Brown Football Gets Ready for Prime Time

Friday, September 23, 2011

John Rooke, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

Ready for Friday Night Lights, round two? Or three?

Actually for the Brown Bears’ football team, they’ll have the chance to stage their second home game under the lights next week in the annual rivalry against URI. This week, however, it’s a return to Harvard, where the Brown football program played a Friday night game two years ago. The Crimson won a 24-21 thriller in that one, with the Bears throwing into the end zone on the final two plays of the game – only to come up short. Last year, in the first night game ever played at Brown Stadium, the Bears beat Harvard 29-14 in front of 17,350 fans.

Brown won at Stony Brook 21-20 last Saturday, as quarterback Kyle Newhall-Caballero threw the game winning touchdown pass with 3:06 remaining. He was 22 of 37 for 292 yards and three touchdowns, earning him Ivy League Player of the Week honors. Wide receiver Alex Tounkara-Kone had seven receptions for 149 yards, catching two TD’s in the win. Newhall-Caballero was first-team all-Ivy at QB in 2009, and almost missed the entire 2010 season after breaking his hand in pre-season camp, then breaking his wrist against URI to force him out for the year.

The game at Harvard Friday night is the Ivy opener for both teams, and will mark the first time in Brown football history for the Bears to play three straight night games in opening a season (at Stony Brook, @ Harvard, home vs. URI).

Brown:

Brown women’s volleyball received a strong effort from freshman Maddie Lord with 17 kills, but it wasn’t enough to overcome URI at Keaney Gym Wednesday night, losing 3-1. The Bears will open Ivy play Saturday when they travel to Yale…the Brown golf team completed play at the Adams Cup of Newport and placed 18th overall in the two-day tournament, with the first 36 holes played at the par-72, 7244 yard Newport National Golf Club, and the final round at the par-71, 6675 yard Carnegie Abbey Country Club. The Bears were paced by freshman Justin Miller, who carded a three-round 229 to finish 61st individually…field hockey fell to Bryant 3-2 on the Warner Roof Tuesday, and they’ll face Dartmouth on Saturday with Colgate coming to the Roof on Sunday. Both games start at 12 Noon…after scoring the game-winning goal in Brown's 1-0 women’s soccer victory over New Hampshire and adding an assist in the Bears' loss to Sacred Heart, freshman Chloe Cross was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week…on the men’s side, senior forward TJ Popolizio scored three goals in two games during the Gamecock Classic and earned a spot on the All-Tournament team last weekend in South Carolina to receive Ivy League Player of the Week honors. Popolizio helped the Bears defeat host South Carolina, scoring both goals in Brown's 2-0 tournament opening win…

University of Rhode Island:

URI football has its home opener Saturday when the Rams face Fordham at Meade Stadium in a 1:00 pm kickoff. For the first time since 1982, URI started a season with back-to-back road games (losses at Syracuse 21-14 and UMass 36-27). That season, the Rams played their first three contests away from Meade Stadium. Junior linebacker Doug Johnson leads the Colonial Athletic Association in tackles for loss, averaging 3.25 per game for a loss of 17 yards. Last time out at UMass, the Warwick native had five tackles for loss, for a loss of 22 yards. Johnson also leads the conference in sacks, averaging 1.5 per game…men’s soccer faces 10th ranked Boston College Friday night at the URI Soccer Complex immediately following the women’s match against Iona. All proceeds from the match will benefit Grassroot Soccer, an international HIV/AIDS awareness and education organization that reaches out to the youth of Africa through soccer clinics and community presentations…the men’s and women’s cross country teams are in action at the Ted Owen CCSU Invitational Saturday in New Britain, CT…women’s tennis plays in the Eastern Collegiate Invitational at West Point, NY…

Providence College:

All-time Friar great and Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Dave Gavitt passed away Friday, September 16 at the age of 73. Gavitt, who was inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006, was the head coach of the Providence College men's basketball program from 1969-79. Gavitt led the Friars to the school's first Final Four berth in 1973, in addition to eight 20-win seasons, five NCAA Tournaments, three NIT Tournaments and five New England Coach of the Year trophies. He registered a record of 209-84 (.713) during his 10 seasons with the Friars, including 23 wins over Top-20 teams. His success as coach at Providence led to his selection as Head Coach of the 1980 United States Olympic Team. Overall, Gavitt compiled an overall collegiate coaching mark of 227-117…the volleyball team fell in four sets at Manhattan 3-1 on Wednesday. The Friars drop to 5-11 overall, and were kept in it by reigning America East Player of the Week Lauren Fletcher. The senior middle blocker registered 19 kills while hitting at a .333 clip…men’s soccer (5-2) celebrates homecoming on Saturday with a Big East home game against Cincinnati at 1:00 pm, while women’s soccer also faces the Bearcats at home on Friday afternoon…women’s tennis plays in the Eastern Invitational at West Point, and field hockey hosts UConn at 1:00 pm Saturday…men’s and women’s cross country held their national rankings from the past week, the men are ranked 17th nationally, while the women remain #3 in the country…

Bryant:

It’s homecoming weekend for Bryant football, as the Bulldogs look for their 3rd straight win of the season Saturday afternoon against Wagner. Bryant beat Sacred Heart 26-6 last Friday in their conference opener, led by junior running back Jordan Brown (334 all purpose yards) and senior tight end Matt Tracey. Brown returned a punt 53 yards for a TD, while Tracey caught two TD passes. Bryant has never lost a homecoming game, going 7-0 under head coach Marty Fine…freshman Conor McGovern shot a 3rd round 72 to lead the Bryant golf team at the Adams Cup of Newport, hosted by URI at the Carnegie Abbey Club in Portsmouth. Bryant finished 19th overall…volleyball won on the road at Hew Hampshire Tuesday night 3-1, to improve to 5-9 on the season…field hockey’s 3-2 win at Brown this week was the first ever win over Brown for the Bulldogs…cross country, soccer, field hockey, tennis and volleyball are all in action over the weekend, with women’s soccer hosting Wagner Friday afternoon, and field hockey hosting Colgate Saturday at 11:00 am…

CCRI:

The volleyball team hosted six teams for the CCRI Fall Classic, and finished in second place. After winning four pool play matches, the Lady Knights dropped the final to Monroe College 3-0…women’s soccer, ranked 13th nationally by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, improved to 5-1 on the season with a 6-0 win over Bryant & Stratton College…men’s soccer earned their first win of the season by defeating Ben Franklin 3-1 on Wednesday…

Rhode Island College:

The RIC volleyball team posted its first shutout of the season Thursday night, beating Western New England College 3-0, and improving to 4-6 on the year. Junior outside hitter Breanna Boyer (West Greenwich, RI) led the way with 11 kills…earlier in the week, RIC defeated Lasell College in five sets. The back-to-back wins are the first this year for volleyball…men’s soccer defeated Bridgewater State on Tuesday 3-1, with two goals from sophomore midfielder Ignacio Cespedes…on the women’s side, Bridgewater State shut out the Anchorwomen 4-0…the men’s golf team won a quad event over Becker, Nichols and Anna Maria, paced by freshman Patrick Ford’s even par 72…

Roger Williams University:

Women’s volleyball improved to 12-3 on the season, winning for the 9th time in their last 10 matches after a 3-0 sweep over Clark University Thursday. Senior outside hitter Marybeth Torpey was named the Commonwealth Coast Conference Player of the Week…women’s soccer is ranked 10th in the NSCAA New England Regional rankings, going 3-0 in the past week with wins over Clark, Brandeis and Nichols. It’s the first ranking this season for the Hawks, and senior forward Katie Fusaro was named CCC offensive player of the week, with sophomore goalkeeper Stephanie Jaques named defensive player of the week…men’s soccer remains unbeaten on the season at 7-0-1 after a 1-0 win over MIT Wednesday night. Senior forward Liam Isleib was tabbed the CCC offensive player of the week. They’ll try to keep the streak alive with a road match at the University of New England Saturday…four regattas last weekend for the sailing team resulted in two top-four finishes, at MIT and at the Boston Harbor Invitational at Boston College…

Salve Regina University:

Football improved to 2-1 on the season with a 28-13 win over Framingham State last Saturday. Sophomore running back Richie Edwards rushed for 138 yards and scored three touchdowns in the win, with senior Troy Scales also reaching the end zone on a 25-yard end-around play. The Seahawks play at Endicott Saturday at 12 noon…volleyball won its fourth straight match with a 3-0 sweep of Wheaton on Thursday night. Freshman Taylor Violet (Tiverton, RI) led the way with 36 assists. The Seahawks have now won 12 straight sets, and improved to 6-5 on the season...cross country senior Caroline Norton won her second straight CCC female runner of the week award, posting a personal best of 19:24 at the UMass Dartmouth Invitational and finishing 25th out of 258 runners overall…field hockey stopped a four game losing streak with a 6-1 win over Daniel Webster in Nashua, NH…men’s soccer hosts Western New England, volleyball takes on RIC, and cross country runs at the Elms College Invitational this weekend…

Johnson & Wales:

Senior forward Samantha Reynolds scored with just 28 seconds left in the second overtime period to give the women's soccer team a thrilling 2-1 double victory over UMass-Dartmouth at Cressy Field Thursday night. JWU improves to 4-3 on the year with the win…women’s volleyball dropped a tough one on the road at 18th ranked UMass Boston on Thursday, 3-0…men’s soccer shut out Regis 4-0 on Wednesday…women’s tennis shut out St. Joseph’s of Connecticut 9-0…volleyball was shut out at Amherst 3-0…both soccer squads play at Albertus Magnus this weekend, volleyball plays at St. Joseph’s of Maine, and cross country is at the Elms College Invitational…