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Sports

From the Pool to the Lacrosse Field

The latest on college sports in the area

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 in the swim of things at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale—not in the pool but on the lacrosse field.

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Freshman Andrew Shepard of West Nyack, an accomplished distance swimmer out of Clarkstown South, has taken to a sport he had never played like a fish in the water as he breaks outside the box.

Senior attack Mike Shea of Congers and senior midfielder Jessie Mitchell of Suffern have been doing so swimmingly they were named players of the week by the Skyline Conference in men’s and women’s lacrosse, respectively.

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Shea, a graduate of Clarkstown North, had 13 goals and four assists in leading the Dolphins to three victories, including a school record-setting six goals in a 15-10 win over Wells. He was also honored as ECAC player of the week for his exploits, completing a double he achieved as a sophomore.

Mitchell had 15 goals and two assists, also in three games, including five in the Dolphins’ first win, 20-14 over Mount St. Mary. She matched the school mark for goals in a game with eight in an 18-17 double-overtime loss to Gordon.

Shepard, getting only sporadic playing time while learning the game, is destined to play a big part in lacrosse, even if not with the same impact he has shown on the Dolphins’ swim team.

“I actually swam with him a short time, just to get in shape,” said Shea, who played lacrosse four years at North, in addition to running track and trying his hand at football. “That kid is some athlete in the pool; he can swim forever. He jumped in, and wouldn’t stop until they pulled him out!”

Shea and other teammates have warned Shepard that lacrosse is a contact sport, especially if the ball gets anywhere near him, something that has not been lost on the neophyte stickman.

“I get hit a lot in practice,” Shepard said. “I’m not getting much playing time, but I’m learning the game so far. I really wanted to see what it’s like to take part in a team sport; swimming is more individualized. Lacrosse takes a lot more muscle, and mind memory. It takes more agility at a short distance. It’s very tough, hard getting used to it, but I intend to stick with it the whole season.”

Shea, who spent his first two seasons with the Dolphins, transferred in his junior year to Kean University before returning to Mount Saint Vincent for his senior year. Eventually, he hopes to try out with a pro team even though he knows it’s a long shot.

“I really want to do everything I can to help promote the sport, to help the sport expand, especially in our area,” said Shea, a team co-captain whose sister Sara, now attending Penn State, played lacrosse four years at Marymount School in Manhattan.

A possible coaching job would be welcome, too, added Shea, who sounded a bit like a coach when asked to assess the rookie Shepard, and the Dolphins’ early-season performance.

“He’s working really hard, learning how to pass and catch. He gives 100 percent at everything he does,” Shea observed.

“We have turned it [the season] around,” he continued. “We lost out first two, but then won three games by five, six, seven goals. We’re 3-2; it’s working out pretty good now.”

The Dolphins, also helped by Clarkstown North grad Matt DeSimone of Congers, will be in action tomorrow against Kean University in Union, NJ, at 1 p.m.; and on March 30 against Maritime College in a 7 p.m. contest at Tibbetts Brook Park in Yonkers.

The Mount Saint Vincent women’s team, including Albertus Magnus grad Kristen LeGeyt, a senior attack, meets The Sage College tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. at Riverdale Country Day School. On Monday the Dolphins are slated to host Saint Elizabeth at Tibbetts Brook Park at 7 p.m.

Dominican hits .500 mark

The baseball team at Dominican College, coached by veteran Rick Giannetti of New City, heads to Philadephia tomorrow for a doubleheader against University of the Sciences. First pitch is slated at 2 p.m.

The Chargers elevated their early-season record to 6-6 with a come-from-behind 9-6 victory over Felician College at Lyndhurst (NJ) Recreation Field.

A six-run ninth inning lifted Dominican into the lead after Felician had scored  two runs in the eighth for a 6-3 advantage.

Junior Luis Vasquez of Pomona and North Rockland HS registered his first save of the season by retiring Felician in order in the ninth, giving freshman reliever Sal Sanquini of Levittown his first collegiate victory.

Ryan Calby of Huntington Station started for Dominican, and went five innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits while striking out seven.

The Chargers have a 3 p.m. twinbill scheduled at home against Concordia College on Tuesday, then take on the College of Saint Rose at 3 p.m. on Wednesday before meeting Nyack College on Thursday at Nyack High School at 7:15 p.m.

On your mark, get set, go!

Perhaps no one is happier to welcome the outdoor track and field season than St. Thomas Aquinas College coach Lou Maturo of Tappan.

“It’s good to get on an outdoor track again; the indoor season has been rough on everybody,” Maturo said, looking ahead to Saturday’s prestigious Dick Shea Open at West Point. “It’s good to get outdoors after being cooped up indoors… bogged down by the snow. It’s especially tough for distance runners; outdoors is easier on the body than indoors.”

Freshman standout Keeley Bateman of Pearl River will be coming off an illness for her first collegiate outdoors meet in the 800; sophomore Mike Abelard of Spring Valley is ready to compete in the sprints, along with Pearl River’s sophomore sprinter Rich Ricca; and freshman Mike Galonski of Newton, NJ, will get his baptism in the grueling steeplechase.

Maturo, who competed in the steeplechase at Tappan Zee High and at Division I Arizona, said Galonski has the qualities to succeed in the event.

“He’s strong, has stamina, and he’s a true distance runner,” Maturo noted. “It takes a true distance runner to run the steeplechase. It’s not for the faint of heart, not at 3,000 meters.”

The fourth-year Spartans coach, again assisted by Lorne Marcus, has no expectations for his team's opener.

“I have absolutely none,” he said. “The weather could be cold, it’s very early in the season, but it’s good for the freshmen to gain experience at a big meet. It’s a good college meet.”

The Dick Shea Open attracted a high-quality 19-team field, and starts today at Shea Stadium overlooking the Hudson River with the men’s decathlon and women’s heptathlon. It is one of only two home meets for the Black Knights this season; the other is the West Point Open on April 16.

Mortarboard musings

  • The Manhattan baseball team (5-11), whose home opener with Hofstra on Wednesday was postponed due to inclement weather, returns to action this weekend when the Jaspers travel to Loudonville for their MAAC opener with Siena. The Jaspers and Saints will play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 12 p.m. and will wrap up the three-game series on Sunday at noon. Freshman right-hander Scott McClennan of Suffern has thrown two compete games for the Jaspers, one behind junior right-hander and team leader Taylor Sewitt of Highland Mills.
  • Paul Moreau, a sophomore attack from Pearl River, has a goal in five games for the men’s lacrosse team at Manhattan. The Jaspers (1-8) will be in Lexington, VA, on Saturday for a game against VMI. A backup player at the moment, Moreau has drawn the attention of veteran coach Tim McIntee, who was a three-time all-American at C.W. Post, and a member of Team USA at the 1990 World Championships. “He has great potential,” McIntee said. “He’s a red-shirt freshman, so he has three more years, and he’s an outstanding student.”
  • The Dominican College men’s lacrosse team visits Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia tomorrow, visits Adelphi on March 30, and then hosts Molloy at 1 p.m. on April 2. The Chargers’ roster includes junior midfielder Matt Brown of Sparkill, a Tappan Zee grad; Nanuet High alum Tom Dertinger, a freshman midfielder; North Rockland grad Anton Gieloshi, a freshman midfielder; and Nyack High alum Mike Accardi, a sophomore defender from Valley Cottage.
  • Lauren DeGrushe of West Nyack is in her fourth season, and third as a team captain, on the Felician College (NJ) softball team. The shortstop/third baseman was all-state four years at High Tech High in North Bergen, NJ. Felician travels to Philadelphia on Saturday for a twinbill against University of the Sciences, and hosts Massachusetts Lowell at noon on Sunday for another doubleheader.
  • Iona baseball coach Pat Carey, a Stony Point native who set the career Big East Tournament batting record (average .667) while starring at Providence, has two veteran, fourth-year hurlers on his staff. Left-hander Brian Callahan of Congers was graduated from Don Bosco Prep, while right-hander Sean Darsee of West Nyack was a three-year starter at Clarkstown South. Carey, by the way, played on three state championship teams at North Rockland.
  • The women’s lacrosse team at Manhattan, powered by junior Chrissy Gutenberger of Stony Point, is set to open Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play on Sunday when it visits Iona at 11 a.m.
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