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.
New Hampshire slipped five spots to No. 9 in the Sports Network Top 25 poll of Football Championship Subdivision teams released today. . . . UNH lost at Massachusetts, 23-17, on Saturday to slip to 5-1 on the season. . . . The Wildcats are the fourth Colonial Athletic Association team in the top nine and one of six in the top 19. Richmond is ranked No. 1 in the country at 6-0 and is the only undefeated team in the league. The Spiders play UMass at home on Saturday. . . . Villanova is 6-1 and No. 4, William & Mary is 5-1 and No. 5. UMass is No. 14 at 4-2 and Delaware is No. 19 at 5-2. . . . UNH plays at Hofstra on Saturday. The Pride improved t0 4-3 with a 28-16 win at Rhode Island on Saturday.
The Sports Network, in its Top 25 previews for the week, gives the edge to Massachusetts in Saturday’s Colonial Athletic Association matchup in Amherst: “New Hampshire is on a roll, but the Minutemen are better at home and are desperate to keep their playoff hopes alive. MASSACHUSETTS 27, NEW HAMPSHIRE 24. . . . Last week, the Sports Network picked Villanova to beat UNH, 27-24. . . . The Sports Network also noted in a revised Payton Award watch story, that UNH junior quarterback R.J. Toman has dropped off the watch list. Toman has completed 56 of his 99 passes (56.4 percent) for four touchdowns and has been intercepted four times.
New Hampshire, thanks to Saturday’s 28-24 win over Villanova, climbed one more notch to No. 4 in this week’s Top 25 poll released by the Sports Network. Villanova dropped to No. 6 in the rankings. . . . Richmond stayed at No. 1 and Northern Iowa and Montana each moved up a spot to second and third. . . . UNH, 5-0, is one of three undefeated teams left in the poll, joining Richmond and No. 17 Colgate. . . . The Wildcats play at Massachusetts on Saturday at 3:30 in a game that will be broadcast on Comcast SportsNet New England. . . . UMass is 3-2 and at No. 18 in the poll after Saturday’s 43-27 loss at Delaware. . . . UMass is the sixth Colonial Athletic Association team in the top 18. Besides Richmond, UNH and Villanova, William & Mary is at No. 7 and James Madison at No. 16.
UNH football coach Sean McDonnell said he noticed the extra jump in his players as early as last Sunday and saw it in their attention to detail during the week. Villanova tomorrow for Homecoming may be just “the next one” on UNH’s schedule, but there’s no denying that it’s a big next one. McDonnell is not a bit surprised his guys are up and rarin’ to go. . . . “Why wouldn’t you be? The No. 2 team in the country is coming in. Every one of the guys you played with the the last four years will be here. You want to hold the fort the way it should be held.”
