Bryan Ehnes

Sports Editor

The Newark Bears season got underway this weekend with their home opener this past Thursday at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium. The home opener featured the Bears taking on the Camden Riversharks in the first of two games on back-to-back Thursdays; NJIT is offered students free tickets to the first game, and is offering them for the second game as well.

The Bears defeated the Riversharks in front of NJIT students, faculty, staff, and alumni in the first game of the season by a score of 10-9. The Bears followed up their victory with a tough loss by a score of 16-5 on Friday, but were able to end the series on the right foot with a 13-3 win on Saturday. The game on Sunday was cancelled due to inclement weather to finish up the four game series with the Riversharks.

Matt Melody, who pitched for the Highlanders from 2006 to 2009, returns to the Newark Bears for his second season. Melody joined the Bears last season after completing his career as a Highlander. He looks forward to his first full season and being able to go through everything that he could not last year because he joined midseason right when Men’s Baseball’s season came to an end. Melody explained that he feels more comfortable this year being able to go through spring training and getting to know all the guys on the team.

Melody joined the Bears when he threw a great game last season, and upper management for the Bears took notice. After the game, Melody was approached by the Bears to see what his plans were after school. Melody was interested in playing so he pitched a four inning simulated game and was called back a week later to join the team.

He was released after about six weeks and told to stay in shape and keep working, which led to him being signed for this season once again by Newark. He looks to improve this season and do whatever it is that the team needs from him as best he can, while improving and learning as much as he can.

The opener in front of NJIT students on Thursday night saw an exciting game that went into extra innings. Former Major League Baseball player, Scott Spiezio, tied up the game in the bottom of the ninth with two outs when he drove home the third of his three runs. Despite the Bears giving up a run in the top of the tenth inning, the Bears were still able to pull off the victory when catcher and former MLB player, J.R. House hit a game winning two-run double.

The manager of the Newark Bears is Tim Raines, who will start his second full season as the Bears’ manager. Raines was a seven time All-Star in the MLB and won two World Series championships with the Yankees in 1996 and 1998. He looks to lead a team filled with a variety of players at different stages in their careers.

These players vary from guys like Melody, who are just starting out, to guys like Edgardo Alfonzo, Scott Spiezio, and Armando Benitez who have all had successful careers in the majors.

Raines looks at all of the players the same, regardless of their experience and age. He says that he has to look at them like that because they are all equally a part of this team. He does look to his older, more experienced players to provide leadership and help the younger guys as the season progresses. This includes pitcher Willie Banks, who Raines looks to as almost a pitching coach as well as a pitcher. Banks spent time in the majors and even played with Raines for a time on the Yankees, where they won the World Series.

The Bears have started off the season well and currently hold a 2-1 record on the young season as they turn their attention to the Lancaster Barnstormers. Newark will start their series with Lancaster this Wednesday with a double header followed by the second of two scheduled games where NJIT is offering students, faculty, staff, and alumni free tickets to the game. This special event will take place on Thursday April 29 at 6:35 pm at the Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium. The free tickets are available for pickup at the campus center office.

Bryan Ehnes is a senior in Civil Engineering and can be reached at sports@njitvector.com.

Bryan Ehnes

Sports Editor

Men’s Baseball travelled to Chicago State this past weekend where the Highlanders won all four games. NJIT scored at least eight runs in each of the four games, including a 14-0 victory in the opening game of the weekend series. Bobby Wyrwa pitched six scoreless innings to record his second win on the season. Four Highlanders had three hits each in the game as NJIT posted their highest run total of the season with fourteen.

Saturday featured two games in which the Highlanders won by scores of 9-7 and 8-5, respectively. DJ Roche came into the game in relief and recorded his first win of the season for his one and one third inning of work. Austin McAuliffe pitched a scoreless inning to get the save and clinch the Highlanders taking the first game of the double header. Mark Leiter Jr. pitched a great game in the Saturday finale as he pitched a complete game while allowing three earned runs and striking out ten marking his second victory of the season. Jeff Peterson and Bryan Bleakley each drove in two runs for the Highlanders in the win.

Steven Ace got his first win of the season in the fourth and final game against Chicago State when he came into the game for an inning and a third performance. McAuliffe pitched an impressive two and a third innings to record his second save of not only the season, but the series as well. NJIT combined for fifteen hits in the game, including three Highlanders that scored at least two runs each.

Men’s Baseball improved their overall record to 9-23 on the season including an impressive conference record of 5-3. The Highlanders will now host Farleigh Dickinson followed by three games against Texas-Pan American.

Bryan Ehnes is a senior in Civil Engineering and can be reached at sports@njitvector.com.

Bryan Ehnes

Sports Editor

The New Jersey Devils trail in their opening round best of seven series against the Philadelphia Flyers as they drop two of the first three games in their quest for the Stanley Cup.

The Flyers went into the Prudential Center in game one and won a tough battle by a score of 2-1, in which Philadelphia scored two goals in the second period; the Devils answered with only one goal in the third period. Although there were not too many penalties, the game was extremely physical between the two Atlantic Division rivals.

The Devils came out well early on in game two at home when Zach Parise scored only minutes into the opening period. The Flyers answered right back with two goals of their own to take a 2-1 lead into the second period. The second period saw a reverse of the first period as the Devils scored two compared to the Flyers one to tie the game at three. New Jersey ensured their fans went home happy as they netted two goals in the final period to tie the series at one game.

The Flyers took game three of the series by a score of 3-2 in overtime. The teams exchanged goals in the first two periods to have it tied up at two after regulation concluded. The Flyers got the game winning cool on the power play after David Clarkson of the Devils took a penalty for interference only minutes into overtime. The Devils trail by one game in the series as they have game four in Philly before returning home for game five.

Bryan Ehnes is a senior in Civil Engineering and can be reached at sports@njitvector.com.

Bryan Ehnes

Sports Editor

The New Jersey Devils went into their game this past Saturday against the New York Islanders knowing that if they won and the Pittsburgh Penguins lost, they would be celebrating an Atlantic Division Championship. This is exactly what happened. The Devils defeated the Islanders by a dominating score of 7-1 and realized minutes after that victory that the Atlanta Thrashers had beaten the Penguins by a score of 1-0.

New Jersey jumped on the Islanders early and often as they scored three goals in the first period in a span of about five minutes just after midway through the period. Zach Parise even scored his thirty-eighth of the season. The game had that rivalry and intense feel despite the Islanders being already eliminated from the playoffs. The physical play started early and stayed constant throughout the entire game. The Devils continued to pile on the goals as they added two power play goals in the second period, including one with under a minute remaining in the second period. The second period also saw a long and intense fight between two tough guys, Rod Pelley of the Devils and Michael Haley of the Islanders. The crowd was into it as the two heavyweights went back and forth.

The third period saw three goals, including the lone tally for the Islanders and Patrick Elias’ second of the game. On top of the goals in the third period, play got a little rough when after the play was dead; Trevor Gillies went after a couple Devils, eventually getting in yet again another long and intense battle with Pierre Leblond. Due to his actions after the whistle was blown, he received nineteen penalty minutes in total for the play. Martin Brodeur came up just short of his tenth shutout of the season as New York capitalized on a power play.

The three stars of the game were from third to first, Zach Parise with a goal and two assists, Ilya Kovalchuk with a goal and two assists as well, and Travis Zajac with three assists. After the game, the Devils stressed that the division was only the first step as they still had a lot of work to do. And the next step was taken Sunday when New Jersey defeated the Buffalo Sabres to earn themselves the second seed in the Eastern Conference.

The New Jersey Devils now turn their attention to the postseason where they will be matched up against the Philadelphia Flyers in the best-of-seven game series in the first round. The Devils will be hosting the Flyers on Wednesday and Friday night at the Prudential Center before heading down the Turnpike to Philadelphia for games three and four.

Bryan Ehnes is a senior in Mechanical Engineering and can be reached at sports@njitvector.com.

Bryan Ehnes
Sports Editor

On April 24 there will be the First Annual Charity Soccer Tournament where all money collected will go towards assisting Haiti according to NJIT student and participant Mohamed Ahmed. This is the Second Annual Soccer Tournament, but the first time there is a charge as they look to assist Haiti. The tournament will feature sixteen teams of ten players each. The actual game play will have seven players aside competing at one time. The tournament will follow standard soccer rules, with the exception of seven players per team on the field and the fact that there will be no slide tackling. A team can be registered for this tournament in the HOST/SHPE office for the price of seventy five dollars per team.

Bryan Ehnes

Sports Editor

Men’s Baseball played their first home games of the season this past weekend when they hosted Maine for two games on Friday and two games on Saturday after starting the season with nineteen games away from Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium. The Highlanders dropped all four games to Maine, who came into the four game series with a 10-13 record on the season atop of their conference.

Head Coach, Brian Callahan explained the early season schedule by saying it was interesting starting on the road and playing so many games before being able to come back for the home opener. The players were excited to be able to play at home and the schedule is just one of those things that you have to deal with and get through.

The Highlanders dropped the first two games of the series on Friday by scores of 7-1 and 11-4. The next day, the Highlanders were defeated by Maine by scores of 15-1 and 8-2. The first game of the series saw a scary moment when Maine hit a three-run inside-the-park homerun when right fielder, Jeff Pizzi crashed into the wall chasing down a deep fly ball.

Pizzi was on the ground in a lot of pain for quite a few minutes before slowly making his way off the field and eventually to seek medical attention. The medical results came back negative.

The second game on Friday saw the Highlanders jump out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Matt Tomczyk singled in two runs with the bases loaded. Maine answered in the third inning with two runs of their own, but NJIT took the lead right back in the bottom of the third when a single by Vincent Del Vecchio got past the centerfielder.

Maine scored one run in each of the next two innings to take a 4-3 lead until the seventh inning, when Maine scored five runs and began to pull away from the Highlanders and secure their second win of the day.

The second game on Saturday, and final game of the series, saw the Highlanders again jump out to a lead when they scored a run in the third inning. Kyle Burdi, the freshman pitcher, held Maine scoreless until the fifth inning when Maine put their first two runs on the board. NJIT answered well by tying the game up in the bottom of the fifth inning. Maine scored another run in the sixth inning and then posted four more in the eighth inning to complete the series sweep.

Freshman Teddy Bickert played well throughout the entire series as he had eight hits in sixteen at-bats. The highlight of his series was game two on Saturday when Bickert had four hits in the loss. This game also featured a good performance by the freshman pitcher. Burdi pitched six innings and allowed three runs on six hits and three walks while striking out five.

“We’ve gotten solid starting pitching all year long. They’ve all gone pretty deep, so that makes it that much easier with the bullpen.” Callahan continued, “If you get good starting pitching, that cures any problems that you have with the short bullpen.”

Callahan, when asked about having one senior with so many freshmen, said, “The freshmen have been great. The upper classmen have done their job and the freshman brought new life, new energy to the program that we’ve been lacking the last couple years. The mentality is completely different than it has been the last two years. So I think a lot is attributed to the freshman bringing new life into the program, just a new attitude, as opposed to some of the struggles we’ve had the last couple years.”

Callahan went on to say that the freshman have played very well in addition to creating the great atmosphere off the field. Three of the four wins have been by freshman pitchers, as well as the Highlanders’ leading hitter, base stealer, and runs scored leader being freshmen.

The Highlanders have lost five games by one run this season. Callahan said that the team has to learn how to win those games. They have learned how to be competitive, now they just need to get to that next level where the team wins the games that are so close. He continued by saying that this process and learning to win is something that the team will gain with experience, as they are still very young.

“We rely a lot on our pitching, a lot on our defense. And the hitting, we just gotta scrape some runs across. We look to score four or five runs, we think we can be in every game and have a chance to win. If our pitchers keep us in the game, we’ll scrape together just enough to win.”

The Highlanders record is now 4-19 on the season. Men’s Baseball will now be going on the road to face Siena and Rider for one game each before they begin Great West Conference play. NJIT will go on the road for four games against Houston Baptist, followed by travelling to Chicago State for four games to start their conference play.

Bryan Ehnes is a senior in Mechanical Engineering and can be reached at sports@njitvector.com.

Bryan Ehnes

Sports Editor

The Chicago Blackhawks pulled off an improbable victory when they forced overtime with less than thirty seconds left in regulation and followed it up with a shootout win by a score of 2-1. The goal came as the Blackhawks threw a puck to the front of the net and it bounced off a defender and in.

The game made history as it was the first NHL game since 2001 that had no penalties throughout the entire game. The one point that New Jersey took out of the game was good enough to tie the Pittsburgh Penguins at the moment for the Atlantic Division lead.

Most players and coaches expressed that it is very strange to be involved in such a game where no penalties were called at all. This game marked the first time for many to be involved in such a game. The lack of penalties and the intense play between the two teams led some players and coaches to label this game as having a playoff type atmosphere.

Ilya Kovalchuk scored his fortieth goal of the season early in the first period as the Devils were dominating in all facets of the game. Despite no penalties being called throughout the entire game, there was plenty of action and hitting. The Blackhawks were able to hold the Devils to one goal during a great start, due to the play of their goaltender, Antti Niemi.

The Blackhawks had to rely heavily on their goalie as the Devils continued to get chances throughout the entire game. The Blackhawks began to pressure the Devils more as the game progressed, but Marty Brodeur kept Chicago off the board.

The lead stood until the Blackhawks scored after pulling their goalie for an extra attacker. The puck was thrown to the net and trickled in as Kris Versteeg put home the game-tying tally. Jonathan Toews went to the front of the net and caused the screen that led to the puck going off a Devil defenseman and in. Toews explained the play by saying, “It went through my legs. I just tried to go to the net and create a screen. We were bound to get an ugly goal like that.”

Devils’ Head Coach, Jacques Lemaire said, “Playing in a game with a one goal lead, sometimes it’s just not enough because they can score. They need one lucky bounce and it’ll go in. Even though Marty made some good saves at different times, that goal, they just sent it at the net and it hit the defenseman’s skate and found its way in.”

The five minute overtime saw the goalies shut down both offenses once again as the game headed to a shootout to determine which team would get the important extra point. The Devils were stopped by Niemi on all three attempts as Jamie Langenbrunner and Kovalchuk seemed to have beaten the Chicago keeper, but failed to keep control of the puck.

Zach Parise also completed an excellent move, but was stopped by the right pad of Niemi. Toews, the young talented captain of the Blackhawks started Chicago off with a goal on Brodeur, but Patrick Kane was not able to do the same for the Hawks as the Devils lost the shootout 1-0.

Toews replayed his shootout goal by saying, “I just saw that side of the net, and sometimes he likes to put his glove down there. He’ll give you that top glove. A lot of shooters will aim for it and he’s waiting for it. I decided to take a chance.”

After the game, Lemaire was asked about the shootout and said that the players made good moves, but just couldn’t finish off the move and beat Niemi. He went on to say that Niemi played good throughout the entire game. Lemaire went on to say, “It’s a tough loss, but on the other hand, there [are] a lot of good things that we did during the game.”

The three stars of the game were Kovalchuk and Brodeur as the third and second star respectively. Versteeg got the first star of the game for the Blackhawks. The Devils now have five games remaining, one more than Pittsburgh as they trail by two points for the division lead. When asked if he had any satisfaction being tied with Pittsburgh for the division lead, Lemaire said, “In a way yes, but we could be ahead.”

Bryan Ehnes is a senior in Mechanical Engineering and can be reached at sports@njitvector.com.

BRYAN EHNES
SPORTS EDITOR

Men’s Baseball got their season started this past weekend when they traveled to South Carolina for the Courtyard by Marriott Baseball Classic. The Highlanders lost their three games as they faced Butler, Dayton, and USC-Upstate.

NJIT played on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday on their weekend trip. The first game against Butler was a 9-3 loss followed by a 16-1 loss against Dayton. The Highlanders finished up the tournament with a 3-2 loss against host USC-Upstate, in the closest game of the weekend for NJIT.

Tripp Davis pitched well for the Highlanders in the third and final game of the weekend when he started and went seven innings without allowing an earned run. He allowed one unearned run on four hits, one walk, and three strikeouts. Davis left the game with a one run lead, but the Highlanders could not hold on to get their first victory of the season.

Another good performance for NJIT came in the second game against Dayton, as Highlander shortstop Vincent Del Vecchio went three for four in the game. Catcher Bryan Bleakley hit the only homerun for NJIT on the road trip in the first game when he went two for three to start the season.

The Highlanders’ season is just underway with these three games as they will turn their attention to North Carolina looking for their first win of the year. Their next games will be this weekend, when they travel to North Carolina A&T for two games, before returning to New Jersey to battle Rutgers in Piscataway.

JAMIL WILKINS
STAFF WRITER

The Men’s and Women’s basketball teams concluded their two-fold double header series this past week at the Prudential Center and Fleisher Athletic Center. This was the Highlander’s first acquaintance with South Dakota, and their second face-off with North Dakota this season.

The women were up first as they trailed through at “The Rock”. Since 2006, the women began their Division 1 schedule, and this game constituted the most wins in their program’s history: 11-14. Junior guard Jessica Gerald scored the first point at the free throw, leading the Highlanders to a 23-21 lead in the first half. Gerald and senior guard Katie Piekielski contributed 21 points that brought the women out two points ahead with 55-53.

The grounds of the “The Rock” remained solid as the crowd’s cheers lifted the entering Men’s team. The men weren’t as successful in this round as the Coyotes took the lead and kept it throughout the game. Despite the diligent efforts by guards Jheryl Wilson, PJ Miller, and Chris Flores, the Highlanders were unable to catch up and finished the game 10 points behind South Dakota, 68-58.

Following the Prudential contests were the highlighting Senior Day games held on Saturday February 28th.  The final double-header of the season was postponed from the day before as a result of the ferocious weather; but the Highlanders still shined at home. Although the women fell short of a victory by ten points, the women made great achievements.

Gerald succeeded in reaching fifth on the NJIT scoring list with a career-point total of 1,088. With the help of forwards Ivana Seric and Taiwo Oyelola the Highlanders were able to move up; but it wasn’t enough to enable a victory with 49 to the Sioux’s 59 points.

The same wasn’t told on the men’s side as they pressed forward in the first half of the game with a 42-25 lead. The crowd awed as Wilson shot an astonishing 3-pointer in the last ten seconds. Supporting fans were joined together in a unified thrill and outrage as the game grew more intense. “I can’t take this, said Joi Mackey as North Dakota’s guard Patrick Mitchell was finally benched do to three personal fouls.

With 7:51 remaining on the clock the Highlanders were ahead 75-53.  As the Highlanders pulled out tactics that were blind to the Sioux, the crowd bounced on the bleachers cheering, “Good bye. Go home.”

The Highlanders wrapped things up with a 91-73 victory. “I’m really happy with our effort. I think we executed really well – the best on both sides of the ball. It was a good win for us”, commented Head Coach Jim Engles.

Also recognized on this day were six graduating seniors: guard Katie Piekielski, forward Taiwo Oyelola, forward Kehinde Oyelola, forward Kathryn Wighton, center Dan Stonkus, and forward Gary Garris.

The men and women leave on Wednesday to face off against Utah Valley, Chicago State, and South Dakota at their home.

BRYAN EHNES
SPORTS EDITOR

The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver came to an end this past Sunday with the United States of America setting an all-time record in medals with thirty-seven during the Games. The United States beat the record of thirty-six medals set by Germany in the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.

Germany was second in overall medals in the Vancouver Games with thirty, followed by host Canada rounding out the top three with twenty-six. The only other country that posted over twenty medals was Norway, with twenty-three. The breakdown of the medals for the United States was nine gold, fifteen silver, and thirteen bronze medals.

Canada also set a record of its own in front of the home crowd with their fourteen gold medals in the Games. This beats the record of thirteen posted by the Soviet Union in 1976 and Norway in 2002.

Canada’s record breaking fourteenth gold medal came in the final event of the Vancouver Games, Men’s Ice Hockey. The United States faced off with Canada for the second time in these Olympics after defeating them by a score of 5-3 in the first contest; but this game was for so much more, the gold medal.

Canada went ahead by scoring two goals before the United States scored any, but the United States was able to put home a goal about midway through the second period to cut the deficit in half. The score stayed that way until less than thirty seconds remained in the third period, when New Jersey Devil star, Zach Parise put home the game-tying goal.

The Americans had all the momentum going into overtime as the home crowd of Canada was crushed after the late goal. The momentum swing did not matter in the end, as Sidney Crosby beat U.S. goalie, Ryan Miller, to win the gold medal and send the county of Canada into a celebration. Miller was named the tournament Most Valuable Player for his amazing play on route to the silver medal.

Three Americans were in the top twenty of total medals by having three each. The athletes that led the United States with three medals total were Bode Miller, Johnny Spillane, and Apolo Anton Ohno.

Ohno won a silver medal, along with two bronze medals in the unpredictable event of short track. Ohno was also disqualified from his 500 meter race where he won the gold medal in Torino.

Bode Miller, a downhill skier, won a medal of each color in a successful trip to Vancouver. Spillane won three silver medals in Nordic Combine events and was the first American to ever win a Nordic Combined medal. He won the individual events on the large and normal hill, as well as the team event.

The Olympics have been filled with highs and lows, not only for the United States, but all countries. Female Canadian figure skater, Joannie Rochette, experienced one of the lowest lows and highest highs in her life.

Just days before her performance, her mother suddenly passed away. Rochette decided to go on and perform as she believed this is what her mother would have wanted. She wound up fulfilling her Olympic dream when she won a bronze medal in one of the most talented fields in Women’s Figure Skating history.

Apolo Anton Ohno also experienced an incredible high when he won his eighth Olympic medal in his career. This medal made him the most decorated Winter Olympian in United States history, as no other American Winter Olympian has ever won more than seven medals. He has not yet decided if he will participate in the 2014 Olympics to be hosted by Russia.

The United States has made great strides in these Olympic Games as they have set the new mark for all countries to shoot for in the winter; thirty-seven medals. The Americans have also become far more competitive in many events that have proven difficult for them in the past.