DURHAM, N.H. — Chad Kackert scored on a 5-yard run to cap a 10-point fourth quarter for New Hampshire in a 27-24 win over Maine on Saturday.

The Wildcats (9-2, 6-2 Colonial Athletic Association) rallied from a 17-10 halftime deficit to clinch the CAA north division title.

The winning score was set up on a 41-yard pass play from R.J. Toman to Joey Orlando on second-and-13 from the Maine 46-yard line.

Tom Manning, who kicked a 42-yard field goal at the end of the first half, brought the Wildcats within four points on a 53-yarder with 13:46 left to play.

Kackert finished with 85 yards on 19 carries and Toman was 12 of 26 for 146 yards for New Hampshire.

Maine’s Chris Treister was 29 of 48 for 303 yards and two TDs and Michael Brusko had 13 catches for 119 yards.

Pushaun Brown finished with 90 yards on 23 carries as Maine lost its seventh straight against the Wildcats.

Montclair State 38, Maine Maritime 22

Montclair, N.J. — Senior running back Jeff Bliss rushed for 132 yards and scored three touchdowns as 24th-ranked Montclair State scored on four of its first five possessions en route to a 38-22 victory over Maine Maritime in the opening round of the 2009 NCAA Division III Football Championship at Sprague Field on Saturday afternoon.

Junior tailback Matt Jimenez also had a pair of touchdowns as the Red Hawks posted their 10th straight victory, improving to 10-1 on the year. MSU will head to Alliance, Ohio for next week’s second round as they take on defending national champion and top-ranked Mt. Union College on Saturday, November 28 at noon.

Senior fullback Jim Bower (South Paris) ran for 138 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns for Maine Maritime, which ended its season at 9-2. The Mariners had earned their way into the NCAA Division III Playoffs for the first time in school history by capturing the New England Football Conference last weekend. Maine Maritime knocked off defending champion Curry, 48-42 on a last-second 36-yard touchdown pass.

Maine Maritime took first possession and moved to the MSU 43-yard line in three plays, but on the fourth, linebacker Brian Tweer caused a fumble forcing the Mariners all the way back to its own 42. Maine Maritime would then punt handing over it MSU, which marched 80 yards in 11 plays to take a 7-0 lead.

Bliss would account for most of those yards – 53 to be exact, but it was a Tom Fischer to A.J. Letizia connected on 3rd-and-9 the kept the drive alive at the MSU 45. Bliss then ripped off two runs for 35 yards to the Maritime 20 and a Fischer completion to Byron Lewin for 12 yards put the ball to the 2. Bliss then rumbled in for the touchdown with 7:22 left.

Maine Maritime answered back with an 78-yard drive of its own to tie the score. Nick Bourassa (Jay) ran 22 yards to midfield and Bower carried three times for 22 yards down to the MSU 28. Tyler Angell (Leeds) added an 8-yard run and Todd Murphy rushed to six yards to the 14. Bower would finish off the drive with a 9-yard scamper as the Mariners knotted the game at 7-7 with 3:11 left in the opening quarter.

Montclair’s Chris D’Andrea returned the ensuing kickoff 27 yards to help set up the Red Hawks’ next drive. On the first play, Bliss ripped off a 19-yard run to the Maritime 42 and later added a 22-yard burst down to the one as he was pushed out of bounds before the pylon. On the next play, Bliss barreled in for his second score as Montclair State led 14-7 after one quarter.

The Red Hawks next possession would produce its longest drive of the game – 91 yards on six plays. Taking over following a punt to the 9, Fischer hit Scott Kubrak for 28 yards on a 3rd-and-9 to out to the 42. After a run by Jimenez, Fischer found Lewin for 31 yards for to the Maritime 22. Jimenez scampered around the right side on the next play and into the end zone as MSU took a 21-7 lead with 9:56 to go before halftime.

After using its running game early, MSU turned to the pass for its next score. Fischer completed five straight attempts for 63 yards, the last to Joe LaSala for 21 yards down o the Mariners 6. Jimenez carried two straight times, the last from a yard out for the touchdown as Montclair increased its lead to 28-7 with 43 second left in the half.

The Mariners did not go quietly however as Jon Hussey’s 41-yard kickoff return gave Maine Maritime the ball at its own 45. Using its passing game and timeouts well, Angell completed three passes, including one to Nate Duford for 11 yards to the MSU 15 with nine ticks remaining. On the next play Angell floated a pass into the end zone for Alex Coulombe, who pulled down the ball with three seconds left as Maritime cut the lead to 28-14 heading into the locker room.

Maritime’s first turnover of the game proved costly as Angell’s pass from his own 16 yardline was intercepted by Kevin Cloghessy at the Mariners 33. The Red Hawks would take full advantage as Fischer found Kubrak and Lewin for gains of 11 and 18, respectively down to the Maritime 3. After a penalty pushed the ball back to the eight, Bliss rushed for seven yards and then managed his way into the end zone for the third time as MSU went up 35-14 with 9:52 left in the third.

The Mariners had an opportunity to answer in the fourth quarter with a drive that took them to the MSU 12. But following an incompletion, a personal foul penalty pushed the ball back to the 27 and Montclair followed with two straight sacks, the final coming as Dan Poehls forced a fumble that was scooped up by Ed Kirschenbaum and returned 56 yards to the Mariners 4. A false-start penalty would stall the drive and MSU settled for a 23-yard field goal by Marco Capozzoli for a 35-14 lead with 8:52 left in the game.

Bower capped a 70-yard drive with a two-yard run and added the two-point conversion as well as Maritime cut the lead to 38-22 with 3:20 to go. The Mariners then successfully recovered the onside kick as Vinnie Moulton came up with the ball. But two plays later, Cloghessy recovered a fumble to end any further threat.

Murphy finished with 72 yards on the ground for Maritime while Bourassa added 57 on 11 carries. Angell was 11-of-23 for 123 yards as he nearly matched his season output. Angell had entered the game 13-of-32 for 378 yards in 10 games. Defensively for Maine Maritime, Mike Riley had eight tackles while Franklin Sawyer (Lisbon), Wade Mondoux and Travis Fergola (Mexico) each had six tackles.

Men’s basketball

Endicott 98, UMF 95

AMHERST, Mass. — The Endicott College and University of Maine-Farmington men’s basketball teams took the court of LeFrak Gymnasium for the consolation game of Amherst College’s Ninth Annual Ken Wright ‘52 Memorial Invitational Tournament on Saturday.

The game set the bar high for the following Championship Game between Amherst and Ithaca, as the Gulls pulled out a 98-95 double overtime victory in an instant classic.

The Gulls ended the first half on a 10-6 run to take a 38-28 lead into the locker room.

When the final whistle was blown, Taylor led all players with 31 points and 12 rebounds, while Tanguay had a double-double with 18 points and 19 massive rebounds.

After Tanguay missed a pair of free throws, the Gulls were able to hold for the last shot with the game still tied. D’Amaral drove into the middle of the lane, and dished to Galbraith on the right block for a layup with 3.1 seconds to play, putting Endicott back on top 97-95.

Bates 65. SUNY Cobleskill 64

KEENE, N.H. — The Bates College men’s basketball team overcame red-hot shooting by SUNY Cobleskill and rallied back from a 20-point halftime deficit to post a 65-64 win Saturday in the consolation game of the Keene State Tipoff Tournament.

The Bobcats (1-1) trailed by 20 to begin the second half, but chipped away throughout the period, finally taking their first lead since 7-6 when senior Marshall Hatch drained a three-pointer to make it 57-56 Bates with 2:10 left in the game. The Bobcats finished the game with an 8-3 spurt over the final 2:10, as senior Chris

Wilson assisted on back-to-back layups by juniors Alex Gallant and Brian Ellis and also hit a foul shot that made it 65-61 with 15 seconds left. Cobleskill’s Andrei Lucas hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to narrow the final score to 65-64.

UMA 80, UMM 72

AUGUSTA — Shane Ciriello put the University of Maine at Augusta ahead for good with a stellar put-back late in the second half, lifting his squad to an 80-72 win over UMaine-Machias on Saturday. Ciriello finished with 19 points, including a pair of treys. L.T. Armstrong led all players with 32 points for UMA.
Zach Armstrong was the top scorer for the visitors, knocking down five three-pointers and 21 points overall in the loss.

RICC 81, CMCC 64
AUBURN — Despite a game-high 25 points from Tyler Smithgall, Central Maine Community College suffered an 81-64 United States Collegiate Athletic Association loss to Rhode Island Community College at Kirk Hall Gymnasium on Saturday.

Dave Storti’s 16 points led 11 Knights in the scoring column. Freshman center TJ McKiver’s size and strength presented a significant matchup problem for the Mustangs (3-3) resulting in multiple chances on the offensive end. McKiver finished with 15 points and was perfect from the line in five tries. Pat Sturdahl also hit double figures for the Knights with 11 points.

The Mustangs trailed 48-25 early in the second half and used the momentum of a 14-2 run to close the gap to seven points with eight minutes remaining. The burst caught up to the Mustangs in the final minutes and the Knights (4-1) were able to put the game away.

Eric Goodwin registered 10 points for the Mustangs while Matt Sceviour hit for eight and Mark Hannington added seven.

Women’s basketball

USM 64, UMF 34

FARMINGTON,— The University of Southern Maine women’s basketball team defeated the University of Maine at Farmington 64-34 to capture to the championship in the Dunkin’ Donuts Tip-Off Tournament at Dearborn Gymnasium Saturday.

USM’s Nicole Paradis was named the Dunkin’ Donuts Tip-Off Tournament MVP. USM’s Kaylie DeMillo (Jay), Farmington’s Caitlyn Laflin were honored on the all-tournament team.

On the strength of 14 points by DeMillo, the Huskies ran out to a 24-7 command over the first 10:44 of the game, but the Beavers battled back. Farmington outscored the Huskies 8-1 over the final 3:38 of the half with Jillian Ross connecting on a jumper at the buzzer to make it 29-22 at intermission.

Curry, 57, UMPI 41

FARMINGTON — Curry (1-2) ran out to a 42-19 first-half lead and cruised to the consolation game win over the University of Maine at Presque Isle (0-2).

The Colonels tallied the game’s first seven points and used a 16-0 run midframe to pull away from UMPI for the victory.

Mindy Sullivan (Lisbon) grabbed 10 rebounds in the loss.

Brandeis 63, Bates 41

WALTHAM, Mass. — No. 9 Brandeis University played stifling defense and downed the Bates College women’s basketball team 63-41 on Saturday in the championship game of the Brandeis Basketball Classic.
Bates (1-1) was limited to 14-for-66 shooting (21.2 percent) from the field for the game. The Judges weren’t much more accurate (21-61, 34.4 percent) than the Bobcats, but they took advantage of a 57-40 rebounding advantage.

Tournament MVP Jessica Chapin had game highs of 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Brighid Courtney also had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

First-year guard Allie Beaulieu scored a team-high 12 points for Bates, hitting 4 of 7 three-pointers while grabbing five rebounds. Senior Kellie Goodridge added nine points and senior Lauren Yanofsky contributed eight points and nine rebounds.

RICC 75, CMCC 55

AUBURN — Teighlor Clare-Kearney drained a game-high 16 points to lead Rhode Island Community College in a 75-55 United States Collegiate Athletic Association win over Cental Maine Community College on Saturday.

The Mustangs (1-2) had difficulty getting anything going on the offensive end and never recovered from a 13-point deficit at the half. Sara Martin paced the Mustang offense with 14 points, Teira Durgin poured in 11 and Katie Martin, Christy McAuliffe and Kayla Ellis added six points apiece. Carrie Hayden and Lindsay Henderson combined for nine points off the bench.

Hockey

Norwich 4, USM 3

GORHAM —  Junior Chad Anderson’s goal midway through the third period proved to be the game winner as Norwich University held off the University of Southern Maine, 4-3, in an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Men’s East game Saturday at the USM Ice Arena.

Anderson converted a set up from rookies Blake Forkey and Matt McCann, beating USM sophomore goalie Koray Celik from about 20 feet out at 11:58 to make it 4-2 at the time. 

Senior captain Chris Travis pulled the Huskies within one at the 18:00 mark, backhanding a shot by Norwich senior goaltender Ryan Klingensmith for a short-handed tally. 

Maine 3, BC 3

ORONO — Gustav Nyquist and Tanner House each scored a goal and added an assist as the University of Maine hockey team skated to a 3-3 tie with Boston College on Saturday night at Alfond Arena.

Maine opened the scoring with a goal at 7:20 of the second period. Josh Van Dyk fed Spencer Abbott who skated to the blueline. Abbott rifled a shot that Maine captain Tanner House was able to tip past Boston College goalie John Muse from the right post.

The Black Bears took a 2-0 lead on a great play by Gustav Nyquist. Ryan Hegarty began the play when he got the puck to Van Dyk. Van Dyk found Nyquist who skated down the left side of the ice, before firing a shot past BC goalie Muse for his team-leading seventh goal of the season at 10:08 of the second period.

The Eagles got on the scoreboard late in the second period. Boston College was able to force a Maine turnover and Ben Smith fed Pat Mullane who beat Darling. The Eagles tied the game just 2:11 into the third period.

Brian Dumoulin and Brian Gibbons teamed up to find Carl Sneep who beat Darling with a shot from the slot on the power play.

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