Sports

Sports Briefs: Conner wins New England Championships

Football snaps losing streak, men's hockey swept by Union

Posted on Oct. 12, 2009, at 10:36 p.m.

Cross Country

Sophomore Corey Conner cruised through the Franklin Park course in a time of 17:36 to capture the New England Cross Country Championships in Boston on Saturday. Conner took first place, besting a field that included 322 runners.

The women’s team finished 10th in the meet, while the men’s team took 23rd place.

Football

The University of Maine football team forced seven turnovers and snapped a three-game losing streak on Saturday afternoon, defeating Hofstra University 16-14 at Shuart Stadium in Hempstead, N.Y.

UMaine moved to 3-3 overall on the season and 2-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association. Hofstra fell to 3-3 and 1-2 in conference play.

The Black Bears jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the first half and led the entire game. Warren Smith connected with Julian McCall for a five-yard touchdown on the game’s first drive to give UMaine a 6-0 lead. Jordan Waxman missed the extra point. UMaine scored again in the second quarter when Smith found Landis Williams for his second touchdown pass of the game.

Holding onto a 13-7 lead in the fourth quarter, Waxman kicked a 28-yard field goal which proved to be the difference.

Donte Dennis led the defense with two interceptions and a fumble recovery while Steven Barker, Jerron McMillian and Ryan McCrossan each had interceptions. Brandon McLaughlin recovered a fumble.

Smith led the offense throwing for 189 yards and two scores. He added 82 yards on the ground.

The Black Bears return home on Homecoming weekend as they host the defending national champion and top-ranked Richmond Spiders. The game is scheduled for noon on Saturday.

Men’s Hockey

The University of Maine men’s hockey team dropped their first two games of the season over the weekend, getting swept by Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. The Black Bears fell 4-1 on Friday night and dropped a 6-3 decision on Saturday night.

UMaine moves to 0-2 on the year while Union improved to 2-0.

In Friday night’s game, UMaine took a 1-0 lead early in the second period on Adam Shemansky’s first career goal, but that’s all they could muster.

Union scored four unanswered goals, including an empty-net goal with 3.5 seconds left to pick up their first career win over UMaine.

Dave Wilson made 14 saves.

In Saturday’s game, Union scored four unanswered goals once again to take a 4-0 lead and UMaine couldn’t dig itself out of a hole in the loss.

Gustav Nyquist scored two goals and Shemansky added a goal to lead the offense.

Wilson made 26 saves in the losing effort.

UMaine was without several key players including Tanner House, Kevin Swallow, Scott Darling and Ryan Hegarty. House and Swallow were held out with injuries while Darling and Hegarty were both suspended for violating the Student-Athlete Code of Conduct.

The Black Bears return to action next Friday night for the first of two games against Michigan State University.

Other weekend scores

Friday, Oct. 9

Women’s Hockey

Minnesota State, Mankato 5, UMaine 2

Saturday, Oct. 10

Women’s Hockey

Minnesota State, Mankato, 2 UMaine 1

Field Hockey

Albany N.Y. 1, UMaine 0

Club Football

UMaine 15, Woonsocket 6