Merrimack women’s hockey adds two localsThe Merrimack College women’s hockey team announced on Thursday that 16 new players will be joining the program including Haverhill resident Maddie Crowley-Cahill and former Brooks School star Bella Mondolfi.
A defenseman, Crowley-Cahill played 35 games last year for the University of New Hampshire and scored two goals and added an assist. Before that she played three seasons at Boston College, which included scoring two goals in the 2022 Beanpot championship game against Harvard University.
Mondolfi, a left-wing who resides in Waltham, spent the last four years playing at Brooks, finishing with exactly 100 points with 43 goals and 57 assists.
Two Big Blue players attend national campMolly Boyle and Caroline Averill, who were members of the Phillips Academy girls’ hockey team this past season, competed at the USA Hockey Girls National U19 Training Camp held this past week at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
Boyle, who is committed to playing at Yale, and Averill, who will return for her junior year with the Big Blue, were key members of the 2024 Under 18 Women’s World Championship team.
Sapienza enters transfer portalNorth Andover resident Matthew Sapienza announced on ‘X’ that after four years of playing baseball at Georgetown University, he will enter the NCAA transfer portal with two years of eligibility remaining. A right-handed pitcher, he was 2-10 in 37 appearances, including 19 starts with the Hoyas. In 98.2 innings, he struck out 72 batters.
Before Georgetown, he pitched at Phillips Academy and was named a First Team All-New England selection in 2021.
Five named to NJCAA All-Academic teamThe National Junior College Athletic Association and Northern Essex CC announced on Thursday that five local athletes were named to the All-Academic team.
Andover’s Juliet Sellers (track and field) was named to the first team. Lawrence’s Cherly BritoRosario (women’s basketball) was named to the second team. Lawrence residents Angel Lopez and Victor Metiver (men’s basketball) and Methuen’s Rosie Ferrera (Methuen) were named to the third team.
Hogan tributeLike thousands of other kids, I was a big World Wrestling Federation and Hulk Hogan fan growing up and sad to hear about his passing on Thursday. Back when I was the sports editor of the Town Crier, Hogan’s close pal Ed Leslie, known as Brutus “the Barber” Beefcake, was opening a wrestling training facility in Tewksbury. He and his wife came down to the old Crier Office Building so I could interview them about the grand opening.
Beefcake relived the story of being involved in a near death water skiing accident and was told he would never walk or wrestle again. Doctors had to reconstruct his skull with eight titanium plates, 32 screws and 100 feet of steel wire. Beefcake said when he got out of the surgery, the first person there to greet him was Hogan, who had flown across the country to be with his friend. Hogan remained with Beefcake through the entire rehabilitation and his return into the ring.