Athletics

The Southampton Graduate Campus Lady Colonials went out in style on Friday, winning the last home softball game in team history, 7-5, over Queens College. Southampton, which will close its undergraduate program after this school year, nearly swept the emotional doubleheader, but lost the first game in extra innings, 3-1.

Southampton's double bill with Mercy College, scheduled for Saturday, was postponed because of rain, and was made up yesterday after press time. Before the games, Southampton's record stood at 5-24.

The girls got down here earlier than normal, said the team's head coach, Cassie Arroyo, after Friday's home games. We talked in the locker room and I gave the seniors something. I gave every girl something, because they're all done here. We started talking, and it got a little emotional. They've all been great.

The careers of Southampton seniors Laura Maloney, Missy Taylor, Chrissie Fagereng, Justine Barra, Marisa Carroll and Abbi Kenner all came to an end after the games with Mercy. Junior pitching ace Ashley Jones has, in all likelihood, also played her last collegiate softball game. She will attend the police academy next spring after finishing her undergraduate degree in the fall at Southampton's sister college, C.W. Post.

Sophomore Mary Potamousis, who was the star of Friday's win, going 4-for-4 with 4 RBIs, will attend a school in Michigan next year, Arroyo said. Freshmen Toni Mangogna, Natalie Traina, Jessica Hicks and Lisa DeNicolis are all undecided about where they will play softball next year.

They were all going to stick together and go to Molloy, Arroyo said, but I don't think they're going to do that now. Once Thursday comes they'll more or less start deciding what to do.

In Friday's second game, Queens took a commanding 4-1 lead in the fourth inning. But with Taylor and Carroll on base, Jones ripped a triple down the right field line, scoring both runners, to pull Southampton within a run. When Maloney's hard-hit ball to second base was bobbled, Jones crossed the plate to tie the score at 4-4.

Mangogna, who has led the team with a .337 batting average this year, roped a single to the outfield that advanced Maloney to third. Potamousis' double drove in Maloney to give the Colonials the lead for good. In the bottom of the sixth, Southampton tacked on two insurance runs behind Carroll, the game's starting pitcher.

In the seventh, Queens scored a run with just one out to pull within two, prompting a trip to the mound by Arroyo, who was prepared to replace Carroll with the team's other senior hurler, Maloney.

I didn't want to take her out, because she's a senior and she's done everything in her power to help this team over the last four years. Arroyo said. She got the second out on a fly ball to left, and the last out was struck out looking. She came over and said I told you I had it.

Jones was just as good in Friday's opener, allowing just one earned run in nine complete innings. But in the ninth inning a high pop-up fell to the ground in the infield, between Potamousis at second base and Maloney at third, allowing Queens Rita Limitone to reach base. Crystal Wilson, who earlier had hit a single, advanced safely to third. Two RBI hits scored both Limitone and Wilson, and Southampton was shut out in the bottom of the inning to preserve the win for Queens.

We came up short, but we played well, Arroyo said before turning her attention to Jones, who led the team this year with four wins and a 3.79 ERA. She only gave up one earned run the entire game. She's been playing awesome.

Mangogna finished the day 5-for-8 with 3 RBIs and a run scored. Jones excelled at the plate in game two, going 2-for-4 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBIs.

I told them I was very proud of them, Arroyo said of her post-game speech, because everybody played to their whole potential. Obviously the emotion gets the best of you, but thankfully the emotion was channeled in a positive way.

Colonials Lose Opener

The Southampton Graduate Campus men’s lacrosse team took to the field with a bare-bones roster on Saturday against one of the nation’s most-dominant Division II lacrosse teams, the New York Institute of Technology.

The result was a 22-5 drubbing of the Colonials, who earlier this year were happy just to be fielding a team in the first place. Southampton’s roster was decimated after college officials announced last summer that the school would be closing its undergraduate program at the end of the current semester.

The loss dropped Southampton’s record to 0-2 overall, and 0-1 in New York Collegiate Athletic Conference play. New York Tech, a perennial national powerhouse, improved to 3-0 for the season.

Southampton was outshot in the game 55-18, and trailed 10-0 in the first period before Glenn Roesch broke through on a score that was assisted by junior transfer Sal Galusso. In his first conference game as a Colonial, Galusso shined, netting two goals on seven shots.

Southampton struggled early on to contain the potent offensive attack of NYIT freshman Keith Henderson, who scored three goals during the Bears’ 10-0 first-period run. But the Colonials quickly bounced back, and scored five of the next eight goals, trailing at the half, 13-5.

But after the break, the Bears came out strong, outscoring the Colonials 9-0 in the second half. Bears senior William O’Hare had four goals in the final period, and finished with a game-high five goals.

Southampton will play its home opener at 3 p.m. on Wednesday against Adelphi, another rival NYCAC team.

The Southampton Graduate Campus Men's Lacrosse team enters their final season with a reduced but competitive squad. The team graduated six starting seniors in the 2004 season, but managed to fill the squad with a few talented newcomers even though the school announced its closing before the 2004-2005 academic year started.

Leading the offense this year will be scoring machine Ryan Smith. Matt DeVivo will look to continue his strong performance from the 2004 season . Senior captain Ed Mainly adds depth and leadership on the offensive side of the field.

Key midfielders will be junior captain and face off specialist Nick Cardaci. Newcomers Sal Galasso, a Nassau Community College transfer, and Sean Manning, a Suffolk Community transfer will look to step up to play a key role in their rookie season.

On defense senior captain Andreas Nilsson will lead the way along side Mike Gatto, Pat O’Brien and Michael Bienen. Terrence Goin and Richard Dell will provide the defense with an athletic spark.

In goal will be Suffolk Community College transfer Jack Luquer. Luquer, a back up at Southampton Graduate Campus only two years ago, will determine much of the team's success by his performance in net.

Adding strength to the roster is senior attacker Ryan Honstetter, freshman attacker/midfielder Sean Gajewski, senior midfielder Kevin Montalbano, freshman Glenn Roesch, and junior defenseman Kyle Carney.

The Colonials compete in the best Conference in the nation with 2003 national champions NYIT, the 2002 national champions Adelphi and the 2001 national champions C.W. Post.

"But our goal is to do the best we can, finish out the season, and represent Southampton the best we can." These guys are working hard and that should pay off as the season progresses.

The Southampton Colonials have produced many All-Americans under the leadership of 12-year veteran Coach Ralph Pepe. The latest, goalie standout Larry Falkman, was drafted directly after his senior year by the 2001 MLL champions, the Long Island Lizards.

Blayney McEneany steps up as the new Head Coach for Southampton after Ralph Pepe, a 10-year veteran with the school, decided to accept a job at Westhampton Beach High School. Pepe will remain with the program as the offensive assistant coach. McEneany, a 1968 Yankton College graduate coached at Sachem High School for 10 years and in 1979 led them to a state title. He lives in Miller Place with his wife Janet and three children, Moira, Kara and Blayney.

All-American goalie Larry Falkman will be the defense coordinator for the team. Falkman tactical knowledge will benefit the defensive unit greatly as it did during his successful seasons in goal for Southampton Graduate Campus.

When that certain Lady finally sung her song for Southampton Graduate Campus’s Lady Colonial basketball team last weekend, it couldn’t have been on a more bittersweet note. Playing not only their last game of the season, but also the last game ever to be played by a Southampton College basketball team, the Lady Colonials won the ECAC championship on Saturday by defeating Philadelphia University 68-63.

The night before the fourth seeded Lady Colonials beat number one seed Bloomfield, 71-68. In September Southampton’s undergraduate program is being moved to the campus of sister College C.W. Post, which means the end of an athletics program at Southampton. What made Saturday’s championship game victory so special was that it was played with guts, determination, and against all odds.

On Saturday Southampton could only field seven players, a far cry from the 12-strong roster that had been retained and recruited prior to June 2004, when the transfer of the undergraduate program was announced. With the announcement the top recruits jumped ship, not relishing playing one season at Southampton and then needing to find a new home. What remained were a few talented freshman recruits and a core of last season’s players.

Then, five games into the season more bad news. Head Coach Pat McGunnigle walked and shortly after two players, one a senior co-captain, also left. Left behind were eight gutsy players and new coach Cassie Arroyo, Southampton’s softball coach, who had never coached a college level basketball game. All rhyme and reason said it should have been farther downhill from there, but the opposite happened. The team went on a 7-1 run, stumbled with 0-4 after two players sustained injuries, and then finished the regular season winning four of five. The Southampton Lady Colonials ended their season 18-12 with the players holding the ECAC trophy and the pride of the Southampton basketball program over their heads.

Southampton women's basketball coach Cassie Arroyo delivered a heartfelt message to her players before the program's final game yesterday.

"We told them this is it. There is no tomorrow. There is no next year," Arroyo told her team.

Thus inspired, fourth-seeded Southampton went out a winner by defeating No. 2 Philadelphia, 68-63, in the ECAC Division II final at Bucky Harris Gymnasium in Philadelphia. It was Southampton's second straight ECAC title.

Southampton (18-12) will relocate to C.W. Post, a fellow Long Island University member, in September.

"It's awesome," Arroyo said of the victory. "The kids have been through so much, but they came in and did such a great job."

Arroyo, also the sports information director at the college, replaced Pat McGunnigle, who resigned as coach five games into the season.

Junior guard Amber Gooden made two free throws to give Southampton a 65-61 lead with 1:38 left. Senior Kiley Lapointe stole an inbounds pass, then made a layup to provide the final margin with four seconds left.

Sophomore Sarah Mahan received tournament MVP honors with 13 points and six rebounds. Lapointe had 15 points and five rebounds, and freshman Danielle Castelli had 14 points and six rebounds.

Southampton, which built a 31-22 halftime lead, upset top-seeded Bloomfield (N.J.), 71-68, on Friday.

Southampton overcame a sprained ankle suffered by sophomore point guard Leah Getz, who played 16 minutes. She suffered the injury with 10 minutes left against Bloomfield.

"This is such a great feeling," Arroyo said in a raspy tone. "To end it this way is absolutely amazing."

Southampton Still a Lock for Playoffs

By Cailin Brophy

After a nearly invincible January in which they went 7-1 in conference games, the Southampton Graduate Campus women’s basketball team has stumbled into a late-season slump, dropping four straight in the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference to fall to 12-7, 12-10 overall.

The Lady Colonials were downed, 62-50, at home by the University of New Haven on Saturday and were defeated at C.W. Post, 60-53, on February 9.

At press time, the Lady Colonials were in a three-way tie for third place in the NYCAC with Philadelphia University and the University of New Haven.

Southampton was scheduled to host the New York Institute of Technology on Tuesday and will be at home tonight for a game against Mercy College at 7 p.m. The Lady Colonials travel to second-place Bridgeport on Saturday for a 1 p.m. game and will face C.W. Post at home on Wednesday, February 23, at 5 p.m. before closing out the regular season at home against Concordia College on February 26 at 1:30 p.m.

Although Southampton has already clinched a berth in the NYCAC’s eight-team playoff, its performance over the final games will determine whether or not it will host an opening round game, an honor reserved for the top four teams.

Southampton head coach Cassie Arroyo admitted that the assurance of a playoff berth may have been responsible for a partial letdown over the past few games, along with key injuries to an already thin roster of just eight players.

“There is no doubt in my mind that every individual out there wants to win,” she said. “But as a team we just need to come back together. The stress of everything is starting to get to them now, but I told them that this is when they need to come together stronger. They’re strong enough kids that I think they’ll rebound.”

In the first half against New Haven, the Lady Colonials played like the team that was virtually untouchable in January, holding the Lady Chargers to just 22 percent shooting to take a 23-20 lead into halftime. But things changed quickly in the second half, as New Haven’s physical frontcourt—which includes former Southampton center Nyree Frazier—took control of the game to put the Lady Colonials away, outscoring them by 15 in the final period.

“In the first half, we played an awesome zone defense, which really frustrated them,” Arroyo said. “They have six big girls that they rotate in and out and they’re tough inside. Going against them was like going against a brick wall and we just couldn’t match them physically.”

Point guard Leah Getz led Southampton with 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists and eight steals while Alanna Zahora was New Haven’s high scorer, finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds while three of her other teammates each scored nine points.

Against Post, the Lady Colonials had to contend without starting guard Amber Gooden, who missed the game due to an ankle sprain suffered in practice a day earlier. Gooden returned to the lineup against New Haven but saw limited action. She was expected to make a full recovery for Tuesday’s game against NYIT after it was determined that there was no serious damage. Southampton missed Gooden’s defensive tenacity and ability to drive the lane and get to the foul line or create opportunities for her teammates.

“We just got outhustled and didn’t have it that day,” Arroyo said. “Amber just needs some rest on her ankle and she’ll be fine, but she’s our best defender so missing her was big.”

Center Alusola Aladejebi scored a career-high 15 points in the losing effort against Post. Getz was on target again as well, also scoring 15 points.

Arroyo hopes that the desire to host a playoff game in the last ever season for the team—which will fold after the school closes all its undergraduate programs next year—will provide the fuel to get the Lady Colonials back on track in the NYCAC.

“They don’t want to go on the road to open the playoffs,” she said. “I don’t think they realized what was happening over the past few games because other teams were losing too so we weren’t really falling in the standings too much. But I know they really want to host a game, so hopefully we can use that as motivation.”

Losing Streak Hits 11 As Colonials Struggle

By Cailin Brophy

The Southampton Graduate Campus men’s basketball team couldn’t stop the bleeding this weekend, suffering its eleventh-straight loss in the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference, falling to a 2-18 league record, 4-19 overall.

The Colonials dropped a 75-55 road loss to Long Island rival C.W. Post on February 9, before succumbing to the University of New Haven, 65-57, at home on Saturday.

Southampton went into both games minus the services of starting guard Darrin Miller, who was out for personal reasons. He was expected to return to the lineup for last Tuesday’s home game against the New York Institute of Technology. Miller’s accurate long-range shooting and defensive prowess were sorely missed, according to head coach Pete Quinn.

The absence of key players is nothing new for Quinn, however, as an endless string of injuries have been to blame, in large part, for the team’s struggles. Former starters Joaquin Smits and Sherlan Griffiths are expected to miss the rest of the season after brief but unsuccessful attempts to return from knee injuries. Several other key players have also been sidelined for injuries throughout the season as well.

Despite the loss, Southampton gave what Quinn called its best effort of the season against a New Haven team fighting for a playoff berth in the NYCAC.

“It was a close game throughout,” Quinn said. “We played a lot better against them than we did the first time we played them, but we missed Darrin. New Haven is fighting for that last playoff spot, and they really came at us. With all the injuries we’ve had, and losing Darrin on top of that, it was hard.”

Freshman guard Shane Gauvard did his best to step up in Miller’s stead, scoring a career-high 17 points, including a 5-for-6 mark from the free throw line. Quinn said he was also pleased with the defensive effort of junior Eric Blumenauer and freshman Marcus Boyd.

“We got big minutes from Marcus, and he’s really worked hard in practice,” Quinn said. “I’ve always known that Shane could score, and Marcus and Eric really gave us a lift. It was the best effort they gave all season.”

Senior guard Leon Pursoo was Southampton’s second-leading scorer with 11 points and four assists, while forward Sam Carey scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds.

New Haven had a distinct advantage in the rebounding column, using its superior size to dominate the frontcourt battle. John Sullivan led New Haven with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while teammate John Castaldi contributed 10 points and eight boards. As a team, New Haven held a 43-28 advantage in rebounding.

“That’s their thing, they really hit the boards,” Quinn said. “Sullivan is a very athletic player and he was all over the place. We’d play great defense, but then they’d just fly all over the place with rebounds. We just don’t have enough height to contend with them.”

Against Post, the Colonials put themselves in an early hole that they couldn’t escape from, allowing the Pioneers to jump out to a 32-9 lead with 6:15 remaining in the first half. Southampton managed to trim the deficit to 11 with just over 4 minutes left in the game, trailing 64-53, but a pair of free throws by Gauvard at the 4:15 mark would be the final points the Colonials would score in the game.

“We played the worst 15 minutes we have all season to start that game,” Quinn said. “We came out and just weren’t ready for what was going on. With 5 minutes left to go in the first half, my guys finally got mad and played better, but we just never could get close. I told them not to be worried about playing a team like Post when they’ve stuck with a team like Adelphi, who is nationally ranked. But we left that game confident that we can play better against them next time.”

Southampton will travel to the University of Bridgeport on Saturday, and will host a rematch against Post on Wednesday, February 23.

The Colonials will close out their season against last-place Concordia College at home on Saturday, February 26. It will be the last men’s basketball game for Southampton Graduate Campus, which is closing its undergraduate programs next fall.

Lady Colonials' Run Halted

The Southampton Graduate Campus women's basketball team finally hit the inevitable bump in the road on its run through the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference, losing two of its last three games to settle into a third-place tie with Philadelphia University.

The Lady Colonials had won five straight and eight of their last nine before last week. The Lady Colonials suffered a 77-61 home loss to Queens College on Thursday, February 3, followed by an 81-69 loss at Philadelphia University on Saturday, their first conference road loss of the season. Southampton had opened the week with a 79-64 road win over Molloy College on February 1.

Southampton's record now stands at 12-5. The Lady Colonials are tied with Philly for third in the NYCAC, while the University of Bridgeport sits in second with a 12-4 conference mark. St. Thomas Aquinas has a comfortable hold on first with a 17-1 record, with its only loss coming to Southampton on January 24. The University of New Haven has been gaining ground in the standings, winning six straight games as of Monday to improve its record to a 10-7 mark, good for fourth place.

As of Tuesday, the Lady Colonials had seven conference games remaining on their schedule against some of the weaker competition in the NYCAC. Southampton needs to finish in just the top eight of the conference to makes the NYCAC playoffs, but is aiming to be one of the top four teams to host a first-round playoff game. The Lady Colonials were scheduled to play rival C.W. Post on the road yesterday and will be home on Saturday to host the University of New Haven at 1:30 p.m. They will stay at home for a 5 p.m. game on Tuesday against New York Institute of Technology.

Despite the apparent weakness in the tail end of the schedule, Southampton head coach Cassie Arroyo knows that the last thing her team can afford to do is take any team for granted.

We still have two games left against Post and no matter what their record is, they are still our rival, she said. Talent wise, New Haven and Bridgeport should be tough, and Tech and Concordia can play well on any given day. Post is going to be tough and it's a bitter rivalry, especially with the school closing. They see Post as the reason that we are closing, and even though we know that's not why, it's going to be very bitter for them.

The Lady Colonials got a taste of bitterness in the loss to Philadelphia, thanks to a lights-out performance by Lady Rams standout Samara Speakes, who broke out for 42 points to down Southampton.

Speakes shot 11-for-20 from the floor, including a 5-for-10 mark from three-point range and 15-for-21 from the free throw line. Speakes had more free-throw attempts than the entire Southampton team, a statistic that left Arroyo less than pleased with the referees, especially considering Philly made just one more field goal in the game than Southampton.

The officiating is always a controversy there, she said. They shot 43 free throws and we shot just 19 and we only lost by 12. Speakes was just on, though, so sometimes you've got to just tip your cap. We switched people on and off her, but it just seemed like every time she got the ball, they were blowing the whistle. I'm not blaming that for the game, but it just took our kids out of it and they couldn't play normally.

Southampton starters Kiley LaPointe, Sarah Mahan and Leah Getz all fouled out, with point guard Getz taking the earliest exit with 3:47 remaining.

The Lady Colonials were led by freshman Danielle Castelli, who scored 18 points to go along with five rebounds. Getz finished with 15 points, four assists and two steals in 25 minutes of play, while guard Amber Gooden added 14 points and five rebounds.

Two days earlier, Southampton was upset at home by Queens College, which outscored the Lady Colonials by 12 in the second half to earn the win. The inside-outside combination threat of Queens forward Shonda Holder and guard Erin White spelled defeat for Southampton. Holder notched a double-double with 21 points and 14 rebounds, while White's jumpers were falling all night, as she led all scorers with 23 points, including 4-of-7 from three-point range and a 9-for-10 mark from the free-throw line.

The Lady Colonials made a run midway through the second half, going on an 8-2 spurt to cut the lead to one at 56-55 with just under eight minutes remaining after a putback by Gooden. White promptly responded with a three to bring the lead back to four, but the battle between the two guards continued when Gooden cut it to two on the next play with an inside basket. White had the last word, however, in the form of an individual 5-0 run as she drove inside for two and hit another three in less than a minute to give her team a 64-59 advantage with 5:20 remaining. Southampton would not get any closer as Holder and White led Queens to the win.

Despite the fact that Queens had just an 8-8 record coming into the game, Arroyo said she was not disappointed with her team's effort.

They're a very deceiving team, she said of Queens. They've been playing very well lately and even though they aren't very tall aside from Holder, they can shoot. We had our hands in their faces and they were still hitting. We're not going to be able to shut down every person in the conference.

We've been humbled, but it's okay, Arroyo continued. You always want to win and be at the top, but sometimes somebody just plays better than you. It's good to see the girls get mad after they lose, because it shows that they still have the drive and desire, but you just don't want it to carry over to the next game.

Southampton was led by 16 points, five assists and three steals from Gooden as well as 12 points from forward Shola Aladejebi. Mahan contributed 11 points, seven rebounds and three steals.

In the win against Molloy on February 1, Gooden was the difference-maker on both offense and defense, scoring 18 points while holding Molloy standout Donna Lohrey to just six points. As a team, Molloy was held to just four field goals in the opening half and 29 percent shooting for the game.

As the Lady Colonials work on getting back on track in the NYCAC this week, the focus will remain the same as it has been throughout the season while keeping in mind one of the oldest adages in the game.

Our goal is to win out the rest of the season, Arroyo said. But we just have to take one game at a time. We're still right where we want to be, and no one expected us to be half as good as we are. We're not panicking and we're not going to change anything up.

For the first few minutes of their game against Adelphi at home on Saturday, the Lady Colonial basketball team looked human.

Adelphi opened the game on a 12-0 run, making Southampton look like a team that has just seven players on its roster and is playing in the school’s final season.

But before long, the Lady Colonials settled into a rhythm they’ve held for the entire month of January, battling back to a 33-29 halftime deficit before outscoring the Lady Panthers by eight in the second half to earn a 64-60 win.

It was the fourth straight win for Southampton, which now owns a 7-1 mark in January.

The victory improved Southampton to 11-3 in the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference, 11-6 overall and more importantly, into a tie for second place in the NYCAC with the University of Bridgeport. The Lady Colonials are also the only team to hand first place St. Thomas Aquinas a conference loss this season.

The Lady Colonials took a 54-49 lead it would not relinquish when freshman Nikki Stiefel and senior Kiley LaPoint hit back-to-back three’s to give Southampton a 54-49 edge with eight minutes remaining in the game. Southampton sealed the win with solid free throw shooting down the stretch, finishing with an 18-for-29 mark.

“We had the looks and we just weren’t making the baskets,” Southampton head coach Cassie Arroyo said of her team’s slow start against Adelphi. “In the second half, we just picked up our defense because we were letting them run around us in the first. We had a couple of steals and some stops to get back into it by the end of the first half.”

Southampton put the clamps on Panther forward Meranne Whitney in the second half, holding her scoreless after she racked up 15 first-half points.

“Adelphi has some good shooters and we knew that [Whitney] was a good inside-outside player,” Arroyo said. “We knew she was going to come on strong since she only scored two points against us last time. Our team defense shut her down in the second half and [Sarah Mahan] did a good job on her too.”

The Panthers shot just 32 percent from the field in the second half and committed 23 turnovers throughout the game.

Southampton was led by LaPointe, who scored 19 points and had three assists, as well as a 6-for-6 mark from the free-throw line. Freshman Danielle Castelli contributed 12 points while junior Amber Gooden had 10 points, seven assists, five steals and four rebounds.

Three days earlier, Southampton earned a 69-59 road win over Dowling College, improving to 8-0 in conference road games. The Colonials earned their long-awaited revenge against the Lady Lions, who handed them a heartbreaking loss at home on November 23 in the conference opener, when guard Laura Mullally hit a buzzer-beating three for a 67-66 win. Southampton’s victory this week over Dowling was the team’s first against Dowling in four years.

“They came out and you could see it in their eyes that they wanted to win,” Arroyo said of her team’s intensity against Dowling. “We were up by four at the half but didn’t play that well. We changed things up in the second half. I told them that they know what they need to do, and I think the emotion of the game was getting to them too much in the beginning.”

Mahan battled through foul trouble to lead Southampton with 22 points, five rebounds and two steals in 27 minutes of action, while sophomore guard Leah Getz scored 21 points along with three assists, five steals and five rebounds. Gooden was all over the stat sheet as well, scoring 13 points, grabbing seven rebounds and notching five steals.

Southampton’s current run has been all the more impressive considering its limited roster and the impending college closure, and while the team is now considered a legitimate contender for the NYCAC title, Arroyo is still well aware of the unique challenges her team must face on a daily basis.

“Obviously, fatigue and injuries are an issue and we have to stay healthy, but it’s not something we really think about or talk about,” Arroyo said. “We just think about one game at a time. Yes, we think about the playoffs and we’re hoping we make them, but we don’t want to overlook anything. We just pray to God we stay healthy. We’re giving the trainer a real run for her money right now.”

The Lady Colonials were scheduled to travel to Molloy College last Tuesday at 5 p.m. and will host Queens College today at 7 p.m. They will travel to Philadelphia University on Saturday for a 2 p.m. rematch of a 67-66 triple-overtime loss in Southampton on January 15.

An occasional look at Southampton Graduate Campus, which is in its final year of intercollegiate athletics.

Here is what it comes down to for the women's basketball team at Southampton: The head coach quit and was replaced by the sports information director. The assistant coach is a month out of college. Only seven players are in uniform.

Those ingredients would suggest desperate straits. But that is not the case for Southampton, which expects to challenge for the NYCAC title in early March. The Lady Colonials are 10-6 overall and 10-3 in the conference and already have beaten first-place St. Thomas Aquinas (13-1) and second-place Bridgeport (10-2).

The coaching crisis occurred Dec. 7 when Pat McGunnigle resigned five games into the season with a record of 2-3. The third-year coach cited personal reasons but added, "I spent nine months of blood, sweat and tears putting that team together, I really did. I recruited, I unrecruited, I recruited again."

Athletic director Mary Topping believes McGunnigle was exasperated. "Basically, I think it was just frustration of taking apart something he had built; that's my take on it," Topping said. Athletics will end in June and undergraduate classes will be moved to C.W. Post.

Topping had to find a coach, and her first choice was ... "Me," she said. But her administrative duties would not allow that. So Topping turned to Cassie Arroyo, no stranger to multi-tasking. Arroyo, 28, is the college's sports information director, intramural director and head softball coach and also teaches classes in physical conditioning.

Arroyo was given the job the day before Southampton was to play Molloy. She won that game and is 8-3 as the head coach. Not bad for a first-timer on the bench. "I had been around the team doing stats," she said. "I also had assisted on the high school level. I'm glad I was able to step in and help them out."

She seems very calm and collected on the bench. Not so, Arroyo said. "It's all inside churning, trust me. I get very nervous. I don't sleep."

She doesn't have time for rest. Softball's last season is about to begin and she plans to hold as many practices as she can in both sports, though basketball gets a day off after some games. Fatigue is setting in with the injury-depleted roster. "They can barely move," Arroyo said, "but they got to keep plugging away. It is almost over."

The team is appreciative that Arroyo came to the rescue. "It put a lot of stress on us," sophomore guard Leah Getz said of McGunnigle's departure. "We knew nobody else wanted to come in [because the program is folding]. Cassie knows enough about basketball. She is not going to quit on us. She keeps things real positive and that is what we need right now."

Junior guard Amber Gooden, who has the same great-grandmother as former major-leaguer Dwight Gooden, said, "I've had plenty of talks with Cassie and obviously she has an understanding of the game. She's like having another team member."

Arroyo said she also has received a great deal of help from 22-year-old assistant Jamie Pojed, who played on the team last season.

Southampton should have no problem qualifying for the NYCAC Tournament, which takes eight teams. But the goal is winning the conference. "People think with everything we've gone through, they have to feel bad for us," sophomore forward Sarah Mahan said. "We know what we are capable of. We can pull it off."

Lady Colonials Are Rolling

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is—or so the saying goes. But don’t tell that to the Southampton Graduate Campus women’s basketball team.

For the past month, the Lady Colonials have stifled opponents with suffocating defense and watched their shots fall as easily as the snow that blanketed the area this weekend, amassing an impressive 5-1 record in January during which they’ve averaged 72 points per game while holding teams to an average of just 59. Considering that there are just eight players on the team—and that starting shooting guard Sophie Hofferberth missed five straight games due to illness—what the Lady Colonials have accomplished in their school’s final season is nothing short of amazing.

Southampton made St. Thomas Aquinas its latest victim on Monday night, handing the Lady Spartans their first New York Collegiate Athletic Conference loss, winning 72-54 on the road.

“We came out and the girls just wanted it,” Southampton head coach Cassie Arroyo said. “The girls were psyched to play the game and the defense led again. They just played amazing defense and that led to the offense.”

Aquinas fell to 12-1 in NYCAC play but still maintains its hold on first place, while Southampton continued to put heat on second-place Bridgeport, improving to 9-3 with the win.

The Lady Colonials were in control from the get-go, opening up a 20-point halftime lead on the strength of 50-percent shooting from the field while holding Aquinas to just one point in the first nine minutes of the game.

Junior guard Amber Gooden scored 16 of her season-high 23 points in that half, and finished the game with five steals, four rebounds and three assists. She did her part on defense as well, holding Spartan guard Kelly McManus scoreless throughout the game. Regina Cunningham, Aquinas’ other leading scorer, was limited to just one point by the defensive play of Lady Colonial Sarah Mahan.

Southampton point guard Leah Getz was the second-leading scorer for her team, contributing 19 points along with six rebounds and two steals, while freshman Danielle Castelli had 11 points and five rebounds.

“She was feeling good, and it was good to have her back out there,” Arroyo said. “She played great defense and had a couple of assists, so she’s just starting to get back into it.”

Arroyo acknowledged that the Lady Spartans may have fallen prey to the false notion that Southampton—with a limited roster and in its last year as a team—would be an easy win.

“I think they were very comfortable and thought they could just walk all over us,” she said. “Holding them to just one point in the first nine minutes set the tone for the game.”

The Lady Colonials defeated Mercy College, 88-59, in a road game last Thursday prior to the upset win over Aquinas. Gooden led with 22 points, while Getz scored 20. Castelli had her first career double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Southampton was dominant in the first half, opening a 41-29 lead, and closed the game out with a 28-9 run. Southampton shot 45 percent from the floor for the game.

With the pair of road wins, the Lady Colonials now own a 7-0 record—on the road. For Arroyo, it’s just another impressive stat for a group of players that is beginning to remind her of the Lady Colonial women’s soccer team, which amassed an undefeated NYCAC record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

“It does feel like it’s too good to be true,” she said on the way home from the Aquinas game. “But these girls have something to prove and they are making a statement. It’s a little bit of everything. They do realize that it’s the last straw here, the final run and everybody expects us to be like, ‘it’s over.’ They’re just playing their hearts out every single game.”

The Lady Colonials were scheduled to travel to Dowling College yesterday and will be at home on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. to host Adelphi University.

Southampton’s men’s team continued to struggle in NYCAC play this past week, dropping its third straight conference game in a 76-72 loss at Aquinas on Monday night. Four days earlier, the Colonials were downed, 70-59, on the road by Mercy College. The losses dropped the Colonials to 2-9 in the NYCAC, 4-10 overall.

The men were scheduled to face Dowling College on the road yesterday and will host Adelphi University on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

With 11:32 left in regulation, Southampton Graduate Campus point guard Leah Getz headed to the bench for a short and much-needed breather, reassuring her equally suffering backcourt counterpart Amber Gooden, as she left the floor, "In two minutes, I got you."

It was that kind of game for the Lady Colonials, who came out on the losing end of an epic 78-75 triple-overtime battle against Philadelphia University on Saturday.

With only seven players available-and with injury and sickness plaguing two starters-the Lady Colonials put on a clinic in teamwork, intensity and desire against a Lady Rams team led by preseason New York Collegiate Athletic Conference player of the year Samara Speakes. Unfortunately for Southampton, Speakes indeed had the last word, nailing an ESPN-Top 10-worthy three at the buzzer of the third overtime to end a game that seemingly had no end in sight.

"That shot she hit-nobody else would have hit that shot," Southampton head coach Cassie Arroyo said. "It was beyond NBA three-point range."

After playing 40 minutes of basketball with just seven players available, Southampton was down to just one sub for the three overtime periods after Getz fouled out at the end of regulation.

Senior Kiley LaPointe played 45 minutes, including every minute of overtime, with an injury to her right hand that she sustained early in the game, while Gooden did her best Michael Jordan imitation, finishing with 20 points, nine assists, seven steals and a blocked shot in 45 minutes of play despite battling the flu.

"Not that I didn't know she had it in her, but she just rose to a different level," Arroyo said of Gooden's performance. "She was just dying out there, but she kept saying, 'I'm fine.'"

"Every game it just gets better and better because the more controversy there is, these kids just keep getting better," she continued, laughing. "These kids just amaze me."

Down 47-40 with under 10 minutes remaining in regulation, the Lady Colonials went on an 11-0 run over the next three minutes to take a 51-47 lead. Philadelphia regained a two-point lead with less than two minutes remaining, but LaPointe came up huge for her team to force overtime, going to the baseline for two points with 1:14 remaining to tie the score at 56-56 and hustling back to block a shot on the next possession.

LaPointe continued her inspired play in the first overtime, grabbing an offensive rebound which she dished to teammate Sarah Mahan for two points to give Southampton a 62-60 edge with 1:07 left before the Lady Rams got inside to force the second overtime with 4.6 seconds left. Freshman Nikki Stiefel was setting herself up to be the hero in the second overtime, hitting a three and making one of two free throws to give the Lady Colonials a 70-66 lead with a minute left, but once again Speakes took over, hitting a pair of free throws and getting inside for another tough shot to keep everyone on the court for another five minutes.

In what would be the final overtime, Mahan banked a three-pointer with 10 seconds remaining to tie the score at 75-75 before Speakes' final heroics put an end to the marathon game.

Despite getting double-figure scoring from four starters and holding its turnovers to the single digits, the Southampton Graduate Campus men's basketball team could not overcome a superb effort from New York Collegiate Athletic Conference preseason player of the year Tayron Thomas, who dropped 30 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and added eight assists to lead Philadelphia University to an 83-69 win over the Colonials in Southampton on Saturday.

Two days earlier, the Colonials edged out winless Concordia College (0-8), 65-63, on the road after falling to Bridgeport (5-2), 84-76, at home on January 11.

The Colonials hung with Philadelphia in the opening stanza, playing solidly on defense and making enough shots to face a manageable 36-30 deficit at the half, but they could not bring the same intensity level to the second half, as they allowed the Rams to shoot at a 57-percent clip from the field on their way to their sixth win of the season.

"We didn't turn the ball over a lot, but the times we did it cost us," Southampton coach Pete Quinn said. "We'd get a big stop on defense and then let them grab the rebound. In the second half, we tried to go toe-for-toe and point-for-point against them instead of pushing it up the floor and using our advantages. We just didn't have a lot of fire in the second half."

Leon Pursoo led Southampton with 20 points and four assists, while Wayne Inniss had 10 points and 13 rebounds.

The Colonials had trouble pulling away from a pesky Concordia team on Friday, but a solid shooting effort-which included an 8-for-20 mark from three-point range-overcame a lackluster defensive outing to give Southampton the edge.

"It really shouldn't have been as close as it was," Quinn said. "We made some silly mistakes and gambled on defense and we weren't being active enough in the zone. Every time we'd get an eight-point lead, they'd battle back and make it close. I think Concordia came into the game thinking they'd have a chance to win because they saw we had only one win, so they were fired up and my guys didn't match it early on."

Pursoo led the team with 15 points, while DaMarr McBean had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

An offensive collapse over the final two minutes spelled defeat for Southampton in its game against Bridgeport. The Colonials were in a position to win, facing just a three-point deficit with two minutes remaining, but they could not score a field goal or stop Bridgeport from scoring during the final stretch, leading to the 84-76 loss.

"We were down by nine at the half and I really went off on the guys because they weren't playing with any fire," Quinn said. "In the first couple of minutes of the second half, they cut the lead down to two and it was close throughout the second, but we just couldn't get a basket at the end."

Pursoo was once again the leading scorer with 22 points to go along with five rebounds, three assists and three steals, while Inniss chipped in 20 points and six rebounds.

Despite the losses, Quinn feels that his team has made improvements over the last several games, due in large part to trimming down the steady rotation to just eight or nine players.

"A lot of guys are unhappy with that because I was playing everyone up until the American International game [December 30] but we've been in games since then. We had a chance to win against Bridgeport and Philly, we just couldn't get over the hump."

The odds were not in favor of the Southampton Graduate Campus women's basketball team winning on Saturday.

The Lady Colonials faced an Adelphi team with a 6-1 New York Collegiate Athletic Conference record, a team that was picked to finish first in the NYCAC, a team that had not lost at home since November 2003.

To make matters worse, Southampton had just eight players available after freshman Natalie DeSanctis was forced to leave the team for personal reasons and starting shooting guard Sophie Hofferberth was sidelined by both a kidney and sinus infection.

Yet behind a 19-point, 10-rebound career-high effort from senior forward Kiley LaPointe, the Lady Colonials pulled off the improbable, handing Adelphi a 67-60 loss.

"Our girls just came out determined," Southampton head coach Cassie Arroyo said. "They were ready to prove people wrong."

Southampton took a commanding 39-25 halftime lead over the Lady Lions by hitting 15-of-29 shots from the field in the opening half, including a 3-for-4 mark by LaPointe from three-point range. The defense was on point as well, holding Adelphi to just over 26 percent shooting in the half.

The defensive effort of junior guard Amber Gooden was particularly impressive, as she held Adelphi's ace Melanie Mangone to just nine points on 2-for-18 shooting, including a 1-for-10 mark from long distance.

Sophomore point guard Leah Getz was all over the stat sheet, scoring 16 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, dishing out three assists, grabbing four steals and blocking a shot.

"She played a very smart game," Arroyo said. "She had to because with such a limited roster, we couldn't afford to take her out."

Freshman Nikki Steifel took advantage of the depleted roster, coming off the bench to score a season-high eight points in 20 minutes of action.

Adelphi was led by Carlyshia Hurdle, who scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the losing effort.

"They were really there for each other," Arroyo said of her team's effort. "Not once did I think they were going to lose and even though our backs have been against the wall lately with a lot of things going against us, we've still been prevailing."

Since Arroyo took over the team on December 8 after former head coach Pat McGunnigle resigned for personal reasons, the Lady Colonials have gone 3-2 overall with a 3-0 mark in NYCAC play. Their record now stands at 5-5 overall, 5-2 in the NYCAC. They were scheduled to host Bridgeport on Tuesday at home and will be at home on Saturday to host Philadelphia University at 2 p.m., hoping to extend their three-game conference winning streak.

"They finally believe in themselves," Arroyo said. "They just need to realize what they can do and what they can't do and that they can't play somebody else's game. We played our game against Adelphi and no one thought we could beat them, but we did what we needed to do early."

Men
A drive to the hoop by senior guard Leon Pursoo; a putback by center Sherlan Griffiths; four made free throws, a rebound, and a steal from senior guard Darrin Miller; these were the clutch plays over the final three minutes that gave the Colonials the edge over non-conference foe Southern Connecticut at home on Thursday, January 6.

Southampton held the lead over the Owls throughout the entire second half before allowing them to tie the score at 72-72 with 2:50 remaining in regulation when Ernie Brown got inside for two points. That's when Pursoo responded by driving the lane to get two points while drawing a foul. Southern Connecticut had a chance to tie the score and potentially force overtime with 13 seconds left when Mike McCurdy let loose from three-point range, but after Miller corralled the rebound and was fouled, he made both free throws to seal the win.

According to head coach Pete Quinn, a lack of consistent energy throughout games has and continues to be a problem for the Colonials, and despite the plays that were made to seal the win, he felt that his team could have made it less interesting at the end.

"I thought we could have played with more energy," he said. "I expected that team to be a lot better and when we let them shoot that three at the end, we were lucky, because a good team would knock down that shot."

Quinn did manage to accentuate the positives after the win, however, pointing out that of the 25 turnovers his team forced, 20 of them were off steals. He attributed that impressive stat mainly to the return of starters DaMarr "Skip" McBean and Sherlan Griffiths to the lineup. Both frontcourt players had been out the entire season-McBean with a broken hand and Griffiths with a strained knee-and made their return just a game earlier.

"Having Sherlan back helps and Skip really hustles, rebounds and understands his role," Quinn said. "Shelan played just 11 minutes, but had three steals and a key block at the end, so they really helped." McBean finished with 11 points, six rebounds, four steals and a blocked shot, while the return of his leadership was evident as he encouraged his teammates throughout the game to communicate and play aggressively, whether by their side on the court or from the bench.

"I love having him back because down low he plays really aggressive and hard on every possession and every rebound," captain Wayne Inniss said after the game. "And it's good to have Sherlan back because he had some key steals and is a lot quicker on defense than some of our other post players. It seems like every game we get under our belt with them back we just start to gel a little more."

Miller was Southampton's leading scorer with 23 points, six assists and four steals, while Inniss scored 17 points along with 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals. Pursoo finished with 18 points and five assists. As a team, the Colonials shot an impressive 23-for-28 from the free-throw line and improved their field goal shooting by 18 percent in the second half.

Southampton finished 2-1 in non-conference play, the first time they've enjoyed an above .500 mark in that category in seven years. The Colonials could not carry the momentum from the Southern Connecticut game to their road contest against Adelphi two days later, losing 75-63.

Southampton cut the lead to three points just five minutes into the second half, but then fell back into bad habits with poor shot selection, allowing the Lions to take control again.

"We could have done better on offense," Quinn said. "But we were forcing shots and in the second half, guys lost their composure."

The Colonials were stymied by a physical Adelphi team that ranks fifth in the nation in points allowed and is the top defensive team in the northeast in field goal percentage allowed.

According to Quinn, out of the 11 teams that Adelphi has played, Southampton was just the third to eclipse the 60-point mark.

"We were scoring and getting to the line," he said. "So that is something good to take away. We still played with a lot more energy and we could have won if we'd kept our heads in it more."

Southampton was without starting forward Kino Smits for the third straight game after he suffered a knee injury. He has returned to practice in a limited role, but the injury needs further evaluation and could still eventually require surgery.

The Colonials were scheduled to host Bridgeport on Tuesday and will be at home on Saturday to host powerhouse Philadelphia University at 4 p.m.