September 2008

2007 Second Team All-American James Sylvestre (Lincoln, RI) pulled away to win the Ray Dwyer Invitational on Monday, his first race of the season, on his home course at the CCRI Flanagan Campus in Lincoln. Sylvestre was one of the bright spots for a team that finished in third place in the Ray Dwyer Invititional. Sylvestere ran a solid race with a time of 28.50. His main competition was James Vance from Johnson & Wales Univiersity the two were neck and neck for the first two thirds of the race before Sylvestre broke away during the last mile and a half to and finished almost 30 seconds ahead of Vance.

Another bright spot for the Knights was Chris Pereira (Cumerland, RI) who finished in the top 10 placing ninth in a time of 31:43. In addition, the Knights had three runners finish in the top 20 including Joshua Santos (Pawtucket, RI) who finished in 13th place in a time of 33:06, Chris Allegretta (Warwick, RI) who finished 16th in a time of 33:56, and Juan Vigay (Providence, RI) came in 17th in a time of 35:29. Rounding out the Knights’ runners was Nate Cabana (Cumberland, RI) who finished 23rd in a time of 40:28. As a team the Knights finished in third place.

The Knights are back in action this weekend at home when they host the Tri-State Invitiational. The men’s race starts at 11:00 AM with the women’s race to start at 12noon.

Lady Knights Hold Their Own at First Ever Northeast Region ITA Invitational!

The CCRI Women’s Tennis team traveled to Mercer County, New Jersey to participate in the inaugural Northeast Region NJCAA ITA Invitational Tournament. The facility, located in the Mercer County Park, has 24 outdoor courts and six brand new indoor courts. The new indoor tennis courts came in quite handy on Friday and Saturday due to all the rain. The tournament format had singles play best of three sets, with a match tie-break in lieu of a full third set. Doubles played 8-game pro-sets. Both singles and doubles played no-ad scoring, which is common for the east coast NJCAA regions. The format of the tournament had first and second singles players grouped together in Flight A, third and fourth singles players grouped in Flight B, and fifth and sixth singles players grouped in Flight C. There were two flights of doubles with first and second doubles grouped together in Flight A, and third doubles alone in flight B.

Day one
Day one was not kind to the Lady Knights. Sophomore Co-Captain Lindsay Osborn (East Greenwich, RI) took the court as one of the six first-ever matches played on the brand new indoor courts against Shadaia Olga from Montgomery-Rockville in Flight A singles. The new courts are some of the slowest courts that the Lady Knights have ever played on, which suited the counter-punch style of the Rockville player much better than Osborn. Olga defeated Osborn 6-3, 6-1. The Lady Knights then had to wait until the last two matches of the day to go out on the court again in Flight A doubles, with Osborn and sophomore co-captain Hannah Koski (Coventry, RI) taking the court against Breanna Carlson and Sarah Osgerchian from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). The match went down to the last couple of games, with Fashion Institute Technology prevailing 8-6 as the long wait, combined with the no-ad format, did in the Lady Knights. Freshmen Ashley Helm (Pawtucket, RI) and Samantha Browning (Mystic, CT) took the courts as the last team of Day 1 against Giana Marchese and Leanna Merceado of SUNY- Orange. The SUNY- Orange team had also played a first-round match as Helm and Browning, the fourth seed, had a bye into the round of 16. The earlier play for the Orange team, helped the succeed to an 8-3 in the final Flight A Doubles match of the second round.

Day two
The Lady Knights fared much better on day two. Helm started out fast in her round of 16 Flight A singles match. Facing No. 5 seed Jess Reiff of Brookdale Community College, Helm jumped out to a 4-0 lead, getting two early breaks of serve. Showing the reason for the seed, Reiff the Brookdale No. 1, fought back to take the lead 6-5. Helm prevailed in the set 7-6 (7-5 in the tie-break) and took the deciding set 6-3. Helm earned two points for the win, having had a bye in the first round. In Flight B singles No. 3 seed Browning took the court for a second round singles match, having also had a bye in the first round. Browning dropped the first set 7-5 to Ally Huggan of Ocean Community College, but then fought back to take the second set 6-4, forcing a match tie-break for the deciding set. Both girls battled at the start of the tiebreak, switching at 3-3 in the first changeover. Sam then took control grabbing the mini-break on Huggan’s serve and, consolidating the break with two big aces, never looked back, finishing the tiebreak 10-5, capturing two points. For the first time all weekend the matches were able to be played outside as the rain subsided. Hannah Koski was the first Lady Knight to be able to utilize the outside courts. Koski faced off against Larissa Burgdorfer from Ocean Community College in the Flight C singles. Koski prevailed 6-0, 6-2 to capture two points. Shannon Duffy (Taunton, MA) faced Allysa Arabia of Gloucester County College. Playing in only her third match of her life Duffy struggled with some difficult calls and never really found herself in the match losing 6-0,6-0. Ashley Helm was the second Lady Knight to participate on the outdoor courts as she found herself in a rematch with Katrina Teideman of Harford Community College. The two had played two weeks earlier in the Harford Invitational in a match that Ashley won. Teideman took the first set easily again 6-1, and this time Helm couldn’t find the magic, dropping the second 6-1. Browning then took the court against Cara Wilson of Cecil Community College, a DI school. Browning prevailed 6-3, 6-4. Osborn completed the day for the Lady Knights, taking the court in a Flight A singles consolation match against Kristen Abdallah of Gloucester County College, dropping the 8-game pro-set contest 8-3, in a match that was far closer than the score suggests. Nine of the 11 games went to deuce, and with the no-ad scoring, the next point wins. Abdallah, originally the Flight A singles No. 3 seed, was just too consistent in those crucial points.

Day three
In the main draw, Day three finished off the Lady Knights in much the same fashion as Day one started. The Flight C singles semi-final pitted No. 3 Hannah Koski against No. 1 seed Ali Crozier of Gloucester County College, in a rematch of the flight five singles finals in the Harford Tournament two weeks ago. Crozier dispatched Koski 6-0, 6-1 in that previous contest and looked to be doing the same in this tournament, picking up the first set easily at 6-1. Koski fought back, however, prevailing in the second, 7-5, setting up a deciding match tie-break. The match tie-break format is first-to-10 by two, but that wasn’t enough to settle this match. Crozier finally prevailed, 14-12 to take the semi-final match, knocking Koski out of the draw. The Flight B singles semi-final featured No. 3 seed Samantha Browning against another No. 1 seed, this time Gloucester County College’s Sara Wilkins. Browning dropped the contest 6-1, 6-4; again having trouble mastering the no-ad, next-point-wins format at deuce. The rest of the day saw the Lady Knights participating in consolation matches, where they were able to tally two additional wins to finalize their tournament individual match record at 12-10 for the weekend. The most impressive consolation win was a rematch of the round of 16 Flight A doubles match between Osborn/Koski and Osgerchian/Carlson of Fashion Institute of Technology. In the main draw Fashion Institute of Technology prevailed 8-6 in a close match. In the consolation match the result was reversed, with the Lady Knights prevailing 8-6!

Head Coach Deb Panzica said of the weekend, “This weekend was a good trip for the women’s team. It started slow, but we had some great matches against national-caliber competition. Next week we finish our season with a trip to Long Island to face perennial national competitor Suffolk Community College and a reportedly much-improved Nassau Community College. We look forward to completing our regular season and hopefully doing enough to make it to the National Tournament, scheduled for May 2009.”

The Lady Knights are back in action next Friday and Saturday as they head down to Suffolk County Community College to face Suffolk CC and Nassau CC.

Lady Knights Volleyball goes 8-0 at Holyoke Tournament to Improve to 24-2!

The CCRI Lady Knights volleyball team continued to impress this weekend as they went a perfect 8-0 to win the Holyoke Invitational. With the victories the Lady Knights improve their record to 24-2 on the season!

Saturday
Pool play
Match one CCRI defeats New Hampshire Technical Institute 25-3 and 25-9
In the first set NHTI was unable to pass the jump serve of Cory Santos (Carlsbad, CA) who rang up a whopping 11 aces. With NHTI unable to return service the Lady Knights cruised to two easy victories 25-3 and 25-9.

Match two CCRI defeats Hesser College 25-1 and 25-13.
The second match was very much like the first match as the Lady Knights won convincingly. Freshman Jess Putrino (Exeter, RI) decided to take over the dominant serving honors as she served for 21 straight points including an incredible seven aces.

Match three CCRI defeats Northern Essex CC 25-13 and 25-9
The Lady Knights used a little of everything to record this victory. This time freshman Michelle Gaimari (Woonsocket, RI) led the way serving for the Lady Knights as she served 12 straight points including six aces. Defensively, Amanda Valentine (West Warwick, RI), Ashley Lamphere (Warwick, RI) and Jess Greene (Warwick, RI) each recorded three blocks a piece. While Suzanne Landry (Tiverton, RI) recorded eight kills, Ashley Mangione (Warwick, RI) and Amanda Valentine added five kills to the Lady Knights attack.

Match four CCRI defeats Springfield College JV 25-13 and 25-15
Springfield JV became the first team that the Lady Knights faced that was able to pass service so the Lady Knights went back to their traditional formula of sound defense and power offense as a formula for victory. Suzanne Landry threw down nine kills and four digs and Amanda Valentine had nine kills and six blocks and Cory Santos had three aces, a kill, six digs, a block, and 19 assists to lead the offense. Defensively Ashley Mangione added two aces, two kills, and 11 digs and Tia Becker (Clark Fork, ID) added 12 digs.

Sunday
Pool play

Match five CCRI defeats Holyoke CC 25-13 and 27-25
This was a strange match for the Lady Knights as they handled Holyoke pretty well in the first set 25-13 and then had to scramble to get a 27-25 win in the second set. This match was “The Amanda Valentine Show” as she did a little of everything recording two aces, two digs, six blocks, and nine kills to lead the way to victory for the Lady Knights.

Match six CCRI defeats Hudson Valley CC 25-21 and 25-19
With the victory the Lady Knights locked up first place seed for the playoff round. Leading the way again for the Lady Knights was Amanda Valentine with 11 kills and eight blocks along with Suzanne Landry who added nine kills and 12 digs. In addition, Cory Santos added five aces, nine digs and 23 assists, Ashley Mangione had an ace, five kills, and 14 digs and Tia Becker contributed 16 digs defensively.

Playoff Rounds
Semi-finals
CCRI defeats Hudson Valley 25-6 and 25-14
After a one match layoff the No. 1 seed Lady Knights faced Hudson Valley CC the fourth seed in the first semi-final. While warming up for this match the team seemed to become totally energized for the first time today, after playing flat for the first two matches. The result was a 25-6, 25-14 complete team victory. Offensively, Amanda Valentine, Ashley Mangione, Suzanne Landry, and Jess Greene each recorded five kills each. At the net Valentine had five blocks and Ashley Lamphere, Greene and Landry each had three blocks each. Defensively, every Lady Knight on the team recorded at least two digs each with Tia Becker leading the way with eight. In addition, Cory Santos raced up another seven aces and handed out 19 assists to help lead the Lady Knights to the finals.

Finals
CCRI defeats Springfield JV 23-25, 25-19 and 15-13
When the Lady Knights played Springfield JV on Saturday they faced the eight Junior Varsity only players. On Sunday those eight players were bolstered by an additional six swing players who had been with the varsity team on Saturday. The result was the most closely contested match of the season that featured dueling jump servers, power hitting and lots and lots of bodies on the floor. When the smoke cleared the Lady Knights walked away with a hard-fought 23-25, 25-19, and 15-13 victory that left payers coaches and fans exhausted.

The Lady Knights’ offense was again led by the dynamic duo of Suzanne Landry and Amanda Valentine. Landry recorded 16 kills, 14 digs and a block and Valentine added 15 kills, an ace seven digs, and five blocks. Their net defense was led by Jess Greene with six blocks and five kills and Ashley Lamphere with four blocks, and a kill. Seeming to be everywhere, sophomores Ashley Mangione charted 23 digs and six kills and Tia Becker recorded 27 digs which frustrated the Springfield attackers over and over. Orchestrating the Lady Knights was freshman setter Cory Santos who dished out 33 assists, served up four aces, dug 12 balls and had four blocks and chipped in two kills.

After the match Head Coach Ray DeAngelis said: “Even though we won both matches in the morning we did not play well. During the break before playoffs we talked a lot about playing ‘our game’. The response by the team during the playoffs was exactly what we asked for. The win over Springfield was our best effort of the season and we hope to continue that level of play for the rest of the season.”

The success has not been accomplished with smoke and mirrors as many of the Lady Knights have many players ranked in the top 50 nationally by the NJCAA in Division II. National leaders are led by Outside Hitter Suzanne Landry who is ranked No. 5 in Hitting Efficiency at 40.5% and No. 5 in Kills per game with 3.844 per game with 246 kills in just 64 games played. Setter Cory Santos is ranked No. 2 in Aces per game with 1.42 and 98 aces in 69 games played and No. 15 in assists per game with 8.464 per game with 584 in just 69 games played. Middle Hitter Amanda Valentine is ranked No. 4 in blocks per game with 1.443 per game with 101 blocks in 70 games played and No. 39 in kills per game with 2.814 per game with 197 in 70 games played. Captain Ashley Mangione is raked No. 3 in Digs per game with seven digs per game with 434 digs in 62 games played and Libero Tia Becker is ranked No. 7 with 6.164 digs per game with 376 in 61 games played, and Middle Blocker Ashley Lamphere is ranked No.21 in blocks per game with 1.09 per game with 73 blocks in 67 games played.

The Lady Knights’ next match will be Thursday when they host Leslie College at 7:00pm on the CCRI Flanagan Campus in Lincoln. Note: the Lady Knights were scheduled to travel to play Dean College on Wednesday but that match was cancelled because Dean no longer has a volleyball team this season.

Knights Brought Down By Bryant and Stratton 5-1

The CCRI Knights men’s soccer team lost to the national power Bobcats of Bryant and Stratton 5-1. With the loss the Knights’ record falls to 3-3-1 on the season.

This was a game that from all indications was going to be a tough and close match. This time the Knights ran out of options to turn the game around and lost 5-1 against an extremely good Bryant and Stratton squad. The Knights continued their trend of falling behind in the first half and once again found themselves down 2-0 by the 24th minute of the first half. The Knights did come back however and played well in the remainder of the half reducing the score to 2-1 at the half on a well executed free kick play from Co-Captain Revelino DaVeiga (Providence, RI) to Elton Moreira (Pawtucket, RI) with Patrick Araujo (Pawtucket, RI) scoring his second goal of the season on the rebound.

The Knights came out well in the second half and were close to tying the game but unfortunately gave up the third goal to Bryant and Stratton on a breakaway. The Knights pushed forward to try to get back and tie the game but surrendered the fourth goal just five minutes later and Bryant and Stratton finished the scoring on a penalty shot making the final score 5-1.

Head Coach Victor Gaspar said after the game: “This was a match at the level the Knights must be able to play. CCRI has to play much better team defense to be able to compete at the highest national level.”

The Knights next game is at Region XXI, Division I rival Bulldogs of Dean College on Wednesday October first at 4:00pm.

NJCAA Volleyball Player of the Week (Sept. 24, 2008) - Suzanne Landry, Volleyball

Community College of Rhode Island Outside Hitter, Suzanne Landry (Tiverton High; Tiverton, R.I.) is this week's NJCAA Division II Volleyball Player of the Week. The 5'8" outside hitter led her team to an outstanding 6-0 record last week. Landry was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Prairie State Invitational and named the CCRI Athlete of the Week. She recorded 5.44 kills per game, .55 blocks per game, 3.83 digs per game, .39 aces per game and an impressive .506 hitting percentage last week.

Lady Knights Yield to Yellow Jackets 3-1

The CCRI Lady Knights volleyball team lost to the Yellow Jackets of American International College Varsity team 25-21, 20-25, 22-25, and 15-25. This was a rematch of a match they played at CCRI September 15th in which the Lady Knights won 3-2. However, this time on their home court the Yellow Jackets were able to pull out the victory. With the loss the Lady Knights record falls to 16-2 on the season.

The worst thing that could happen to the Lady Knights occurred. The Lady Knights won the first set 25-21 even though they did not play their best game. This created a false sense of security for the Lady Knights which combined with an intense push from the AIC team not to lose on the Yellow Jackets’ home court and it was more than they could overcome.

Leaders for the Lady Knights included Suzanne Landry (Tiverton, RI) with 17 kills, 12 digs, and two blocks and Amanda Valentine (West Warwick, RI) had six kills, three digs, and 11 blocks.

Head Coach Ray DeAngelis commented after the match “Our offense worked fine when we passed the ball but our defense was so poor tonight that we just could not transition and actually run our offense. We gave up to many easy points and when you do that against a talented athletic team this is the result. Hopefully we can take what we learned from this and turn it into a positive for this weekend s tournament at Holyoke.”

The Lady Knights travel to Holyoke CC for the weekend to play in the Holyoke Invitational Saturday and Sunday game times to be determined.

Knights and Warriors Battle to 1-1 Tie in Double Overtime

The CCRI Knights men’s soccer team battled with Division I Region XXI rival Warriors of Massasoit CC to a 1-1 double overtime tie on Tuesday the CCRI Flanagan Campus in Lincoln. With the tie the Knights record is now 3-2-1 on the season and 1-1-1 in Region XXI play.

The Knights were not able to take advantage of an unusually flat Warriors team in a first half which ended in a 0-0 tie. In the second half the Knights came out playing very well, but it was Massasoit scoring first on a CCRI defensive lapse Greg Giguere from Paulo Teixeira making the score 1-0 Warriors. The Knights were still playing well and kept pressuring Massasoit which finally paid off in the 27th minute as Forward Prince Tahyor (Providence, RI) scored for the Knights on an assist from Midfielder Romeo Reis (North Providence, RI) tying the score at 1-1.

The Knights had a couple of great chances at the end of regulation and in the second overtime period, just feet from the goal, but were unlucky and could not convert. The Knights and Warriors battled through both overtimes with no one scoring and the game ended in a 1-1 tie.

Knights Goalkeeper Jason Oliveira (Cumberland, RI) had 10 saves in goal, including a couple of excellent saves that helped save the game for the Knights.

The Knights travel to Syracuse this weekend to play perennial national soccer power Bryant-Stratton on Sunday at 1:00pm. The last time these two teams met was in 2001 for the Northeast District Championship. The Knights lost 1-0 but Bryant-Stratton went on to win the National Championship that year.

No. 7-Ranked Lady Knights Beat Bulldogs 3-0 to improve record to 5-2!

The Lady Knights battled Division I Region XXI rival Dean College Bulldogs Wednesday afternoon at the Lincoln Campus. The Lady Knights defeated Dean 3-0 with the victory the Lady Knights improved their overall record to 5-2 and 3-0 in Region XXI play.

Although short handed the Dean Bulldogs showed plenty of heart as they kept the Lady Knights off of the score board for the entire first half of play despite facing a barrage of 31 shots. Alexis Smith (Wakefield, RI) finally got the Lady Knights on track when she converted in the box on a nice pass from Stephanie Morse (Warwick, RI) 18 minutes into the second half. 10 minutes later Morse again gave a nice feed this time to defender Danielle Cartier (Lincoln, RI) who placed a 25-footer in the upper right corner to give the Knights a two goal advantage. Co-Captain Amy Torres (Warwick, RI) would complete the scoring on the afternoon when she corralled a loose rebound and tucked it neatly away with less than four minutes remaining in the match giving the Lady Knights a 3-0 victory.

The now 5-2 Lady Knights next take on the 2-3 Springfield Technical Community College Lady Rams on Saturday September 27th at 12pm at the Lincoln Campus.

Knights Run Well at UMASS-Dartmouth Invitational!

On an ideal day to run a race the CCRI Knights Men’s Cross Country team participated in the UMASS-Dartmouth 8K Invitational. As a team the Knights finished in 15th place out of 20 two and four year school teams.

Sophomore runner James Sylvestre (Lincoln, RI) ran one of his best 8k races with a time of 26:56. This placed him 21st in a field of 238 runners. James was followed by freshmen Chris Pereira (Cumberland, RI) who was 114th in a time of 29:23. The third runner to cross the finish line for the Knights was Captain Chris Allegretta (Warwick, RI) in 185th in a time of 31:41. This was Allegretta’s personal best time by over two minutes on an 8k cross country course. CCRI’s forth runner was freshmen Josh Santos (Pawtucket, RI) 209 in a time of 32:58. The fifth man in this week for the Knights was freshmen Matt Arrico (Warwick, RI) in 214th place in a time of 33:44.

Head Coach Gregg Cornell said after the race, “This was a nice showing for the CCRI Knights in their first cross country event of the 2008 season.”

The Knights are back in action when they host the Ray Dwyer Invitational on Saturday September 27th the women begin at 9:00am the Men begin at 11:00am.

Knights Battle Hard to the end but Come up Short versus Monroe CC 2-1

The CCRI Knights men’s Soccer Team lost a hard fought battle with National powerhouse Monroe CC out of Rochester, NY but came-up short losing 2-1. With the loss the Knights record falls to 3-2 on the season.

This was game that from all indications was going to be a tough and close match. That it was!. It was a battle of two halves with Monroe clearly dominating most of thee first half, 2-0 and the Knights totally dominating the second half but scoring only once.

CCRI’s goal came on a breakaway rebound from Prince Tahyor (Providence, RI) with the finishing touch from David Duffney (Warwick, RI). Later in the game the Knights got some bad luck as a botched call would have given the Knight’s a penalty shot, when Patrick Araujo (Pawtucket, RI) was pulled down by his shirt inside the penalty area was not called.

Head Coach Victor Gaspar said after the contest: “This was a match at the level the Knights must play to be successful this season. CCRI showed some excellent moments throughout the second half, but must be more consistent.”

The Knights next game will be Tuesday at 3:30 pm when they host Region XXI Division I rival Massasoit CC On the CCRI Flanagan Campus in Lincoln.

#5 Ranked Lady Knights Lose Heartbreaker to #10 ranked Monroe CC 2-1 in OT

The #5 ranked Lady Knights hosted the perennial powerhouse, District rival and #10 ranked Monroe Community College Tribunes from Rochester, NY Friday afternoon. With the loss the Lady Knights record drops to 4-1 on the season.

Neither team found the back of the net in the first half. Sophomore goalkeeper Megan Belmont (Pawtucket, RI) kept the Tribunes at bay registering four quality saves in the half, while sophomores Nicole Kufel (Oradell, NJ) and Co-Captain Taylor Barbosa (Fall River, MA) led the defensive corps in thwarting the Tribune attack.

The second half began much like the first with intense action end to end. Monroe found their way onto the scoreboard midway through the second half on a screened shot that slipped in past Belmont making the score 1-0. The Lady Knights quickly answered back less than six minutes later to tie that match on a perfectly placed cross from the foot of Ashley Choiniere (Hope, RI), just outside the reach of the Monroe keeper, which a leaping Kaela-Rose Gentile (North Scituate, RI) headed into the back of the net making the score 1-1. The Lady Knights had numerous chances throughout the second half, but spectacular play by the MCC goalkeeper Kimika Forbes kept the score knotted at 1-1 through the end of regulation.

The “golden goal” (first goal wins) overtime period would last just six minutes when Casey Reinhardt was able to collect the ball in the box and score the game winner. The Lady Knights will play Sunday the 21st versus Laramie CC at 10am.

#5 Ranked Lady Knights Fall to #13 ranked Laramie CC 3-1

The Lady Knights played host to Laramie County Community College from Cheyenne, WY Sunday morning. With both CCRI and LCCC playing into extra time in their last matches – CCRI played Monroe CC for nearly 96 minutes on Friday, while LCCC battled Monroe the maximum 110 minutes on Saturday- Sunday’s game would prove to be a battle of both heart and healthy bodies. CCRI had plenty of heart, but lack of healthy bodies would prove to be the difference. The Lady Knights lost the contest 3-1. with the loss the Lady Knights record drops to 4-2 on the season.

LCCC took advantage of an ineffective clearance attempt and slotted home a close range shot to take the early lead at just 10 minutes into the match. The score would remain unchanged until nearly nine minutes into the second half when Freshman Alexis Smith (Wakefield, RI) converted on a well placed equalizer. Outstanding play by sophomore sweeper Nicole Kufel (Oradell, NJ) combined with several outstanding saves by sophomore goalkeeper Megan Belmont (Pawtucket, RI) would keep LCCC off the scoreboard until 66th minute of the match when a speedy LCCC forward Michaela Boyd broke away from her defender and put her team in the lead by a score of 2-1. With CCRI pressing to obtain the equalizer, LCCC “iced” the match with their third tally of the day with less than a minute left in the match.

CCRI next takes on Division 1 Region XXI rival Dean College on Wednesday September 24th at 4:00 at the CCRI Flanagan Campus in Lincoln.

Lady Knights Defeat Morton 3-1 Then Win Prairie State Tourney to run record to 16-1!
Cory Santos and Suzanne Landry Earn All-Tourney Honors!

The CCRI Lady Knights volleyball team had a spectacular trip to Chicago where they played some incredible volleyball. First on Friday the Lady Knights defeated Morton College 3-1. On Saturday they traveled to Chicago Heights to play in the Prairie State Tournament where they defeated Elgin 2-1, South Suburban 2-0, and Triton 2-0 in pool play. In the semi-finals The Lady Knights defeated Indiana University-NW 2-1 and won the finals by defeating Elgin convincingly 2-0. Lady Knights stars Cory Santos (Carlsbad, CA) and Suzanne Landry (Tiverton, RI) earned All-Tournament honors. With the six victories the Lady Knights improve their record to 16-1 on the season

Full Match scores
Friday Match
CCRI defeats Morton 25-13, 20-25, 25-16, and 25-9

Saturday Tournament @ Prairie State
Pool play
CCRI defeats Elgin 21-25, 25-19, and 15-7
CCRI defeats South Suburban 25-22 and 25-16
CCRI defeats Triton 25-15 and 25-18

Semi-finals
CCRI defeats Indiana University NW 25-13, 25-27, and 15-13

Finals
CCRI defeats Elgin 25-12 and 25-21

The Lady Knights always play sluggish at the start of the day or after match off so they were happy when the other semi-final winner (Elgin) agreed to skip warm ups before the finals and just play. Elgin had won the first set of the day against versus CCRI so the Lady Knights were determined not to “let them in the game” great defense at the net by Valentine and Lamphere forced Elgin to resort to soft roll shots that resulted in good passing to setter Cory Santos who in turn fed Outside Hitter Suzanne Landry for a number of thunderous kills. During a time out Head Coach Ray DeAngelis overheard an Elgin player remark “we can’t stop #8 (Landry) and we can’t get it by their middles (Valentine and Lamphere)”

Weekend Re-cap
Even though the Lady Knights were 10-1 after last Monday’s win over AIC they still decided to make several major line up changes that they thought would strengthen the team. Suzanne Landry (Tiverton, RI) and Amanda Valentine (West Warwick, RI) swapped positions with Landry moving to Outside Hitter and Valentine moving to Middle Hitter. In addition, Tia Becker (Clark fork ID) moved from Right-side Hitter to Libero (defensive specialist) and the Right-side Hitter position would now be shared by Jess Greene (Warwick, RI) in the front row with Jess Putrino (Exeter, RI) serving and playing back row. The results were immediate and very successful both for the individuals involved and the team as a whole.

Individually for the Lady Knights Suzanne Landry recorded 63 kills in the six matches and jumped all the way up to seventh in kills per game (NJCAA Division II) and ninth in hitting efficiency (NJCAA DII). Amanda Valentine went from not being ranked for blocks up to 26th with a 36 block weekend. Ashley Lamphere (Warwick, RI) decided to jump in on the fun and also moved up to 34th in blocks recording 24 blocks during the weekend.

Captain Ashley Mangione (Warwick, RI) continues to provide whatever the team seems to need, like a true leader, with four aces, 27 kills, four blocks and 101 digs for the weekend keeping her moving her back up to third place in Digs (NJCAA DII). In addition, Cory Santos moved up to 19th among assist leaders with 132 and holds on to her second place spot in aces per game, with 20 for the weekend including 10 in a single game. The tandem of Jess Greene and Jess Putrino combined for five aces, 35 kills, 67 digs, 26 blocks and 18 assists. And not to be forgotten Tia Becker, whose response to being asked to move to Libero was, “whatever you need me to do” recorded 125 digs this weekend. Good enough to place her seventh in the NJCAA DII rankings.

The Lady Knights next match will be this Thursday when they host AIC varsity at 7:00pm on the CCRI Flanagan Campus in Lincoln.

Lady Knights Tennis defeat Mohawk Valley CC to win first match in history of program!

CCRI Women’s Tennis team traveled to Utica, New York where they participated in the first dual match of the fall 2008 season against Mohawk Valley Community College. The match was a success as the Lady Knights triumphed over the Hawks 5-4 for their first ever head to head match victory in the programs short history. With the victory the Lady Knights are 1-0 on the season.

In the first singles match of the day the Lady Knights got the first two points of the day when freshman Ashley Helm (Pawtucket, RI) defeated Melanie Bobay, 6-3, 6-4 and in second singles sophomore Captain Lindsay Osborn (E. Greenwich) cruised to a 6-3 ,6-1 victory over Dionne Bever. The Hawks were able to even up the score at 2-2 when Angela Brutsky defeated freshman Samantha Browning (Mystic, CT) 7-5, 6-2 and freshman Rebecca Knowlton (Chepachet, RI) lost to Ashley Waldron, 6-2, 6-2. Sophomore Captain Hannah Koski (Coventry, RI) was able to give the Lady Knights the lead back as she defeated Casie Moyer, 6-4, 6-4, continuing her terrific season so far. The back and forth action continued as Mohawk Valley Samantha Cardone was able to beat Sharniece Williams (Hartford, CT) 7-5, 2-1 (ret.). Williams was forced to retire because she didn’t feel well.

After splitting the singles 3-3, the three doubles teams took to the court with the overall match in the balance. The first doubles team of Helm and Browning began the match on serve through the first six games. They were down 2-3, although it was on serve. They then proceeded to win the next six straight games to seal the 4th point at 8-6. In the next doubles match Osborn and Koski raced out to a 3-0 lead on the strength of two breaks of serve, only to let a bad call upset their momentum. They gave back three of the next four games to hold on to a 4-3 lead. However the two were finally able to but the call behind them and completely change their attitude and from that point on only dropped one of the last 5 games to secure the 5th, and decisive, point of the match, 8-4. The third doubles team of Knowlton and Shannon Duffy (Taunton, MA), playing in her first-ever collegiate tennis match, battled a more experienced team to 6-6 before dropping the final two games for a final of 8-6.

Coach Deb Panzica said after the match, “This was an awesome team victory that demonstrated the character of this team. We move on to face Broome Community College on Sunday – which based on all reports is a very strong team. In a tournament in which we failed to secure a single point last year, this year’s result is unbelievable! Many of the other teams’ coaches remarked about the turn-around and we are looking forward to the rest of the season and building on this weekend’s success.”

Broome Brushes past the Lady Knights 9-0

The CCRI Women’s Tennis team traveled to Binghamton, New York to take on Broome Community College on the heels of their first dual match victory. The Lady Knights knew that Broome would be the most difficult challenge they would face this year. Broome last season was the Region III champions and had a fantastic sixth place finish at last years nationals. Broome came out on fire and never looked back as they brushed by the Lady Knights 9-0. This was there first loss of the season making their record 1-1.

In first singles, freshman Ashley Helm (Pawtucket, RI) lost to Jessica Miller, 6-3, 6-1. In second singles, sophomore Captain Lindsay Osborn (East Greenwich) lost to Colleen Hanzes, 6-2, 6-1. In third singles, freshman Samantha Browning (Mystic, CT) fell to former Broome Women’s Soccer standout, Carly Smith, 6-1, 6-0. In fourth singles, freshman Rebecca Knowlton (Chepachet, RI) lost to last year’s #1 Jamie Mishoe, 6-0, 6-0. In fifth singles, sophomore Captain Hannah Koski (Coventry, RI) had the most competitive match of the day, falling to Cassandra Noukeo, 6-3, 6-4. Rounding out the singles play in sixth singles, freshman Shannon Duffy (Taunton, MA) was defeated by last year’s #2, Katie Keesler 6-1, 6-0.

In first doubles, Helm and Browning teamed up to face Hanzes and Smith in what promised to be a competitive match. It turned into an 8-0 rout. However, as the more experienced pair from Broome took over the match early and never let the Lady Knights get a foothold. Second doubles was much of the same as Captains Osborn and Koski teamed up to face Miller and Mishoe, losing 8-2. In third doubles, Duffy and Knowlton teamed up against Noukeo and Melissa Miller. The match was extremely well-played and truly could have gone either way. CCRI fell to the more experienced players of BCC, 8-3.

Head Coach Deb Panzica said after Sunday’s match, “This weekend was a good trip for the women’s team. It showed us that we can compete, and also showed us that there is still a lot to work on. This week we will focus on consistency as we prepare for the inaugural Northeast ITA Women’s tournament at Mercer County Community College.”

The Lady Knights next matches will be this Friday Saturday and Sunday at the Northeast Region ITA Invitational at Mercer County Community College, matches begin each day at 11:00am.

Knights Miss Mark Falling to Manchester CC 2-0

The CCRI Men's Soccer team played on the road for the first time this season against very good Cougars team of Manchester CC and lost 2-0. With the loss the Knights are now 3-1 overall and 1-1 in Region XXI play.

The Knights started out very well as usual, but missed on some early scoring chances early. That combined with a couple of game ending injuries to a couple of key Knights players impacted their game plan. Just the same, the Knights battled through the adversity and were actually outplaying the Cougars in the first half, but it would be Manchester striking first on a counter attack at the 29th minute on a goal by Joe Danso making the score 1-0.

In the second half it was much of the same, with CCRI knocking at Manchester's goal but in the 67th minute, it was Manchester scoring again on a goal by Jason Walker with another counter attack, sealing the score at 2-0.

This was a hard fought match and only the first of a series of six very difficult matches coming up for the Knights.

CCRI now prepares for national powerhouse Monroe CC out of Rochester, NY this Saturday the 20th at 2:00pm on the CCRI Flanagan Campus in Lincoln.

Lady Knights Don’t Yield to Yellow Jackets to Win Five Game Marathon 3-2!

The CCRI Lady Knights volleyball team defeated the Yellow Jackets of American international Varsity Team in a five-set thriller 25-14, 25-21, 19-25, 23-25, and 15-11. With the victory the Lady Knights improve their record to 10-1 on the season.

In the first set it seemed if the AIC Yellow Jacket were still “on the bus” as the Lady Knights cruised to a 25-14 win. The second set was more of a contest with CCRI prevailing 25-21
From here on the match got very interesting. AIC is a NCAA DIV II program and in the first two sets played only freshman and sophomores. In the third and fourth sets their full varsity lineup was on the floor and resulted in 19-25 and 23-25 wins.

The tiebreaking set to 15 saw four ties and four lead changes before the change of sides at 8-7 in The Lady Knights’ favor. During the side switch the Lady Knights players held a brief huddle at center court, Head Coach Ray DeAngelis said “I don’t know who spoke up, or what was said in that huddle but from that point on they just decided they would not be denied and came out and took the game away from the other team” and that is exactly what they did as they won by the final score of 15-11.

Leading the way offensively for the Lady Knights was Cory Santos (Carlsbad, CA) with 37 assists, six aces, two kills, 18 digs, and a block, Suzanne Landry (Tiverton, RI) with two aces, 17 kills, six blocks, and Amanda Valentine (West Warwick, RI) with an ace, nine kills, 10 digs, and two blocks. On the defensive side the Lady Knights were led by two sophomores: Captain Ashley Mangione (Warwick, RI) had three aces, four kills, and an impressive 29 digs and Tia Becker (Clark Fork, ID) added three aces, four kills, 20 digs, a block, and five assists both sophomores seemed to be everywhere and frustrated the Yellow Jacket’s very tall and very athletic hitters.

DeAngelis commented after the match: “I never told the team they were playing an NCAA Division II team until after the match, in fact they thought they were playing AIC’s JV team. I am very proud of the maturity and composure the team showed tonight especially in that fifth and deciding set. This was a very nice win. I think the rematch next Thursday at their place should be very interesting.”
The Lady Knights next match will be Friday when they travel to play Morton College in Cicero IL at 6:00pm, and Saturday when they play in the Prairie State Tournament in Chicago Heights, IL match times TBD.

#7 Ranked Lady Knights Harvest 3-0 Victory over Harford CC to Improve Record to 4-0!

The CCRI Lady Knights soccer team defeated the Fighting Owls of Harford CC 3-0. With the victory the Lady Knights improve their record to 4-0 on the season.

The Lady Knights and Fighting Owls were playing in extremely difficult conditions with the temperature in the high eighties and very, very humid. Both teams battled to a scoreless first half in the sweltering conditions. However, in the second half Kaela-Rose Gentile (Gloucester, RI) got the Lady Knights on the scoreboard first scoring on a deflection off the Goalkeeper on a corner kick by Courtney Viera (Fall River, MA) making the score 1-0. In the 74th minute Corinne Sherman (North Smithfield, RI) scored a goal off a Keeper deflection on a shot from Alyssa Giudici (Cranston, RI) making the score 2-0 Lady Knights. Carla Cano (Pawtucket, RI) scored on a ball delivered by another Courtney Viera corner kick making the score 3-0 Lady Knights. Megan Belmont (Pawtucket, RI) made five save en route to her second shutout of the year.

This brought to an end a very tough road trip for the very young Lady Knights as they battled very tough opponents and extremely hot and humid weather for this time of year. Fortunately for the Lady Knights they have a deep bench which they utilized to their advantage playing eighteen players which kept their legs fresh throughout the weekend.

The Lady Knights now shift their focus to this weekend where they will host perennial Division I powerhouse #11 ranked (NJCAA DI) Monroe CC on Friday at 4:00pm. They will then face #12 ranked (NJCAA DI) Laramie CC on Sunday at 10:00am. On Saturday Monroe CC will face Laramie CC at noon. All games will be played on the CCRI Flanagan Campus in Lincoln.

#7 Ranked Lady Knights Corral #5 Catonsville 5-3 to improve to 3-0!

The #7 ranked CCRI Lady Knights Soccer Team Defeated #5 ranked and defending 2007 NJCAA Division I National Champion Cardinals of CCBC-Catonsville 5-3. With the victory the Lady Knights improve their record to 3-0 on the season.

On Saturday the Lady Knights traveled to Catonsville to play the defending National Champion Cardinals of CCBC-Catonsville and before they knew it they were trailing 2-0 just seven minutes into the game. Not the start they had hoped for. The Lady Knights battled back as scoring leader Alexis Smith (Wakefield, RI) scored in the 23rd minute on a long 30-foot shot cutting the lead to 2-1. “Smitty” was not done there as minutes later she stole the ball from a Catonsville defender inside the 18 foot box and scored another quick one from inside the six foot box to tie the score at 2-2. With fifteen minutes left in the half Stephanie Morse (Warwick, RI) gave the Lady Knights the 3-2 lead, scoring on a header delivered off the foot of Courtney Viera (Fall River, MA) on a corner kick. Just two minutes later Kaela-Rose Gentile (Gloucester, RI) was able to steal it from a Catonsville defender trying to pass it back to the Goalkeeper and snuck it passed the Keeper to give the Lady Knights the 4-2 lead. Then with eight minutes left in the half, Alexis Smith scored her third goal as the Catonsville keeper bobbled the ball giving Smith her second “hat trick” of the season in just three games. Smith’s third goal made the score 5-2 CCRI.

In the 18th minute of the second half Catonsville was able to chart their third goal on a center cross from the wing making the score 5-3 CCRI. The Lady Knights were able to hold off the Cardinals for the rest of the game to secure the hard fought 5-3 victory.

Lady Knights Tennis Finish Third In Harford Community College Invitational

CCRI Women’s Tennis team traveled to Bel Air, Maryland where they participated in the fifth Annual Harford CC Invitational Women’s Tennis Tournament. The Lady Knights matched up against some of the better Division III junior college teams in the Northeast as well as three Division I junior college teams. The tournament format had doubles play 8-game pro-sets with regular scoring throughout all three rounds, and singles played best of three sets with no-ad scoring and a match tiebreak for the third set.

In first singles, sophomore Captain Lindsay Osborn (East Greenwich, RI) faced a tough first-round opponent in Maria Andrade of DI (Division I) Cecil CC. Andrade prevailed 6-2, 6-0.

In second singles, freshman Ashley Helm (Pawtucket, RI) defeated a DI player, Mia Doyle of Hagerstown Community College, 6-2, 2-6, 1-0 in her first round match. In the second round defeated Justine Stahl of Gloucester County Community College 6-2, 6-4. Helm then squared off with Harford Community College’s Katrina Tiedeman, a first-singles flight national participant last year, in the finals on Sunday. Tiedeman playing on her home turf had several fans focused on her match. Helm had a shaky start, dropping the first set at love before eventually putting the best comeback of the tournament together, winning two tie-breaks for the second and third set to win the second flight singles draw, 0-6, 7-6 (7-4), and 1-0 (7-5).

In third singles, freshman Samantha Browning (Mystic, CT) defeated Jennifer Gregory of Montgomery College of Rockville (Rockville, MD), 6-3, 6-1 in her first round match. She then lost to Div I Hagerstown player Carrie Martin, 6-0, 6-3 in the semi-finals.

In fourth singles, freshman Rebecca Knowlton (Chepachet, RI) defeated DI Hagerstown College’s Carly Jones 6-1, 6-4 in her first round match. She then lost to the Fashion Institute of Technology’s Sarah Osgerchian 6-4, 6-3 in the semi finals.

In fifth singles, sophomore Captain Hannah Koski (Coventry, RI) defeated Emily Dow of Mercer County Community College 6-1, 6-1 in her first round match. But, in the second round she defeated Katherine Kelly of the Fashion Institute of Technology 6-4, 6-3 to earn a berth in the finals. However, she succumbed to Gloucester County Community College’s Ali Crozier 6-0, 6-1 after a long two days of tennis.

In sixth singles, sophomore Sharniece Williams (Hartford, CT) was awarded her first-round match in a default. She participated in her first ever college match when she lost to the eventual flight champion Stephanie Benrimon of the Fashion Institute of Technology in the semi-finals in a terrific match for Williams 6-2, 6-3.

In first doubles, Helm and Browning teamed up to defeat Otto and Nakamura from Montgomery College of Rockville and dispatched them easily 8-0 in the first round. They then faced Div I Cecil Community College’s Andrade and Meholic, succumbing 8-2 in the semi final contest.

In second doubles, Captains Osborn and Koski teamed up to defeat Martin and Jones from Div I Hagerstown Community College in 2nd doubles and took the match 8-2. In the second round they faced off against host Harford’s Brewer and Stine and defeated that team 8-6, winning the last three consecutive games after falling behind 5-6. They then faced Gloucester County Community College’s Vanwijk and Paulson in the finals but ended up losing 8-4 though the match was tighter than the score suggests.

In third doubles, Knowlton and Williams teamed up to defeat Brioso and Tingwe from Montgomery College of Rockville 8-3. They lost their second-round (semi-final) match to host Harford’s Tiburzi and Strong 8-0.

Head Coach Deb Panzica said after the two day match “In a tournament in which we failed to secure a single point last year, this year’s result is unbelievable! Many of the other teams’ coaches remarked about the turn-around and we are looking forward to the rest of the season and building on this weekend’s success.”

The Lady Knights are back in action next weekend when they hit the road again to play Mohawk Valley Community College on Saturday at 1:00pm and Broome Community College on Sunday at 1:00pm.

Lady Knights Take Tri-Match by Defeating Nassau CC 2-0 and Suffolk CC 2-1

The CCRI Lady Knights volleyball team defeated the Lions of Nassau CC 25-12 and 25-21 and the Lady longhorns of Suffolk CC 22-25, 25-21, and 17-15. With the victories the Lady Knights improve their record to 9-1 on the season.

Match 1: CCRI Defeats Nassau 2-0 (25-12 and 25-21)
In their opening match against Nassau the Lady Knights overpowered their opponents at the net and took the first set 25-12 and the second set 25-21 with everybody on the roster seeing action. This match was a very good warm-up for the second match they would play against Suffolk CC at team that took Genesee CC the defending District Championship to the brink earlier this year losing a very close match 23-25 and 23-25.

Match 2: CCRI Defeats Suffolk CC 2-1 (22-25, 25-21, and 17-15)
The Lady Knights knew they were going to be in a battle in the second match of the day against a very talented Lady Longhorns Team from Suffolk CC. The Lady Longhorns took the first set 22-25 before the Lady Knights rallied back to take the second set 25-21. This set up a very exciting tie breaking third set. In volleyball tie breaking sets are played to 15 (must win by two points) and this tie breaker was everything you could ask for as neither team would give in.

In the deciding third game there were four ties, five lead changes and plenty of suspense. The Lady Knights came out on fire in the third set scoring the first four points on the service of Cory Santos (Carlsbad, CA) before Suffolk called a time out regrouped to score four unanswered themselves to knot the score at 4-4. The Lady Knights would inch ahead of the Lady Longhorns 8-6 when the two teams switched sides at the mid-way point. The Lady Knights would take a commanding 11-8 lead but the Lady Longhorns clawed back to tie the score at 12-12. The two teams traded points until the score was tied for the fourth time at 15-15 before Amanda Valentine (West Warwick, RI) spike a point home to make the score 16-15 Lady Knights and Ashley Lamphere (Warwick, RI) sealed the victory with a stuff block for the hard fought 17-15 game victory winning the match 2-1.

The Lady Knights were led by Cory Santos (Carlsbad, CA) with five aces, two kills, 21 digs, two blocks, and a team-leading 38 assists. Because of her efforts Head Coach Ray DeAngelis nominated her for NJCAA DIV II player of the week. Also leading the way for the Lady Knights was Amanda Valentine (West Warwick, RI) with an ace, 16 kills, 10 digs, and two blocks , Suzanne Landry (Tiverton, RI) three aces, 16 kills, 11 digs, and four blocks, and Captain Ashley Mangione (Warwick, RI) had 10 kills, 29 digs, and a block.
There were a lot of Lady Knights that contributed to their success including: Tia Becker (Clark Fork, ID) with an ace, three kills, 15 digs, two blocks, and seven assists, Ashley Lamphere (Warwick, RI) with two kills, two digs, two blocks. In addition, Jess Greene (Warwick, RI) with a kill, three digs, and four blocks, Jess Putrino (Exeter, RI) had an ace, five digs, four assists, Michelle Aguiar (Cranston, RI) with an ace and 16 digs, Michelle Gaimari (Woonsocket, RI) had a kill, four digs and Tracy Moulton (Warwick, RI) added seven digs.

The Lady Knights next match will be tonight Monday the 15th when they will face American International College Varsity at 7:00pm on the CCRI Flanagan Campus in Lincoln.

Knights Handle Holyoke CC 2-1 to improve to 3-0 and 1-0 in Region XXI!

The CCRI Men's Soccer Team played its first Region XXI match this Saturday at the Flanagan Campus in Lincoln defeating Holyoke CC 2-1. With the victory the Knights improve their record to 3-0 and 1-0 in Region XXI play.

For then first time the Knights faced a team that defended backed up in their own half. Without space to utilize team speed the Knights struggled to get scoring opportunities. Although the Knights were in complete control, they finished the first half scoreless for the first time this season.

In the second half the Knight's persistence and patience paid off early. Six minutes into the second half The Knights scored on a nice combination play, leading to a cross from Prince Artey (Woonsocket, RI) and the score from Elton Moreira (Pawtucket, RI). With various opportunities, it was not until the 22nd minute that the Knights struck again. This time it was Cee Harris (Woonsocket, RI) making the score 2-0, bending a nice free kick into the upper right corner of the goal. With the score 2-0 CCRI gave up a breakaway goal in the 33rd minute making the score 2-1. The Holyoke goal made things more uncomfortable than it should have been, but in the end the Knights secured the 2-1 victory.

Dennis Peixoto (North Providence, RI) and Jason Oliveira (Cumberland, RI) made some key saves in goal, as the Knights improved their record to 3-0.

The Knights go on the road for their first away game this year Tuesday when they travel to play Manchester CC 3:30pm.

Lady Knights Sputter Early but Rally to Spurn Springfield College JV 3-1!

The CCRI Lady Knights volleyball team defeated the Pride of Springfield College JV 23-25, 25-19, 25-23, and 25-19. With the victory the Lady Knights improve their record to 7-1 on the season.

The Lady Knights started out on fire as they built a 17-6 lead and then had the entire team start playing at three quarter speed and wound up dropping the first set 23-25. During the break between games Head Coach Ray DeAngelis “gently” suggested an attitude adjustment and the team responded by winning the second set 25-19. Then they held off a very good Springfield team 25-23 in a very intense third set. The Lady Knights won the match by taking the fourth set 25-19 for the 3-1 victory.

The Lady Knights were led by power hitting Suzanne Landry (Tiverton, RI) who recorded 16 kills, 19 digs, and five blocks and Cory Santos (West Warwick, RI) with six aces, 23 digs, two kills, and 32 assists. Other major contributors for the Lady Knights included Captain Ashley Mangione (Warwick, RI) with an ace, four kills, a block, and a team high 27 digs and Amanda Valentine (West Warwick, RI) with an ace, nine kills, 20 digs, and two blocks.

Head Coach Ray DeAngelis said after the contest “This was not a pretty win. We played well enough to win but did not play as well as we can. We need to play consistently at the top of our game if we want to be successful against the tough competition we will be facing over the next two weeks.”

The Lady Knights next Matches will be this weekend when they host Nassau CC and Suffolk CC for a tri-match starting at 11am on the CCRI Flanagan Campus in Lincoln.

Knights Win Overtime Thriller versus ASA 4-3 to improve to 2-0!

The CCRI Knights Men’s Soccer Team playing again at home after this weekend’s storm cancellation , pulled off a hard earned 4-3 overtime victory over a very good ASA team from Brooklyn, NY. With the victory the Knights improve their record to 2-0 on the season.

With 1:15 left in the first overtime, Cee Harris (Woonsocket, RI) scored the deciding goal on a rebound off of the persistent attacking play from the Knights. Prince Artey (Woonsocket, RI) scored a goal and added an assist.

The Knights started the game very well creating excellent chances early in the game but unfortunately the misfired on all chances not able to convert a goal. It was ASA who scored first in the ninth minute on a breakaway. However, two minutes later Prince Artey connected on his fourth goal of the season to tie the game at 1-1. In the 29th minute David Duffney (Warwick, RI) scored for the Knights on an assist from Prince Artey as the Knights went into halftime with a 2-1 lead.

Unfortunately the Knights easily gave up the tying goal just four minutes into the second half. Offensively the Knights continued to create chances and in the 14th minute, Prince Artey was knocked down in the area for a penalty, nicely converted by Co-Captain Ivan Torres (Providence, RI) to make the score 3-2 Knights. But that lead would not last for long as after only seven minutes the Knights gave up the tying goal making the score 3-3. The two teams took the game into overtime where Cee Harris was able to score the game winning goal with just 1:15 left in the first overtime period. Knights win!

Head Coach Victor Gaspar commented after the game “This was a game that showed all of the CCRI’s Men Soccer Team’s potential as an offensive team, but also their need to improve defensively as a unit, simply put, always nice to win in overtime!”

The Knights next game is this Saturday at 1:00pm versus Holyoke CC at the Lincoln Campus.

#7 Ranked Lady Knights blank Massasoit CC 8-0

The #7 ranked (NJCAA DII Poll) CCRI Lady Knights soccer team defeated Region XXI foe Massasoit CC 8-0. With the Victory the Lady Knights improve their record to 2-0 overall and in Region XXI play.

Not even heavy rain and a sloppy field could stop the offense juggernaut known as the CCRI Lady Knights women’s soccer team. The Lady Knights continued their offensive dominance in Region XXI after scoring seven against Holyoke CC the Lady Knights were able to surpass that offensive output scoring three goals in the first half and finished with an 8-0 victory over Region XXI foe Massasoit CC.

Offensively for the Lady Knights they were led by Courtney Viera (Fall River, MA) who scored two goals with one assists, Ashley Choiniere (Hope, RI) who scored twice, and Ashley Maisano (Bristol, RI) who assisted on two goals. Also scoring a goal for the Lady Knights were Co-Captain Taylor Barbosa (Fall River, MA), Jessica Collinson (West Kingston, RI), and Stephanie Morse (Warwick, RI). In addition Corinne Sherman (North Smithfield, RI) added an assist.

The Lady Knights next games will be on the road this Saturday when they travel to play #5 ranked (NJCAA DII) CCBC-Catonsville at noon and Sunday when they will face Harford CC at noon.

#23 Ranked Lady Knights Upend Unity College 3-0

The #23 ranked CCRI Lady Knights volleyball team defeated the Rams of Unity College of Maine 25-21, 25-17, and 25-13. With the victory the Lady Knights improve their record to 6-1 on the season.

The first few minutes of the match were very shaky as the Lady Knights had a revamped lineup on the floor with two of their offensive leaders middle hitter Suzanne Landry (Tiverton, RI) who was home ill and outside hitter Amanda Valentine (West Warwick, RI) sitting out the first set.

Down three points early 5-8 Tia Becker (Clark Fork, ID) began stepping-up by running off four straight points. After the Knights and Rams traded points to get the score to 13-12 then freshmen Cory Santos (West Warwick, RI) stepped to the serving line and did not leave until the score was 20-12. This serving rally allowed the Lady Knights to hold off Unity’s comeback attempt and win the game 25-21

In sets two and three with Valentine back in the line-up and Jess Greene (Warwick, RI) settling into her first start of the season the Lady Knights cruised to 25-17 and 25-13 victories. Once they adjusted to the line up changes the entire team responded and contributed to a very nice early season win.

Stepping up and showing some sophomore maturity was Tia Becker (Clark Fork, ID) who had her best game as a Lady Knight providing four kills, four aces, 10 digs, and a block. What made that feat so impressive is that she did it all without committing a single hitting, service or passing error. In addition, coming up big in an emergency start for the Lady Knights was Jess Greene who had six kills, four digs, five blocks and an assist. Continuing her great play from the first week Lady Knight setter Cory Santos (West Warwick, RI) dished out 21 assists to go along with seven digs, four kills, and five aces. Another Lady Knight forced into starting at a new position was Freshmen Jess Putrino (Exeter, RI) chipped in seven dogs, a kill, and an ace. Captain Ashley Mangione (Warwick, RI) was steady as always with three kills, two aces, a block and a team high 17 digs. Also contributing were Ashley Lamphere (Warwick, RI) with three kills, three blocks, Amanda Valentine (West Warwick, RI) collected six kills, eight digs, and a block, Tracey Moulton (Warwick, RI) had eight digs and an ace, Michelle Aguiar (Cranston, RI) with two kills and eight digs, and Michelle Gaimari (Woonsocket, RI) added two kills and six digs.

Head Coach Ray DeAngelis commented after the match “I was really proud of the way our young ladies were able to step up today. Most notably I thought Tia Becker had her best match as a Lady Knight and showed tremendous maturity as well as Jess Greene who also stepped-up and played an important role for us today. In addition, Cory Santos and Ashley Mangione provided stability on the offensive and defensive end while playing very good all around games.”

The Lady Knights next match will be Thursday the 11th when they travel to play Springfield JV at 7:00pm.

Artey’s Hat Trick Helps Knights Lance Lynx 6-0 in Home Opener

The CCRI Men's Soccer Team opened its season on Wednesday, at the Lincoln Campus, with a convincing 6-0 shutout over the Lynx of New Hampshire Tech. With the victory the Knights begin the season 1-0. The Knights were led by Prince Artey (Woonsocket, RI) scored the hat trick and Dennis Peixoto (North Providence, RI) and Jason Oliveira (Cumberland, RI) shared the shutout in goal, with 11 saves.

It was a beautiful day for a soccer game. The field and the facility were in beautiful shape as the Knights went on to display their potential for the upcoming season. Early in the game CCRI struggled to find defensive matchups, but when they did, they scored early on a beautifully executed goal. After a sequence of nice passes, Elton Moreira (Pawtucket, RI) crossed the ball to the top of the area and Revelino Da Veiga (Providence, RI) hit a hard first time shot into the lower corner. Soon after that, Prince Artey scored his first goal, unassisted.

With the score 2-0 at the half, the Knights needed a good start and at around the 10-minute mark, Patrick Araujo (Pawtucket, RI) scored on an assist from Dilson Xon (Providence, RI) . With each sequence of 10 minutes, the Knights were able to set up some nice team play and Ricardo Aldana (Attleboro, MA) made it 4-0 on an assist from David Duffney (Warwick, RI). It would be Duffney again assisting on the very next goal with the finish by Prince Artey for his second goal. Artey was able to chart the hat-trick on another unassisted goal to finish the scoring at 6-0.

The Knights next game will be at home this Saturday at 1:00 PM against Essex CC from Newark, NJ on the CCRI Flanagan Campus in Lincoln.

#23 Ranked Lady Knights Start Season 5-1 making it to the Finals of Howard Tournament
Cory Santos and Suzanne Landry make All-Tournament Team!

The #23 ranked (NJCAA DII women’s volleyball pre-season poll) CCRI Lady Knights Volleyball Team opened season with successful road trip to #9 ranked (NJCAA DIII pre-season poll) Howard Community College in Columbia, Maryland with an impressive 5-1 record.

On Saturday the Lady Knights won their pool sweeping host school Howard CC 3-0, and then defeating Alleghany CC and Essex CC 3-1 for a perfect 3-0 pool record.

On Sunday in the play-off round all of the Lady Knights got playing time against the fourth seed for the other pool CCBC-Catonsville in the quarter final. Then the Lady Knights had a very tough long first two sets against a very tall Potomac squad in the semi-final. The Lady Knights squeaked by in the first game 27-25, lost the second 19-25. However, the Lady Knights responded in a very determined fashion jumping out to a commanding 8-1 lead in the tie breaker which they eventually won 15-6.

In the finals The Lady Knights lost to #24 ranked College of Southern Maryland team 20-25 and16-25. Both games were very tight but the Lady Knights came-up just short of victory.

On a positive note both Middle Hitter Suzanne Landry (Tiverton, RI) and Setter Cory Santos (West Warwick, RI) were named to the all tournament team. Landry had an awesome tournament charting an impressive 56 kills, 35 digs, 21 blocks, eight aces, and an assist. Not to be outdone Santos also put forth some eye-popping numbers with a whopping 140 assists, 62 digs, 17 kills, 13 aces, and five blocks. Not bad for their first collegiate outings.

Individual match summaries:

Saturday Pool play

Match 1 versus Howard CC
CCRI Def. Howard in straight sets 25-14 25-20 25-23. Leading the way for the Lady Knights statistically were Middle Hitter Suzanne Landry with 10 kills, two blocks, 5 digs; Outside Hitter Amanda Valentine (West Warwick, RI) with eight kills, two blocks, and 15 digs; and Cory Santos had four kills, 12 digs, two aces, and 23 assist. Also contributing for the Lady Knights were Ashley Lamphere (Warwick, RI) with three blocks, one kill, one dig, and one asst, Tia Becker (Clark Fork, ID) with four kills, one ace, 13 digs, one block, and one assist. Defensively, Captain Ashley Mangione (Warwick, RI) led the way with 19 digs and chipped in four kills and two aces on offense. This game was a great start for the season against a very tough (#9 ranked DIII) opponent.

Match 2 Allegheny CC
CCRI Def. Allegheny CC 25-22, 25-22, 20-25, and 25-16. The Lady Knights received a steady performance by the entire team led to a four-set victory over a scrappy Allegheny team. Cory Santos dished out 34 assists to go along with three kills and 16 digs. Middle Hitter Suzanne Landry pounded down 15 kills, three aces, 14 digs and 5 blocks. Amanda Valentine had eight kills, three aces, 18 digs, and a block. Ashley Lamphere had five kills, four blocks, and two digs. And coming up with another great defensive game Captain Ashley Mangione (Warwick, RI) had six kills, an ace, four blocks and 25 digs. This was a very good overall team effort.

Match 3 Essex
CCRI Def. Essex CC 21-25, 25-21, 25-15, and 25-10. After a two match lay off the Lady Knights were still not warmed-up and dropped the first set to Essex 21-25 after finding their stride they were able to take the next three sets 25-21 25-15 25-10. A well balanced attack kept the opposition off balance. Led by Cory Santos with three kills, four aces, 14 digs, a block and 31 assist, Captain Ashley Mangione had six kills, 21 digs, and a block, Amanda Valentine had 10 kills, two aces, nine digs, and three blocks. Also contributing for the Lady Knights were Tia Becker (Clark Fork, ID) with four kills, an ace, 12 digs, a block, and an assist, Suzanne Landry nine kills, an ace, five digs, four blocks, Ashley Lamphere three kills, three blocks, and Michelle Aguiar (Cranston, RI) added18 digs.

Sunday Play-off Round

Quarter-finals

Versus CCBC-Catonsville
CCRI def. CCBC-Catonsville 25-17 and 25-15. Every Lady Knight was able to play and contribute in this two set win over the #4 seed from the other pool with six player tallying three or more kills.

Semi-finals

Versus Potomac
CCRI Def. Potomac 27-25, 19-25, and 15-6. This was a very good and very tall team after taking the opening set 27-25 the Lady Knights dropped the second set 19-25. At this point the team decided they would not be denied and came out and took an 8-1 lead and cruised to a 15-6 win. Statistically leading the way were Amanda Valentine with 12 kills, eight digs, two blocks, Suzanne Landry had 10 kills, three aces, three digs, and seven blocks. Cory Santos had a kill, four aces, 11 digs, a block, and 27 assists. Also contributing for the Lady Knights were Ashley Lamphere with a kill and four blocks, Captain Ashley Mangione with two kills and 22 digs, and Tia Becker added two kills, nine digs, one block, and three assists.

The Lady Knights showed their full potential in the third set of this match. Being able to dig deep and find another gear which is very encouraging for such a young team. Now the Lady Knights’ goal is to play like that every match.

Finals

Versus College of Southern Maryland
CCRI loses to CSM 20-25 and 16-25. The Lady Knights were playing in their 18th game in less than 24 hours and just did not have enough fire power to contend with a very good team from Southern Maryland. Playing well for the Lady Knights was Suzanne Landry with six kills, seven digs, and two blocks, Captain Ashley Mangione with two kills, 11 digs, and a block. Also having a good game were Cory Santos with one kill, two aces, three digs, and two blocks, 12 assists, and Amanda Valentine added four kills, eight digs, and a block.

Head Coach Ray DeAngelis said after the Tournament “I am very proud of the way our team performed over the weekend. We got contributions from everyone led by Cory (Santos), Suzanne (Landry), and our Captain Ashley Mangione. We will look to build on this performance and get better with each match”

The Lady Knights next match is this Sunday September 7th when they will host Unity College at 10:30 AM on the CCRI Flanagan Campus in Lincoln.

#9 Ranked Lady Knights Cruise to 7-2 Victory in 2008 Home Opener

The 2008 CCRI women’s soccer team started off the season in fine fashion by defeating NJCAA Division III power and #7 ranked (NJCAA DIII pre-season poll) Mohawk Valley CC 7-2. With the victory the Lady Knights start the 2008 season 1-0.

It didn’t take the Knights long to get on the scoreboard as freshman Alexis Smith (Wakefield, RI) scored on a pass from sophomore midfielder Ashley Maisano (Bristol, RI) at approximately eight minutes into the contest. Just a minute later sophomore Jessica Collinson (West Kingston, RI) scored on a nice pass from Smith. Collinson “roofed” the ball into to top left corner of the net.

Down 2-0 early Mohawk Valley didn’t throw in towel and continued to press the Lady Knights defense. They finally broke the ice when Mohawk Valley’s Andrea Zabick scored off a well placed corner kick to put her team right back into the game. But ten short minutes later freshman Alexis Smith tallied again on an assist from Danielle Cartier (Lincoln, RI) putting the Lady Knights back up by two goals. However that goal didn’t seem to rattle Mohawk Valley as they continued their pressure on the Lady Knights’ defense when Amanda Flisnik was able to break in and score cutting the deficit back to one goal. That goal seemed to motivate the Lady Knights and with just eight seconds remaining in the first half sophomore Ashley Maisano scored from close in on the goal on the short side on a nice feed from Alexis Smith to end the half with the Lady Knights leading 4-2.

As the second half began it seemed to take the Knights a while to get going but in the 16th minute Maisano scored again on a nice assist from freshman Ashley Choiniere (Hope, RI). The Knights continued to dictate the play as Mohawk Valley began to look sluggish. Freshman Alexis Smith continued her assault as she scored her third goal of the match on an assist from freshman Corinne Sherman (North Smithfield, RI). Down 6-2 Mohawk Valley seemingly appeared to be running out of gas as the Knights continued to press. With just under four minutes to go in the contest freshman forward Sherman scored on a nice pass from , well you guessed it, freshmen Alexis Smith making the final score 7-2. Smith tallied three goals and three assists in her collegiate debut.

“Smitty had a great day today and Coach Bannan and I are very pleased for her as well as the team’s overall play. Alexis is a tireless worker and a constant threat to all opponents. We recruited her for those reasons. She is a dangerous player and no doubt a true star in the making,” said Head Coach Dennis Grassini. Sophomore midfielder Ashley Maisano also chipped in with a nice day tallying two goals and an assist.

The Lady Knights are currently nationally ranked 9th in the NJCAA poll and 10th in the NSCAA national poll. Their next game will be next Saturday when they travel to Holyoke Community College at noon.

September 2008

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09.29.08

09.26.08

09.25.08

09.23.08

09.17.08

09.16.08

09.15.08

09.12.08

09.10.08

09.10.08

09.08.08

09.02.08

09.02.08