Nyack College Soccer Is Glory Bound

The 'College Sports Notebook' is published each Friday. Please send items of interest—including local athletes competing at out-of-town colleges—to marcmaturo@aol.com.

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They’re back in the final.

For the second time in three years, the men’s soccer team at Nyack College will be vying for the championship in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference.

The Warriors advanced to the title game with a 3-1 victory over Felician College (10-10) at Plymouth Meeting, PA, on Thursday. It was Nyack’s second triumph over Felician this season, having eked out a 1-0 win at home on Oct. 4.

Two years ago, Nyack claimed the CACC crown in New Castle, DE, with a 1-0 triumph over Bloomfield College, and goalie Adrian Ibanez was named tournament MVP.  

Going into this year’s title game, Nyack, directed by veteran head coach Keith Davie, carries a 12-5-2 record against the Eagles of Post University. The title game is scheduled at noon on Saturday at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, PA.

The Eagles, ranked No. 6 in the East region, are 11-3-4 after winning their semifinal game against Holy Family, 4-2, sparked by a two-goal effort from senior Hylton Davis of St. Elizabeth, Jamaica.

Nyack, ranked No. 7 in the East, and Post, which earned the top seed for the CACC tournament, battled to a scoreless stalemate in Nyack on Sept. 20.

The Warriors have been spearheaded this season by three all-CACC selections.

Felix Horn, a sophomore from Haille, Germany, earned first team honors at midfield after a regular season in which he totaled nine goals and one assist.  Horn has five game-winning goals this season, and is tied for the team lead in points with 19.

Ibanez, a graduate student from Buenos Aires, Argentina, earned second team  honors for his performance at goalkeeper.  Ibanez ranks second in the CACC in goals-against-average at 1.03 and save percentage at .818.  Ibanez has a school-record 19 shutouts in his Nyack career.

Marco Likos received honorable mention honors in his first season as a Warrior.  Likos, a sophomore from Leipzig, Germany, is tied for the team lead in scoring with eight goals and three assists.

Stickhandling success

Northeastern University junior Justin Daniels, who missed 10 games due to injury last season and finished with just six assists, has found the scoring touch on the hockey team.

Daniels, a Suffern resident and a product of the Sioux City Musketeers of the U.S. Hockey League, added his team-leading fourth goal in a 5-2 loss at New Hampshire.

In six games, Daniels has registered six points in as many games, and is tied with classmate and former USHL player Vinny Saponari of Powder Springs, GA, for the team lead in points.

The Huskies (1-4-1) welcome undefeated Merrimack (6-0) on Saturday night at 7 at Matthews Arena, and then visit rival Boston College on Nov. 11 in Chestnut Hill, MA.

Marathon man

It is said there’s a first for everything.

Drew Gangemi--the assistant cross country and track & field coach at St. Thomas Aquinas College, and a former Spartan standout--will run the ING New York City Marathon for Team MEB.  He is working to raise $3,000 for the MEB Foundation which raises awareness and funds for healthy living for the youth. 

Gangemi has trained with the Spartan cross country program throughout this season and is ready to take on the 26.2-mile challenge.

Gangemi has partnered with the MEB Foundation because “the cause is near and dear to his heart.”  The foundation was founded by Meb Keflezighi, the 2009 NYC Marathon Champion and silver medalist at the Beijing Olympics for the U.S.A. 

“He is a true American champion and I am honored to run with TEAM MEB,” Gangemi was quoted.   “His foundation raises awareness and funds for health, education, and fitness for today’s youth.”

The MEB Foundation focuses on maintaining excellent balance which is something Gangemi has done as both a student-athlete and as a professional.  

This is Gangemi's first marathon. Time will tell if it’s his last.

On a roll at New Hampshire

Freshman midfielder Ryan McNamara of West Nyack punched in a pair of goals, propelling the University of New Hampshire men’s soccer team to a 3-0 victory over Dartmouth College at Bremner Field in Durham, NH.

NH finishes the regular season with a record of 7-9-2, and a mark of 1-4-2 in America East play, while Dartmouth (3-3-1 in the Ivy League) drops to 7-5-3 overall.

McNamara—a four-year player with two-time Bergen County champion Don Bosco Prep--registered four points in the contest, becoming just the second Wildcat to tally multiple goals in a game this season. Steven Palumbo of Kingston, NH, was the last ’Cat to reach the milestone when he notched a pair of goals against Binghamton on Oct. 8.

Delva, Griffin set for another season

Sophomore Amy Delva of Nanuet, and senior Brittany Griffin, a graduate of Albertus Magnus, are back for the College of Mount Saint Vincent women’s basketball team, which tied for seventh in the Skyline Conference preseason poll as voted on by the league’s eight head coaches.

Mount Saint Mary has been picked to win the league title after posting a 26-3 overall record and a perfect 18-0 mark in league play last season. The Knights will be looking for their 12th straight trip to the NCAA tournament this season.

Following Mount Saint Mary is Farmingdale State, which picked up 43 points and the remaining two first-place nods in the poll. Rounding out the top-five in the preseason rankings are Old Westbury with 35 points, NYU-POLY with 31 and Sage with 20.

Mount Saint Vincent closed out the 2010-11 season with a 10-15 overall record and a 7-11 mark in Skyline Conference play. The Dolphins will kick-off the 2011-12 campaign at home on Nov. 15 when they host Vassar at 7 p.m.

Delva appeared in 16 games last season, making six starts, and averaged 3.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game while making 22 steals as a guard/forward.

Griffin was third on the team with 10 blocks last season. She averaged 6.3 points per game, was third in rebounds with 109, and was second-best with a field-goal percentage of 40.7.

Chargers primed

The Dominican College men and women’s basketball teams will begin the season on the road as the Chargers will travel to Pace University for a men’s tournament, and the women will take on Dowling College.

The men will take on non-conference opponents, Assumption College and host Pace University on Nov. 11-12 at the Pace University Tournament.

The Chargers return home on Nov. 18-19 for the Dominican Tip-Off Tournament in Orangeburg, the first of two tournaments they will host this season. Dominican faces Molloy College and St. Thomas Aquinas College in the tournament.  Dominican will open up Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) play with a home game against Caldwell College on Nov. 30.

The women start their campaign on Nov. 15 against Dowling, and then travel to the Doubletree Tip-Off Classic, hosted by Saint Michael’s College in Colchester, VT. The Lady Chargers will face Saint Anselm College on Nov. 19, and take on the host on Nov. 20.

Their first CACC contest will also be their home opener against the Cougars of Caldwell College on Nov. 30. 

Marist runs strong second

The men’s and women’s cross country teams at Marist College turned in superb efforts in placing second in both races to perennial powerhouse Iona at the MAAC Cross Country Championships at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.

The Red Foxes scored 66 points in their bid for the men’s title, which was won for an astounding 21st straight year by the powerhouse Gaels of Iona, with 15 points.

The Red Foxes had 60 points to Iona’s 19 in the women’s competition.

Sophomore Tara Nuccitelli of Suffern placed 36th with a clocking of 23:56.7, while junior teammate Jackie Gamboli of Stony Point finished in 24:08.1 for 43rd place, and senior Dayna McLaughlin, also of Stony Point, was timed in 24:39.4 to finish 58th.

On the men’s side, sophomore Nick Hughes, a graduate of North Rockland, was 39th with a time of 26:56.4, while freshman standout Tom Lappas of Pearl River came across in 66th position after clocking 27:26.1.

Other Rockland County harriers to compete included junior Nicole Tassello of Suffern, 35th in the women’s race for fourth-place Rider College in 23:54.2—a shade ahead of Nuccitelli; freshman Kellyanne Bondulich of Tappan, who was clocked in 25:29.7 to finish 81st for third-place Loyola University; and junior Matt Panebianco of Tappan, 83rd in the men’s field for seventh-place Siena with a time of 27:45.6.

Mortarboard musings

• Spring Valley High alum Jamel Little is ready for another season on the hardwood at SUNY Old Westbury, which opens it season at home on Nov. 18 against Alfred at 2 p.m. Little, a senior guard, averaged 14 points and four rebounds a game last season as Old Westbury went 13-14.
• Joseph Connolly of Nanuet, a sophomore forward on the soccer team at St. Thomas Aquinas College, was named the ECC Player of the Week after recording two goals, and an assist in a 3-0 victory over District of Columbia. The Spartans lost their season finale--2-0 on the road against NYIT--to finish at 10-3-4 overall.
• Junior Matt Bonomolo of Pearl River will again be at center on Saturday when Mount Ida College hosts Galludet University in a key Eastern Collegiate Football Conference game at noon. The Mustangs, coming off a 22-6 victory over Becker, are 4-4 all told, and 3-2 in the conference. Galludet is 5-3 overall, 4-1 in conference competition.
• Suffern High alum Jeremy Garcia, and Greg Caneparo of Nanuet helped the Maritime College football team stay on a roll with a 34-13 victory over still-winless Husson. Garcia, a junior back, had a game-high three pass breakups, and two solo tackles. Caneparo, a freshman, returned three punts including one for 50 yards, and added a 22-yard kickoff return. The Privateers (7-1, 5-0 in the ECFC) entertain Norwich University on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Throggs Neck. Norwich is 6-3 overall, with an unblemished 6-0 mark in the conference.
• Shelby Greany of Suffern placed 25th as the fifth-ranked Providence College women’s cross country team placed second at the Big East Championships in Louisville, KY. Greany, a junior, was clocked in 20:58.20 for the Friars, who finished just nine points behind Villanova. Providence next competes at the NCAA Regionals in Buffalo on Nov. 12.
• The Mercy College women’s basketball team, which went 6-20 last season, are hopeful that the infusion of Westchester Community College transfer Jessica Biggs of Nanuet can help bring about a turnaround. Biggs, a graduate of Paramus Catholic, was a first team all-Region XV selection at WCC, where she also earned MVP accolades. The Mavericks open the 2011-12 season in Manchester, NH, meeting Saint Anselm College on Nov. 11, and Southern New Hampshire University on Nov. 12.
• Lehigh University finished third when it hosted the Patriot League cross country championships, with Evan Flach of Airmont, an alum of Suffern High, coming across in 26:50-flat to finish 48th.
• Mary Dutkowski of New City, a junior at Mount Saint Vincent, was primed to run, but unexpected snow postponed the Skyline Conference cross country championships at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. The race will be run at a date to be determined.
• Greg Schuster of New City is averaging 3.6 yards a carry—along with two receptions for 13 yards--for the University of Penn football team. Penn (4-3) meets Princeton at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.