Winter competition gets underway in NESCAC

Winter sports action around the NESCAC has gotten underway, with men's and women's basketball, men's and women's hockey, and men's and women's swimming all competing in non-conference events. Conference competition in basketball and hockey will begin in January, after winter break.

In men's basketball action, senior guard Angelo Salvaggio from Bates joined junior Keala Mills of Wesleyan as the NESCAC Co-Players of the Week. In Bates' 110-77 blowout of the University of Southern Maine, Salvaggio had a triple double with 36 points 15 rebounds and 11 assists. Salvaggio was 6-9 from three point land while leading the Bobcats to victory, despite playing in just 29 minutes of action.

Mills was similarly impressive in games against St. Joseph's and UMass Boston. The junior guard hit for 37 points against St. Joseph's and 31 against UMass en-route to being named MVP of the Harbor Invitational tournament. Mills performance in the tournament came after already scored 33 points against Western New England earlier in the week. He shot a blistering 65 percent from the field, including a 57 percent mark from beyond the arc. The three wins pulled Wesleyan out of a 0-2 hole on the season. While NESCAC competition has yet to begin, Williams has the best record of any conference team at 4-0.

In women's basketball, there was just one Player of the Week, senior Kate McCloskey from Trinity. McCloskey poured in a game-high 27 points during Trinity's 75-62 victory over Albertus Magnus. The center shot 11 of 17 from the field and pulled down 13 rebounds while leading the Bantams to victory.

In other action, Bowdoin's Erika Nickerson shot 8-11 from the field scoring 16 points and grabbed six rebounds in the Polar Bear's 20 point win over the University of New England. Bowdoin was ranked third in the nation in the latest national coaches' poll. Similar to men's basketball, NESCAC competition has yet to start for the women. Bowdoin currently holds the best non-conference record of any NESCAC team at 4-0.

Sophomore goalkeeper Steve Oven from Connecticut College was the NESCAC Player of the Week in men's hockey action. Oven had 77 saves over two games at the Charles Luce Tournament last weekend. He had 34 stops in a losing effort against Johsnon & Wales on Saturday and 43 saves in a 5-2 victory against Wesleyan University on Sunday. Against Wesleyan Oven made 26 saves in the third period alone.

The Tufts hockey team got back on the winning track to start this season after ending last year with a 6-17 mark. Senior captain Mike Carceo led the way for the Jumbos with six points in Tufts first three games. Tufts finds itself at .500 for the first time since Dec. 4 of last year.

Bowdoin, Colby, Middlebury, Trinity, and Williams are all tied for first place in the NESCAC with 2-0 conference records. Bowdoin and Colby are the only two teams remaining undefeated in the conference, with 3-0 marks.

In women's hockey, Middlebury has dominated its competition thus far in the season, with a 4-0 NESCAC record. The Panthers have destroyed all competition that has come their way, with victories of 6-3, 9-1, 7-0, and 8-1 against Hamilton, Amherst, Wesleyan, and Trinity respectively. These victories are somewhat less impressive however, as their four opponents have are a combined 1-11 on the season, with Hamilton holding the only victory, a 4-2 win over Williams.

After two weeks of non-conference meets, NESCAC competition in men's and women's swimming gets underway this week.