Post men fighting for playoff position
BY MARK JAFFEE
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
The Post University men’s basketball team is having a tremendous season at 14-4 overall and a 5-2 mark atop the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference North Division standings.
The Eagles play at Chestnut Hill (5-15) in Philadelphia on Saturday at 3 p.m. and at Dominican College (13-6) in New York next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., followed by a home game against Wilmington (11-8) on Feb 10.
“We are having a very good season, there’s no denying that,” said Post head coach Marc Kunz. “But right now, every game is big as we try and get in position to get a home game for the CACC tournament. We have a log jam in the North Division.”
Bloomfield is 6-3, Dominican 5-3, Felician 5-4 and Caldwell 4-4.
Only four teams advance in the North Division.
“Chestnut is very deliberate and slows the pace down,” said Kuntz. “Dominican is a very fast team and very good, and Wilmington is having a good year and is much improved.”
The Eagles are led by junior point guard Bol Akot (16.3 ppg., team-leading 61 assists), postgraduate 6-foot-7 forward Deng Deang (16.3 ppg., 7.2 rpg.), junior point guard Robert Sanders of Naugatuck (10.5 ppg., teamleading 34 3-pointers), freshman guard Ta’Quan Williams (8.7 ppg., 21 3-pointers) and 6-9 junior forward Kyle Alcy (6.4 ppg., 6.1 rpg.).
“Bol is very fast and as quick a guard as you’ll see,” said Kunz. “Deang creates matchup problems because at 6-7, he can drive, he can shoot, he can play in the post and rebound.”
The Post women feature graduate student Maya Klein, who leads the team with a 14.4 scoring average and 58 3-point field goals, followed by Dede Stevenson (10.6 ppg.) and Taina Pagan (9.6 ppg., 8.8 rpg.).
The Eagles (11-7 overall, 6-2 in CACC) play at See POST , Page 11A
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Chestnut Hill in Philadelphia on Saturday at 1 p.m. and at Dominican College in New York on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.
ON THE ICE The Post women’s hockey team (6-22) plays Assumption on Friday at 1:30 p.m. at the Sports Center of Connecticut in Shelton, and Saturday at 6:50 p.m. against Assumption in Worcester, Mass.
Leading the Eagles in scoring are Maddy Noonan (3 goals, 7 assists, 10 points), Tristan Currie (5-4-9) and Julie Wysocki (5-3-8).
The Post men’s hockey team (3-17-1) plays at Fredonia on Friday at 7 p.m., and at Buffalo State on Saturday.
The Eagles’ scoring leaders are Jack Engdahl (4-812), Ryan Cardow (3-8-11), Jake Aloi (7-3-10) and Pat Murphy (7-3-10).
ON THE LAX The Post men’s lacrosse team opens its season Saturday at 4 p.m. against Wheeling University in Sparks, Md.
First-year coach Pat Yannarelli is guiding the Eagles, who are coming off their first winning season in program history at 10-6.
Post advanced to the CACC semifinals against top-seeded Georgian Court before dropping a 16-14 decision.
Dylan Heald is back after his 43-goal, 24-assist performance last year, along with Robbie McGrayne (40 goals), Tim Keefe (20 goals), Leighton Cooke (20 goals), Hayden Hindman (19 goals) and Ryan Denike (15 goals).
The women’s team , guided by Debra Delfino, is led by Cara DiStefano (31 goals, 10 assists) and Hailey McHenry (15 goals, 14 assists).
Senior defenseman Isabella Longo of Watertown and graduate attack Gabrielle Fiora of Southington are the only area players on the roster.
AROUND THE DIAMOND After winning the CACC regular season title with a 22-3 conference record last season, Post University is primed to contend for its first conference championship in program history.
In the CACC baseball preseason coaches poll released earlier this week, the Eagles were picked to win the North Division for the third straight year, narrowly over last year’s CACC champion Felician.
It was the Golden Falcons who prevented Post from winning their first CACC title after defeating them in the decisive final game of the championship, 7-5, at Municipal Stadium.
The Eagles will return Jimmy Brennan, Michael Pavelchak, DJ Caron, Danny Gill, Evan Cornwell, Hunter Keller of Oxford and Chris Corchado.
Post opens the season with three games in three days, against Palm Beach Atlantic, Nove Southeastern and Lynn, next weekend.
The Eagles were ranked eighth in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association East Region preseason poll released last week.
After missing the CACC tournament for the first time since 2013, the Post University softball team is looking to rebound, returning 13 players from last season. The Eagles finished 1634.
Post has 13 of its 15 players back with two new freshman pitchers, Devin Barnett, and Allysa Calabrese, a 2023 Nonnewaug High graduate.
Last spring with the Chiefs, Calabrese hit a teambest .470 with four home runs, 34 RBIs, and 30 runs scored while leading her team on the mound with an 11-3 record, 2.37 ERA, 127 strikeouts in only 97 2/ 3
Post’s Lily Tomasiello (. 371, five home runs, 45 RBIs), who is fifth all-time for single-season hits and second all-time in RBIs.
All three pitchers from last season will be back in Maddison Caldwell, Jenny Riquelme and Alyssa Hughes.
AT THE HELM Dillon Bell , a 2017 Bethel High graduate, is the Post men’s and women’s cross country coach.
After graduating from Bethel, Bell ran at Houghton University (indoor and outdoor track) before becoming a graduate assistant coach with the programs in 2022 while pursuing his masters in Business Administration with a focus on Non-Profit Management.
