November 17, 2010 Page 13 SportS

The STudenT newSpaper of SCSu hTTp://SnewS.SouThernCT.edu/ “all The SnewS ThaT’S fiT To prinT”

Continued from Page 14

Southern’s karate club works hard at tournament

Jeff NowakSportS Editor

Southern’s karate club team recently competed in the Nutmeg State Nationals tour-nament held at Hamden High School and had high finishers in several disciplines.

Seven members of the team finished in the top three in their competitions. Presi-dent Joshua Pinheiro took first in Traditional Forms, Leonel Pierre was first in Men’s Point Sparring, and Katie Chevalier took first in Women’s Continu-ous Fighting.

Pinheiro said he was very happy with the compe-tition and how each member of the team represented themselves.

“The competition at Nut-meg was intense, so I’m very happy with how our team per-severed,” said Pinheiro.

Other high finishers at the tournament were Kyle Litscher, Blake Williams, Akintunde Sogunro, who all took second place finishes in their respective

divisions, and Iregi Francais who took a third place finish.

Chevalier, the club sec-retary, said the club has many new members this year but more are always welcome re-gardless of skill level.

The club’s style is that of Tang Soo Do Karate, and the club is a member of the Cheez-ic Federation.

The club has two

tournaments coming up on Nov. 13 and 14. The first is a tournament hosted by Central Connecticut State University. The second a Cheezic inter-

club tournament the following day.

Members of Southern karate said they are interested in publicity for the club, and strong performances at tour-naments are a good way to achieve that.

“We fought hard and showed them what South-ern karate is all about,” said Pinheiro.

Owls hockey gets revenge, and a second straight winPete PaguagaSta ff Wr i t E r

After the season open-ing loss against the Fairfield Stags, the Owls didn’t have long to wait before they got another shot to get back at them.

S o u t h -ern leapt out of the gate, j u m p e d ahead early

and didn’t look back, as they were on their way to a con-vincing 9-3 win.

“We started out really strong,” said head coach Steve Novador.

Southern struck first, on a goal by defenseman Michael Penna, as he skated into the offensive zone and went top shelf. The goalie had no chance to make a save on the puck. The Ice Owls didn’t stop there, add-ing one more goal in the

period by co-captain Matt D’Amato.

Ryan Eglinton was back in the net for the Ice Owls after not starting in the last game against Eastern Con-necticut. Eglinton played with a chip on his shoulder after getting the loss against

Fairfield the first time around.

“We dominated, our de-fense played pretty good,” said Eglinton.

The defense limited Fair-field to just a few chances all game. The defense played physical and outworked the Stag players.

The second period was all Southern as they added four more goals to take a 6-0 lead going into the third period. The highlight of the second period was for-ward Mike Dubecky, who had a hat trick in the period alone.

“Being able to play with my new linemate Steve Rosenkrantz really helped,” said Dubecky of his three-goal effort.

Fairfield was not able to get on the board until the third period. The Stags scored three goals in the final period, but it did not

have much of an effect on the game as Southern scored three more times as well.

Goals in the third period were by Steve Rosenkrantz, twice, and Pete Bon Tempo.

One of the highlights in the third period was when Eglinton was caught out of

position and defenseman Tom Roche dove into the crease and made a kick save to prevent the puck from going into the net. After the play in front of the net, the referees ruled that de-fenseman Sam Brown had touched the puck in crease with his hand and awarded Fairfield a penalty shot. The Stag shooter would end up scoring on the penalty shot.

Coach Novador said he was happy with his team af-ter the game.

“I think the team has started to gel, they hang out and do things as a unit,” said Novador. “The veterans are bringing the new players along.”

Southern’s power play for a second game in a row was effective as they scored twice on the man advantage.

After the Ice Owls’ pow-er play was invisible the first two games of the season, they have been unstoppable since then. The offense has also shaken off their rust and now have 18 goals in their last two games, after only having three goals in their first two.

The Ice Owls are now 2-2 on the season and are riding a season high two game-winning streak in convincing fashion. The

Ice Owls’ next home game is on Dec. 3 at the Lou As-torino Arena in Hamden, against the Hofstra Pride from Hempstead, NY. Be-tween now and then the Ice Owls will be traveling to a tournament in Atlantic City from Nov. 19 -21.

We fought hard and showed them what Southern karate is all about.

President Joshua Pinheiro —

Photo CourteSy | SOutherN karate

Southern’s karate team poses after their strong showing at the Nutmeg State Nationals.

I think the team is starting to gel, they hang out and do things as a unit.

CoaCh steve novador —

Southern 9FU 3

Owls season-opening annual alumni meet will be held with a dif ferent title

Sean MeenaghanGEnEral aSSiGnmEnt rEportEr

To kick off the track and field season at Southern, both men’s and women’s teams will play host to an alumni track meet that will also feature conference rival UNH on Dec. 10.

The alumni track meets have been taking place at SCSU for 15 years, but 2010 marks a special recognition for two historic members of Owls athletics.

Both James Barber and Wilton Wright will be in atten-dance, as the meet will now be called the James Barber and Wilton Wright SCSU Alumni Track Meet.

According to Southernc-towls.com, Barber was the long-time women’s coach for the Owls, where he mentored numerous All-Americans. In 2002, he served as the head coach of the USA women’s team versus England and Rus-sia, as well as the head coach of the USA Women at the IAAF World Cup competition. He is one of the founders of the U.S. Track Coaches Asso-ciation and was named UST-CA Indoor Regional Coach of the Year.

While coaching at SCSU, Barber was named 2005 Northeast-10 Women’s Outdoor Coach of the Year. Barber was an outstanding student-athlete at Southern and was the captain of foot-ball and track teams.

According to Southernc-towls.com, Wilton Wright was affiliated with SCSU for 46 years with the men’s track and field program. He coached 100 All-Americans and a com-bined 24 national champions (1963-98) as head coach, and then moved over as an assis-tant to Jack Maloney.

During the 1985 season, Wright coached 13 All-Amer-icans, which remains in place as the single-season high to the

current day. A member of the SCSU Hall of Fame, he also served a six-year term on the NCAA Cross Country/Track and Field Rules Committee.

John Wallin, head coach of the men’s track and field team, said Barber and Wright will be handing out plaques to the winners of the events.

“Plaques will be given out to the winners of the women’s 55-meter (high hurtle) and the men’s high jump,” Wallin said.

“Keith Gunther, who fought in Afghanistan, flew a flag in honor of Southern track, will be recognized.”

Chris Covert, head coach of women’s track and field, said people will take notice to the meet this year because Barber and Wright will be acknowledged.

“It will get a lot more attention now that the meet will be named after Coach Barber and Coach Wright,” Covert said. “They need to be recognized for all the time they dedicated.”

Covert said all the events are open to any alumni.

“Anybody who wants to do it can compete,” Covert said.

“We have alumni flying in from Florida, and coming from New York, New Jersey, Con-necticut and Massachusetts.”

After not having the meet in 2008, Covert said the alum-ni are grateful it is back.

“The alumni like it,” Co-vert said. “Everyone is happy it is back. It is a time to catch up. They are able to see the team now and reminisce about different times and meet new kids. It is a great bonding ex-perience and be able to recog-nize accomplishments.”

Covert said that the meet will be a great experience for the present SCSU track and field teams.

“It is extremely important when an older generation sees the new kids,” Covert said.

“They get to see what we’re do-ing, the team gets to converse

and share experiences with the alumni.”

Wallin said the meet is great for the families.

“We get a lot of alumni to throw and many children do the 55-meter dash,” Wallin said.

“When I was at Southern in 2004, the kids that com-peted in the 55-meter dash are now on the team. It’s a great event, a lot of work, fun, and we love having it.”

Covert said he is expect-ing a good turnout of alumni to this year’s meet.

“Last year we had a lot — over 75,” Covert said. “Now that the meet is going to be named after Coach Barber and Coach Wright there will be a lot more coming.”

Covert said very few alumni compete but it is more about the experience.

“Only 10 to 15 alumni compete,” Covert said. “Get-ting to see old teammates is great for them.”

Besides coming out to the meet, both Covert and Wallin said they get great support from the alumni throughout the year.

“Every time we go to a meet, there are alumni in the area,” Covert said. “Whether it is in North Carolina or Cali-fornia, we call the alumni to let them know. The alumni always come out and support the team.”

Wallin said this is the first year they are having recruits come out to see the meet.

“It is important for recruits to see the family,” Wallin said.

“Track is a family within a family. In college you are al-ways surrounded by people you train with.”

Covert said the meet takes place at a great time.

“We try to do it early in the season,” Covert said, “so people don’t travel in the snow. It is a good way to end the cross country season and the semester. Friends can come

Photo CourteSy | SOutherNctOwlS.cOM