Pioneer Blog
FAIRFIELD, CT -
December 23, 2008
Could there be a better Christmas present for the Sacred Heart men's basketball team than a win over Penn State? Tipoff is in 20 minutes. We'll see if Santa has something better than coal in the stocking for the Pioneers.
October 15, 2008
6:45 PM - It's the first-ever match for the women's volleyball team against the University of Connecticut and we're here to watch the Pioneers take on the Huskies in Gampel Pavilion in Storrs. There are just a smattering of a couple hundred fans in the spacious arena (cap. 10,500). Head coach Rob Machan has made one change to his normal starting lineup for the match, inserting junior Alex Bavasi in place of Annie Archer.
7:15 PM - The Pioneers got the first two points of the match off the serve of freshman Brittany Best before the Huskies got things cooking and tied the match at 6-6. The Huskies built that momentum into a 13-9 lead, for Machan to call his first timeout of the evening. The Huskies would go on to win the set 25-19, helped by four Pioneer serving errors.
7:35 PM - The Pioneers got an early 3-2 lead in the second set but some strong hitting helped the Huskies take a 10-7 lead and force another Pioneer timeout. Despite the TO, the Huskies extended that lead to 14-7 before SHU would score again. UConn breezed to a 25-12 win in the set.
7:55 PM - The UConn size is really wearing the Pioneers down. A couple of early blocks helped the Huskies build a 6-3 lead in the third set. The Huskies continued to be nearly flawless on attack and extended the lead to 15-10 before Coach Machan called his final timeout.
September 24, 2008
Just a few weeks into the fall and Sacred Heart student-athletes have already won ten weekly Northeast Conference awards! Football leads the way with five of them, while women's volleyball has three, men's golf one, and field hockey has one. Not a bad start for the Pioneers as they look to defend their NEC Commissioner's Cup title!
August 31, 2008
The football season opener under the lights was a rousing success! A hot and humid afternoon turned comfortably cool for the players as the sun set. After falling behind by 14 points early, the Pioneers scored 28 unanswered and pulled away for a 42-21 win.
Keeping with the football theme.... congrats to former Pioneer Jonathan Corto who made the cut and will be on the roster for the Buffalo Bills this season! Corto is being moved back to his collegiate position of linebacker for the 2008 season, after spending 2007 on the practice squad as a safety.
July 21, 2008
The men's basketball schedule is almost complete for the coming year. A quick look shows non-conference games against Providence, Boston College, Penn State and Fairfield.
July 9, 2008
Less than a month to go before fall pre-season camps open! The football teams returns on August 6. A few days after that, the Pioneer soccer, field hockey and volleyball teams will arrive to get ready for the 2008 campaign.
July 7, 2008
Former SHU pitcher Jay Monti has been promoted by the Toronto Blue Jays to their New York-Penn League A team in Auburn, NY. Monti has appeared in five games for the Doubledays so far and has a 1-0 record and 3.12 ERA in 8 2/3 innings.
May 15, 2008
Rumor has it that there will be night football played on Campus Field this season. Stay tuned!
May 5, 2008
From here on out, May 4 will be known as Championship Day in Sacred Heart athletic history. The Pioneers won THREE Northeast Conference titles in one day! First, the men's golf team won the NEC title by 23 strokes and set a 54-hole NEC record score. A couple of hours later, both the men's and women's track teams took home their first-ever championships! Track coach Christian Morrison and golf coach Ed Connolly were both named NEC Coaches of the Year. Congrats!
All this excitement a week removed from the women's lacrosse team winning it's first-ever NEC crown. What a week it's been!
Fenruary 18, 2008
What an incredible winter it has been! The men's indoor track team wins the Northeast Conference title, the men's ice hockey team sits in second place in Atlantic Hockey, and the men's and women's basketball teams are both just a 1/2 game behind the leaders in the NEC. Atlantic Hockey and NEC playoffs begin March 7. Stayed tuned for all the pairings right here on sacredheartpioneers.com
November 8, 2007
The big game is almost here. For the first time, the men's and women's basketball teams will play against Fairfield University. SHU mascot, Big Red, was stirring things up a little this week with a visit to the Fairfield campus. If you haven't seen it yet, check out the video on YouTube.
November 8, 2007
Big weekend in Sacred Heart athletics coming up! On Friday at 1:30, the women's soccer team plays Central Connecticut in the first round of the Northeast Conference Tournament at Monmouth. It's the seventh straight NEC playoff appearance for the women. A few hours later, at 5 pm, the women's basketball team opens its 2007-08 campaign at the University of Rhode Island. It will be a new-look Pioneers this season and it will be fun to watch the new crop of Pioneers pick up where Amanda Pape, Kerri Burke and Jasmine Walker left off.
The men's basketball team opens its season on Saturday at 1 pm at Yale University. Much is expected of the Pioneers this season and the road to the NCAA Tournament begins Saturday. At the same time the football team wraps up its 2007 season at Robert Morris. Senior receiver Corey Bundy needs just 69 yards to become the all-time leader in receiving yards in school history.
October 12, 2007
Can the snow be far behind? The Sacred Heart men's ice hockey team opens the season tonight! The Pioneers travel to take on a tough Colgate club. The women's ice hockey team opened two weeks ago in Maine. There is obviously no global warming when it comes to ice hockey scheduling!
October 2, 2007
With nearly 100 golfers participating, the third Annual Department of Athletics Golf Tournament was a rousing success yesterday. SHU's own Bippy Luckie was part of the foursome that produced the low gross score of the afternoon!
September 23, 2007
The athletic department is mourning along with the rest of the Fairfield County sports family with the passing of News 12 sports director, Bill Gonillo. Bill passed away suddenly this weekend. Bill was a huge friend of Sacred Heart and will be missed terribly. For those of us who knew him personally, there are no words to properly express our sorrow at the passing of someone much too young.
September 17, 2007
The athletic department as a cool new feature - a live coach's show every tuesday morning. Football coach Paul Gorham was on the first one, and word is he'll be back next week by popular demand.
The injury bug has hit the football team, but it appears that the women's soccer team is poised to get back some players who have been fighting injuries. Randie Quaglia has missed all but two games since the end of the 2004 season, but head coach Kim Banner expects her back in action soon! Lisa Nowakowski made her first appearance for the Pioneers last weekend and should see more time in the coming games.
Don't forget to come out to the Sacred Heart Women's Volleyball Invitational this weekend! The action starts at 5 pm Saturday night. There are two games Friday and four on Saturday starting at 10 AM.
September 12, 2007
Good start for the Pioneers in the Northeast Conference award ledger. Freshman Dale Fink has already won two Rookie of the Week awards in football. Dana Troy nabbed a Rookie of the Week nod in women's cross country this week.
Look up the word "captain" in the dictionary and you might well find a picture of men's hoop player Drew Shubik, who was named team co-captain this week. And what a great comeback for senior Brice Brooks, chosen as the other co-captain. After being suspended for the first semester last year, Brooks had a career year on the court and was one of the team leaders off the court. These two guys might be just what the doctor, or head coach Dave Bike, ordered for an NEC Championship run.
September 11, 2007
Freshman QB Dale Fink is making an early case that he could be the Rookie of the Year in the Northeast Conference in football. Seven TD passes without an interception, and two straight Rookie of the Week honors, has a lot of people talking about the kid from Illinois.
On this somber day, everyone in the Sacred Heart athletic department sends their prayers and goodwill to all of the survivors and families of those that were lost in the 9/11 attack in 2001.
September 6, 2007
Anyone else looking forward to seeing how Dale Fink, Steve Tedesco and company make out in their second game together? There was quite a buzz on campus after a strong performance against Assumption last week. Saturday is the first SHU Employee Day and a big crowd is expected to watch the Pioneers take on LaSalle.
Sacred Heart football will debut on WICC 600 AM this Saturday at 1:00 against LaSalle. Jeff Holtz and Gene Gumbs will call the action.
It was an impressive debut for a trio of Sacred Heart rookies this week. Dale Fink made a big splash with four TD passes in his first game as Pioneer quarterback. Matt Dorosh had nine tackles at linebacker in his first game, as well.... in women's soccer it was goalie Meghan Reichelt with seven saves, despite losing 1-0.
August 26, 2007
Former Pioneer men's basketball player Omar Wellington, owner of Nexxt Level Sports, helped prepare the New Jersey Nets Dancers for the upcoming NBA season. Wellington's efforts were highlighted in a New York Times article today. The full text of the article can be found Here.
August 22, 2007
Former Pioneer linebacker Jon Corto recorded a couple of tackles for the Buffalo Bills in a pre-season game last Friday against the Atlanta Falcons. The Bills lost 13-10, but Corto had two solo stops from his free safety position.
Monti Update
Jay Monti accolades continue to roll in. The former SHU pitcher was named to the Second Annual Division I Post-Season All-Gotham Team by Gotham Baseball Magazine last week.
August 20, 2007
The start of classes is still over two weeks away, but the Pitt Center and Campus Field are plenty busy these days. The football team, soccer teams, field hockey team, and women's volleyball squad were joined today by the Pioneer Marching Band, in for pre-season camp.
Football season opens on August 30 at Assumption and the first action on campus is September 2 when the women's soccer team takes on Bucknell.
Monti Update Former Pioneer pitcher Jay Monti is currently 4-0 with a 4.30 ERA for the Gulf Coast Blue Jays. Monti has appeared in 16 games and thrown 31 1/3 innings. He has struck out 25 and walked just five.
August 15, 2007
Rest well, Phil Rizzuto. Even a Red Sox huckleberry like me enjoyed listening to you for 40 years and applauded when you were finally inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994.
August 13, 2007
The women's volleyball team, under new head coach Rob Machan, returned to campus for pre-season training this weekend. Both soccer teams and the field hockey team return this week.
Rick Cohen, who was an intern the last two seasons in the athletic communications office, has been hired on a full-time basis as Assistant Director. Bill Peterson has been promoted to Associate Director.
August 2, 2007
Former men's basketball player Omar Wellington was named in this week's (August 6) issue of Sports Illustrated in a piece on page 31 about an SI writer sparring with a pro fighter. He enlisted Wellington and his company, Nexxt Level Sports, to help build his strength and improve his diet. Wellington played point guard for the Pioneers for four years and is in the top ten all-time in assists.
August 1, 2007
Rick Cohen, who has served as athletic communications intern for the last two years, has been added to the staff on a full-time basis. Cohen is the primary contact for the Pioneer men's and women's ice hockey programs, as well as several other teams.
July 24, 2007
Recently graduated women's basketball player Amanda Pape has signed to play professional basketball in Greece. The league begins play in September.
Jay Monti has turned things around in his first year in minor league baseball with the Gulf Coast Blue Jays. In his last three appearances, Monti has thrown nine innings and given up just two runs while striking out nine, without issuing a walk. He has a 3-0 record and 4.00 ERA so far this season.
July 12, 2007
Former Pioneer hurler Jay Monti earned his first win of the season for the Gulf Coast Blue Jays on July 5 when he pitched two scoreless innings in a 2-1 win over the Phillies. Monti has pitched to a 5.51 ERA so far with the Toronto Blue Jays Rookie League team.
J.P. Brazel has been hired as the new assistant men's lacrosse coach, replacing Robb Chambers who left to join his family's business.
Former Pioneer women's basketball player Colleen Duggan just finished her second year as an assistant basketball coach at Trinity College in Hartford under head coach Wendy Davis, a former great at UConn.
Incoming women's basketball freshman Alisa Apo, a 5'9 guard from New Jersey, played for former Pioneer Dawn (Warner) Karpall '00 at St. John Vianney High School in Holmdel, NJ.
Women's golfer Ali Heyes is currently in second place in the Ladies Division of the Ottawa Citizen City Amateur Championship. You can follow her progress here: Flagstick.com
July 2, 2007
Former Pioneer women's basketball great Nicolle Rubino has joined the Fairleigh Dickinson University coaching staff. She will be an assistant coach for new women's hoop skipper Pete Cinella, who recently accepted the Knight's job after a successful career at Division II American International College. Cinella also has some Sacred Heart ties, as he was a longtime instructor at Ed Swanson's summer camp and Cinella was a player at Western New England College when SHU Assistant AD Gene Gumbs was assistant basketball coach and SID for the Golden Bears.
June 25, 2007
A preliminary look at the 2007-08 broadcast schedule for the Pioneer Radio Network shows at least 120 scheduled games. The slate includes ten football games, every men's basketball game, 22 women's hoop games, 23 men's ice hockey games, 20 baseball games, and a handful of games for softball, men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse and women's ice hockey.
June 24, 2007
Former Pioneer pitcher Jay Monti was assigned to the Gulf Coast Blue Jays in the Gulf Coast Rookie League by Toronto. Monti, who is being groomed as a reliever by the Jays, made his first appearance on Thursday, giving up two hits and two runs in two-thirds of an inning.
June 16, 2007
The men's basketball schedule for 2007-08 is nearing completion and it features games at St. John's, Providence and Boston College, as well as the November 18 game at Fairfield. The Pioneers will open the season on November 10 at Yale.
June 3, 2007
Some interesting facts from Friday's press conference, announcing the beginning of a basketball series between Sacred Heart and Fairfield. SHU President Dr. Anthony Cernera and Fairfield President Fr. von Arx have a relationship that goes back 35 years when both were at Fordham University....Sacred Heart AD Don Cook was both an undergradute student and Director of Athletics at Fairfield....Fairfield men's basketball coach Ed Cooley was a player at Stonehill College and faced Sacred Heart teams coach by Dave Bike...The Northeast Conference men's basketball teams were 8-4 against the MAAC in 2006-07. The women's programs were 6-8.
June 1, 2007
Senior women's bowler Sarah Novotny recently received a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to participate in a study this summer at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. Each year the NSF awards "Research Experience for Undergraduate" ( REU ) grants to support student participation in studies in any of the areas of research funded by the foundation. Novotny is believed to be the first SHU student ever to receive a NSF grant.
"I'm thrilled to be going," said Novotny, a junior math major from Ridge, N.Y. "I was actually really surprised. I applied to four different programs and got into three of them--and I'm really grateful to be going to even one of these."
May 21, 2007
As another baseball season draws to a close, there are several individual achievements that warrant mentioning - despite the disappointing finish. Senior Jay Monti finished his stellar career with a 2.57 ERA. That mark is the best ever in school history by over half a run! Monti also finished third all-time in career strikeouts (220) and wins (24). He is second all-time in innings pitched (270.1) and first in complete games (28) and shutouts (6)....Senior Jason Maiella finished his career second all-time in doubles with 48 and at bats with 640....For the second straight season junior Jeff Hanson led the team in hitting at .376. He also finished first with 46 RBI - the second highest single-season total ever behind Bill Packer's 51 in 1982.
First-year men's golf coach Steve Keating was named the Northeast Conference Coach of the Year, while Adam Petrasovic was named the league's Rookie of the Year.
Longtime assistant men's lacrosse coach Robb Chambers will be leaving the Pioneer program to join his family's business this summer.
Kerri Burke will be staying on as an assistant coach with the women's basketball program this coming season. Burke graduated in May as the program's all-time assist leader.
Former Pioneer basketball player Kibwe Trim is currently playing with the Gatos De Monagas Cats in Venezuela...Maurice Bailey is currently playing with Lokomotiv Rostov in Russia after playing with Nancy in the French Professional League...Former women's basketball player Nicolle Rubino played this past season with the Celeritudo Tigers in Holland.