Marc My Words!

Sports columnist Marc Maturo’s official column

Chargers brace for another playoff run in soccer

The Dominican College men’s soccer team, coming off a tough 2-2 deadlock against nationally ranked Mercy College of Dobbs Ferry, again appears headed for the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) playoffs.

The Orangeburg-based Chargers, now 4-4-1, are the defending CACC champs, having defeated Post University last season on penalty kicks.

This year’s regular-season meeting went to Post, which scored in the final 10 seconds in double-overtime.

“We’re doing all right,” offers Dominican senior Eric Jorgensen of New City, an all-state midfielder who helped Don Bosco Prep of Ramsey, N.J., rise to high as eighth in the nation in his junior year. That season, Don Bosco beat perennial powerhouse St. Benedict of Holmdel, N.J.

The Chargers, who also won the CACC title in 2010 when Jorgensen was at Manhattan College, jumped to a 2-0 lead against non-conference rival Mercy on goals by Mark Grant of Tokyo, assisted by Sony Narro of Stamford, Conn., and Narro’s unassisted score some eight minutes later.

Mercy College, however, helped by Roberto Dashi of Nyack and Chuong Tran of West Nyack, came back at Mavericks Field to earn a tie that was somewhat unexpected, according to Jorgensen.

“We outplayed them the whole game, but they got two lucky goals,” said Jorgensen, a finance major whose soccer career that included four years with the Red Bulls Academy team is coming to an end, other than perhaps again playing in a men’s league.

“We got a penalty and played a man down the final 30 minutes,” he continued. “There was a hand ball in the box that wasn’t called, and one easy goal on a mistake.”

Mercy finished with 16 shots on goal to 11 by Dominican, which held an 8-4 edge in dangerous corner kicks.

“We just couldn’t hold on. They were good at what they did – they’re big and physical and do well on set pieces,” continued Jorgensen, whose athleticism is a family affair.

Jorgensen’s dad, also Eric (“The Big E”), was a three-sport athlete at Clarkstown South HS who earned a football scholarship to The Citadel, where he played at flanker under Coach Bobby Ross and defensive line coach Ralph Friedgen of Harrison.

Daughter Dana, also out of Clarkstown South, was a four-year swimmer at Holy Cross University, and younger son Paul, a senior at Don Bosco, has already accepted a basketball scholarship to George Washington University as a 6-foot-3 point guard.

When asked to decide on the best athlete in the group, “The Little E” quickly and unequivocally replied, “Me.”

The Chargers return to action Oct. 5, visiting Golden-Beacom College in Wilmington, Del., for a 2 p.m. contest. Dominican returns home on Oct. 8 to entertain Concordia College of Bronxville at 3:30 p.m.

Blue Angels rise again

Behind record-breaking performances from Meghan King of New City and Marissa Armstrong, The College of New Rochelle posted 3-1 victories at the Manhattanville College Quad Match, played at Kennedy Gymnasium on the Valiants’ campus in Purchase.

King, a graduate of Clarkstown North HS, recorded her sixth and seventh double-doubles of the year, breaking the program record for double-doubles in a season, while Armstrong, of Scottsdale, Ariz., had 20 kills in the nightcap, setting a program record.
The Blue Angels beat the College of St. Elizabeth in the first match, then polished off Rutgers-Newark as King posted 12 kills and 20 digs.
Fore!

Sophomore Stephen Keary of Blauvelt shot an 80 as the Roger Williams University golf team placed sixth placed sixth at the Commonwealth Coast Conference Golf Qualifier in Manchester, Mass.

The Hawks totaled 334 while Western New England University led the way at 306.

The 2014 CCC Golf Championship is scheduled April 26-27 with Western New England serving as the host institution. The championship site is to be determined.

Keary was a four-year letter-winner and two-time captain in golf at Tappan Zee HS, where he also lettered two years in soccer.

Warriors on the run

The Nyack College men’s cross country team, powered by Joubert Derival of Spring Valley and Keith Lindsey of Frederick, Md.,  finished in the middle of a tough field, taking sixth place at the Don Cathcart Invitational in Salisbury, Md.

Derival, a senior, and Lindsey, also a senior, finished two seconds apart in the 8k race with respective times of 27:08 and 27:10.

Freshman Mateusz Gacik of Poland finished in a personal-best 27:45 while rookie Camden Lawrence of Canada clocked in 28:21, also a personal best.

Rounding out Nyack’s top-5 individuals was senior Robert Lafond of Milford, Conn., in 29:19.

The Invitational, hosted by Salisbury University, attracted a qualify 12-team field, with only Goldey-Beacom and Nyack representing the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC).

East Stroudsburg University (sixth, Atlantic Region) won with an average time of 25:44, with York College taking second.

The Warriors, who were coming off a third-place finish at the Philadelphia Metropolitan Championships, travel to Bethlehem, Pa., on Oct. 5 to compete in the Paul Short Run on the Goodman Campus of Lehigh University.

In Philadelphia, sophomore Rebecca Wakeley of Pittsburg, Pa., guided the Nyack women’s cross country team for the second consecutive week as Warriors were runners-up in a field consisting of nine colleges/universities and eighty-one runners.

Wakeley won the meet, crossing the finish line in a time of 19:53 on the tough, hilly 5,000-meter  Belmont Plateau course.

Row, row, row your boat

            Freshman Gaby Kraushaar of New City and her crewmates at George Washington University are prepping for the 49th Head of the Charles Regatta.

The two-day regatta, which is generally recognized as the largest two-day event in the word, will feature more than 9,000 athletes from 19 countries competing in 55 events in front of more than 300,000 spectators.

The regatta begins on Oct. 19 with an alumni gathering held at Reunion Village from noon to 3 p.m. The GW Women’s Alumni boat races at 12:51 p.m., and the men’s alumni boat races at 1:57 p.m.

The alumni gathering on Oct. 20 is scheduled from 1-4 p.m. during the Colonials’s varsity races. The women’s Varsity 8 launches at 3:16 p.m., followed by the men’s  Varsity 8 (3:04 p.m.) and the men’s Varsity 4 (2:41 p.m.).

QUICK HITTERS: Senior defensive back Chris Klass of Nanuet had five tackles, second-best for the Privateers, but the Maritime College football team fell to William Paterson University, 49-23, at Wightman Stadium in Wayne, N.J. Greg Caneparo of Nanuet rushed three times to pick up 26 yards for Maritime (0-3), which opens Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECAC) play on Oct. 5, hosting Anna Maria College of Paxton, Mass., in a 2 p.m. start at Reinhart Field in Throggs Neck. … Renee Roncace of Valley Cottage ran 52nd as the Dominican College women’s cross country team placed sixth at the 34th Philadelphia Metropolitan Cross Country Championships at Belmont Plateau. The junior Nyack HS alumna was clocked in 24:52 on the 5k layout, while senior Krystal Campbell of New Windsor led the Lady Chargers with a time of 21:30, good for 11th place. Dominican competes at the Paul Short Invitational on Oct. 5 in Bethlehem, Pa. … Clarkstown North HS graduate Liz Samimi starts at midfield for the Ramapo College women’s soccer team. The Roadrunners, struggling at 2-6, host Kean University on Oct. 5 at 4 p.m. in Mahwah, N.J., and then meet William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J., at 5 p.m. on Oct. 9. … Clarkstown South alum Danny Macalena of Congers had a nine tackles, five solo, from his linebacker position but the Springfield College football team suffered its first loss of the season as the University of Rochester scored a touchdown and 2-point conversion with no time on the clock to upend the Pride, 36-35, in a Liberty League contest.  Billy Walsh of New City started at tight end for the Pride (3-1), who look to bounce back on Oct. 5, hosting winless Union College (0-3) in a key league game at noon. Also playing at Springfield are halfback Billy DeLay of Congers and cornerback Derwohn Bartley of Nyack. Kyle Hanney of Nanuet is a junior defensive back at Union. … Freshman Julia Calandra of Suffern is a midfielder/defender on the SUNY Oswego field hockey team, which fell to nationally 18th-ranked SUNY Cortland, 7-2. The Lakers, who fell to 2-4, visit Geneseo on Oct. 12 in a 1 p.m. contest. … Akwasi Degraft of West Haverstraw, a senior defensive back, had five tackles, three solo, as the Pace University football team fell to Merrimack College, 66-14, in a Northeast-10 Conference contest in North Andover, Mass. Pace (0-4) is back in action on Oct. 4 as the Setters travel to New Haven, Conn., for a NE-10 game at 7 p.m. against Southern Connecticut State College (2-2). The Owls’ freshman class includes one-time North Rockland HS all-Section selection and captain John Dapolito of Stony Point, a linebacker. … Veteran roadrunner Kim Chalfin, 42, of Nanuet won the women’s half-marathon in Yonkers  with a clocking of 1:32.10.