Sports
Women’s basketball: Unbeaten NYU fends off Smith College to win first NCAA Div. III national championship since 1997
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Smith College women’s basketball team refused to go away in the NCAA Division III National Championship game on Saturday night. Undefeated NYU — which entered with an unblemished 30-0 record on the season and had outscored its...
UMass hockey: Minutemen score twice in opening five minutes to defeat Providence, advance to Hockey East semifinals
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
It was a dream start for the Massachusetts hockey team in its Hockey East Tournament quarterfinal contest against Providence on Saturday. With their season on the line, the fifth-seeded Minutemen tallied two goals in the opening five minutes of action...
High school basketball: Annual Hampshire/Franklin All-Star Games enjoyed by all
CONNOR PIGNATELLO
HATFIELD – Boys and girls basketball seniors came together at Smith Academy Friday night for the annual Hampshire-Franklin County All-Star game, and they weren’t afraid to show off and let loose in the final high school basketball game of their...
NCAA Div. 3 women’s basketball: One victory away from first-ever national title, Smith College prepares for undefeated NYU
By GARRETT COTE
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Wartburg’s Sarah Faber stepped back and let fly a 3-pointer in the waning moments of regulation against Smith College in the NCAA Division 3 Final Four on Thursday night. If she missed, the Pioneers would go to their first-ever...
Wendell native Scott Woodward excited to be back in New England as Middlesex School’s new head football coach
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
Scott Woodward is making his return to Massachusetts. The Wendell native and Mahar Regional School alum won a pair of MIAA Division 3 state football titles before attending UMass, where he played four years of football with the Minutemen at...
UMass hockey: Minutemen open Hockey East tournament with quarterfinal date at No. 4 Providence on Saturday
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
It’s now or never time for the Massachusetts hockey team. After suffering a pair of losses to Maine to close out the Hockey East regular season, the Minutemen find themselves ranked 15th in PairWise heading into this weekend’s Hockey East quarterfinal...
Keeping Score with Chip Ainsworth: The surest signs of spring
Good morning!Baseball season begins at alternate times for everyone, and for me it began last month on a breezy cool evening in Gainesville, Florida, where the University of Florida Gators hosted the University of North Florida Ospreys.There was some...
UMass basketball: First-half hole too big to overcome as Minutemen end season with 73-59 loss to VCU in Atlantic 10 quarterfinals
By GARRETT COTE
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Following his fourth 3-pointer of the second half, Rahsool Diggins helped cut the UMass men’s basketball team’s once 17-point deficit to six with 4 minutes, 24 seconds remaining in the game.The Minutemen earned a stop on the other end...
Bulletin Board: Multiple area athletes advance to Hoop Shoot states
The third round of the Elks Club of Massachusetts Hoop Shoot took place on Saturday at Franklin County’s YMCA in Greenfield, with the top performers around Western Mass. competing to advance to the Massachusetts State Hoop Shoot. On the girls side,...
UMass basketball: Second half rally against VCU a microcosm of the season as Minutemen never threw in the towel
By JEFF LAJOIE
BROOKLYN, N.Y. – A year removed from the worst loss in its Atlantic 10 conference tournament history, the UMass men’s basketball team stared another one directly in the face halfway through Thursday’s Atlantic 10 quarterfinal at Barclays Center.From a...
The Real Score: Beware the March “Madness” of sports betting
This Sunday, the March Madness brackets will be set, enabling millions of sport consumers to place bets that will total in the billions of dollars (you should also expect to see some ads from the sports books…).This week, in recognition of March...
MIAA boys basketball: Late run propels New Mission into Div. 5 finals with 60-49 victory over Pioneer (PHOTOS)
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
WORCESTER — With a spot in the MIAA Division 5 state championship game on the line, nothing came easy for either Pioneer or the New Mission boys basketball teams on Wednesday at Worcester State University. Joseph Jackson swished a 3-pointer just...
UMass basketball: Minutemen to meet VCU, first Atlantic 10 semifinal berth since 2013
By GARRETT COTE
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — During UMass men’s basketball head coach Frank Martin’s press conference on Tuesday morning, he consistently referenced one word that was vital for his team over the past week: rest.It’ll be eight days between when the Minutemen...
On The Ridge with Joe Judd: The history behind those little green stickers
A few weeks back during this year’s Springfield Sportsmen’s Show, I found myself in conversation with many different people regarding the green “hunt safely” stickers that are required by law in Massachusetts to have positioned on your gun during...
MIAA boys basketball: Big first half powers top-seeded Hoosac past No. 5 Mahar, 76-44, in Div. 5 semis (PHOTOS)
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
WEST SPRINGFIELD — The Mahar boys basketball team survived slow starts throughout the MIAA Division 5 state tournament, playing its best during the second half of games. The fifth-seeded Senators got themselves in a hole early again on Tuesday in the...
UMass basketball: Four Minutemen earn all-Atlantic 10 honors, including first team selections for Josh Cohen and Matt Cross
By GARRETT COTE
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Four UMass men’s basketball players picked up Atlantic 10 Conference regular season awards, the league announced on Tuesday morning before the start of the conference tournament.Matt Cross and Josh Cohen picked up First Team...
MIAA boys basketball: Third-seeded Pioneer prepares to face 4-time state champion New Mission with spot in Division 5 finals on the line
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
NORTHFIELD — The Pioneer boys basketball team was ahead of schedule last year, with its young team knocking on the door of the MIAA Division 5 semifinals before falling in the 2023 quarterfinals.This year, the Panthers weren’t sneaking up on...
MIAA boys basketball: Mahar readies for top-seeded Hoosac Valley in Div. 5 semifinals
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
ORANGE — Mental toughness is a requisite for a championship team.The Mahar boys basketball team sure showed a lot of it on Friday to reach the MIAA Division 5 semifinals.The fifth-seeded Senators couldn’t have had a worse start against No. 13 Boston...
Youth sports: FCHA Green 14U captures back-to-back GSL championships
It’s been quite the winter season for the Franklin County Hockey Association 14U Green team.The club nabbed a championship in the Tier IV Small Division at the Massachusetts Hockey State Tournament, and followed that up this past weekend with another...
Looking at what’s ahead for the rest of the school’s sports once UMass moves to the MAC
CONNOR PIGNATELLO
AMHERST – UMass is moving its 21 sports from the Atlantic 10 to the Mid-American Conference, though the Minutemen don’t exactly have a home for every sport in their new conference.Baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross...
