The Sports Network is picking No. 8 New Hampshire to beat Rhode Island, 44-13, and No. 4 William & Mary to beat Towson, 35-16, in Colonial Athletic Association games this weekend. If UNH and William & Mary win, they both will be 8-1 going into a showdown a week from tomorrow in Williamsburg, Va. . . . UNH has not beaten the Tribe since 1998. . . . TSN is picking Villanova to win tomorrow at Richmond, 27-21, in this week’s featured CAA game. Defending national champion Richmond is 8-0 and Villanova is 7-1 with its only loss at UNH.
They’re talking about championship month around the No. 8-ranked University of New Hampshire football team. . . . The Wildcats, 7-1 overall, take on Rhode Island on Saturday at Cowell Stadium at noon. One more win and they get to eight, the number that usually gets a team into the Football Championship Subdivision tournament. UNH is at William & Mary next week and closes out the regular season with a home game against Maine on Nov. 21. The field for the 16-team tournament will be announced the next day. First-round games are on Nov. 28. . . . “You win in November, you get to play in December,” said UNH quarterback R.J. Toman. “It’s in our minds. We know how important it is. But it’s like we always say, we’ve got to take each week one week at a time.”
The men’s soccer team, the No. 1 seed for the America East tournament, is in a holding pattern. The Wildcats play a tournament semifinal game at home next Wednesday, Nov. 11 at noon. Their opponent is still to be determined. UNH plays the winner of the quarterfinal game between No. 4 seed Binghamton and No. 5 seed Maryland, Baltimore County. Those teams are playing at Binghamton on Saturday at 7. . . . The Wildcats, 9-6-2 overall and 6-0-1 in America East, beat both teams during the regular season. They won at UMBC, 2-0, on Oct. 10 and beat Binghamton, 2-1, in Durham on Oct. 28.
UNH is still the No. 8-ranked football team in the nation, according to this week’s poll released by the Sports Network. . . . The Wildcats, 7-1, remain the fourth of four Colonial Athletic Association teams in the top eight. Richmond is 8-0 and No. 1, Villanova is 7-1 and No. 4 and William & Mary is 7-1 and No. 5. . . . Montana, 8-0, and Southern Illinois, 7-1, retained their spots at No. 3 and No. 4. In fact, there was no change in the poll’s top 10. . . . That’s not apt to be the case next week. Something will give at the top of the poll when Villanova plays at Richmond on Saturday. . . . UNH has Rhode Island at home this week and is at William & Mary on Nov. 14.
The Sports Network is picking UNH to knock off Northeastern in tomorrow’s Colonial Athletic Association game in Durham. . . . The analysis of the game includes this: “Defense has been the main problem for the Huskies, who rank 114th nationally in scoring defense and 97th overall. . . . UNH took last season’s matchup, 33-21 and should take this one due to the Wildcats much improved defense. . . . NEW HAMPSHIRE 34, NORTHEASTERN 21.” . . . UNH is ranked No. 8 in the most recent Sports Network poll and is 6-1 overall. Northeastern is 1-6.
Kelsey Hogan, a UNH point guard out of Nashua North High School, will miss the 2009-2010 season. Hogan blew out her knee in the last drill on the first day of practice of the season while trying to save a ball that was going out of bounds. She is expected to have surgery next week. . . . Hogan missed most of last season after injuring the same knee in the third game of the season. . . . The hope is that she will be able to get a medical redshirt and still have four years of eligibility starting with next season. . . . There’s more on Hogan in today’s print edition.
The UNH football team moved up a spot to No. 8 in the Sports Network poll this afternoon following Saturday’s 18-10 win at Hofstra. Northern Iowa fell to 5-3 on the season and slipped from No. 6 to No. 12 in the poll with a 24-14 loss to South Dakota State, which is now No. 9. . . . Half of the top eight teams in the poll are from the Colonial Athletic Association. Defending national champion Richmond is 7-0 and No. 1, Villanova is 7-1 and No. 4 William & Mary is 6-1 and No. 5 and then there’s UNH at No. 8. . . . The Wildcats face Northeastern at home on Saturday at noon. . . . The other CAA teams in the Top 25 are Delaware at 5-2 and No. 16 and Massachusetts at 4-3 and No. 19.
The men’s soccer team looks to continue its undefeated ways in America East play when it faces Stony Brook on Saturday. UNH and Stony Brook meet at 1 in Durham on Lewis Fields. . . . UNH is 8-5-1 overall and 5-0 in the league. . . . The Wildcats have three home games left in the regular season, starting with Stony Brook and including Binghamton next Wednesday at 2:30 and Dartmouth on Tuesday, Nov. 3 at 7. . . . Stony Brook is 4-9-2 overall and 3-2-0 in America East.
The Wildcats, No. 9 in the Sports Network poll, are being picked by that website to win at Hosftra on Saturday. . . . This is how the Sports Network wraps up its analysis of he game: “UNH holds a 7-5 series advantage against the Pride and has beaten Hofstra six straight times, including a 45-25 win last season. Hofstra has been tough at home, but the Wildcats need this win more and have the tools to get out of Long Island with the win. . . . NEW HAMPSHIRE 28, HOFSTRA 21.” . . . TSN is also predicting that No. 1 Richmond will win at home against No. 14 Massachusetts, 24-17.
UNH has won its last six football games against Hofstra, the team the Wildcats face this Saturday at 3 in Hempstead, N.Y. . . . UNH won last year’s game, 45-25, in Durham and triumphed the year before on Long Island, 40-3. . . . Each of the three games before that were decided by six points or less. . . . Hofstra cut the score to 31-18 with just under nine minutes to play last year and then the Wildcats pulled away. . . . UNH collected seven turnovers in the game with five interceptions and a couple of fumble recoveries. . . . John Clements (47 yards) and Dino Vasso (66 yards) each returned a pick for a touchdown.
