Sept. 28, 2008

Friday, Sept. 26

The end of the work week is here and despite football having a bye week, there is still a busy slate of home games scheduled for the weekend, beginning with a soccer tripleheader on Friday. The Minutewomen host St. Bonaventure in their Atlantic 10 opener at 12 p.m. then the Minutemen play Hartford in game one of the UMass Classic followed by Rhode Island versus Vermont to round out the day. The men's lacrosse team has its annual alumni game scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m. at Garber Field (weather permitting), so be sure to come out and watch the current team against stars of the past. Field hockey plays two crucial games, hosting 18th nationally ranked Albany on Saturday at 12 p.m. and second nationally ranked Syracuse on Sunday at 1 p.m.

If you can't make the lacrosse alumni game, be sure to preview the 2009 Minutemen at the Open Pantry Fall Fest on Saturday, Oct. 4.

The Daily Collegian had two pieces on the women's soccer A-10 Opener: A-10 matches set to begin today and Minutewomen must deal with adversity.

The Collegian also had a preview of field hockey's huge weekend on tap in addition to a sidebar on the Minutewomen.

Former UMass All-American goaltender Jon Quick is impressing with the Los Angeles Kings. In a piece from the L.A. Times, he is said to have "helped his cause" on Wednesday when he stopped all three shooters (including all-time great Joe Sakic) in the shootout to allow the Kings to prevail, 4-3. ESPN.com also ran the AP game story.

In other exhibition action, Thomas Pock, played in the New York Rangers' 4-2 loss, but did not record any points. Click here for the complete play-by-play of the game.

From the Milwaukee Bucks website: Former UMass basketball star and current Los Angeles Clipper Marcus Camby is predicted to have the sixth biggest impact among players with new teams in the Western Conference.

News sources continue to write about the ESPN college basketball marathon on Nov. 18 which kicks off with UMass at Memphis at midnight. Among them were Multichannel News and The Daily Iowan.

The Worcester Telegram & Gazette made a brief mention of new UMass cross country/track assistant coach John Hoogasian.

The Journal and Courier gives a UMass soccer update, focusing on West Lafayette, Indiana native Stuart Amick.

UMassAthletics.com Feature To Check Out: The 2008-09 UMass hockey media guide is now available online. Click here to download it and/or to purchase a hard copy of your own!

Don't miss this: Don't know what to do this weekend? Come and cheer on your UMass athletic teams every day! A soccer triple header is on tap for Friday. Be sure to stop by Rudd Field, but if you can't make it, live streaming video will be available (rain or shine) through UMass All-Access. The UMass Classic then concludes on Sunday at 12 and 2 p.m. The field hockey team is in action all weekend as they try to knock off a pair of ranked squads (#18 Albany at 12 p.m. on Saturday and #2 Syracuse at 1 p.m. on Sunday).

Thursday, Sept. 25

Thursday is here and UMass' big weekend of soccer and field hockey action nears. With the football bye week, the Bud Light UMass Radio Show takes a one-week hiatus and will return next week. There are several stories today on the UMass-Memphis game which begins ESPN's marathon of basketball on Nov. 18. Also, the Daily Collegian has a must-read editorial on how UMass students need to support the teams on campus.

On ESPN.com, Andy Katz has a blog on the network's marathon of basketball. Katz writes: " This should be an intriguing game for many reasons, notably to see how much UMass plays like Memphis with its dribble-drive-motion style and to see whether the Tigers look like they are able to make another Final Four run."

The Republican has a story on the UMass at Memphis basketball game which will start up ESPN's college basketball marathon on Nov. 18.

The Boston Herald chimes in with this piece on the UMass-Memphis game starting at midnight.

News from former UMass basketball star Gary Forbes is that he will be forced to leave his team (Napoli), since they were excluded from the italian federation on Sept. 20. He will be looking for options elsewhere, with Turkey as one possibility.

The big weekend of UMass action looks like it will be a damp one. The weather.com forecast calls for rain on all three days of the week with 100 percent listed for Friday, followed by 70 percent on Saturday and 40 percent on Sunday.

The Daily Collegian has a great editorial about how UMass students need to provide support for the athletic teams here in Amherst.

The Daily Collegian provides an in-depth preview of the UMass Soccer Classic this weekend at Rudd Field. There is also a sidebar on the Minutemen looking to improve set-pieces.

The Sports Network's Dave Coulson has a column on CAA Football and all of the pitfalls that remain for the teams in the league.

The Daily Collegian has a story on the UMass football team defense looking to improve.

Former UMass hockey star P.J. Fenton has been assigned to the Worcester Sharks by the parent San Jose Sharks.

Tricia Turley has left UMass to join the athletic department at Ohio University. Turley who was the Associate Athletic Director for Compliance at UMass will be the Associate A.D. for Compliance and Student Services with the Bobcats.

UMassAthletics.com Feature To Check Out:Looking to call or email someone in the UMass Athletic department. Check out the updated staff directory.

Don't miss this: Despite there being no football radio show tonight, there will be a UMass Football Weekly on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. on CBS3 and here on UMassAthletics.com. The show will feature an all-access behind the scenes look at the team's trip to Lubbock as well as a feature on defensive lineman Brandon Collier.

Wednesday, Sept. 24

Wednesday means the UMass Sports Luncheon at the Campus Center Room 1009. It will be a banner day for the cross country program as Athletes of the Week Nils Fischer and Shiyi Zan will be recognized by their respective coaches, who are the featured speakers in Ken O'Brien and Julie LaFreniere. Football coach Don Brown will also be speaking. Also, look for a major announcement concerning the UMass men's basketball schedule midday.

The field hockey team continued its victorious ways, winning in overtime against an Ivy League foe for the second game in a row as UMass won at Brown, 2-1, on an Erin Parker OT winner. The Daily Collegian has coverage. The Collegian also has a sidebar story on field hockey.

The Daily Collegian has a notebook on the men's soccer team as the Minutemen head into their final three non-conference games.

UMass recruit T.J. Syner went through workouts this summer as a major strength & conditioning camp in Connecticut.

Check out this YouTube video of Chris Lowe during a summer workout on PressPassTV. The segment begins with an open from Ben Gordon, who also went to Mount Vernon High School.

UMassAthletics.com Feature To Check Out: If you are looking for schedules for your Outlook, you can now download the 2008-09 men's basketball ice hockey and swimming schedules with this a great feature.

Don't miss this: Join us for the UMass Sports Luncheon on Wednesday at 12 Noon as the UMass/Dinn Brothers Athletes of the Week Nils Fischer and Shiyi Zan will be honored. The guest speakers will be UMass cross country coaches Ken O'Brien and Julie LaFreniere along with football coach Don Brown.

Tuesday, Sept. 23

Happy Tuesday! Autumn is here. With NHL training camps underway, Just Take A Minute takes a look at former UMass Minutemen in those camps including Jon Quick (pictured) with the Los Angeles Kings. Also, there are a few stories on the football team looking ahead to its bye week. The football team dropped to the No. 10 in the FCS Coaches Poll and was dropped to No. 18 in The Sports Network media poll. Also, the only UMass team in action for a mid-week game is this afternoon, as the field hockey team faces Brown in Providence at 4 p.m.

As much as it is big news that the CAA has the top two teams in the nation in both polls, UMass and Delaware were dropped into the low-teens after tough losses. The /TSN-DIV-1AA-POLL.htm">Sports Network poll has Richmond at No. 1 and James Madison at No. 2 while UMass stands at No. 18 (after being No. 9 last week) and Delaware is No. 17 after being No. 6.

In the FCS Coaches Poll, UMass is No. 10, after being No. 9 last week, which is more reasonable after a loss to a top 10 FBS team in Texas Tech, which is up to No. 10/9. The Coaches have JMU No. 1 and Richmond No. 2. Delaware, UMass' next opponent on Oct. 4, is at No. 12.

Matt Vautour of the Daily Hampshire Gazette writes a piece on the CAA, focusing on the teams' presence in national polls.

The Daily Collegian has a wrap-up of the weekend's action in FCS football, focusing JMU's upset of Appalachian State.

Here's a rundown of UMass alumni in NHL camps: P.J Fenton (San Jose Sharks), Mike Kostka (Buffalo Sabres), Mark Matheson (Nashville Predators), Greg Mauldin (Ottawa Senators), Thomas Pock (New York Rangers), Jon Quick (Los Angeles Kings) and Stephen Werner (Nashville Predators). Additionally, Matt Anderson is signed to a AHL contract in the Atlanta Thrashers system.

Monday was the first full night of NHL preseason games. Pock played for the Rangers, but had no points. He is battling for a roster spot in the NHL. Greg Mauldin did not play for the Senators in that game.

Athlon Preseason Annual released its Atlantic 10 Preview and ranks the Minutemen as the preseason No. 5 team in the conference. Athlon's picks UMass to return to the NIT for third year in a row.

CollegeHoops.net has UMass rated as the No. 3 men's basketball program in the state of Massachusetts. The Minutemen stand behind Boston College and Holy Cross, based on recent success.

The Daily Collegian has a preview of the field hockey game at Brown. There is also a feature on the team's midfield.

The Collegian also has a recap of the UMass Invitational cross country meet looking at the team's success.

UMassAthletics.com Feature To Check Out: UMass' new All-Access player has been unveiled. It still has some bugs with organization of the video clips. But it is much more user friendly and loads faster.

Don't miss this: The field hockey team plays at Brown on Tuesday afternoon at 4 p.m..

Monday, Sept. 22

It was a tough weekend for UMass teams. From the football loss at one of the best teams in the nation in all of football, Texas Tech, to the men's soccer and women's soccer teams dropping tough decisions to New Hampshire and Providence, respectively. The field hockey team was victorious beating Vermont, 2-0, on Saturday. But the biggest winner of the weekend was the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, as several UMass teams took part in the FOJ Road Race in Amherst.

CollegeChalkTalk.com has a segment with UMass assistant basketball coach Vance Walberg, called "Five Questions." The creator of the dribble-drive motion offense touches on several topics.

Here are various stories on the UMass-Texas Tech game from Saturday night. The Boston Globe staffed the game with Alex Ybarra, who wrote this recap with a UMass angle. The Boston Herald ran the AP recap as did the Daily Hampshire Gazette. In Texas, read about it in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (and this notebook in the Journal), Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Daily Toreader and the Bleacher Report . Also the Daily Toreador has a story on UMass' injuries suffered in the game.

The Boston Herald has a follow up on Monday as UMass heads into a much-needed bye week.

In Monday's paper, the Daily Hampshire Gazette included a UMass roundup with mentions of women's soccer, men's soccer, field hockey, and cross country action from over the weekend.

ESPN.com ran the recap on the Texas Tech win over UMass on its front page for a while on Saturday night and Sunday.

In his return to Massachusetts with the Miami Dolphins, Brandon London was inactive for Miami in their surprising win over the Patriots.

The Daily Collegian has coverage of the field hockey team's 2-0 win over Vermont on Saturday.

The Republican focused its Sunday college round-up on UMass' runner Jesse Regnier and how he was third in the UMass Invitational Cross Country meet on Saturday.

Former UMass assistant basketball coach Dennis Jackson, will be inducted into the Newark Athletic Hall of Fame in New Jersey on Oct. 16. Jackson was an assistant with the Minutemen from 1984-88. He is currently a guidance counselor at Springfield's High School of Science and Technology and is the founder and president of Planned Learning for Youth (PLAY), an innovative program designed to enhance the academic, athletic and personal skills of student-athletes.

UMassAthletics.com Feature To Check Out: The next UMass football game is finally a home game. Be sure to visit ticketmater.com to buy tickets to the UMass-Delaware game on Oct. 4 at 3:30 p.m., at McGuirk Alumni Stadium.

Don't miss this: Today, UMassAthletics.com will debut the new video player for UMass All-Access. It is similar to the video player used for the 2008 Olympics webstreaming from Beijing.

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