Jean DePlacido
Greg Welch wrapped up his college lacrosse career last weekend with a trip to the NCAA tournament. The Springfield College captain from Peabody helped the Pride to another winning season.
Springfield lost a see-saw battle to Cortland State in the second round of the Division 3 NCAA tournament after blasting Kean (N.J.), 17-2, in the opening round. Welch had a nifty solo effort to score one of those 17 goals — the highest number any Springfield team ever put up in an NCAA contest.
Springfield had an 8-6 lead with just over a minute remaining in the third quarter, but Cortland scored two quick goals and it was back and forth the rest of the way in the 12-9 loss. It marked the seventh time in the last nine years Springfield made an NCAA appearance.
"We had them on the ropes," said Welch, who finished fifth on the team in scoring with 10 goals and 10 assists. "We had a chance to pull it out and were only down one before they got a couple of lucky goals at the end. If we won, we would have played Middlebury next; I would have loved to get a shot at them."
Welch, an All-American at Peabody High, began his college career at Bryant University before transferring to Springfield. The Pride defense gave up just 10 goals in the three games (including one in second half play) before its loss to Cortland, including a victory over Wheaton in the Pilgrim League championship game.
"I really enjoyed playing here," Welch said. "We've had a lot of great players, and coach (Keith) Bugbee is the dean of college lacrosse coaches. He's coached for 25 years and has had so many players go on to coach at the college level."
Welch, a business management major who will graduate tomorrow, has already landed a job with an investment company in Agawam. "That takes a lot of pressure off," he said.
"I plan to stay involved in lacrosse, helping the Springfield coaches by working with the offense and recruiting in the Boston area. I am also going to help (former Peabody High and Bryant teammate) Bryan Molk with his new Next Level North Shore Lacrosse Camp. And I will keep playing in a summer league. I am going to be very busy with a lot of traveling, but I'm still young enough to do it."
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Molk and Welch started playing lacrosse when the Peabody Youth Lacrosse League began. Now Molk, an assistant coach at Wagner College, wants to help today's youngsters bring the level of their game up.
"I went from one side of the fence to the other when I graduated and started coaching," said Molk, an All-American at Bryant. "I played for some of the best coaches in the country (including former Duke University coach Mike Pressler, who took over the Bulldogs when Molk played there).
"I've seen the advantage kids have coming from lacrosse hotbeds like Maryland and Long Island where youth lacrosse is just like Little League baseball on the North Shore. When kids from around here get to college, they have to compete with people who have been playing longer. That's why I wanted to come back to Peabody and have this camp."
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Matt Sullivan's bat powered Trinity College to the NESCAC baseball championship. The sophomore centerfielder, who played his high school ball for St. John's Prep, went 3-for-4 with two doubles, scored two runs and knocked in one in the 11-8 win over Amherst for the title.
The undefeated Bantams advanced to the NCAA Regionals at Harwich this week as the top seed and got off to a great start by beating Castleton, 9-5, in the opener.
In the NESCAC opener, senior pitcher Tim Kiely of Swampscott scattered eight hits and a run while striking out nine and not walking a batter over eight strong innings to beat Amherst, 9-1, and keep his record on the mound perfect at 9-0.
It was the first conference title for the Bantams since 2003 and extended the remarkable Division 3 national record streak to 37 in a row this season
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Corey Crosbie of Salem and his Bryant College lacrosse team is just one win away from heading to Gillette Stadium for the NCAA Final Four on Memorial Day Weekend. The Bulldogs travel to Syracuse today to face LeMoyne in the semifinal round.
Crosbie, a junior midfielder, had four goals and two assists for the Northeast-10 champs. Bryant beat LeMoyne in the final game to win the league championship in a defensive battle, 5-4. The Bulldogs ended LeMoyne's 25-game win streak. A year ago Bryant knocked off the Dolphins to stop a 72-game winning streak.
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Melissa Kostan of Sacred Heart University finished second in the heptathlon at the New Englands, which were held at UNH last weekend.
The former Salem High track star was second in the 200 meter dash, 100 meter hurdles, and long jump. She took third in the high jump and javelin, fourth in the 800 meter run, and eighth in the shot put for a total of 4,831 points.
Kostan qualified for the NCAA Regional in the 4000 meter hurdles. She will travel to Tallahassee, Fla., to take part in that event the end of the month.
Jean DePlacido is a part-time writer and columnist for The Salem News. Contact her at jmdeplacido@aol.com.
