Tight end Nick Mandich (Miami, Fla.), who recently completed his senior season as a member of the Southern Connecticut State University football team, will participate in the Miami Dolphins Rookie Camp.

Mandich suited up for the Owls for the past three seasons. He totaled 37 catches, 303 yards and four touchdowns for his career. Statistically, his best season came in 2010, when he caught 17 passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns.

Southern Connecticut concluded the 2011 season with an overall mark of 7-3 (6-2 Northeast-10 Conference). It marked the 11th consecutive winning season for the Owls.
 
Nick's dad Jim, pictured above, was a tight end on the Dolphins for eight years beginning in 1970. He was voted one of the most popular players ever on the team and passed away last year.

To read my 5 questions for the SCSU football team, follow this link.

http://nhregister.com/articles/2012/04/29/sports/doc4f9dd06b0837e417278725.txt

The Pittsburgh Steelers agreed to terms with former Yale defensive end Jake Stoller.

The 6-foot-3, 284-pound Stoller will participate in the team’s rookie minicamp, which runs May 4-6. Stoller had 4.5 sacks and 15 tackles in 10 games last season for the Bulldogs.

 
Former Southern Connecticut State defensive lineman Ike Igbinosun, pictured above, signed a free agent deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday after the conclusion of the NFL Draft.


Igbinosun, a 6-foot-5, 285-pounder out of Rahway, N.J., was one of the top defensive players in the Northeast-10 Conference last season. Igbinosun earned all-conference, all-region and all-ECAC honors last season and took part in the NAIA Senior Bowl.

He led SCSU linemen both with 58 tackles and seven sacks last season.

Southern stumbled out of the gate in Saturday's William "Sully" Sullivan spring game at Jess Dow Stadium. It took eight possessions for the Owls' offense to score a point.
But when it did it exploded as JJ Jablonski threw three touchdown passes and backup Zach Thomas threw one.

Here are the details followed by some highlights of the game.
Jerome Cunningham is shown catching a touchdown pass in the first highlight. He was the star of the day catching six passes.



Here's Steven Teague on Saturday's game:

The surprises keep on coming in the Northeast-10 Conference softball tournament.
No. 1 seed Southern Connecticut State dropped two games on Friday and is eliminated. The Owls will still earn a berth in next week's NCAA tournament but their top seed is in jeopardy. If SCSU is ranked first or second it will host a tourney site at Yale. If they fall to three they'll be on the road.

As for New Haven, it appears the Chargers need to win the NE-10 tourney to earn an NCAA b berth. They'll play Le Moyne today at 1 p.m.
Despite hitting four home runs, including a pair of blasts from senior Jessica Rosa, the No. 18 nationally ranked Southern was eliminated from the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament on Friday evening with an 8-5 loss to Assumption.
Le Moyne defeated Southern 2-1 in the first game.
The Owls fell to 37-10 on the year and will now wait to learn of their NCAA Tournament opponent when the selections are announced on Monday morning at 10 a.m. Assumption (30-16) advances to play either Le Moyne or New Haven in another elimination game on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Southern fell behind 5-0 in the second game before Kate Hoffman connected for her fifth home run of the year. The next inning, Kristin Whitley started a three-run rally with a solo shot, her third long ball of the year. Then, after a walk to Alyssa Downs, Rosa launched a blast over the center field wall to get the Owls within a run.
However, Assumption scored three times in the sixth to push its lead to 8-4. Rosa homered again in the seventh to close the scoring for the Owls.
In the opener LeMoyne scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning and held on for the win.
No. 7 New Haven moved to the semifinal round with an 8-3 win over Assumption. The Chargers (29-18) will face fourth-seeded Le Moyne today at 1 p.m.

Kelsey Malloy picked up the win in relief of Alana Wesche. She allowed one run in six innings while fanning five.
Jess Spivey and Gilly Childs homered for New Haven and Shannon Angehr had two hits and two RBIs.

In case you haven't seen the beauty of the horse "Hansen" who will be running in the Kentucky Derby, here a a couple of photos of this remarkable animal.
Hansen will be one of the top choices for the race and you can bet the entire racing industry would love to hang their hat on this one.
He is deemed the "Great White Hope" of horse racing.

NEW HAVEN – Sam Martin, one of Yale’s top three-point shooters, has been elected captain of the 2012-13 Yale men’s basketball team. The announcement came at Wednesday night’s post-season banquet following a team vote.
“I’m honored and humbled to be elected captain of the team,” said Martin, a West Warwick, R.I., native. “Being a captain at Yale is becoming part of a long tradition, and I feel very fortunate to be included in it.”

Martin has played in 70 games in his career. As a junior this year, he came off the bench in all 29 games and tied for sixth on the team with 12 three-pointers. His top performance came against Lyndon State when he was 6-of-8 from the field, including 5-of-7 from three-point range, en route to scoring a career-high 17 points.
“Sam is a vocal leader who will do a tremendous job of keeping everyone on the same page,” said coach James Jones.
Martin will be one of three seniors on next year’s roster – joining Michael Grace and Austin Morgan.
“Austin and Mike will be the most important determining factor of whether I am a good captain or not,” Martin said. “I can’t do it without them, and they know that. The more leaders we have on our team the better. I think every returning player should look to lead in some way because that is the only way we will win a championship.”
Martin inherits the captaincy from his close friend and roommate Reggie Willhite.
“I have learned so much from Reggie,” Martin said. “The biggest thing he has taught me about leading is that you have to live what you preach. You can’t yell at guys for not working hard if you aren’t. Reggie is definitely a lead-by-example kind of guy and I really admire and respect that about him.”
The Bulldogs will return two starters and nine letterwinners next season. Yale won 19 games in 2011-12 and reached the postseason for only the fifth time in school history, falling to Fairfield in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.

The Northeast-10 opened its softball tournament play on Tuesday with a pair of thrillers. Top-seeded Southern Connecticut survived a scare from Stonehill winning 4-3 in 10 innings. Jessica Rosa (pictured) had the game-winning hit for the Owls.

New Haven rallied from a 4-1 deficit to defeat No. 2 seed Adelphi 5-4 in its first-round game. The first round of the tourney is a single-elimination format. After that it becomes a double-elimination tournament.

2012 Northeast-10 Softball Championship Schedule
First Round Single Elimination

Tuesday’s results
#1 Southern Connecticut 4, No. 8 Stonehill 3 (10)
#7 New Haven 5, #2 Adelphi 4
Wednesday, April 25
Game 3: #6 Southern New Hampshire at #3 Assumption – 2:00 p.m.
Game 4: #5 UMass Lowell at #4 Le Moyne – 2:00 p.m.
Games at SCSU

Double elimination format
Friday’s games
Game 5: Southern Connecticut vs. Game 4 winner – 1:00 p.m.
Game 6: New Haven vs. Game 3 winner – 4:00 p.m.
Saturday games
Game 7: Game 5 loser vs. Game 6 loser – 10:00 a.m.
Game 8: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner – 12:30 p.m.
Game 9: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 loser – 3:00 p.m.
Sunday games
Game 10: Game 9 winner vs. Game 8 winner – 11:00 a.m.
Game 11: If Necessary – 30 minutes after conclusion of Game 10

Southern Connecticut State will host Stonehill in the NE-10 tournament opener Tuesday at 2 p.m.

The Owls won the regular season championship to earn the tourney's top seed.

Southern is ranked 16th in the nation with a record of 36-8 overall, and 24-6 in NE-10 play. Prior to dropping their final two regular season games on the road against Stonehill College, So. Connecticut had won 11 of their previous 12 games overall.

So. Connecticut has scored a league-best 279 runs this season, and their team earned run average of 1.93 is also tops in the league. So. Connecticut's Kelsey Cockrill and Jayme Larson, pictured, have combined for a 34-6 record, and have only allowed nine home runs in just under 260 innings of work combined.

Offensively, Brittany Bucko, leads the Northeast-10 with her .430 batting average, while teammate Alyssa Downs leads the league in runs batted in with 55.

Here is the tourney slate:

2012 Northeast-10 Softball Championship Seeds
#1 So. Connecticut
#2 Adelphi
#3 Assumption
#4 Le Moyne
#5 UMass Lowell
#6 So. New Hampshire
#7 New Haven
#8 Stonehill

2012 Northeast-10 Softball Championship Schedule

First Round Single Elimination

Tuesday, April 24
Game 1: #8 Stonehill at #1 Southern Connecticut – 2:00 p.m.
Game 2: #7 New Haven at #2 Adelphi – 2:00 p.m.
Game 3: #6 Southern New Hampshire at #3 Assumption – 2:00 p.m.
Game 4: #5 UMass Lowell at #4 Le Moyne – 2:00 p.m.

At Highest Remaining Seed -

Thursday, April 26 -
Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 4 winner – 1:00 p.m.
Game 6: Game 2 Winner vs. Game 3 winner – 4:00 p.m.

Friday, April 27
Game 7: Game 5 loser vs. Game 6 loser – 10:00 a.m.
Game 8: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner – 12:30 p.m.
Game 9: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 loser – 3:00 p.m.

Saturday, April 28
Game 10: Game 9 winner vs. Game 8 winner – 11:00 a.m.
Game 11: If Necessary – 30 minutes after conclusion of Game 10

Sunday, April 29
Rain Date for Thursday's - Saturday games

Junior forward Alyssa Zupon (Basking Ridge, N.J.) has been elected captain of the Yale women’s ice hockey team for the 2012-13 season.

Zupon was selected by a team vote last month, and will be introduced formally at the team’s post-season banquet this Saturday. In addition to her on-ice performance, Zupon has been a leader in a variety of community service initiatives during her time at Yale, including a charity for tsunami and earthquake relief in Japan that she co-founded.

“It's such an honor to be elected captain by people I deeply respect and for a program I love so much,” said Zupon. “My teammates are my best friends, and Yale hockey has impacted my life most over my three years here, so I couldn't ask for a better group or program to devote myself to. Yale hockey has given me so much over the past three years, and I'm excited to put all of myself into this opportunity to give back to the program and lead this team.”

Yale ran its winning streak to six games in men's lacrosse with an 11-10 win over Bryant in a non-conference game at Reeese Stadium.

Here's Matt Gibson on his game-winning goal:


Here are some game highlights:

Cara Ann Cama, a senior at Albertus Magnus College and a member of the women’s cross country team, earned the title of Miss New Haven County 2012, a preliminary to Miss Connecticut of the Miss America Scholarship Program, in the March 10th competition.

Cama, who ran for the Falcons for the first time in the fall of 2011, had been involved in the Miss America organization for the past few years as a volunteer but decided to compete for the first time this year.


“I was very excited to hear Miss Connecticut 2011 Morgan Amarone call my name as the winner!” said Cama. “I immediately began planning events and promoting my platform of Peer Mentoring: Teaching Strategies for Success.”


Since her appointment to Miss New Haven County, Cama has spent her time visiting various educational institutions, speaking to children who are at a transition point in their lives about the importance of finding a mentor, setting goals and striving for educational advancement. During her visits, she is also able to educate others about the Miss Connecticut Scholarship Program and the National Miss America platform of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.


Cama, who will be graduating this upcoming May with a degree in Biology and a minor in Communications, joined the Falcons’ cross country program prior to the 2011 season.


“My favorite part of each race was getting the team together before we began for a group Falcon chant,” said Cama. “I loved encouraging our team and cheering from the sidelines while the men’s team ran. Although we had a small team, our members had a lot of spirit and Falcon pride!”

Next up for Cara Ann Cama? The Albertus senior will compete for the Miss Connecticut title at the Garde Arts Center in New London from June 26-30. She also hopes to continue speaking and helping out at events throughout the area and encourages that an email be sent to her at ccama@albertus.edu with any opportunities.

Yale coach James Jones has been pushing for a postseason tournament in the Ivy League for some time now. Now he thinks the league is seriously debating the idea. Currently the Ivy League has only one postseason tournament, that being in men's lacrosse.

The proposal for an Ivy League basketball tournament with the winner getting the automatic bid to the NCAA would include the top four finishers only. Here is a story about the proposal.

LSU pitcher Rachele Fico was selected as one of 25 finalists for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award Wednesday as announced by the Amateur Softball Association [ASA] of America.

The award, considered the Heisman Trophy of women's collegiate softball, is designed to recognize outstanding athletic achievement by female collegiate softball players across the country.
"We're extremely pleased that Rachele has been recognized on USA Softball's prestigious list," head coach Beth Torina said.
"She has had an outstanding season and is very deserving of this honor." Fico joins former All-Americans Britni Sneed, Leslie Klein, Kristin Schmidt and Kirsten Shortridge as the only LSU players named as USA Softball Top 25 finalists. Sneed and Schmidt were one of 10 finalists for the award during the 2002 and 2003 seasons, respectively.
In 2006 and 2007, Klein was one of 25 finalists for the honor followed by Shortridge in 2010. Fico has amassed a 14-4 record with a blistering 0.81 ERA and is one of only two pitchers during the 2012 season to defeat No. 2 Alabama. The junior right-hander accomplished this feat in-front of a Rhoads Stadium record crowd of 3,521 fans.
Fico has won seven straight decisions going back to March 16 and already tossed nine shutouts highlighted by a quartet of one-hitters. The four-time Louisiana Pitcher of the Week is ranked in the Top five nationally in ERA and shutouts.
In her four losses on the season, Fico has received only one total run of support. The Top 25 list represents 17 schools and eight different conferences. It's comprised of 13 seniors, seven juniors, four sophomores and one freshman. Just days before the start of post-season play, a list of 10 finalists will be announced on May 9.
The three finalists will be announced two weeks later on May 23, while the winner of the 2012 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award will be revealed on May 29 prior to the start of the 2012 NCAA Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City.
The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award is voted on by coaching representatives from 11 Division I Conferences in the 15 ASA Regions as well as members of the media who consistently cover Division I Softball across the country.
LSU continues its season's long seven-game road swing and wraps up its season series Wednesday at Southeastern Louisiana. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. at North Oak Park in Hammond. Live stats will be available in the Geaux Zone at LSUsports.net/live. There is no radio broadcast of Wednesday's contest on the LSU Sports Radio Network.
Fans also can follow every pitch of LSU softball this season via live in-game updates on LSU softball's social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/lsusoftball and @lsu_softball on Twitter.
Here are the finalists for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year. Name (School) - Year - Position - Hometown
Valerie Arioto (California) - Senior - Utility - Pleasanton, Calif.
Lexy Bennett (Texas) - Senior - Infield - Kingwood, Texas
Katelyn Boyd (Arizona State) - Senior - Shortstop - Phoenix, Ariz.
Kayla Braud (Alabama) - Junior - Outfield - Eugene, Ore.
Lauren Chamberlain (Oklahoma) - Freshman - Infield - Trabuco Canyon, Calif.
Raven Chavanne (Tennessee) - Junior - Third base/Outfield - Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Rachele Fico (LSU) - Junior - Pitcher - Oxford, Conn.
Ashley Hansen (Stanford) - Senior - Infield - Chandler, Ariz.
Jolene Henderson (California) - Junior - Pitcher/First base - Elk Grove, Calif.
Kaitlin Inglesby (Washington) - Sophomore - Pitcher/First Base - Portland, Ore.
Ashley McClain (Florida International) - Senior - Outfield/Pitcher - Brandon, Fla.
Michelle Moultrie (Florida) - Senior - Center field - Jacksonville, Fla.
Sara Nevins (South Florida) - Sophomore - Pitcher - Pinellas Park, Fla.
Christi Orgeron (ULL) - Senior - Outfield - New Orleans, La.
Sara Plourde (UMass) - Senior - Pitcher - Bristol, Conn.
Kimi Pohlman (Washington) - Senior - Outfield - Sammamish, Wash.
Jamia Reid (California) - Senior - Outfield - Buena Park, Calif.
Ellen Renfroe (Tennessee) - Sophomore - Pitcher - Jackson, Tenn.
Keilani Ricketts (Oklahoma) - Junior - Pitcher - San Jose, Calif.
Hannah Rogers (Florida) - Senior - Pitcher - Lake Wales, Fla.
Jordan Rutkowski (Valparaiso) - Senior - Catcher/Outfield - Alden, N.Y.
Jessica Shults (Oklahoma) - Junior - Catcher - Valencia, Calif.
Chelsea Thomas (Missouri) - Redshirt Junior - Pitcher - Pleasantville, Iowa
Jackie Traina (Alabama) - Sophomore - Pitcher/Designated player - Naples, Fla.
Delaney Willard (BYU) - Senior - Outfield - Camarillo, Calif.

Yale's Cale Hanson continued his on-base streak with five hits in Sunday's doubleheader. Hanson has been on base in 33 consecutive games.

Yale led 3-0 in Game 1 before Harvard rallied to pull out a 4-3 victory of Sunday’s doubleheader at Yale Field, but the Bulldogs came storming back in Game 2, rallying from a 3-2 deficit to earn a 5-3 victory to salvage the split. In Game 1, Yale’s starting pitcher, senior Pat Ludwig, tossed a gem but once again suffered from bad luck in a complete game loss. It was Ludwig’s second complete game in his last three starts. He struck out eight Harvard batters while scattering six hits and walking just one. He gave up four runs, but only two were earned. Yale opened the game with a three-run first inning that appeared to give Ludwig all the support he needed. Ludwig cruised through the first five innings, allowing just two hits and three base runners in holding Harvard scoreless over that stretch.

Yale's Greg Mangano wrapped an impressive showing at Portsmouth Invitational, a showcase for college seniors eyeing pro careers.

Mangano ended his stay at the Portsmouth Invitational by scoring nine points and grabbing three rebounds in Cherry Bekart & Holland’s 78-75 loss to Portsmouth Partnership in the third-place game. Mangano started at forward, played 21 minutes and was 4-of-9 from the field. In three games at the Invitational, Mangano averaged 10.7 points and six rebounds. More importantly he showed the many NBA and international scouts on hand that he can play away from the basket. He shot 46.2 percent (6-of-13) from three-point range in the three games. Mangano, a two-time first team All-Ivy selection, enjoyed an outstanding career for the Bulldogs. He is Yale’s all-time leader with 213 career blocked shots, which is the third most in Ivy League history. In addition, he finished sixth in school history with

Tariq Carey, a 6-3 point guard from St. Anthony’s (N.J.) has committed to play at Quinnipiac next season.

Carey averaged 6.6 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists for the undefeated Friars (32-0), and chose Quinnipiac over Missouri State, Boston University, New Hampshire and Siena. “He’s a pretty versatile guard, he can play both guard positions,” Hall of Fame St. Anthony coach Bob Hurley told SNY.tv. “He’s strong. He became a much better defensive player this year, so I think he’ll be ready to play defense at the college level. “And he’s an excellent offensive player when you give him some freedom. He’s a really, really good passer and I think other than Kyle [Anderson] last year he was our second-best guy getting the ball into the post. At Quinnipiac, they were the No. 2 rebounding team in the country so they got somebody who can get the ball inside and they’ve got guys who can do stuff with it.”

Greg Mangano made a good first impression at the Portsmouth Invitational, scoring 10 points, grabbing six rebounds and blocking three shots to help Cherry Bekart & Holl to an 85-73 victory over K&D Rounds Landscaping on Wednesday night.

Mangano started at forward and played 23 minutes. He was 4-of-10 from the field, including 2-of-4 from three-point range. He was one of three Ivy League players in the game. His teammate -Harvard’s Keith Wright - had nine points and seven rebounds. Penn’s Zack Rosen scored four points and handed out six assists for K&D Rounds. Mangano’s team will play next on Friday night at 7 p.m. against the Portsmouth Sports Club. The Portsmouth Invitational is a four-day, 12-game tournament that is played in front of representatives from every NBA team and a number of overseas teams. Mangano, a two-time first team All-Ivy selection for the Bulldogs, enjoyed an outstanding career. He is Yale’s all-time leader with 213 career blocked shots, which is the third most in Ivy League history. In addition, he finished sixth in school history with 735 career rebounds and 13th in school history with 1,213 career points.

Shabazz Muhammad, regarded by many as the top high school player in the country announced Wednesday he would play for UCLA next year.

The 6-foot-6 wing had narrowed his list of finalists to include Kentucky and Duke. Muhammad is a senior at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas but trimmed the hometown UNLV Runnin’ Rebels and Kansas from his list in recent days. He made his announcement in a live broadcast televised by ESPNU.

UConn's appeal to the NCAA over next year's ban from the NCAA tournament has been denied. Here is UConn's release: STORRS, Conn. (April 5, 2012) -- The University of Connecticut has been informed by the NCAA’s Committee on Academic Performance (CAP) that it has denied the school’s final appeal of a postseason ban on its men’s basketball team for the 2012-13 season because of the team’s past cumulative Academic Performance Rate (APR) scores. “I want to be clear that everyone at UConn is and will always be committed to academic excellence for all of our student-athletes and in particular our men’s basketball players,” said UConn Director of Athletics Warde Manuel, a past member of the NCAA’s Academic Cabinet and Academic Eligibility and Compliance Committee. “Before we even began this appeal process, the University and its Division of Athletics began to implement changes that were designed to positively impact the academic performance of our men’s basketball student-athletes. We have and will continue to make adjustments designed to help these young men succeed.”

That was a tough Saturday, losing both games when they both looked to be in the bag.

Ohio State’s failure to even the win the game made things even worse. The Buckeyes certainly seemed to choke down the stretch. Meanwhile Kentucky never looked to be in trouble and although it didn’t cover the spread, the Cats were in control. The setbacks left me 8-3 over the last 11 games with the finale to come. If you can get a line on the women’s title game tomorrow, I like Skylar Diggins, for obvious reasons, and the Fighting Irish to upset Baylor. The Irish have too many weapons who are clicking right now.

Look for Griner to get 30 and ND to pull off the upset. As for tonight’s game, I usually like to stay away from the public which to me seems like it is all over Kentucky. But, the gambling sites are talking how they’ve been getting enough money on Kansas and that’s music to my ears. I like Kentucky by double figures in the title game and Anthony Davis is the Most Outstanding Player.