Women's Basketball Playoffs On Tap

The HC women's basketball team backed into the number two spot in the Patriot League standings, and will host one-half of the PL tournament which begins Thursday. Bucknell and Lehigh face off in the first quarterfinal game at 5:30pm, with the Crusaders and the AU Eagles matching up at 8pm.

A few folks over on Crossports are wondering why the HC women's team doesn't get more attention from the board's registered posters. That question gets kicked around every so often. My answer, for this year, at least, is pretty simple: This season's version of the Crusaders isn't much fun to watch.

Maybe I just miss those breathtaking Maggie Fontana passes, or the all-around post play of Lisa Andrews. But it's more than that. Seniors Shannon Bush, Jess Conte, and Sarah Placek are shooting a combined 36.1% from the field, and an even worse 31.5% on three-pointers. I love Conte, but her shooting this year has been disappointing.

Shannon Bush has the worst percentages of the senior tri-captains. She's at 34.9% from the field, and a terrible 28.5% from three. Shooting that poorly from three-land is one thing, but taking almost half your shots (actually 46.3%) from behind-the-arc, while shooting that poorly, simply isn't smart. Neither is the fact that she's taken the second-most shots on the team, only 21 behind the 54% shooting and breakout junior center Kaitlin Foley who's taken 302 shots on the season.

The much-maligned Sarah Placek, not a fan favorite, actually has the best percentages of the three seniors. The headline for the game story in today's Sunday Telegram was "Unlikely milestone," in reference to Placek's reaching 1000 career points. Congratulations to her on that achievement! Her pull-up 12-foot jumper is deadly. Yet according to the article in today's paper, she has the lowest career scoring average (8.8) of the 22 members of the HC women's 1000-point club. Longevity doesn't preclude mediocrity.

It probably seems like I'm trashing this year's seniors. That's not my intention. They play hard, and I've heard excellent things about them off-the-court. I'm absolutely sure they represent Holy Cross as well as any students. However, poor decision-making and less-than-stellar shooting have added up to a mediocre season for this season's Crusaders. Add in Keil's lack of development (her junior year is almost over - let's face it, she hasn't met expectations), and Ashley McLaughlin's awful sophomore season, and what are the positives to continuously rave about?

Aloisi and Foley salvaged the year, in this fan's opinion. I've been a season-ticket holder for a few years, and I haven't seen a player make offseason progress like Foley did this year. She made astounding improvements, and she's capable of having a dominant senior year. Aloisi has been very good through the PL schedule, and seems to be back to 100% after her injury-filled freshman campaign. She's still improving.

Prospects for the PL tournament? I'm not sure. I've said all along that Bucknell would be trouble in the tournament. If they beat Lehigh, and HC beats AU, then we'll have another tough HC-BU women's game on hand for Saturday afternoon. Obviously I hope HC wins their games this weekend, but following this season's pattern, nothing will be easy. Good luck, ladies.

Pearl of Wisdom #13

"You don't go through a long season like this without a few ups-and-downs. This was a tough loss, no question, but we have shown the ability to bounce back from tough games like this very well."

-Coach Paul Pearl, from Steve Kendall's game report in Saturday's Telegram & Gazette, after his team's excruciating 4-3 loss to Sacred Heart, as the Crusaders lost with less than 4 seconds left in overtime after rallying back from a 3-0 first period deficit.

After HC's eight-game winning streak was snapped by Canisius two weeks ago, I had an inkling that our guys might've peaked too early. But they bounced back with a win and tie against Mercyhurst, and things were looking good. This weekend's sweep by Sacred Heart was surprising, and has resulted in a logjam at the top of the AHA standings, with HC and SH tied for first, with the 'hurst a point back. A critical weekend awaits!

A New Lookalike

We'll put aside the Colin Cunningham lookalike quest, for the moment at least. (We're not finished with that, as we did receive another possibility for him via email.)

But here's a new one for y'all. One of these guys coaches the Holy Cross men's hockey team. The other is a television and movie actor, starring in such flicks as Toy Soldiers, Rudy, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and now appearing as the somewhat annoying and conveniently-quick-to-recover-from-a-mugging Lynn McGill on "24".


Paul Pearl and Sean Astin.

Pearl of Wisdom #12

"Hopefully, lesson learned tonight. We bury it and now have our season in front of us. The three goals were just inexcusable. We don't clear the puck while a man was down on the first, two guys collide on a line change on the second goal and on the third we try to be cute instead of getting the puck into their zone."

-Coach Paul Pearl, from Rich Garven's game story in the February 12 Sunday Telegram, after a disappointing 3-1 loss to Canisius by his hockey team. The Crusaders were 0-4 on the power play, and the loss broke an eight-game winning streak.

"It must be the stick"

In his story of the Crusaders' victory over Canisius, Rich Garven of the T&G follows his Paul Pearl quote with this nugget regarding senior Tyler McGregor:

McGregor, though, has made it look easy as he has piled up points over the last month. It’s not the shoes, so it must be the stick.

The 5-foot-10, 200-pound Canadian is the only Crusader using a wooden stick. The rest of his teammates have opted for the uber-popular one-piece composite models.

“A one-piece is good for your shot,” Pearl admitted, “but you don’t feel the puck.”

It's working for Ty. For the season, he has 21 goals (matches career high) and 38 points (new high). Keep it going!

Pearl of Wisdom #11

"I think we've got enough older guys that they know how it works. There isn't an easy point to be had in this league."

-Coach Paul Pearl, from Rich Garven's game story in the Telegram & Gazette of Saturday, February 11, after his team's 8th straight victory, a 5-2 win over Canisius at the Hart Center.

Garven writes that the club is "confident," but Coach Pearl thinks the team has the leadership to avoid becoming cocky. A commenter to a previous "Pearl of Wisdom" seems to agree. I agree, too.

The Many Poses of Kyle Cruze

The top photo is from this year's Men's Basketball media guide. The second photo is scanned in from Thursday's T&G. They look like they could've been taken in quick sequence, don't you think?

Pearl of Wisdom #10

"If we start enjoying what we've done now, we won't enjoy the rest of the season. We've put ourselves in great position, but we can't kick back now. We have to take advantage of what we've done."

-Coach Paul Pearl, from Jen Toland's "Colleges" column in Wednesday's Telegram & Gazette. Toland also reported that the lineup change that triggered the team's recent hot streak was suggested by assistant coach Kyle Wallack.

As Toland writes, the team has been very consistent this season:

HC’s penalty-kill percentage (90.6, second in the country) and power-play conversion percentage (21.8, fourth) are also good, and consistency has probably been the biggest key to the Crusaders’ success. They have not lost back-to-back games this year.

Whatever Happened To...

"We Are Crusaders" wonders about these former regular or occasional Crossports posters:

• chiefbeef (where are our Big Pat updates?)
• Jimbo (and did he ever fight MHMD outside the entrance to Hart?)
• Brian F. (I think I know where he is, geographically, but wonder why such a devout HC basketball fan completely abandoned the message board)
• Hart Neighbor
• oldtimer
• Merritt Traveler
• Spitler Fan (perhaps now posting under another name?)
• That interloper who claimed he attended Harvard, and caused a stir whenever he posted. I don't recall the posting name, but I know some of my readers will remember it.

And why hasn't MHMD05 morphed into MHMD06?

Look-alike Catchup

It's been almost two months since we've posted an update on the Colin Cunningham lookalike topic. Colin's production on the court has tailed off, but that's not going to stop us from continuing to search for that certain famous person whom Colin resembles the most.

Per reader request, we're posting the side-by-side of Colin and 50's television and radio star Ricky Nelson. This is another one of which I had my doubts, but I must agree with sader1970 that there is a resemblance between Nelson and our favorite bushy-haired frosh from Memphis.

Pearl of Wisdom #9

"We've been playing solid hockey, and I think this weekend what we did better than last weekend is to play better team defense. We're doing a good job of keeping teams wide and clearing the rebounds. Obviously, Tony is doing a really good job on that first shot."

-Coach Paul Pearl, from Rich Garven's story in the February 5 edition of the Sunday Telegram, on his red-hot team's 4-1 victory over Bentley at the Hart Center on Saturday.

The win completed a weekend sweep for the Crusaders. The men's hockey team has surged to first place, and holds a record of 19-6-1, and 15-4-1 in league play. They've won seven games in a row, and nine out of ten. Do you think Coach Pearl's comment about "playing solid hockey" is a bit of an understatement?

Good Day, Bad Day

The Holy Cross basketball teams split their doubleheader with the Leopards of Lafayette College on Saturday afternoon, but the real story of the day was the bus accident involving the men's basketball team as they made their way home to Worcester. No passengers on the HC charter were injured, but tragically, two teenagers in another car were killed. We send our thoughts and prayers to everyone involved.

As for the games, the men had a nice comeback as they overcame a halftime deficit, and came away from Easton with a 77-61 win, improving to 6-2 in PL play.

The Crusader women suffered a devastating 54-49 defeat. Once again, the ladies shot poorly, going for 31.3% from the field, 20% from three-land, and 37.5% from the stripe. Holy Cross will need a near-miracle to achieve a 17th 20-win season for head coach Bill Gibbons: They'll have to win the rest of their league games, win the PL tourney, and win their first-round game in the NCAA tournament.

So we're looking at a win total short of twenty, but that aside, the team can still make the NCAAs. The next two games are critical tests. In this opinion, this Saturday's matchup against the talented, young squad from Bucknell will be the game of the week for the women's team. It should make for an outstanding doubleheader at Hart!

Pearl of Wisdom #8

"They're physical, and we're probably smaller and quicker, and I'm happy with how gritty we played. You have to be ready to play all challenges. You can't always play your game. It's nice to play someone else's game and still be able to win."

-Coach Paul Pearl, from Jen Toland's game story in Saturday's Telegram & Gazette, after his team's 2-1 win at Bentley. The win moved the Holy Cross men's hockey team into sole possession of first place in Atlantic Hockey. The win was the seventh in a row for senior goalie Tony Quesada.

Pearl of Wisdom #7

"We were getting a little stale five-on-five, and it reinvigorated our power play, too. These guys have been playing together for two years, so we tried a different grouping, just shifting people around. It's worked. It's worked really well."

-Coach Paul Pearl, from Jen Toland's game story in the Telegram & Gazette of Saturday, February 4, discussing his lineup change of five games ago. Pearl moved talented sophomore Dale Reinhardt to the second line, joining Tyler McGregor and Blair Bartlett. Pierre Napert-Frenette was swapped to the first line, joining Bubba Sixsmith and Sean Nappo. So far, Coach Pearl is looking like a genious with that change!

Joe Knight Apologist?

Has Holy Cross play-by-play man Bob Fouracre emerged as an unlikely apologist for Lehigh University senior Joe Knight? Twice during last night's WTAG broadcast of HC's tough loss to Lehigh, Fouracre ranted on about how "poor Joe Knight" was a victim of a "screw up" by the Lehigh athletic administration.

Knight, of course, missed the first half of his senior season because of eligibility questions surrounding his transfer from High Point to Lehigh, with a questionable stop at a Texas CC along the way. And I'll admit that the incompetence in Lehigh's AD in this case is glaring and unacceptable.

Maybe Fouracre read Tom Housenick's story blasting the officials at Lehigh. It's a worthy read, and a contrast to the Lehigh U. defenders out there.

But Bob, "poor Joe Knight?" Call me a PL elitist. I don't care. I'm not willing to absolve Knight of guilt in this matter. He had to know what he was getting into when he began his journey after High Point. If he wasn't a hoops player, there's no chance he'd be matriculating at Lehigh. None. So can we please stop with the Joe Knight pity parties? Thank you.

And for the record, Bob, there's no "Fisher" or "Gilliam" on the Lehigh men's hoops roster. I'm guessing you meant Fischman and Gilfillan. And Joe Knight didn't play at Delaware prior to arriving at Lehigh, even thought you stated that about three times. It's okay, everyone has an off day now and again.

Pearl of Wisdom #6

"That was one of the best periods we've played all season. Two mistakes (two goals allowed). I told them to just keep working hard and continue to do what we do."

-Coach Paul Pearl, from the January 29 edition of the Sunday Telegram, describing the first period of Holy Cross' 5-2 victory over AIC at the Hart Center on Saturday.

The men's hockey team now holds a record of 17-6-1, and 13-4-1 in the AHA. Linemates Blair Bartlett, Tyler McGregor and Dale Reinhardt are playing very well. Keep it up, guys, and Go Cross!

Trivial Pursuit

Last weekend, I was playing "Trivial Pursuit: 20th Anniversary Edition" with some friends, and the following question came up:

What New Jersey university's basketball players sued their coaches for forcing them to run wind sprints in the nude?

The answer, of course, is Rutgers University. And there's a Holy Cross connection, as former HC center, 2001 PL tournament MVP and shot-blocker extraordinaire Josh Sankes was a player at Rutgers while that was going on. Josh subsequently transferred to Holy Cross.

I can't recall, though, if Josh was part of the lawsuit against the Rutgers coaches. I'm pretty sure he was forced to run nude, but for some reason, I don't think he was part of a lawsuit. I'm not sure, though. If someone out there remembers more details of Josh's involvement in this, please leave a comment.

And no, I wasn't fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of that trivia question!

Trains in Scranton

If you're reading this blog, chances are you also read Annie's "Sader Hoops" column on Crossports. Annie, her father, and I went to Bucknell two weeks ago for the HC basketball doubleheader. The men lost, and the ride home was awful, so it turned out that a highlight of the trip was a visit to downtown Scranton on the morning of the basketball games.

Annie said this in her column:

On Saturday morning, I woke up around 8:30 ish, early for a Saturday…too early, so I could go into downtown Scranton to see a train. We met up with my Dad’s classmate, Dominic Keating, who is an avid train lover. After we took pictures in front of the train and received a mini lecture, we went up onto this bridge and watched the train pass underneath us. Well, this was something because the noise was unbelievably loud. The train station is right near a mall, so the noise from the train just bounced off the surrounding walls. So loud, it was awesome.

I have to concur with Annie. It was an amazing show, a real treat, and one of those unique travel experiences you'll never forget.

Some background: It was a gray, dreary morning, and this old-time steam engine was making its once-a-year round trip from the Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, southeast to Tobyhanna, PA (where they have a traditional Ice Harvest festival).

Here's Annie's outstanding photo of the train departing Steamtown. This photo captures the gray weather along with the working-class feel of Scranton, PA. The photo is included along with her game photos, linked off her column, but I wanted to post the picture here because my pictures of this are still in my camera. (No, I haven't gone digital yet.)

Mr. Ed Skinner

A coach is a coach, of course, of course,

And no one can whine like this coach of course

That is, of course, because the coach is the famous Mr. Ed.

WoMag found this blog!

We made the newspaper! No, not the T&G. It's the local alternative weekly, Worcester Magazine. Veteran Crossports readers will recall that WoMag published a cover story on Holy Cross football, entitled "Goodbye, Glory Days" in its November 13-19, 2003 issue. WoMag, meet Tom Gilmore.

Anyway, I discovered during a phone call this evening that there was some "big news" relating to yours truly. How big could it be if I didn't know it myself? Well, we're excited to report that WoMag has listed us in this week's edition of its Blog Log. They picked up our "Ice Storm" post which detailed my harrowing journey home from Bucknell to Worcester.

Maybe this news isn't at the same level as knowing Kevin Bettencourt is reading your blog (or more accurately, Boxman's Blog), but it's still pretty cool. I haven't seen the print edition yet, but hope to pick up a copy tomorrow. To any readers who've surfed over here after reading about us in WoMag, welcome aboard!