Bridgewater, Westfield to tip off
It should be an interesting match up Tuesday night when Westfield State College visits Bridgewater State College, both basketball powerhouses in the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference.
Although Westfield is 111 miles from Bridgewater, many of its players are from the south-of-Boston region. The Owls, in fact, could start a lineup consisting of local players.
Former Cardinal Spellman standout Curtis Gadles, a 6-foot-5 forward from Pembroke, is Westfield's leading scorer with an average of 20.5 points per game.
Ex-BC High star Dave Jaehnig of Quincy, a 6-3 sophomore forward, was MASCAC Rookie of the Year last season.
Both are starters.
Other Westfield players include sophomores Kevin Knowles and Adam Morley, who played together at Apponequet Regional High School in Lakeville, and 6-8 Matt Fitzgibbon, a junior center from Norwood.
Westfield was 18-8 last year and won its final nine regular season games to finish as MASCAC regular season cochampion with Salem. Bridgewater finished strong, too. The Bears won the MASCAC postseason tournament and earned an NCAA Division 3 national championship berth.
Both teams are off to a great start. Westfield is 8-2 with its only losses being an overtime decision to Western New England College and a 5-point defeat to Western Connecticut State University.
Bridgewater is 5-1. The only loss was a 5-point decision to Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
These two teams could meet again in the MASCAC championship game in March.
Laubinger caps Fordham career
Former Globe All-Scholastic soccer standout Holly Laubinger of Bridgewater concluded a starry career at Fordham University.
Laubinger, who was a four-year starter at Bridgewater-Raynham, set the Trojans' all-time scoring record with 74 goals and 39 assists and led the Old Colony League in scoring for three seasons.
The 2002 Globe Player of the Year hit the Atlantic 10 Conference with a bang, earning a berth on the All-Rookie team as a freshman. She finished fourth on the Rams in scoring with four goals and three assists for 11 points.
Fordham coach Ness Selmani called the 5-6 Laubinger a "tenacious player, who has missed only one game. She saw her role change in 2005 when she was moved from forward to midfield."
US squad taps Witt's wisdom
Former Canton High School superstar Hilary Witt keeps moving up the hockey coaching ranks.
The head coach of the women's program at Yale University has been selected as an assistant coach for Team USA at the 2007 International Ice Hockey Federation Women's World Championship, the most significant international competition in women's hockey other than the Olympics.
Witt will work with head coach Mark Johnson at the April 3-10 tournament in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
In 10 previous competitions, the Americans won eight silver medals and one gold medal. The gold came in 2005.
This is Witt's second foray as a coach in international competition. She served as an assistant coach at the Four Nations Cup last November, when the United States finished with a silver medal.
She proved herself as a coach at Yale. Witt has become the winningest coach in school history in five years on the job.
Witt made her mark as a player at Northeastern, leading the Huskies in scoring in three of her four seasons. She finished as NU's all-time leader in goals and points (113-94-207). She was a three-time finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, presented annually to the top player in NCAA Division 1 women's ice hockey.
BC nets local hockey players
Two local hockey player s, both attending the Salisbury School in Connecticut, have committed to play at Boston College.
Brian Gibbons of Braintree will be among the new students entering BC next fall, according to Eagles coach Jerry York.
The following September, Paul Carey of Weymouth will enroll at Boston College.
Gibbons is a 5-7, 155-pound forward who has starred for Thayer Academy the last four years. In 2004, Gibbons was a member of the US Under-17 Select Team that finished second at the Five Nations Tournament in Germany. He was a key player who tied for second on the team in scoring with 5 points -- one goal and four assists -- in four games. This season Gibbons has one goal and four assists for Salisbury.
Carey was a key member of last year's New England Private School championship team at Salisbury, scoring 14 goals and dishing off 25 assists. Carey -- who had scholarship opportunities at Harvard, Yale, and elsewhere -- has seven goals and four assists this season through eight games.
Butler to join UMass swim team
Max Butler of Duxbury has signed a letter of intent to swim for the University of Massachusetts, according to an announcement by head coach Russ Yarworth.
"Although it is impossible to 'replace' our graduating seniors as they have given so much to the program, this group of signees should go a long way to maintaining our championship tradition," Yarworth said of next year's incoming class of freshmen.
Butler is the only swimmer from Massachusetts among the incoming class of scholarship athletes. He was a standout for Duxbury High and represented the Bernal's Gators Swim Club.
He was state champ in the 100 backstroke in 2004 and 2005. Butler has also proven himself at the national level as he finished ninth overall in both the 50 and 100 at the Junior National Championships.
He holds the Duxbury High record in the 200 individual medley, the 200 free, the 500 free, and the 100 back. He has also been a member of the school's record-setting 200 free and 400 free relay teams. "Max is one of the top swimmers in Massachusetts," added Yarworth. "We are very pleased to have him stay home and represent UMass."
