Daily Sports Digest: Monroe Teams Begin Championship Quest Tonight

The Top Spot:

Both Monroe Mustangs basketball teams will begin play in their respective national tournaments today.

The No. 3-ranked men will tip off in the NJCAA Division I National Tournament in Hutchinson, KS, at noon (1 p.m., NY time) against an excellent No. 7-ranked Indian Hills (Iowa) team.

The No. 9-seeded women will defend their NJCAA Division II national championship in Peoria, IL against No. 8 Prairie State (Illinois) at 3 p.m. (4 p.m., NY time).

You can see both games live on the Web. Visit the Monroe Mustangs athletic website at www.monroecollegemustangs.com and there will be a "splash page" during the games that has the link. If you don't see that, just click LIVE ACTION.

Monroe Men Have Extra Motivation

Monroe's Hutchinson, KS, fans are back! The group of children (and their parents) from Hutchinson who had come out for Monroe in the past were so excited that the Monroe Mustangs made the national tournament again, that on Monday they visited them in their hotel. Each child made a shirt with their favorite Mustang player's number on it and also made a poster of inspiration for the players to have in their rooms as they prepare to take to the court Tuesday.  
One parent said they expect to have a large rooting contingent for the Mustangs in the arena again this year.

College Sports Notebook:

Suffern’s Steinberg Sizzles at Rutgers

The Rutgers University women’s lacrosse team, coming of a 13-7 victory over Monmouth, will play three of the next four games at home, starting with Saint Joseph’s on Wednesday night.

Game time is set for 7 p.m. at the RU Turf Field inside the Stadium Complex in Piscataway, NJ. It will be the first home game under the lights for the Scarlet Knights.

Rutgers reached the .500 level at 3-3 following the victory over the Hawks (1-6), a game in which senior midfielder Ali Steinberg of Suffern had a career day with five goals and two assists.

Annie McGinley of Moorestown, NJ, aided the effort of the Scarlet Knights (3-3) with three goals and one assist. For Steinberg, it marked the 10th hat trick of her career, including fourth this season.

Seven Scarlet Knights posted at least a point, with five scoring at least one goal, in another solid team effort. The Hawks (1-6) were led by Sam Lillo of Short Hills, NJ, with three scores.

Junior goalie Lily Kalata of Nesconset earned the win with nine saves, while junior Aimee Chotikul of Baltimore, MD, also saw action in the net for the Scarlet Knights.

Mortarboard musings

• Joe Clinton, athletics director at Dominican College, has announced that assistant coach Colin Hodge has been named to replace head coach John Campbell, who resigned last month after seven years at the helm. Hodge, who was a two-year starting defender for the Chargers and was an assistant coach the last four seasons, currently coaches U-10 and U-13 Boys teams in the Clarkstown Soccer Club.
• The Manhattan College baseball team, coming off a 13-11 victory over Big East member West Virginia in Morgantown, WV, welcomes Hofstra on Wednesday at 3 p.m. in the Jaspers’ home opener at Van Cortlandt Park in Riverdale. Senior reliever Taylor Sewitt of Highland Mills earned his second win of the season.
• After picking up two wins and leading the Manhattanville College softball team to a victory over nationally ranked Coast Guard, junior Katie Pitcher of Cold Spring was honored as the Freedom Conference pitcher of the week.
• The Dominican College baseball team (3-11), coming off a split at Wilmington University, meets Nyack College in a doubleheader today at 3 p.m. at Provident Bank Park (PBP) in Pomona. The Chargers then challenge another local rival, St. Thomas Aquinas College, in a single game on Wednesday at PBP at 3 p.m.
• Senior Kevin Earlie of Moriches, who went the distance as the Nyack College baseball team (7-6) defeated St. Michael’s College, 12-0, was named Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference pitcher of the week. Earlie picked up his fourth win at the Palm Beach Challenge in Lake Worth, FL.

Weekly Sports Poll:

This week, the Daily Sports Digest Weekly Poll looks at the New York Knicks and the . Tell us if you would like to see John Calipari, Phil Jackson, Jerry Sloan, Mike Woodson or someone else on the bench next year and feel free to add your comments to an already lively debate. .

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