players in both junior and college hockey make it to the NHL.
With basketball practice starting on Friday night with a 7 p.m. workout, the Springfield Republican has a look at the Minutemen.
How does a men's basketball team replace 20 points a game?
"That's a question I've spent the summer asking myself,'' University of Massachusetts coach Derek Kellogg said. "Trying to replace Ricky Harris will be very difficult. But hopefully, we'll be better in other areas. Adding two new players, with the others coming back as better players, means it should not fall only on one or two players.''
Practice for the 2010-11 season officially begins Friday night. A team that averaged 70.7 points per game last year must replace only one player, but that player was the third highest scorer in UMass history.
Continue reading Republican: Basketball Team Seeks Balance.
UMass product Stephane Lasme has certainly impressed Celtics coach Doc Rivers.
"I didn't know Stephane," Rivers said. "I really didn't. I think a week before camp, (general manager) Danny (Ainge) said, `Hey, we're going to bring this guy in. We like him a little bit.' And he's been terrific. We weren't sure what he was. I didn't know whether he was a 3 or a 4. Halfway through camp we weren't sure, and we realized he could play either position. Defensively he's an NBA player right now. There's no doubt about it. he has an NBA IQ, as well. He has to improve his offense."
Lasme is in the mix to make the roster.
"I think he has an excellent chance," Rivers said. "We've got some tough decisions coming up."
The Bud Light UMass Football Radio Show returns to the airwaves on Thursday night at 7 p.m. Be sure to join us at the Hangar Pub & Grille for the show, or if you can't make it, listen on WRNX 100.9 FM in Western Mass or 1510 AM The Zone in Eastern Mass. The guests for Thursday's show alongside coach Kevin Morris will be senior quarterback Kyle Havens and junior defensive back Shane Viveiros.
In the Daily Hampshire Gazette, Matt Vautour has a story about sophomore kicker/punter Caleb Violette and his perfect start to the season in terms of kicking. He's 6-for-6 on field goals and 16-for-16 on extra points. He's one of only six kickers in the Championship Subdivision who haven't missed a field goal and of those six, nobody has made more of them than Violette.
"Now, even if the defense is on the field, no matter what, I have to be ready. We could get a pick-six for a score and I could have to be out there at any time," Violette said. "It keeps my head in the game more. I'm much more involved in the game."
Continue reading Gazette: Placekicker Perfect This Season.
Here are a few stories from Thursday focusing on Saturday's homecoming tilt vs. Richmond.
Daily Hampshire Gazette: UMass placekicker perfect this season
Daily Collegian: Homecoming matchup opens second half for UMass
Richmond Times-Dispatch: UR's Anderson shoots to be better
The Richmond Collegian: Corp out for the year, Hicks to start at QB
In the Worcester Telegram, Bill Doyle has a nice feature on UMass alum Stephane Lasme.
Marlboro or St. Petersburg, Russia? Where would you rather live?
Stephane Lasme chose Marlboro, and he took a big pay cut to do so.
The former UMass star had planned to play professional basketball for a third season overseas, this time for big money in St. Petersburg, but because of immigration issues, the 27-year-old citizen of Gabon, West Africa, returned to the U.S. last month to be with his wife and young daughter in Marlboro.
Continue reading Worcester Telegram Feature On Lasme.
In the Celtics' 104-101 win at Madison Square Garden over the Knicks, UMass alum Stephane Lasme was the team's first sub off the bench in the first quarter and he started the second half for the C's -- in place of an ejected Kevin Garnett. In his 15 minutes, he had two points and four rebounds as he continues to make a push for a roster spot.
UMass football has been dominant in its Homecoming games since 1992. Check out the results over the last 18 years with UMass holding a 15-3 mark in those games. Among those 15 wins, are eight wins over Top 25 teams and four over Top 10 teams.
Date Opponent Score
Oct. 17, 1992 Connecticut W, 20-7
Oct. 23, 1993 #7 Delaware W, 43-29
Oct. 1, 1994 Rhode Island W, 22-12
Oct. 21, 1995 #12 William & Mary W, 20-9
Oct. 19, 1996 Buffalo W, 41-20
Sept. 27, 1997 Rhode Island W, 18-14
Oct. 24, 1998 #20 Villanova W, 36-26
Oct. 2, 1999 #6 Hofstra L, 14-27
Nov. 4, 2000 #23 Villanova W, 38-17
Oct. 13, 2001 New Hampshire L, 24-35
Oct. 12, 2002 #2 Maine W, 20-10
Oct. 18, 2003 Hofstra W, 27-22
Oct. 25, 2004 #19 Maine W, 35-34
Oct. 15, 2005 #4 James Madison W, 10-7
Oct. 21, 2006 Rhode Island W, 41-16
Oct. 16, 2007 Northeastern W, 24-7
Oct. 18, 2008 #9 Richmond L, 30-15
Oct. 13, 2009 #4 New Hampshire W, 23-17
You can listen to Head Coach Kevin Morris on the weekly CAA Radio Show. He talks about the great start to the Minutemen's season as well as a look ahead to the game at Richmond.
Click here to listen:CAAFB Radio Show 10.12 - Seg 2
Masslive.com has a story on the UMass Football team which will participate in Sunday's Walk for a Cure, a fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation at Six Flags New England in Agawam. The walk begins at 10 a.m. UMass coach Kevin Morris and his wife, Rebecca, are co-chairmen of the foundation's Western Massachusetts chapter.
Here are a few stories on the football game, this Saturday, Homecoming at McGuirk Stadium. A sellout crowd is expected.
In the Springfield Republican: Without the quick strike, UMass football offense is still getting it done
From the Daily Hampshire Gazette: Richmond quarterback won't face Minutemen
From the Richmond Times-Dispatch: Rush hour at UR finally features Kirchoff
Also in the Times-Disptach: Spiders QB Corp lost for the season
The Richmond Collegian: Corp out for the year, Hicks to start at QB
UMass' back-to-back Atlantic 10 Players of Year Gary Forbes and Stephane Lasme are making big pushes to make their respective NBA teams. Last night, but played big minutes as they came off the bench early.
With the Denver Nuggets in a 122-108 loss to Minnesota, Forbes scored 15 points and had seven rebounds in just 20 points.
With the Celtics, Lasme was the second sub off the bench and played 28 minutes. He had six points, making all three of his field goal attempts, while grabbing three rebounds. The Celtics lost 103-92 at Philadelphia.
WATCH these NBA.com highlights, which include Lasme (1:00 into the package).
In the Daily Hampshire Gazette, Matt Vautour reports that freshman Maxie Esho has been cleared by the NCAA and can join the team as full practices start on Friday.
"I was worried. When I heard, I was excited. It feels really good. I can do everything with the team," said Esho, who'd been working out independently with nonqualifiers Cady Lalanne and Luke Cothron, who both are sitting out this year.
Continue reading Gazette Reports Esho Is Eligible.
The Daily Collegian has a recap of the field hockey team's thrilling double-overtime 5-4 victory at Dartmouth on Tuesday afternoon. After trailing 1-0, UMass scored three goals in a five minute span before allowing two Big Green goals to tie it. The clubs then traded late second-half goals to send the game to overtime where Katie Kelly scored the game-winner in the 88th minute. The Minutewomen are 7-6 and over .500 for the first time this season.
In Dick Baker's MassLive.com UMass Hockey Blog, he examines some of the numbers behind the two games at Minnesota, including Paul Dainton moving into third all-time on the career saves list at UMass, and at the surprising UConn/Maine tie from the weekend.
UMass Hits Some Numbers In First Weekend
The Daily Collegian has a preview up on this Saturday's big A-10 match at Rhode Island for the men's soccer team. The Minutemen opened the A-10 schedule with a 1-0-1 record last weekend and are in a tie for 2nd in the league standings.
The Collegian also has a notebook in the paper that examines some of the struggles the Minutemen have had in the 2nd half of games this year.
In the Springfield Republican, Ron Chimelis has a story on the football team and how the Minutemen have be winning without the benefit of the "big play."
It took a full season for Kyle Havens to realize he did not have to win football games on a single play.
If the University of Massachusetts offense has so far lacked the big-play strike, it has compensated with the type of ball control and shared responsibility that Havens has learned works best.
"I realize I don't need to force the ball. I can get it to our guys for five yards, and they'll make it 20,'' the senior quarterback said Tuesday.
Continue reading Republican: UMass Football Getting It Done.
The Mass Attack's weekend at #15 Minnesota was covered by several media outlets in recent days. The Daily Collegian's Dan Gigliotti discussed the positives that Coach Don Cahoon can take from the past weekend's games as well as things that need to be worked on and improved. "I was pleased with the way we responded to the adversity of being down three goals," Cahoon said. "I don't like the idea that we were down three. There's a lot to work on."
Jake Ford of the Springfield Republican wrote about the 10 freshman that made their collegiate debuts as well as the adversity that the Minutemen needed to overcome last weekend when the odds were stacked against them.
The Daily Collegian's Steve Levine recapped the Atlantic 10 opener for the UMass Men's Soccer team last weekend. The Minutemen shutout Xavier 2-0, which saw Morgan Brandso net his first collegiate goal last Friday before battling to a 1-1 draw with Dayton on Sunday.
Herb Scribner has a sidebar in Tuesday's Collegian regarding corner kicks last weekend. "Thus far in the 2010 campaign, the Minutemen have given up 59 corner kicks, with 15 of them coming in the first two A-10 matches alone."
Stephen Hewitt of the Daily Collegian covered UMass Rowing's season opener at the Head of the Housatonic last weekend in Shelton, Conn. "The 16th annual event, which covers a 2.7 mile strip as the course, attracted rowers of all ages, from novice high school students to veteran masters, in one of the biggest races in New England has to offer"
The Minutewomen will host the Pumpkin Head Regatta this Saturday at 8 AM on the Connecticut River.
Ben Lambert of the Daily Collegian had a nice story today about UMass Cross Country's performance at last weekend's New England Championships. The men finished 30th overall while the women placed 11th.
The Minutewomen will be back in action to compete in the Rothenberg Race next weekend in Warwick, R.I. while the Minutemen will head to the University of Arkansas for the Chili Pepper Festival.
In the Daily Hampshire Gazette, Matt Vautour has a great feature on the sophomore class of UMass basketball.
A year ago, the four University of Massachusetts freshmen didn't know just how much they didn't know. As they prepared for the 2009-10 season, the rookies - Terrell Vinson, Javorn Farrell, Freddie Riley and Sampson Carter - all declared the freshman class ready for prime time.
At times they looked the part. Each had promise-revealing moments during their first collegiate season in which all four played a lot of minutes. But over the course of the year the Minutemen freshmen played like freshmen.
Now sophomores, the quartet is considerably more seasoned and wiser about what to expect.
Continue reading Gazette: Feature On Hoops Sophomores.
According to a story in The Day in Connecticut, UMass football will be playing at UConn on Aug. 30, 2012 to open that season. The game will mark the first meeting between the old Yankee Conference rivals since the Huskies moved to FBS football in 2000. UMass beat UConn in the last game between the teams in 1999, by the score of 62-20 on Nov. 20.
The Newark Star-Ledger has a feature on UMass alum Vladimir Ducasse, who is in his first season with the New York Jets.
Vladimir Ducasse can look back at training camp now and realize how overwhelmed he was as a rookie trying to hold his own among a veteran offensive line.
"I feel like I kept making the same mistake over and over again," the second-round pick said. "Every time I made a mistake, I would go back and keep thinking about it, instead of focusing on the next play. Now if I make one mistake, I just keep on going. Don't worry about it; we'll fix it later."
Continue reading Star-Ledger Feature On Vlad Ducasse With Jets.
Be sure to listen to UMass head coach Derek Kellogg this morning on WHAI (95.3) and Bear Country (98.3) at 9:15 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Kellogg will talk about MISSION 1000 and the upcoming season at UMass.
Under the lights at Garber Field on Saturday, the UMass field hockey team (6-6) started Atlantic 10 Conference play on the right foot by defeating Saint Louis in convincing fashion, 4-0. The Minutewomen outshot the Billikens, 28-0, the first time in over a decade UMass held an opponent without a shot.
The Minutewomen close non-conference play on Tuesday with a 3 p.m. game at Dartmouth. They then return home to host new A-10 member Lock Haven on Friday at 3 p.m. before heading to Richmond on Sunday.
Video Highlights
In the Springfield Republican, Ron Chimelis is back from vacation and has a story on the football team's rigorous tests starting with Richmond Saturday for Homecoming.
"We're going to need to come out fresh, with the opponents we've got coming up,'' UMass coach Kevin Morris said Monday, as his team came off a bye week and prepared for Saturday's game against Richmond.
This will be UMass' first home game since Sept. 11. Moreover, it opens the Minutemen's "second season,'' with six Colonial Athletic Association games lined up against some of the nation's best competition.
Continue reading Republican: UMass Football Ready To Re-Start.
After a bye week, the UMass football team remains at No. 8 in the Sports Network Poll. This week's foe Richmond is at No. 20. The CAA has seven teams in the Top 20 with five in the Top 8: No. 2 Delaware, No. 4 William & Mary, No. 6 Villanova, No. 7 James Madison, No. 8 UMass, No. 16 New Hampshire and No. 20 Richmond. Click below to see the entire poll.
The Minutemen are also still at No. 8 in the FCS Coaches Poll, as the entire Top 10 stayed the same. Richmond is No. 19. Again, click below to see this entire poll.
Continue reading Football Remains At No. 8 In Both Polls.
Chris Phillips from the Examiner has a look at the first-half of the Minutemen's season as UMass football stands 4-1 after a bye week.
By every possible measurement the UMass Minutemen have to view the first half of their season as a success. The Minutemen have defeated all four of the FCS teams that they have faced, including two both of their conference games. The Minutemen's lone defeat was to a nationally ranked FBS team that was undefeated until this weekend and the Minutemen nearly came back to win that game too.
Continue reading Examiner's First-Half Football Recap.
If you're trying to make a team, this isn't a bad way to go about doing that. On the flip, if you're trying to lead a team, this isn't the end of the poster you want to be on.
As UMass comes off the bye week, Kevin Morris took part in this morning's CAA teleconference. Listen to the coach's thoughts on the Spiders, who lost their starting quarterback Aaron Corp to a season-ending knee injury in Saturday's 17-0 loss at New Hampshire. Listen here: Oct. 11 - Teleconference
From the Richmond perspective, listen to Spiders first-year head man Latrell Scott:
One of the stories from Boston Celtics' preseason camp has been the play of UMass alum and 2007 Atlantic 10 Player of the Year Stephane Lasme. CSNNE.com has a nice story on Lasme and his chances of making the Celtics.
"He's been a guy that's been surprisingly playing well in camp," Celtics forward Paul Pierce told CSNNE.com. "He came out of nowhere."
"I like him a lot," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said of Lasme. "He just does everything. He's energy. He has a high basketball I.Q. He's probably our most athletic player, him or Rondo. He has a great shot at making our team."
Happy Birthday to softball freshman Paige Hansen, who celebrates on Oct. 11.
In Dick Baker's MassLive.com UMass Hockey Blog, he has several posts on recent UMass skaters with updates on their pro careers. He also previews what will be a hot topic this weekend as the Pereira brothers face-off in Saturday's game at Boston University.
Wellman Surprisingly Sent Down By Wild
Here's another retro jersey look for Jonathan Quick from this weekend:
James Marcou scored a goal in the 4-3 win over Hartford this weekend. This recap in the Telegram & Gazette has quotes from the former Minuteman about how the play developed.
Minnesota Star-Tribune writer Roman Augustoviz who covers the Minnesota Gophers has a post on his blog with his key moments and expanded quotes from the weekend series against UMass.
According to Inside Lacrosse, 2006 UMass All-American Sean Morris and Jack Reid are both trying out for the United States Indoor Lacrosse National Team. The team is completing tryouts for its 2011 team in Baltimore, Md. The team had a Red vs. White scrimmage on Saturday night at Du Burns Arena.
Coach Tom Ryan told Inside Lacrosse that the team will be narrowed down in November, before a final roster is picked in February for the May World Indoor Championships in Prague, Czech Republic.
2003 UMass football All-American Jeremy Cain and his Jacksonville Jaguars picked up a 36-26 winover the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. The NFL long snapper, snapped eight times on five Josh Scobee field goals and three extra points. The Jags are now 3-2 overall.
In other NFL action, UMass' Victor Cruz and Jeremy Horne were both in active for the New York Giants and Kansas City Chiefs, respectively.
On Monday night, UMass grads James Ihedigbo and Vladimir Ducasse will be in the action with the New York Jets against the Minnesota Vikings on ESPN.
Week 5 of the NFL season is sure to be an exciting one. Most fans in New England will have a chance to watch a pair of 2009 UMass wide receivers in the 1 p.m., games on Sunday. On CBS, the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs (with Jeremy Horne) take on the Indianapolis Colts. On FOX, the New York Giants (with Victor Cruz) battle the Houston Texans.
Other UMass alums will be in action as the Jacksonville Jaguars with long snapper Jeremy Cain play the Buffalo Bills at 1 p.m.
On Monday night, the Jets duo of UMass alums James Ihedigbo and Vladimir Ducasse, will be in action against the Minnesota Vikings on ESPN.
Jonathan Quick wore some retro style on Saturday night in the Kings season opener as the Canucks celebrated their 40th anniversary in Vancouver. Check out these stories with more photos:
Casey Wellman was sent to the AHL Houston Aeros on Saturday after the team returned from Helsinki, Finland.
Wellman, Khudobin Sent To Houston
Here is a pretty good preview of the Worcester Sharks heading into this season. The squad features four UMass players: Cory Quirk, James Marcou, Justin Braun and Matt Irwin.
Here are some updates from Dick Baker's MassLive.com UMass Hockey Blog from Saturday night's game at Minnesota:
UMass Goes With 7 Defensemen For 2nd Game
Today is a special one, its 10/10/10, a date that only occurs once every century with repeating 10s. Its a special day as well here for UMass Athletics as five members of the Maroon & White celebrate birthdays: football redshirt freshmen Theo Agnew, along with twins Tim Brandt and Tom Brandt will all age a year. They join swimmers Derek Hursch and Tarryn Teresak with the special 10/10/10 birthdays.
After returning from Finland around 4 AM this morning, it's been reported the Casey Wellman plans to stop by the UMass/Minnesota game tonight. Wellman played last night in the loss to Carolina that was played in Helsinki.
With the NHL season here, two previews were out yesterday previewing the 2010-11 season for the L.A. Kings and their No. 1 goalie Jonathan Quick.
In the UFL, UMass' all-time leading rusher Marcel Shipp scored a touchdown to help lead his Las Vegas Locos to a 22-10 win over the previously undefeated Omaha Nighthawks. Shipp scored on a 14-yard run with 10:45 left to play. Shipp started right, then cut back left across the entire Nighthawks defense to reach the end zone. He finished with 45 yards on 20 carries. Here is a recap from the Las Vegas Sun. For the year, Shipp leads the Locos in rushing with 158 yards in three games.
UMass' other alum in the UFL, Steve Baylark has the week off with the Sacramento Mountain Lions. He has three carries this season in three games.
Here are various recaps of UMass' 5-3 loss at No. 15 Minnesota in the hockey season opener.
Former UMass star Gary Forbes played 22 minutes in the Denver Nuggets' 109-99 win over the Portland Trailblazers and UMass Hall of Famer Marcus Camby. Forbes was the fifth man off the bench for the Nuggets as he pushes for a spot on the regular-season roster. He tallied three points, grabbed two rebounds and handed out two assists.
Camby was limited to just 2:21 of time, because of a groin injury, but is expected to be OK for the start of the year. Here is a recap from the Portland Tribune.
As the Minutemen prepare to take on Minnesota in the 2010-11 hockey opener, here are various stories on Toot Cahoon's Mass Attack.
Also, on the NHL front, Dick Baker mentions that Casey Wellman was a healthy scratch for the Minnesota Wild in the team's opener in Finland: Masslive
Stephane Lasme played against last night for the Celtics as they beat the Nets, 96-92, in an NBA exhibition game. He had two rebounds in 6:28. Check out this photo from the AP Wire.
Celtics Hub mentions Lasme: "Lots of people are high on Stephane Lasme right now and rightly so. Lasme is incredibly athletic and is known to be a force on the defensive end. Unfortunately, there is no track record I can point to that would suggest he would be successful guarding small forwards. Lasme was an undersized center at UMASS, snagging rebounds and blocking shots next to another skilled big man, Rashaun Freeman, who played power forward. I cannot wait to see if he gets any time defending small forwards before Doc Rivers makes a decision on the last guy standing."
All-time leading rusher Marcel Shipp returns to action on Friday night in the UFL as his Las Vegas Locos take on the Omaha Nighthawks and Maurice Clarett at Sam Boyd Stadium. Shipp is mentioned in these previews. The game starts at 10 p.m., on HDNet.
The field hockey team (5-6), fresh off a 2-0 victory over No. 8 Syracuse last weekend, begins Atlantic 10 play this weekend when it hosts Saint Louis on Saturday night at Garber Field in a 6 p.m. start.
The Daily Collegian's Michael Wood previews the matchup with the Billikens, including pointing out how players like Nicole Cordero and Nikki Panciocco have lifted their games as of late.
The Collegian's Peter Vasquez has a story on the Minutewomen focusing on A-10 play this year after getting off to a slow start in conference play last season.
The Massachusetts women's soccer team will look to build off its 1-0 victory against Saint Louis this weekend when it faces Xavier and Dayton. However, UMass will have to contain the Flyers' best scorer, Colleen Williams, if it hopes to come back from Ohio with two wins. Read in the preview in the Daily Collegian.
The Massachusetts women's soccer team that struggled to finish games earlier this fall is now a major factor in its latest success. Part of UMass' resurgent has to do with freshman Emersyn Pullan replacing the injured Emily Cota in goal. Read the sidebar on the defense in the Daily Collegian.
Continue reading Women's Soccer Set For Ohio Schools.
Happy Birthday - Oct. 8: to field hockey junior Amanda Dietz, and rowing junior Emily Grogan.
On ESPN.com, blogger Diamon Leung has an entry on UMass and how Derek Kellogg agreed to play BC in Boston, at the TD Garden.
UMass is giving up a scheduled home game against rival Boston College in order for the two teams to play Dec. 4 in the Garden as part of the first Boston Tip-Off Classic. Why make the trip to the road team's city instead? The attraction of being able to promote the program and college basketball on the parquet floor was too good to pass up.
"Our goal is to make New England and the Boston area the epicenter of college basketball where for maybe one day in every year, this is the place where college basketball happens," UMass coach Derek Kellogg told reporters.
"To give up a home game is tough for a college coach, but at the same token, to be able to come and play in this event, to have the venue and to have a little nostalgia of a Boston College-UMass game in the Garden is something that as a coach, I don't think you can turn down. Let UMass fans know -- the 200-something thousand that live within a five-hour ride of Boston -- that we're doing this for you.
"To give up a home game I think is worth it for our fans. We want to be known as the state school."
UMass is 4-0 at the TD Garden, pulling off an upset of Memphis in the building last season.
Adam Miller of the Daily Collegian has a great column on field hockey goalkeeper Alesha Widdall and how she has led the Minutewomen to two victories over top 10 teams this season (1-0 vs. #4 UConn on Sept. 11 and 2-0 vs. #8 Syracuse on Oct. 3), and how the team will rely on her throughout conference play.
"She is always outstanding," Head Coach Justine Sowry said following the Minutewomen's 2-0 win over the Orange. "With a quality goalkeeper back there, we can play more aggressive, and having her back there really gives the team great confidence."
Widdall and the Minutewomen begin A-10 play on Saturday night when they host Saint Louis at 6 p.m. at Garber Field.
The Daily Collegian has two stories on the UMass men's swimming team as it prepares to begin the season and defend its Atlantic 10 title. Nick Bellofatto has the team's season preview, while Ben Lambert has a story on the swimming & diving team's tri-captains, Dan Backler, Brian Schmidt, and Adam Duffield.
The Minutemen open the 2010-11 on Oct. 16 at Boston University. The first home meet of the season will be on Oct. 23 against Army.
Even with what was at stake, UMass men's basketball coach Derek Kellogg never had to think twice. Stay home while Boston College makes the 80-minute journey to Amherst for an early-season game, or brave the Mass Pike to play their in-state rival at the Celtics' pad.
The 2010 Boston Tip-Off Classic was announced yesterday at TD Garden, which will host the Dec. 4 doubleheader featuring three local teams. Northeastern will face Drexel, followed by UMass going up against BC. A portion of the event's proceeds will benefit Children's Hospital Boston.
Here are the stories from the Boston Globe, Boston Herald and the Daily Hampshire Gazette.
Continue reading Boston Stories On Tip-Off Classic At Garden.
After playing the Pittsburgh Steelers in training camp, UMass alum Brandon London has signed with the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL. The former Giant and Dolphin has been trying to catch on with an NFL team since the season started and has found a home in Canada.
With the injury bug taking a bite out of the Montreal Alouettes the last two weeks, the team announced Wednesday the addition of five more players to its practice roster. The quintet, all imports, includes: defensive tackle Ty Steinkuhler, running back Tracy Ford, wide receiver Brandon London, and kickers-punters Sam Swank and Colt David.
London, a University of Massachusetts alumnus, has spent some time in the NFL with the New York Giants, Miami Dolphins and, most recently, Pittsburgh Steelers. The 25-year-old was released by the Steelers in early September. Appearing in 49 games over four seasons with UMass, the 6-foot-4, 210-pound receiver amassed 2,022 yards on 148 catches. The latter total currently ranks third in the university's record books.
How about Stephane Lasme making the most of his chance to make the Boston Celtics? In the preseason opener for the C's, Lasme had 12 points and four rebounds in just 7:07 of action. The Celtics whipped the 76ers 93-65 in Manchester, N.H.
Lasme had a dunk off an assist from Delonte West, leading Kevin Garnett to run 10 feet on the court screaming in appreciation.Here are various stories with mentions of Lasme this morning:
The Daily Collegian has a midweek notebook on the football team.
At the unofficial midway point of the season, the Massachusetts football team has been a modest surprise.
After losing multiple seniors and starters from last year's squad, UMass has had a successful first half en route to a 4-1 record entering its bye week. The Minutemen are climbing in the rankings, despite staying put at No. 8 in the latest polls following a 27-14 victory over Towson on Saturday.
Continue reading Daily Collegian's Football Bye Week Notebook.
Former UMass Hockey forward Casey Wellman and the Minnesota Wild are getting ready to kick off the 2010-11 NHL season with two games in Helsinki, Finland beginning tomorrow. The "View From The Lighthouse" Blog on the Wild website hints that Wellman will get the start on a wing for the season opener against Carolina after his strong finish to preseason play.
As the Mass Attack approaches its opening weekend in Minnesota on Friday, Dick Baker has turned up the heat in the latest installments of his MassLive.com Hockey Blog:
Former UMass goaltender Jon Quick solid in preseason
UMass hockey and Minnesota playing for only second time
Can UMass finish ahead of Northeastern? It may depend on the Huskies new big bad defense
Redshirt freshman Anthony Raiola is best advance scout for UMass hockey against Minnesota
UMass hockey loses freshman Troy Power for Minnesota series
First UMass hockey opponent breezes in exhibition
Former UMass hockey scoring star Casey Wellman picks up assist in Minnesota Wild exhibition win
UMass not only team to lose to New Brunswick
Trenton of ECHL is another spot for UMass hockey graduates
Former UMass hockey defenseman Justin Braun scores for Worcester
Check out Woody Paige's story from the Denver Post, which mentions Gary Forbes ...
Then there's Gary Forbes, the invitee who has impressed the rest. Keep playing as he did Tuesday -- 24 points, seven rebounds, seven assists -- and he may not make the Forbes 500 but definitely will make the Nuggets' roster.
Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony goes to the basket past rookie Gary Forbes during the NBA team's intrasquad game Tuesday at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield. (Karl Gehring, The Denver Post )
Wishing a Happy Birthday to Tyler Cleverdon, freshman on the men's soccer team as he celebrates on Oct. 6.
Skip Connors combined an intrastate rivalry with an intercity one to create the 2010 Boston Tip-Off Classic. Read the full story in the Boston Herald.
On Dec. 4, UMass will rekindle its Commonwealth Classic rivalry with Boston College (6:30 p.m.), and Northeastern will host Philadelphia-based Drexel (4 p.m.) in the doubleheader scheduled for the Garden.
The four Division 1 programs representing the Atlantic Coast Conference (BC), the Atlantic 10 (UMass) and the Colonial Athletic Association (NU, Drexel) will gather for a press conference this morning at the Garden. Proceeds from the Tip-Off Classic will benefit Children's Hospital and Al's Angels, a program that serves the homeless in the Greater Boston area.
Continue reading Herald: Hub Wins Opening Tip-Off.
Freshman point guard Daryl Traynham was a stride-and-a-half ahead of his three teammates, in a full-speed run up and down the court.
But that wasn't enough for University of Massachusetts coach Derek Kellogg.
"Sprint Dah-RULL!" the Minuteman coach growled loudly.
The rookie extended his lead to a full two strides before crossing the baseline.
As Kellogg turned away from the court, he smiled a bit. He's trying to make the 5-foot-9 guard faster, but more than that he's trying to teach Traynham the difference between working hard in high school and doing so in college.
Read the full story in the Daily Hampshire Gazette. Matt Vautour also has a blog entry on some other news related to the point guard spot: More Point Guard Thoughts.
Continue reading Gazette Looks At Hoops Point Guards.
Stephane Lasme has broken camp with the Boston Celtics and is fighting for the final roster spot with the C's. Here is a mention of Lasme in Celtics' coverage on ESPN Boston.com.
The obvious question after the Celtics released rookie forward Tony Gaffney Saturday is whether the camp competition for the 15th roster spot is over. After all, it seemed like a two-horse race between Von Wafer and Gaffney at the start of the preseason, so that leaves only one man standing.
But the Celtics did carry an intriguing pair of young players out of camp in Mario West and Stephane Lasme. Both have reputations as being more defensive minded, and West in particular seems to be making a push to stick around thanks a scrappy work ethic that compensates for his lack of offensive skills.
Could either player truly push Wafer, whose contract is not fully guaranteed, for the final spot on the Boston roster?
Lasme has an uphill battle. Celtics coach Doc Rivers admitted Saturday his skill set is almost identical to Gaffney's, his UMass brethren. But the Celtics like his ability to play both the 3 and the 4, so he's making the voyage back from Newport.
UMass alum Keron Williams had a great game for the BC Lions this past weekend. He was awarded a game-ball by the Province. WIlliams had four tackles and TFL in a 16-14 win over Winnipeg on Saturday. Fellow UMass alum Anton McKenzie had a team-best six tackles for BC.
For the year, Williams has 31 tackles and 4 sacks. McKenzie has 39 tackles and a sack.
The Daily Hampshire Gazette has various basketball notes including an update on Gary Forbes, who is impressing with the Denver Nuggets.
Former Minuteman Tony Gaffney, who announced on Facebook that he had been cut by the Celtics on Saturday, also used the popular social networking site to say that he'd signed a contract to play in Turkey: "Got a contract offer from Turkey that was impossible to turn down, shipping out tomorrow night! If anyone wants to reach me while I'm out there, ya best bet is through Facebook or Twitter. See y'all around Christmas. Take care."
In addition to 7-footer Andrew McCarthy, West Springfield native Jordan Couture will also walk-on to the UMass roster. Couture, a 6-foot-3 freshman guard starred at Cathedral and is coach Derek Kellogg's godson. Bud Gaffney, Tony's younger brother who was a walk-on last year, has not returned to the Minutemen, according to Kellogg.
The Daily Hampshire Gazette has a notebook on UMass football. Matt Vautour's story leads off with how well UMass' season has started.
"We're evolving as a squad and maturing as a team. Am I happy at this point? Yeah. We've played well enough to win games. We didn't win the Michigan game, but had some positives come out of that game," UMass coach Kevin Morris said Monday. "We're excited about where we are. But we have a long way to go and it's all CAA games from here on out. We have to continue to grind. We're happy where we're at. I like the team, but we have a lot of room for improvement. I think that's a good thing."
Here are some other college football notebooks from around the country. Lots of mentions of UMass in these articles.
Happy Birthday: Oct. 5 - hockey freshman Eric Filiou and football senior Greg Niland
Busy day for UMass Athlete Birthdays on Oct. 4 as men's track sprinter Arjun Collins, women's soccer player Jen Houtmann, football lineman Travis Poston and rower Erin Stockman all celebrate!
Houtman Poston Stockman
Listen back to Kevin Morris on his weekly CAA Conference call with the media. He spoke about the win over Towson as well as the upcoming bye week and next's clash with Richmond.
Oct. 4 - Teleconference
Even after a win over CAA foe Towson, the UMass football team remains at No. 8 in both Sports Network media poll and the FCS Coaches Poll. From the CAA, seven teams are ranked: No. 2 Delaware, No. 4 William & Mary (who UMass has defeated), No. 6 Villanova, No. 7 James Madison, No. 8 Massachusetts, No. 11 Richmond and No 22 New Hampshire. Maine and Rhode Island also are receiving votes.
Click below to see the whole TSN Poll.
Continue reading UMass Football Stays At No. 8 In Both Polls.
The UMass women's soccer team ended its five-game losing streak with a strong 1-0 win over Saint Louis on Sunday, the squad's first in the all-time series with the Billikens. David Martin has a recap of the match, along with Friday's 2-1 loss to Charlotte in today's Daily Collgian.
Martin also has this sidebar on freshman Emersyn Pullan, who earned her first two collegiate starts this weekend and picked up her first career shutout.
The Worcester Telegram & Gazette has a nice feature story on Justin Braun now that he is a full time professional player. The story looks at his addition to the team last season, how he has progressed in the system, and how long he may be with the club as a call-up to the NHL seems inevitable.
"He's the real deal," Coach Roy Sommer said. "The thing about him is that he might not be with us very long. He might be one of those guys who's on the fast track, although sometimes defensemen take a little longer. We see him for a little while, he gets called up, and we don't see him again."
Here are Dick Baker's latest entries in his MassLive.com UMass Hockey Blog following the exhibition game against New Brunswick.
After falling behind 2-0, Bryant Craft and Stuart Amick each tallied 2nd half goals and the UMass men's soccer defense settled in forcing a 2-2 draw with Siena to wrap up the non-conference portion of the schedule. Here are the recaps from the game:
Here are some more stories on Saturday's football win at Towson, 27-14.
The Daily Hampshire Gazette has this notebook on the game from Monday's paper.
The Daily Collegian has this recap of the win.
The Boston Herald has another mention of the game.
Read Sunday's stories here in JTAM: Sunday's Recaps.
In camp with the Denver Nuggets, UMass alum and 2008 A-10 Player of Year Gary Forbes is gaining recognition from the team's coach and top player.
Carmelo Anthony was asked which Nugget is surprising him in camp, and he named someone that many didn't even know was in camp. His answer: "Gary Forbes."
The former UMass standout was signed as a free-agent invitee -- which, in basketball terms, is "a camp body." But the versatile 6-foot-7 Forbes has refused to be relegated to such a role. The guy is fighting for a roster spot.
"He's come in and played well," said coach George Karl, who believed that Forbes was a first-round talent who slipped because of his medical record, notably his diabetes.
Karl has not determined his rotation for the preseason games (the first one is Friday), but it's possible Forbes could get some playing time, because Karl said he's going to rest guard Chauncey Billups, who played a lot for Team USA this summer, in half of the games. "Forbes is a wing guy who can play point guard, shooting guard and small forward," Karl said. "He's a scorer and also a pretty good defender. He's up and down the court a lot." Read more: Forbes catches attention of Carmelo, Karl
Read the full story in the Denver Post.
On Head Coach Justine Sowry's birthday, her UMass field hockey team gave her the gift of a 2-0 shutout victory over No. 8 Syracuse at Garber on Sunday. The win was UMass' second over a top 10 team this season (No. 4 UConn, Sept. 11) and first victory against the Orange since 1998. Below are stories on the win:VIDEO: Postgame Interviews
Minutewomen Shut Out Another Top 10 Team, Daily Collegian
Alesha Widdall Plays Large Role In Victory, Daily Collegian
Podcast: Mike Wood & Nick O'Malley Discuss UMass' Win, Daily Collegian
Orange Shut Out At Garber, SUAthletics.com
Minutewomen Shut Out Orange, 2-0, Daily Orange
Lots of action for the UMass alums in the NFL during Week 4.
Here are various recaps of UMass' 27-14 win at Towson on Saturday in Maryland.
Happy Birthday on Oct. 3 to Jordan Storro of the softball team.
Happy Birthday to football lineman John Moran.
Tony Gaffney says he has been released by the Boston Celtics.
Check out ESPN Boston's Chris Forsberg with the complete report.
"Numbers, just a lot of numbers [in front] of him," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said when asked about Gaffney's departure. "He plays extremely hard. He's one of those guys that you would love to figure out a way to keep him on the team. At the end of the day, the numbers got him.
Here is the comment from Gaffney's Facebook page.
"All good things must come to an end. It was a great time being w the celtics, it ended today. I appreciate all the love n support. You guys are the best. My agent is back to the drawing board and stirring up something. So when the next move is finalized you all will know. Thanks again everyone."
Continue reading Gaffney Released By Boston Celtics.
His was the ultimate baptism by fire moment.
Quinton Sales had seen action in the University of Massachusetts football team's first two games this season, but as a reserve behind senior center John Ihne. But when Ihne hurt his shoulder in the second half against Michigan, Sales was forced to step in quickly in front of more than 110,000 people.
The sophomore held his own, enough for the Minuteman offense to put a scare into the Wolverines.
"It was tough. But it was time to go and I've been ready to go since camp," Sales said. "There's been a few bumps in the road but for the most part it's been a good effort and I've fit in pretty well."
Read the full story in the Daily Hampshire Gazette.
Continue reading Gazette: Sales Finds Himself In Center Of Action.
Here are various game previews on #8 UMass' game at Towson on Saturday night.
Dick Baker has some great updates to his MassLive.com UMass Hockey Blog that you'll want to read before heading over to the exhibition game against New Brunswick this afternoon at 3 PM in the Mullins Center Practice Rink.
He also has an update on Matt Irwin and Cory Quirk who apparently threw fists in a game against Springfield last night.
Dick also has a piece examining what UMass must do defensively to clear the puck consistently from the defensive end to help transition the offense.
With the loss of so many players following last season, the growth of the program has helped recruiting top level players. The reputation of the program and the University has helped attract blue-chip level recruits.
Finally, Dick looks at the youth of Boston University which is fairly similar to the situation at UMass. The Terriers have 17 freshmen and sophomores and just one senior.
Former UMass hockey captain Brett Watson is in training camp with the Adirondack Phantoms with this nice story about him and his brother Chase trying to earn a spot on the team. Both Watson brothers grew up as fans of the ECHL Phantoms club with is an affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers - the team their father and uncle won two Stanley Cups with.
Wishing Happy Birthday to runner Jamie Richmond on Oct. 1.
The Massachusetts women's soccer team begins Atlantic 10 play this weekend, opening up at home with Charlotte on Friday and Saint Louis on Sunday at Rudd Field.
Check out the Daily Collegian preview of this weekend's matches: Minutewomen open conference play over weekend
Michael Counos also has a sidebar on the expected return of senior forward Sydney Stoll, UMass' leading scorer from a year ago: Minutewomen looking for Stoll's return to spark run.
Ron Chimelis has an update on the men's basketball team in the Springfield Republican as he takes a look into the future of UMass hoops.
The UMass men's basketball coach has heard all about how his best lineup might be playing intramurals this year. But he thinks the future is now. More or less.
"They seem tougher and more focused,'' Derek Kellogg said of his 2010-11 team. "It's part of the maturation process.''
The fashionable term for such a team's transitional period is "bridge year.'' At UMass, 2010-11 looks like the Golden Gate.
Continue reading Republican: Hoops Talent Stocked For Future.
It was early December 2009 and the cold winds felt sharper to Anthony Nelson after learning Hofstra announced it was disbanding its football program.
Nelson, a junior receiver for The Pride, began sending out game tapes to other schools. In the meantime, Hofstra offensive line coach Bill Durkin, a former UMass star, was telling Nelson about the unique opportunity UMass could offer. Following a visit with his parents to the Amherst campus a few days later, Nelson had found a new home.
Check out the story in the Boston Herald.
Continue reading Herald: UMass Right For Nelson.
The Daily Collegian has two stories on the UMass field hockey team's big home matchup with No. 8 Syracuse on Sunday at 2 p.m. Mike Wood has the preview of the game, while Pete Vazquez writes on how the Minutewomen's composure and determination will be tested in Sunday's game.
The Minutewomen and Orange square off on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Garber Field.