The Skating Dutchmen go into this weekend's regular-season finale at Colgate and Cornell needing a win or tie to qualify for the ECAC post-season tournament for the fifth time in their 10-year Division I history. Union is currently in ninth place, two points in front of 10th-place Vermont and three points in front of 11th-place Colgate.
The ironic thing about Friday's game at Colgate is that the six seniors on this year's team were recruited while Red Raider assistant coach Stan Moore was the head coach at Union. A win or tie by the Dutchmen over Colgate would secure Union's play-off spot while eliminating the Red Raiders. That won't be easy, though, as Union is just 1-8 at Starr Rink in the last 10 years and is 2-9-1 on the road this season.
The Dutchmen are riding the crest of a streak that has seen them post a 5-2-1 ECAC record since beating Vermont, 3-1, at Achilles on February 2. Their
current streak has left the Garnet with an 8-10-2 league record and a 12-14-4 overall mark for third-year head coach Kevin Sneddon.
Union, which has scored 81 goals this year, has nine players in double digits with junior Jeff Wilson (London, Ont./A.B. Lucas School) leading the way with 11-10-21. Junior goaltender Brandon Snee (Philadelphia, PA/The Hill School) boasts a .900 save percentage and a 3.05 goals against average. His lone shutout of the year came on November 10 against Cornell, 2-0.
The Dutchmen's other Division I play-off appearances came in 1993-94, 1994-95, 1996-97 and last year when they lost to eventual Frozen Four participant St. Lawrence, 8-4 and 4-3 in overtime. The Dutchmen have never advanced out of their first-round play-off series and are 1-7 in postseason, beating Rensselaer, 4-3, in their initial play-off game in 1993-94.
The men's swimming and diving team ended the 2000-01 campaign in strong fashion last weekend as they finished fourth in the 13-team New York State Swimming and Diving Championships that were held at Nottingham High School in Syracuse. The Dutchmen, who compiled 939 points, brought home four state championships and had several of the team's members qualify for the prestigious NCAA championships.
Ridgley Harrison
Sophomore Ridgley Harrison (Hackettstown, NJ/Morristown High) won state titles in the 50 and 100 freestyle events while finishing second in the 200 freestyle. His times of 21.05 in the 50 and 47.50 in the 100 freestyle races qualified him for the NCAA's “B” cut. Harrison also swam the opening leg on the 800 freestyle relay team, which won the state title and qualified for the NCAA “B” cut with a time of 6:57.89. Joining Harrison on that team were sophomore Steve Eberlein (Troy, MI/Brother Rice), freshman Adam Retersdorf (Mayflield, NY/Gloversville) and senior Nathaniel Martin (Kensington, CT/Avon).
Retersdorf brought back a state championship in the 1650 freestyle race and set a Union College record with his time of 16:37.18. He finished fourth in the 500 freestyle in 4:46.41 and sixth in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:46.07.
Martin finished second to Harrison in the 100 freestyle with a 47.58 and was eighth in the 100 backstroke with a 55.94.
Eberlein, meanwhile, took sixth in the 200n IM in 2:01.00 and seventh in the 200 backstroke in 2:00.96.
Sophomore Aaron D'Addario (Manlius, NY/Manlius Fayetteville) placed sixth in the one meter diving with 324.50 points and was fifth on the three meter board with 369.55 points. Junior Kyle Schack (Huntington Woods, MI/Kingswood) was eighth in the 100 butterfly with a time of 53.51 and fourth in the 200 fly in 2:00.95. Freshman Steve LaPlante (Easthampton, MA/Williston) finished eighth in the 200 freestyle in 1:48.98.
The men's and women's basketball teams were well represented on this year's Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association All-Conference teams. Junior guard Katie Smith (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem) was voted to the women's first-team while junior forward C.J. Rodgers (Chicago, IL/St. Rita's) was a First-Team selection for the men.
C.J. Rodgers
Junior forward Heather Bennett (Westwood, MA/Westwood) was selected to the All-Conference Second Team while junior forward Aaron Galletta (Hyde Park, NY/F.D. Roosevelt) and junior guard Dave Musella (Loudonville, NY/Bishop Maginn) were both Honorable Mention selections.
Rodgers had the Dutchmen's best all-around season as he finished second on the team in scoring (379 points, 15.2) and led the squad with his 228 rebounds (9.1). He also contributed 55 assists, 41 steals and a team-high 19 blocked shots. Rodgers will enter his senior year with 942 career points and 545 career rebounds. He was a member of the UCAA's All-Conference Second Team last year.
Smith, meanwhile, led the Dutchwomen in scoring (15.1) and assists (3.1), was also the Dutchwomen's third-leading rebounder with her 5.0 average Her three years in a Garnet uniform have produced 1,073 points, fifth on the all-time list.
Bennett, who was voted to the UCAA All-Conference First Team after the 1999-2000 campaign, led the Dutchwomen in rebounding (10.5) and was second in scoring at 12.1 She scored 21 and 20 points in her last two outings, respectively, and had 13 double-doubles this year. Bennett currently has 826 career points (10th all-time) and 655 rebounds (fourth all-time) in 76 career games. She goes into this this weekend with 272 rebounds this season, leaving her one short of Amy Hitz (Class of '97) single-season Union record of 273, set in 1994-95.
Heather Bennett
Galletta, who became the 14th member of the Dutchmen's 1,000-Point Club earlier this year, led the team in scoring with his 16.9 average and will enter his senior season with 1,286 career points, fifth on the all-time list. While Galletta would need a career year in 2001-02 to catch all-time leading scorer Joe Cardany's (Class of '85) standard of 1,790, the 6'7, 170-pound he needs only 347 points to pass Jim Tedisco (Class of '72) for second place. Galletta scored 465 points as a sophomore and 423 this year after knocking down 398 markers as a freshman. The Dutchmen's leading three-point shooter (61 of 156, .391) and their top free throw shooter (72 of 81, .889), Galletta once again showed himself to be a complete player by pulling down 128 rebounds (a 5.1 average) and handing out 41 assists. He was named to the UCAA All-Conference Honorable Mention team for the second consecutive year.
Musella heads into his senior year with 994 career points and looks to join Galletta as the only teammates on the Dutchmen's all-time list. He came back to score 336 points (14.6) after missing the last 12 games of last season with a knee injury that held him to just 229 markers. Musella was the Dutchmen's leading scorer as a freshman with 429 points, including 54 three-point baskets. Union's third-leading scorer, Musella finished second on the team in rebounds with a career-high 144 (6.3) and led the Dutchmen with his 77 assists (3.3). Musella, who was the UCAA “Rookie of the Year” as well as an All-Conference Second Team selection following the 1998-99 campaign.
The best season in the 26-year history of women's basketball at Union College continues this weekend when the second-seeded Dutchwomen take on the third-seeded University of Rochester in Saturday's 6 p.m. semi-final game of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Upstate New York Championship Tournament at Nazareth College in Rochester.
The 4 p.m. match-up pits No. 1 Nazareth against No. 4 Geneseo. The event will conclude with Sunday's 2 p.m. championship. Ticket prices are $3.00 per person per day.
This is the fist postseason appearance for the 18-8 Dutchwomen, whose previous best season came in 1978-79 when the squad finished at 13-10.
Sara D'Arcangelo
Union will be without the services of junior guard Katie Smith (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem), who tore her ACL in last Friday's Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association semi-final loss to Rensselaer, 62-58. Smith, who was named to the
UCAA All-Conference First-Team and led the Dutchwomen in scoring (15.1) and assists (3.1), was also the Dutchwomen's third-leading rebounder with her 5.0 average Her three years in a Garnet uniform have produced 1,073 points, fifth on the all-time list. The loss of Smith will mean that Union will need to stay close to its defensive average of 53.4 while relying on seniors Erin McNamara (N. Providence, RI/LaSalle Academy), Kathleen Furlong (Lackawanna, NY/Holy Angels) and Sara D'Arcangelo (Clarksburg, MA/Drury) for more point production. McNamara, a four-year starter, finished third on the team's scoring chart with her 8.5 average and was second to Smith in assists with 42. She was also the Dutchwomen's leading three-point shooter this year with 23 and shows 903 career points. Furlong, who scored all seven of her points in the
second half after Smith went down last week, comes into the game averaging 4.7 points off the bench. A starter during her freshman campaign, Furlong enters the final weekend of her four-year career with a total of 882 points in 94 games (9.4) including 87 field goals from three-point range. D'Arcangelo, meanwhile, has started the last 11 games and gives the team a solid defender who is capable of hitting from three-point range. It was her three-pointer in the final six seconds that won a game at Clarkson earlier this year. D'Arcangelo, who has played in 96 games over the last four years, has connected on 67 career three-point attempts.
The Dutchwomen will also be looking to freshmen Taryn Scinto (Westoowd, NJ/Immaculate Heart) and Victoria Kuzman (Altamont, NY/Guilderland) as well as to sophomore Jill Ring (Brewster, MA/Nauset Regional) to pick up the slack. Scinto, who was a starter in 15 games this season, averaged 4.2 points and 2.0 assists while finishing third on the team with her 17 three-point baskets. She is also an excellent ball-handler. Kuzman and Ring, meanwhile, are fierce defensive players and have combined for 34 steals.
“There is no question that everyone is going to have to step up their game if we are to be successful,” said sixth-year head coach Mary Ellen Burt, who was an assistant at Rochester for seven years prior to taking over the helm at Union. “We will be a different team without Katie, but I honestly feel that we can be successful if everyone plays within their capabilities and don't try to do more than what is expected of them.”
Beth Perry
Union's frontcourt will again consist of starters, junior Heather Bennett (Westwood, MA/Westwood) and senior Beth Perry (Bliss, NY/Lechworth) as well as with junior Meredith Chace (Westwood, MA/Westwood), who is the first player off of the bench. Bennett, who was voted to the UCAA All-Conference Second Team, led the Dutchwomen in rebounding (10.5) and was second in scoring at 12.1 She scored 21 and 20 points in her last two outings, respectively, and had 13 double-doubles this year. Perry contributed 4.8 points, was second to Bennett with her 5.6 rebounds and led the Dutchwomen with 17 blocked shots. Chace, meanwhile, averaged 2.4 points and 2.5 rebounds with 29 steals and 18 assists while averaging 13 minutes.
Rochester's 14 victories this season are the highest in seven years since the 1993-94 team finished 19-8 and won the ECAC Upstate New York championship. The Yellowjackets are 14-11 overall.
This is the second meeting ever between these two teams. Rochester defeated Union, 74-47, in 1987 and beat the Dutchwomen 80-49 in 1996. Both of the previous
games came in the Rochester Holiday Tournament.
Nazareth comes into the game with a record of 17-8 while Geneseo is 18-8.
Schenectady, N.Y. (Feb. 16, 2001) – Raouf Mama, a storyteller who specializes in stories from the Fon region of Benin in western Africa, will give a performance on Friday, Feb. 23, at 1:40 p.m. in Old Chapel at Union College.
The event, free and open to the public, is part of the College's celebration of Black History Month. Mama, a professor of English at Eastern Connecticut State University, was born in Benin, educated at the National University there, and received his graduate degrees at the University of Michigan.
As a storyteller in the traditional African style, he performs Fon stories for audiences in the United States and abroad. He is the author of Why Goats Smell Bad, a collection of 20 folktales from the Republic of Benin. As the former Kingdom of Dahomey, Benin was a jumping-off point for the slave trade of the 17th century. Remnants of its culture, therefore, are today the heritage of many black people in the United States, Brazil, Haiti, Cuba, and other Caribbean countries.
Mama's translated tales also have been published by Storytelling Magazine, Parabola, Connecticut Review, and Facts and Fiction.
For events listings:
Speaker: African storyteller Raouf Mama
Topic: Folktales from Benin, West Africa
Date: Friday, Feb. 23
Time: 1:40 p.m.
Place: Old Chapel.
Cost: Free and open to the public
Information: 388-6131
Contact: Charlie Casey (518) 388-6090 caseyc@union.edu
