CROSS COUNTRY

Nashua PAL

Gate City Striders score big at USATF event

Last weekend, over 100 Nashua PAL Gate City Striders runners competed in the New England Association Race at Freestyle Farm in Amherst. Six teams earned the right to run at the Regional Race at East Meadow, N.Y., on Sunday. Additionally, 12 runners qualified to run as individuals at the Regional Race.

Sub-Bantams (U8)

Both the boys’ PAL Striders teams qualified for Regionals, placing first and third in the Sub Bantam Division. They were led by race winner Nicholas Dahl and top-10 finishers Matthew Spaulding, Matthew Towle and Griffin Johnson. Also running strong were Christopher Prangley, Ethan Johnson, Sreeman Lakshmanan, Kyle Graser, Cameron Prangley, Kieran Hummer, and Dalton Orino. Bailey Landsteiner also turned in a courageous performance allowing his teammates to qualify to run at Regionals. The girls were led by top 10 finishers Meredith McDermott and Olivia Johnson. Also qualifying for Regionals were Jenna Hamelin and Caroline Sullivan.

Bantams (U10)

In the Bantam Division, the girls’ squad qualified for Regionals with a second place team finish and was led by 10th place runner Haley Schmitt. Also scoring for the PAL Strider team were Isabella Bruno, Grace Jones, Kathryn Loranger, Amelia Piercy, Kara Kelliher, Mackenzie Berthiaume and Lia Whitesel. The boys’ team also advanced with a second place finish. They were led by 3rd place finisher Zackary Berthiaume and 6th place finisher Rory Curran. Christopher Keefe, Siddhant Dutta, Jared Long, Jeremy Melendez, Keegan Murphy and Christopher Karski also put up points toward the team total.

Midgets (U12)

The boys’ Midget team, led by fourth place runner Justin Carbonneau, and 6th place runner Noah Strout were runners-up in the team scoring and advanced to Regionals. Also scoring high were Forest MacKenzie, Henry Keegan, Curtis Comrie, Alex Koutsos, Kyle Fisher, and Landon Johnson. For the girls’ squad, top 10 finishers Tylee Thurber and Lauren Robinson advanced to the Regional race.

Youth (U14)

The boys’ Youth Division team, led by second place runner Noah Bellomo and sixth place runner Chris Fischer advanced to Regionals with a second place finish. Also running strong were Connor Muise, Simon Morrier, Aidan Sullivan, Conor Canfield, Ryan Vermette, Aiden Van Batenburg, and Tyler North. For the girls’ squad, Ellie Goyette placed sixth and Danielle Poublon placed eleventh. Both qualified to move to the Regional race.

Intermediate (U16)

Shannen Arseneault won the girls race and Marie Morrier placed fourth. Ethan Michaud ran strong in the boys’ race and all three advanced to the Regional race.

Young Women (U18)

In the Under 18 Division, Taylor Deschenes had a strong race, finishing second and advancing to Regionals.

BASKETBALL

CYO

JUNIOR MITES (3rd/4th grade)

Boys: St. Chris Green 18, Infant Jesus 15

The St. Christopher Junior Mites (Green) opened the CYO season with an 18-15 victory over Infant Jesus. Leading the offensive effort were Spencer Labreque (8), Keith Dow (8) and David Dow (2). St. Chris pulled together with a strong defensive performance in the second half to preserve the win.

Boys: St. Chris White 20, St. Joseph’s 8

The St. Christopher Junior Mites (White) started the season off with an impressive 20-8 win over St. Joseph’s. The St. Chris offense was fueled by Michael Popik (6), Sam Dufoe (5), Aidan Dufoe (4), Aliya Lewis (3), and Daniel Klevisha (2). St. Chris held off a late charge from St. Joseph’s with an 8 point 4th quarter to seal the first win of the season.

MITES (5th/6th grade)

Girls: St. Chris White 23, St. Thomas 20

St. Christopher’s Girls Mites (White) opened their season with a 23-20 win over St. Thomas. Leading scorers were Peyton Ryan (9), Lizzie Croke (5), and Krysta Mack (5). Rita Dow’s pair of clutch baskets at the end of the game, coupled with the team’s strong defense came together to secure the win for St. Chris.

Girls: St. Pius 22, St. Chris Green 6

St. Christopher’s Girls Mites (Green) gave it their all in a tough 22-6 loss to St. Pius. Kirsten McIntire and Brianna DeFelice moved well offensively for the Huskies, with Sophie Lathram (4) and Kristen Coumas (2) putting points on the board for St. Chris. Grace Wilson and Nicole Yeaton had solid performances to compliment the team’s strong defensive efforts.

Boys: PMA 23, St. Chris White 22

In a nail biter against Presentation of Mary Academy, with neither team allowing the other more than a few point lead, St. Christopher’s Boys Mites (White) lost their season opener 23-22.

Brian D’Cruz and Jackson Lewis were top scorers with eight-plus points each. St. Chris put in a strong defensive effort leading to a number of fast break opportunities, with Joseph Kenosian earning a 3-point opportunity following a picture-perfect fast break layup.

Boys: St. Chris Green wins two of three

St. Christopher Boys Mites (Green) kicked off their regular season with three exciting games this weekend. St. Chris racked up more than 90 points in their two Bedford Jamboree AAU tournament games with convincing victories over tough Bedford and Windham squads, advancing to the quarterfinal round this week.

St. Chris opened the CYO league season with a disappointing 22-19 loss to Resurrection. Joseph Noon and Davis Camacho led the squad’s scoring effort, and classmate Andre Laplante had 13 assists during the weekend.

Fifth graders Alex Williams, Chase Nickerson and Emeka Okorie played solid defense and contributed nicely in their first Mite league experience.

HOCKEY

Valley League

Mites: Cavaliers 9, Everett/Revere 5

The incredible goaltending of Chase Devin propelled the Cavaliers to a 9-5 victory over Everett/Revere (Mass.) in Valley Hockey League action.

Devin’s 23 saves and some great defensive support from Evan Doughty, Sinead Macaraeg, Michael Spinazzola, Jake Dodge and Jack Maceachen was too much for Everett/Revere to handle.

One minute into the game Stephen Toom started off the Cavaliers’ scoring with the first shot on goal finding the back of the net. E/R tied the game halfway thru the first, but the Cavs came right back with a nice feed from Maceachen to Toom to end the period 2-1. The line of Sal Damico, Kelci Waters and Matthew D’Ortona turned up the heat in the second period. Damico scored his first of two breakaway goals assisted by Waters and D’Ortona. Spinazzola gained an assist on Damico’s second goal with a great defensive play in his own end. With the score 4-1, Will Dodge sent Jessie Gertz in for a goal that seemed to wake up E/R, which came back to score two goals. But Will Dodge put a stop to that with an unassisted goal to put the Cavs ahead 6-3 at the end of two.

Will Dodge wasn’t through, as his unbelievable stick work gained him the first goal of the third period unassisted. Toom, Will Dodge and Gertz combined again with Toom finishing off his hat trick. E/R scored two more goals to close within three at 8-5, but it’s as close as it would get. The Cavs still weren’t done as D’Ortona scored his first goal of the season assisted by Damico and Waters to close out the scoring.

Squirts: SNH Cavaliers 1,
Andover (Mass.) 1

The Southern New Hampshire Cavaliers and Andover (Mass.) went at it from the drop of the puck in what turned out to be a very physical game.

Jackson Gates opened the scoring, finishing a first period breakaway and putting the Cavs up 1-0. Andover tied things up as the first period came to a close, but the Cavs’ defense held strong the rest of the way thanks to Torin White, Gates and Anthony Viola. Both goalies where outstanding throughout the game, highlighted by Cavs’ goalie Thomas Kelly stopping multiple attacks to the net by Andover.

The offensive pairings of Joshua Salsman, Dylan LaLiberte and Cole Giersch along with Paul Vachon, Colin MacDonald and Mathew Lynch put multiple shots on the Andover goalie but he held off the barrage of attacks from the Cavs forwards.

SOCCER

Nashua Soccer Club

NH Cobras clinic starts at 9

The NH Cobras of the Nashua Soccer Club will be holding a free clinic and team placement event Sunday from 9-11 a.m. at the Tynsgboro Sportsplex (18 Progress Avenue, Tyngsborough, Mass., 01879). There are spaces available on teams from U8-U13. For more information, visit the club website at www.nhcobrassc.com or email the club at info@nhcobrassc.com.

FOOTBALL

Nashua PAL

Force-Sabres game, roundtable
will broadcast on Channel 96

Access Nashua Television Channel 96 will be airing two special programs throughout the Thankgiving week for youth football fans.

The first program, a game broadcast of the 2012 Nashua PAL Force versus the Manchester South Sabres will air seven times starting Monday at 8 p.m.

The on-air broadcast team includes: Mike Riley – announcer for the Lowell Spinners (Single-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox) and an on-air personality for WTKK News Talk 96.9-FM Boston as well as New England Cable News (NECN); Todd Collins – a 1995 second-round NFL draft pick who played quarterback for the University of Michigan and in the NFLfor the Washington Redskins, Chicago Bears, Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills; and Brendan Keegan – a current third grade coach for the Nashua PAL Force who was the program’s former president.

This game will air on Access Nashua Channel 96 at the following times: Monday at 8 p.m.; Tuesday at 1 p.m.; Wednesday at 4 p.m.; Thursday at 7 p.m.; Friday at 2 p.m.; Saturday at noon; Nov. 25 at 2 p.m.

The second program is a roundtable discussion of the PAL Force program, its mission, history and plans for the future. The roundtable features the following participants: Riley; Jason Robie – head coach of the Nashua High School North Titans varsity football team; Sergi Filonow – former Nashua PAL football and spirit board member and current fifth grade coach; and Collins.

This program will air on Access Nashua Channel 96 at the following times: Monday at 1 p.m.; Tuesday at 7 p.m.; Wednesday at 10 a.m.; Thursday at 4 p.m.; Friday at 1 p.m.; Saturday at 9 a.m.; Nov. 25 at 5 p.m.

Anybody interested in participating in or learning more about the Nashua PAL Force football and spirit program should visit www.nashuapalforce.com.