STAC Hockey Skates in West Nyack

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Far from the raucous crowds seen and heard at such arenas as TD Garden in Boston, where Division I stalwart Northeastern lost in the Beanpot Championship before 17,000-plus fans, one could find the men’s club hockey team at St. Thomas Aquinas College.

The Spartans compete in the Metropolitan Collegiate Hockey Conference (MCHC), with their home rink at the Palisades Ice Center in West Nyack, where the stands are often sparsely populated.

A very tough season it was for third-year coach Joe Bucchino, who has a 30-plus-year background in the NHL and the IHL.

Undermanned and outnumbered, STAC won twice in 16 outings but closed out the season on a high note, turning back Stevens Tech 8-7 in a thriller at AmeriHealth Pavilion at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

“We’re all done,” Bucchino said on Thursday. “It wasn’t a great season, but it was a fun season. Since I’ve been here we’re been successful and the funny thing is, this year we were expected to contend (for the title). But we were hurt by the number of kids we lost because of grades, and the cost. We just didn’t have a full boat. It was difficult, very hard.”

Bucchino, however, lauded the club team and the extensive club programs offered at STAC.

St. Thomas Aquinas College offers several club sports, with nearly 80 kids involved throughout the course of a year. When a proposed women’s club soccer team is formalized, that number could surpass 100.

“They (club sports) play an integral role in college life,” noted Brad Sarno of Northvale, NJ, a 2006 STAC graduate who coordinates athletics and student activities programming, and has doubled as the “Voice of the Spartans” for 10 years. “It allows any student to participate in an organized setting without the NCAA. It gives students another opportunity to grow socially, and to have fun with their peers. They love it, they enjoy it. It actually helps us to recruit. We offer some things that others don’t, like bowling and equestrian.”

Keith Davie, Nyack College athletic director, said the administration is thinking about starting a club sports program.

“There are some possibilities, we have different options,” he said. “We’re looking at lacrosse; we’d like to start a club, and have a team eventually.”

But due to the necessity of having to upgrade facilities, and lacking necessary funds, “it’s really kind of tough.”

At Dominican College, rugby was reported to having once been a club sport, but the Chargers do not oversee an official club sports program.

Besides the hockey club program at STAC, the college offers club bowling in winter (Coach Kevan Ottochian); cheerleading and dance throughout the basketball season (Coach Lynn Phenix); equestrian in spring at Silver Rock Farms in Orangeburg (Coach Linda Ferguson); and men’s soccer in spring (Coach Andres Gomez).

The cheerleading and dance team, incidentally, will be participating in the East Coast Conference Spirit Showcase on March 26 at Suffolk Community College.

According to Sarno, men’s club soccer is currently participating in an indoor league at Waldwick, N.J.

“As far as women’s club soccer, nothing is official yet,” Sarno added. “Hopefully we’ll know by next week or so. We’re thinking possibly in the fall at this point. Even crew came up. Nothing is set in stone, but if we expand …”

Meanwhile Bucchino, the club hockey mentor, is already enthused about next season.

“I’ve coached a number of club teams, and STAC is first-rate. They really support the club sports; they treat them like a Division I team,” he said. “The hockey program has a good reputation, the school supports it. We were actually going into training camp with maybe 50-60 kids. I actually thought we would have to make cuts! But by the time we started we were down to 13 or 14.”

Bucchino—who coached junior hockey in Beverly, MA, and was an interim coach for the Atlanta Knights (a top farm team for the Tampa Bay Lightning)—said he loves the kids at STAC, loves the program, and appreciates the assistance provided by his right-hand man Bob Appell and a student coach, CJ Jennings.

Jennings was quick to point out that the back-and-forth victory over Stevens Tech in the finale was a way for the team to “put the past behind us.”

“It was a great game,” Jennings enthused. “The team brought a different attitude; they were more focused on getting better. We have a good core coming back.”

Some of the players who tried to stem the tide this season were forwards Joe Carfora, Steve Yankowski and Dan Donofrio, and senior defenseman Ricky Deere.

 Privateers playoff-bound

The Maritime College men’s hockey team, led by a rugged defense that includes sophomore defenseman James McManus of Pearl River, earned the No. 3 seed in the Metropolitan Collegiate Hockey Conference (MCHC) tournament.

The Privateers, 16-8 overall with a 13-3 mark in the conference, challenge No. 2 seed Wagner at 4 p.m. tomorrow (Feb. 19) at the AmeriHealth Pavilion at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.

Maritime’s stellar defense is headed by freshman Zach Dietrich, who leads all goaltenders with a 2.40 goals-against-average. The Pioneers’ penalty killing is tied for the league lead, allowing opponents to score on just 12 percent of their power-play chances.

The Pioneers’ power play is also a threat, with McManus’ big shot a big weapon, nicely compensating Nick Galli’s knack for goal-scoring (he ranks tenth in the conference with 22 goals). The Pioneers have converted on 26 percent of their power-play opportunities, ranking third in the conference behind only Wagner and Fordham.

The winner of tomorrow’s game advances to meet the survivor of top-seeded Fordham and No. 4 seed County College of Morris. The title game is scheduled on Sunday at 5 p.m., also at AmeriHealth Pavilion.

Wentworth gains home edge

The men’s hockey team at Wentworth College assured itself of a home game in the ECAC Northeast tournament with a 4-2 victory at Becker in Marlboro, MA.

The Leopards (11-8-4 overall) thwarted eight power-play opportunities by Becker, with a hustling defense that includes freshman Andrew Moscardelli of Pearl River.

Think pink

All fans attending tomorrow’s women’s basketball game at St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill are asked to wear pink in support of breast cancer awareness. Game time is 1 p.m.

The Lady Spartans continue to rack up victories, with the most recent coming in decisive 84-66 fashion against Mercy College as veteran Theresa Dowling of Congers, the only senior on the team, had 18 points and nine rebounds.

Shpresa Liharevic of Staten Island powered STAC (18-7) with 25 points while Briana Sloper, an alum of Maria Regina, scored 20 points and pulled down 11 rebounds for Coach Kim Lusk.

Eagles snare Beanpot titles

The Eagles of Boston College earned a pair of Beanpot championships earlier in the week.

Boston College scored two third-period goals to overtake Harvard, 3-1, in the 33rd women’s hockey Beanpot Championship at Chestnut Hill, MA, before 700 fans. The win marked BC’s fourth Beanpot title, and second in the last three years.

Harvard and defender Josephine Pucci of Pearl River host Colgate and Cornell tonight and tomorrow, respectively, at Bright Hockey Center in the final regular weekend of the season.

In the men’s Beanpot Championship, contested before a sellout crowd of more than 17,000 fans at TD Garden in Boston, top-ranked BC scored in overtime to outlast Northeastern, 7-6, in a wild-scoring affair that produced more goals in any Beanpot game since 2001.

Former Suffern and U.S. Hockey League twin standouts Justin and Drew Daniels and the Huskies have another opportunity to land the Eagles with a home-and-home Hockey East series tonight in Chestnut Hill and tomorrow night at Matthews Arena.

Mortarboard musings

• Nanuet’s Jessica Biggs, a graduate of Paramus Catholic and student at Westchester Community College, is ranked second in Region XV women’s basketball both in assists (5.6 per game) and three-point accuracy (.393). Biggs is ranked third in free-throw percentage with .640 for the Vikings, who open regional postseason play on Feb. 22.
• Rockland CC’s Katie Katy, an alum of North Rockland High, ranks fourth in scoring in Region XV with 14 points per game.
• Prepping for the playoffs, the women’s basketball team at Manhattanville College defeated the Borough of Manhattan CC, 71-65.
• Suffern’s Jordan Baum, a sophomore, and the Cortland State women’s ice hockey team (4-17-2) entertains Buffalo State (8-14) tomorrow and Sunday. Both games are at 2 p.m.
• The Nyack College men’s basketball team takes to the road tomorrow for a 3 p.m. game against Holy Family in Philadelphia, PA. Nyack returns home Wednesday night at 8 p.m. for a rematch with Dominican College.
• Westchester CC placed two players on the Mid-Hudson Conference all-conference men’s basketball team with former Boys and Girls HS standouts Clayton Sterling and Brandon Romain earning the distinction. Also honored with the special recognition was one-time Curtis High star Joel Kukulu of Rockland CC.
• Taylor Wilson of Pearl River and Jennifer McSharar of Garnverville lead the women’s basketball team at Manhattanville College into the final regular-season game tomorrow at 1 p.m. against Misericordia of Dallas, PA. Prior to the game, the Valiants will honor seniors Simona Gordon of Cambridge, MA, Carey Hickey of Dobbs Ferry, and Kaitlin Degnan of Irvington. The Valiants are in a four-way tie for first in the Freedom Conference, but a win tomorrow clinches the top seed for the postseason tournament.
• Dominican College’s Sarah Dugandzic of Suffern placed 24th in the mile run, and Desiree Roberts, also Suffern, was 29th in the 400-meter dash at the NYRR Saturday Night at the Armory III. Dugandzic clocked 5:45 while Roberts was timed in 1:13.
• Junior Michael Calzonetti of Gloucester, NJ, received the Bobby Mulligan Memorial Scholarship during halftime of Dominican College’s 63-62 loss to visiting Chestnut Hill. The Chargers were beaten on a layup with six seconds left to play, dropping their record to 14-10 overall and 10-4 in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. Dominican visits Nyack at 8 p.m. on Wednesday night in a rematch of a nationally televised game won by the Chargers.