Basketball has won four in a row, hockey has big win at Hamden, North Hansen swims well in loss to Cheshire, indoor track competed at Yale Invitational and Connor Massey had big week for wrestling team in Green Knight land.
Basketball — With eight seniors on the 2017-18 basketball roster, head coach Jason Shea knew he couldn’t fulfill his program philosophy of starting all his seniors at the year-end Senior Night Game. So he veered from his normal starting lineup and inserted five of his seniors into the starting lineup to enjoy the “home-game experience” of starting. Not only did those five seniors start, but when they left the floor after four minutes they had built the Green Knights a 10-7 lead as Notre Dame rolled to an 80-33 win over East Haven last Tuesday. From that group, Michael Robertson netted 10 points. Connor Raines led Notre Dame with 17 points in limited action.
Hockey — Michael Bencivengo had a goal and assist and Brendan Crowley made 21 saves as the hockey team avenged an earlier loss to Hamden with a 5-1 road win on January 20, 2018. Ian Hayden had the go-ahead goal 24 seconds into the second period as ND grabbed a 2-1 lead. Earlier in the week Michael Ansaldo was the lone Green Knight to score in a tough 2-1 loss to RI power Bishop Hendricken on MLK Day. Ansaldo’s goal tied the game but the Hawks scored with 45 seconds left to emerge with the win.
Swimming — North Hansen won three events for the swimming team in its meet against SCC foe Cheshire on Jan. 16 but the Green Knights suffered their second loss in a row falling in a close meet 96-88. Hansen won the 200 freestyle in a time of 1:54.53 as well as the 500 freestyle in 4:54.47 while also teaming with Sean McDermott, Shawn Parrott, and Cameron Jurzyk to win the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:47.67.
Track — One of the highlights of the winter track season is the Yale Invitational that was held Jan. 19-20. Not only do the athletes get to compete at the unique Coxe Cage at Yale Invitational, but qualification is by performance only so the two-day event brings out the best athletes from a multitude of states. The top Green Knight finisher was the 4×200 relay team who took fifth place in their division. Carlos Aurora, Casey Tonelli, Kevin Joyner, and Tucker Sutherland posted a time of 1:37.83.
Wrestling — Led by Connor Massey’s second-place showing in his 145-pound weight bracket, Notre Dame placed eighth in the 22-team Eagle Classic held at East Catholic High School Jan. 20. Notre Dame garnered 78 points and tied Northwestern for eighth place. In addition to Massey, Derrick Pommils, Jr finished third in the 220-pound division. Alex Barbour took fourth in the 170-pound division while Chris Fillion and Khorbin Kern rallied from first-round defeats to garner 6th-place finishes. In a dual meet with New Haven Jan. 17, Massey, Fillion, Jeff Bracale, Matt Peters, and Jackson Paulishen had key wins for Notre Dame.
Get all the latest athletic news, scores, and more by following @NDWHAthletics on Twitter, Instagram, and Periscope while frieNDing the @NDWHAthletics Facebook group..