Becker College ended its football season on Saturday, getting pillaged by Husson University, 74-22. The Eagles had a 34-0 lead in the second quarter before Becker found out where Husson had hidden the end zone.

Freshman quarterback Robert Baker (Masuk) was sacked four times and lost 22 yards. The Eagles forced him to fumble three times, but each was recovered.

Robert completed eight passes on 16 attempts (no picks) for 101 yards and a touchdown. He also made one tackle. He's had one heckuva baptism in the Becker backfield.

Starting freshman linebacker Eddie Guerrere (Masuk) got a chance to run the ball and made four yards on his sole carry. He made three tackles on defense.

Becker is obviously a young team and they sure took their lumps this season, winning no games and being outscored 520-129.

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Oh, my!

Pace University finished its season with a 1-9 record, getting pounded by Merrimack on Saturday, 46-14. What's kind of disappointing is that the Setters have probably the nicest jerseys in the Northeast-10 conference. They look good while they're being hammered.

Senior cornerback Marvin Taylor (Newtown) made four tackles, one for a two-yard loss, for Pace, completing a solid defensive year where he made 55 tackles (fifth on the team), picked off four passes, returned one fumble 58 yards for a touchdown, had a 15-yard sack, and broke up five passes.

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Colby College junior tailback Conor Tidgwell (Pomperaug) had four carries for 24 yards and ran back two kickoffs for 38 yards to help the Mules get past Tufts on Saturday afternoon, 34-31. Colby is now 4-3 on the season and in NESCAC.

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A powerhouse for the last few years, Muhlenberg College has really struggled this season. On Saturday, the Mules were turnover-prone and all 24 of the points Ursinus College scored came off Muhlenberg miscues in a 24-10 loss.

Senior cornerback Cameron Ahouse (Woodbury/Gunnery) produced some of the film room highlights for the Mules - he picked off two Ursinus passes, including one that was destined for the end zone, and made two tackles.

Senior defensive end Ewan Wright (Gunnery) made three tackles (one for a 3-yard loss) and broke up a pass play. Muhlenberg is 1-6 (2-7 Centennial).

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Norwich University smothered Castleton State 48-27 on Saturday, completing a 6-0 season in the new Eastern Collegiate Football Conference. The Cadets will play in the first-ever ECFC championship game next Saturday against Mount Ida in a home match-up.

The game against Castleton was billed as the "Vermont Maple Sap Bucket" championship and will be an annual affair for the in-state rivals. The Spartans are in their first year of football, so as the years go on, this will get more interesting and competitive. For now, the sap bucket rests in the trophy case at Norwich.

Cadet sophomore linebacker Joe Gumberwicz (Oxford/Seymour) had three tackles for the maple syrup bucketeers, who go into the championship game with a 7-3 record.

He was honored last week for the second time this season as the conference's Defensive Player of the Week after the Cadets worked a 15-3 win over Maine Maritime.

Joe highlighted the Norwich fourth quarter by picking up a Maine fumble and rumbling, stumbling, bumbling 40 yards for a touchdown. He also made seven tackles, two for losses.

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Springfield lost its starting quarterback in the third quarter and absorbed just its second loss of the season on Saturday, 34-7 to St. John Fisher.

Junior wide receiver Tim Brady (Southbury/Holy Cross) caught three passes for 34 yards in the loss.

Soccer

Eastern Connecticut State women's soccer is on its way to the NCAA tournament after the Warrior Women knocked off top-seeded Keene State in the Little East Conference final on Saturday, 1-0.

Senior midfielder Sarah Swann (Oxford/Seymour), who seems to peak at this time every year, got her conference-leading 14th goal - and her sixth game-winner - in the 69th minute with a feed from Sam Konopka.

The Warriors will be in action Thursday in the first round of the NCAAs.

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Messiah College is also on its way to the Big Dance - again - after destroying Arcadia College, 4-0 on Saturday night. Senior All-America forward Amanda Naeher (Seymour/Christian Heritage) scored two goals and had an assist in the win.

The Falcons are top-ranked in Division III and the win over Arcadia was for the Commonwealth Conference title. Amanda, by the way, has 25 goals and 10 assists (60 points). We cover TEAMS that don't have 25 goals.

Amanda, by the way, was quoted in an October 20 USA Today cover story about the Messiah sports program and the college's philosophy. The article is available on the Messiah website.

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Central Connecticut State's women booked a berth in the Northeast Conference final on Sunday by squeaking past fourth-seeded Long Island University on Friday, 1-0.

Sophomore forward Jillian Cipriano (Pomperaug) had one good scoring chance in the first half, when she beat her defender to the left side of the box. Jillian's shot went wide right and the game remained scoreless until halftime.

The Blue Devils played Monmouth in the conference championship on Sunday, after our deadline. We'll catch you up next week.

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Also on their way to the NCAAs is Penn State, which will do no worse than share the Big Ten title on Sunday after the regular-season finale with Michigan. A win would move the Nittany Lions to the championship level but no matter, Penn State is on its way to the Big Dance.

Senior All-American goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher (Seymour/ Christian heritage) was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after wins against Purdue and Indiana.

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University of Delaware freshman forward Tania Domingos (Newtown) was named to the Colonial Athletic Conference All-Rookie team on Wednesday. She started 10 games, including the final nine, and played in each of the Blue Hens' 17 contests.

Tania scored a pair of goals despite having only attempted 10 shots on the season.

"Tania's a technical and creative midfielder who was able to slot balls to forwards and possess the ball when needed. She will be a key player in our midfield next year," said coach Scott Grzenda.

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The Becker College women are done after bowing out in the semifinals of the New England Collegiate Conference championships, getting knocked off by Lesley University, 3-0.

Freshman defensive midfielder Felicia Zalik (Oxford/Seymour) started every game for the Hawks and ends her season with one goal, one assist. Becker had an 11-8 season (5-3-0 NECC).

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Bucknell's soccer teams suffered different fates over the weekend.

On Friday night the women, with junior Kelsey Johnson (Masuk) on defense, saw American University pop a goal in with 51 seconds left to play, ending the Lady Bison season, 1-0, in the Patriot League semifinals. Bucknell had a 10-7-1 (5-2 PL) year.

The guys, with senior midfielder Alex Meisel (Newtown) starting, also got shocked, but also got lucky. Lehigh upended the Bison on Friday, 2-1, in a double-overtime game.

The win put the Mountain Hawks in the Patriot League tournament; the loss clouded the Bison's future a bit until Colgate knocked off second-place American University on Saturday afternoon - and the Bison back into the Patriot League regular-season title and will host the conference tournament next weekend.

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On the way to the Patriot League women's championship is Colgate, which beat Navy on Friday night, 1-0.

Junior forward Anna Baldwin (Nonnewaug) came in off the bench to fire a shot on goal for the Raiders, who meet American University on Sunday after our deadline. We'll have results next week.

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Sacred Heart University's season ended with a 5-1 win over Mount St. Mary's on senior day last week. Midfielder Ashley Testani (Masuk), one of the seniors honored, got an assist on the last goal of the game and in her collegiate career.

The Pioneers hang up their cleats with an 8-9-1 record; Ashley was second on the team in scoring with four goals - every one of them a game-winner - and three assists. Her senior year was her best by far.

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Gettysburg College senior defender Tara Gaston (Newtown) scored the only goal of the game for the Bullets in a 2-1 loss to Muhlenberg on Saturday night.

The goal was Tara's fifth of the year and tickled the net in the 35th minute. It was also her last, as the Bullets end their season 9-7-1, with the most wins since 2006. In the Centennial Conference, Gettysburg finished 4-5-1, good for sixth place but out of the playoffs.

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Sixth-seeded St. Joseph College surprised third-seeded Lasell in the quarterfinals of the Great North Atlantic Conference tournament a week ago Sunday, 1-0.

Lasell senior Alyssa Ferreri (Pomperaug) and St. Joe's senior Susie McKenna (Pomperaug) were both in the game but neither fired a shot. Lasell's season ends with a 9-6-2 record (8-2-2 GNAC).

Three days later the season ended for St. Joseph's with a 1-0 loss to Emmanuel College in the conference semifinal, and the Blue Jays end up 11-5-3 (7-3-2 GNAC).

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Lehigh University's women are also done for the season. The Mountain Hawks won their last two games, but could not grab the last seat on the Patriot League tournament bus.

Senior midfielder Liz Carlos (Southbury/Taft) banged in two goals against American University in the second-to-last game, and she finished with a team high six goals and five assists. The Mountain Hawk season ends 9-4-5 (3-2-2 PL).

When all was said and done, Liz was named First Team All-Patriot League, the first all-league honor of her career. She ranks fifth in the Patriot League with six goals and is fourth in the league in both assists (five) and points (17).

Four of her goals and ten of her points came against Patriot League foe, including both goals in Lehigh's 2-0 win over American. Carlos finished with three game-winning goals including the game-winner in Lehigh's season-opening upset of Nebraska.

Field Hockey

In a field hockey shocker, Trinity College scored two goals in the last eight minutes, upending Bowdoin College, which had been ranked sixth nationally early in the season.

The loss came in the NESCAC semifinals on Saturday - the first conference tournament loss for the Polar Bears in five years.

Bowdoin sophomore midfielder Ella Curren (Shepaug) had two shots in the loss. Now the Bears wait and hope for an NCAA at-large bid. They have a 10-6 record.

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The season appears to be over for Castleton State. The Spartan Women had a bye in the first round of the North Atlantic Conference playoffs, then met Farmington State in the semifinals and lost, 2-0. Sophomore forward Stephanie Paproski (Newtown) had two shots on goal for Castleton but couldn't break through. The Spartans finish with a 9-10 record (6-1 NAC).

Cross-Country

Colgate University sophomore Elise DeRoo (Newtown) has been named the Patriot League Female Runner of the Year following her first-place performance at the Patriot League Championship.

Elise won the individual title with a personal-best and school-record time of 22:01.7, to claim her third individual title of the season. She is Colgate's third Patriot League champion in cross-country. She also earned all-Patriot League First Team recognition.

Elise will be back on the course again this weekend in Boston for the NCAA Regional Qualifier.

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Southern Connecticut State junior Joe Poulsen (Oxford) finished sixth (25:29.8) in the Northeast-10 Conference Championships two weeks ago, pulling the Owls into third place overall, and earning his second honor as Athlete of the Month after earning First Team All-Northeast-10 and All-New England status.

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Juniata College's men finished third overall in the Landmark Conference championships on Halloween. Junior Kevin Donahue (Newtown) was the fifth Eagle to finish, in 26th place (29:19).

Volleyball

Lasell College senior libero Amanda Major (Pomperaug) ended her career with 26 digs in a 3-1 loss to Rivier College on Halloween. She had 610 digs this season for the 10-21 Lasers.

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Colby-Sawyer and Salve Regina closed out their seasons within a couple of days of one another last week.

On Tuesday, Salve's fall ended with a 3-0 loss to the Chargers. Seahawk senior Jessica Meyer (Seymour), playing in her last game, had 10 assists and one dig. Salve Regina ends its season 10-12.

Colby-Sawyer senior Megan White (Masuk), who had missed seven previous matches, rejoined the team and led all players with 13 digs.

Two days later, the Colby-Sawyer season closed in the Commonwealth Coast Conference semifinals with a 3-1 loss to Western New England College, which then lost to Roger Williams in the conference final on Saturday.

Swimming

Bentley University senior Erin Koslosky (Shepaug) has been named the captain of the women's swimming and diving team.

She specializes in the freestyle and individual medley and helped the Falcon women finish in the top four in two freestyle relays at last spring's Northeast-10 Champions.

She was also 18th in the 50 free and 100 free at the New England Intercollegiate Swimming and Division Association Championships last February.

Senior Willie Connolly (Shepaug) won the 100 free (51.50) last Wednesday, helping the Falcon men to a 124-73 win over Gordon College. On Saturday, in a 154.5-136.5 loss to Le Moyne College, Willie won the 200 individual medley (2:07.31).

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Have news about a local athlete who is playing a college sport now or is on a winter team? Please drop me a line at john.addyman@yahoo.com and kindly let me know what your relationship to the athlete is.