College Roundup: UNH women cop top spot

The University of New Hampshire is the No. 1. team in the country after receiving 12 of 15 first-place votes in the USCHO.com Division I Women’s Ice Hockey Poll released yesterday.

UNH has a national-best active unbeaten streak of 10 games and sports an overall 15-2 record. The last time the Wildcats were the top ranked team nationally was in November 1998. UNH, which is followed by Wisconsin, St. Lawrence, Minnesota-Duluth and Mercyhurst in the polls, puts its top ranking and unbeaten streak on the line tonight at home against seventh-ranked Harvard in a 7 p.m. start at the Whittemore Center.

Track and field

Out of state: Illinois freshman Dominque Worsley, of Manchester Central High, was the highlight of the recent Hoosier Open indoor meet at the University of Indiana in Bloomington, Ind.

Worsley dominated the sprints with two first-place finishes in his college debut. He just missed provisionally qualifying for the NCAA Indoor Championships with times of 6.77 in the 60-meter dash and 21.28 in the 200-meter dash.

Honors

UNH: Sophomore Jen Hitchcock of the top-ranked women’s hockey team in the country was chosen as the Hockey East women’s player of the week by way of her three goals, including both game-winners, and three assist effort in a pair of Wildcat victories. Freshman Samantha Faber was named the Hockey East rookie of the week thanks to her two-goal, four-assist scoring against Colgate and Boston University. UNH goalie Melissa Bourbon and Sadie Wright-Ward received Hockey East weekly honors. Sophomore goalie Kevin Regan took home Hockey East men’s defensive player of the week honors when he stopped 49 of 52 shots in a win and tie against Vermont.

Dartmouth: Senior guard Jeannie Cullen was picked as the Ivy League women’s basketball player of the week after pouring in a career-high 35 points in the Big Green’s triumph over Harvard. Senior forward Danielle Grundy was named to the ECAC Hockey League women’s Honor Roll.

Franklin Pierce: Junior Brian DelSavio was selected as the Northeast-10 Conference men’s hockey player of the week after scoring a goal and two assists against Fitchburg State and dealing out two assists against Western New England. Tim Munch earned NE-10 men’s basketball rookie of the week honors following his 10-point effort in Franklin Pierce’s win over St. Michael’s and nine points in the Ravens’ victory over LeMoyne. Franklin Pierce’s Danielle D’Ettorre was named to the NE-10 women’s basketball honor roll by scoring 19 points and 15 points in the Lady Ravens’ wins over St. Michael’s and LeMoyne. Teammate Heather Jacobs earned the same NE-10 honors with her winning hoop at the buzzer and 13 points against LeMoyne and 14-point effort against St. Michael’s. Justin Powell put up consecutive 17-point games in a pair of Franklin Pierce victories over St. Mike’s and LeMoyne to earn a spot on the NE-10 men’s hoop honor roll.

St. Anselm: Raenielle Decastro-Cain found her name on the NE-10 women’s basketball honor roll after she scored 19 points against Southern New Hampshire and 15 points against UMass-Lowell. Matt Cahill and Jim Moore of the St. Anselm men’s basketball team were named to the NE-10 honor roll once again with Cahill registering back-to-back 24-point performances against Southern New Hampshire and UMass-Lowell while Moore led all scorers in the Hawks’ victory over intra-city rival SNHU.

Southern New Hampshire: Miguel Gonzalez netted 23 points against St. Anselm and 21 points against LeMoyne to take a place on the NE-10 men’s basketball honor roll.

Keene State: Freshman Tyler Kathan was named the Little East Conference men’s basketball rookie of the week when he scored a career-high 24 points as the Owls defeated UMass-Boston and snagged a career-high 15 rebounds against Springfield. Teammate Dave Sontag of Mont Vernon was tabbed as an LEC weekly honoree with 15 points against UMass-Boston. Sarah Begnoche saw her name on the LEC women’s basketball weekly honor roll after she ripped the nets for a career-high 29 points and 16 rebounds in a win over RPI.

Plymouth State: Junior Mike Walcek of Dover made the Little East men’s basketball weekly honor roll after he knocked down 11 3-pointers in four games while averaging 17 points per game. Junior Colleen Mahoney canned seven 3-pointers to average 15 points in three games for the Lady Panthers.

Out of state: Deering’s Jon Rheault, a sharp-shooting sophomore forward at Providence, was a Hockey East weekly honoree after notching two points in the Friars’ win over Boston University and a shorthanded goal against Boston College. . . . Keaton Zucker of Gilford, a senior forward at Brown, was named to the ECAC Hockey League women’s Honor Roll.

A pair of Granite State residents received regional recognition when Mike Blair of Plymouth and Brett Young of Sanbornville were selected to the Football Gazette All-East Regional team. Blair, a senior defensive end from Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., was named to Gazette’s second team while Young, a sophomore tight end at St. Lawrence, was named to the honorable mention team.