This Week in Sports
After dropping their first three games of the regular season, 1-4 to the Harvey School, 5-2 to St. Francis Prep, 4-0 to Archbishop Stepinac—the last two being CHSHL rivals, the varsity hockey team rebounded with a 4-3 victory over St. Mary’s of Long Island. According to Coach Al DiMauro, “We haven’t come together with consistent, steady play, and the game scores are proof of it.” Despite initial struggles, the team is confident that their future is bright. The season is still young, and the team has the talent pool to compete for a second consecutive title.
J.V. hockey is 2-2 to begin the regular season. After besting Monsignor Farrell in a preseason scrimmage, they have lost 6-1 to St. Francis, 3-1 to Stepinac, and most recently, 1-8 to Poly Prep. Their one 9-4 win came against Fieldston Prep in the second game of the year. As the season goes on, their talent continues to improve, and as the players give it their all during practices and games, this trend of success is likely to continue.
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Varsity basketball is yet to secure their first regular season victory, and are looking to improve on their first set of tough games this winter. In their first game of the season, they suffered a close 53-45 defeat at the hands of Archbishop Stepinac, and their second loss was 52-34 against Nazareth in league play. The team is young, with only one returning starter, and still somewhat inexperienced, as a good chunk of the team is made up of underclassmen who are finding their groove within a varsity system. Nevertheless, their work ethic is unparalleled and they are excited to start picking up some wins. They hope to do so in little over a week, when they will travel down to Charlotte, North Carolina for the McGuire Classic, where they will play against local Carolina schools Cardinal Gibbons and Charlotte Catholic. They play on college courts, specifically that of Belmont Abbey, so this trip should be fun for all involved. If are any alumni out there in the Charlotte area, we’d love to see you come out and support our Varsity Basketball Knights!
J.V. basketball is currently 2-2 to start the season. The team won their first two games, 61-40 against Salesian and 51-50 against Stepinac, only to lose their following two games, 55-50 to St. Francis Prep and 54-45 to Nazareth. The team is largely different from last year’s freshman team. Some new additions include Luca Ross ’17 and Max Hendricks ’17, who transferred to Xavier this year from a school in Germany. Described by Coach Rich Duffel as “scrappy and hard-working,” the team should see some success as the season continues.
After a four-game preseason, Freshman basketball is two games deep into the regular season. They first defeated Salesian 62-40 and then trounced Stepinac 71-40. Though the team is still looking to mesh better and improve on their play, one may reasonably expect that the remainder of their season, as well as the future of Xavier basketball, looks very bright.
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Varsity swimming has competed in five meets since the team began the season in late November. In individual competition, the team is 4-0. They made their season debut with a commanding 100-81 win over Archbishop Molloy. In that meet, Robert Warner ’15 took first place in the 100m freestyle and Timothy McPartlin ’18 took first place in the 100m breaststroke. They continued their successes with an 89-70 win over Holy Trinity, a 95-82 win over Monsignor Farrell, and an 89-41 win over St. Edmund’s. The team is talented, a nice mixture of talent from years past and some fresh faces, so their hot streak should continue.
Varsity and J.V. bowling just concluded their regular seasons. Both teams were among the top in the league, with Varsity ranked first and J.V. ranked third in their respective divisions. Varsity ended regular season play with the second highest team scratch game in the league and the highest scratch series. Meanwhile, bowling juggernaut Mike Martell ’15 won the Triple Crown, awarded to the bowler with the highest scratch game, series, and average in league competition. In their first divisional championship match, Varsity suffered a tough 1-2 loss to the fourth seed, Cardinal Spellman. J.V., meanwhile, defeated Salesian 2-1. They will each play another divisional championship game, varsity against Fordham Prep and J.V. against Stepinac, before they resume play for a City Championship in January. Go Knights!
Wrestling began its season in early December in madcap fashion, competing in three matches and one tournament over a weekend. On December 5, the Xavier grapplers finished 2-1, defeating both Horace Mann and Holy Trinity. At this meet, John Palillo ’16 won all three of his matches. On December 7, wrestling finished fourth out of eleven teams at the Xaverian Clipper Classic. Dylan Ebanks ’17 played a huge role in the team’s performance with a first place finish in his weight class. With these performances, the team stands to make a strong showing in future competition.
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As always, please visit Xavier Athletics for the most complete, up-to-date information, and stay tuned for the next edition of This Week in Sports.
Upcoming Schedule:
Friday, 12/12:
Var. Hockey v. Mount St. Michael – 10:15pm @ Abe Stark Rink, Coney Island
Saturday, 12/13:
Track & Field (CHSAA Relays) – 9:00am @ Armory
Var. Basketball v. Southside HS – 1:30pm @ Xavier
J.V. Basketball v. Southside – 12:00pm @ Xavier
J.V. Hockey v. St. Peter’s Boys – 10:00am @ Bayonne HS
Frosh Basketball v. St. Francis Prep – 11:00am @ St. Francis
Sunday, 12/14:
Var. Swimming v. St. Peters – 3:00pm @ The College of Staten Island
Monday, 12/15:
Var. Bowling v. Fordham Prep (Divisional Championship Match #2) – 4:00pm @ Homefield Bowl
J.V. Bowling v. Archbishop Stepinac (Divisional Championship Match #2) – 4:00pm @ Homefield Bowl Tuesday, 12/16:
Frosh Basketball v. LaSalle HS – 4:30pm @ Xavier
Wednesday, 12/17:
Var. Hockey v. St. Edmund’s – 5:30pm @ Bayonne
Var. Wrestling @ Mayor’s Cup – 4:00pm @ Riverbank HS
Frosh Basketball v. Monsignor McClancy – 4:30pm @ Xavier
Thursday, 12/18:
Track & Field (Jumps Fest) – Fordham University @ 4:00pm
Var. Basketball v. McClancy – 4:15pm @ Xavier
J.V. Basketball v. McClancy – 5:45 @ Xavier