Tag: big east
Coach Cooley to Lead Team USA
by The Cowl Editor on January 17, 2019
Sports
Team Will Consist of Players From Big East
By Sullivan Burgess ’20
Sports Staff
It has been quite an exciting few weeks for Providence College Men’s Basketball Head Coach Ed Cooley. Not only has he been gifted with one of the highest honors in the state of Rhode Island, but also has been given an incredible opportunity for himself and PC basketball.
On December 18, 2018, media and faculty gathered inside the Ruane Friar Development Center to announce that Coach Cooley will be the head coach for Team USA and lead the men’s basketball team at the Pan American Games in Peru this summer. The team itself will consist entirely of players from the Big East Conference.
While this is Cooley’s first time as head coach for Team USA, this is not his first time working with the United States Basketball Team. In the summers of 2013-2015, Cooley served as an assistant coach for the USA Basketball teams. He had won gold at the World Under-19 Championships in 2015.
Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman stated at the press conference, “I think in many ways this is a tribute to what the Big East has accomplished over the last five years. They were looking for a conference with a solid basketball resume. We see this as a great responsibility as well as a great honor.” The U.S. has not represented themselves in the Pan-Am Games in quite a while, in fact the U.S. has not won gold in basketball since 1983. That team consisted of future hall-of-famers Michael Jordan and Chris Mullin.
This year U.S. Basketball decided not to allow professional players of any sort to represent the USA. The team will consist of college players in the Big East. College players who plan to enter into the NBA draft this June are also excluded from participating.
Coach Cooley did not hesitate to take the job as head coach for the team. He stated at the press conference, “I’ve been fortunate to be an assistant coach with Billy Donovan and Sean Miller on a couple of teams but to try to do it as a head coach is an incredible honor and something I’ve always wanted to do.”
A few weeks later, it was announced that golocalprov.com named Ed Cooley as their Rhode Island Man of the Year. When giving the award to him, the website had stated, “Maybe no one epitomizes the spirit of Rhode Island better than this man.”
Throughout all the work he has done on the PC campus, Cooley has become an icon for all the students and teachers to bring a positive attitude towards everyday life.
When accepting the award, he stated how he does not want coaching to define his character, rather “being a better dad, husband, leader and mentor” are the important things that make up what he stands for and how he carries himself through life.
Coach Cooley has captured the spirit of the College, and deserves all the recognition he has been given, including the opportunity to coach Team USA and being named Rhode Island Man of the Year.
Softball Plays Tough Against the Pirates
by The Cowl Editor on April 12, 2018
Sports
Two Friars Make Big East Honor Roll
By Thomas Zinzarella ’21
Sports Staff
This past week, while most of the student body was focused on the Masters Tournament, the Friars were taking the field for their series matchup with the Seton Hall University Pirates.
The Friars started their weekend series with a doubleheader on Friday, where they split both games with Seton Hall. The Friars took the first game 8-6, but the Pirates roared back to win the second with a score of 7-6. The Pirates would win the series with a 3-2 walk-off victory on Saturday.
In game one, the Friars offense was led by Julianne Rurka ’18, who was most recently named to the Big East Honor Roll for the week of March 25. During that week, she hit .250 while driving in four runs. In Friday’s victory, Rurka recorded a 3-3 day while scoring twice. Rurka, who has caught fire at the plate recently, was named All-Big East Second Team last year ranking fourth in the Big East in average (.388) and RBI (21) during conference play.
On the mound, the Friars received a solid outing from Christina Ramirez ’18. Ramirez, who has strung together a collection of strong performances, earned a spot on the Big East Honor Roll for the week of April second. Ramirez threw six and one-third innings, only allowing one earned run in a win on the road versus Creighton.
Against Seton Hall, Ramirez earned her fourth win of the year, throwing a complete game while allowing eight hits and striking out four. Ramirez is having her most dominant season to this point. She has a career-low ERA of 3.25 in 69 innings while also tallying six complete games and one shutout so far in the 2018 campaign. She is currently ranked ninth in the Big East in ERA.
Game two featured Miranda Trinidad ’20 on the mound. Trinidad was also named to the Big East Honor Roll during the week of March 25 for her dominant pitching performance against Georgetown University. Trinidad threw 11 innings and held a 1.27 ERA while only allowing six hits and two runs during the series. The sophomore threw a complete game against the Hoyas on March 24, only allowing one earned run on three hits. Trinidad owns the team’s lowest earned run average with a 3.07 ERA in 59 1/3 innings pitched while throwing six complete games and is currently eighth in the Big East in ERA.
The Friars offense had contributions from multiple players with Emma Lee ’19 going 3-4 with three runs, and Brittney Veler ’18 adding two hits while driving in a run and scoring. The Friars came up just short after taking the lead in the top of the seventh. The Pirates walked it off in the 7-6 victory in the bottom ladder of the seventh.
In the final game of the three-game series, Megan McCune ‘19 took the rubber. McCune was able to keep the Pirate hitters off balance by throwing five innings while only allowing two runs on four hits. Seton Hall scored two in the bottom half of the fifth but the Friars answered right back with Mackensie Compton ’20 hitting a two-run home run. The Pirates were able to squeeze by again with a walk-off single in the 3-2 victory for the Pirates.
The Friars finished the series with a 4-4 record in Big East Conference play and 7-21 in total. The Friars look to bounce back against Villanova University at home on Friday, April 13.
Villa-Game-Ova
by The Cowl Editor on February 16, 2018
Sports
Friars’ Win Creates Big Upset
by Sullivan Burgess ’20
Sports Staff
As the end of the season swiftly approaches, the Providence College Friars dominate the Big East Conference play, with a major win against the # 3 overall Villanova, with a final score of 76-71.
After suffering a heavy loss to DePaul last Saturday, 80-63, the Friars bounced back and came back better than ever beating Nova and securing a 8-5 record in the 2017-2018 Big East Standings behind Xavier, Villanova, and Creighton, and a 17-9 overall record in the NCAA.
While the season has been back and forth with significant wins and tough losses, the Friars hope to provide the burning energy and spirit needed as they head towards the Big East Tournament and hopefully an appearance in the March Madness Tournament. Some of these notable wins come from Big East play, including ranked rivals such as #5 Xavier, Creighton, Marquette, DePaul, and Butler when the team was on a four-game winning streak.
However, things took a turn for the worse when the team’s streak was snapped by back to back losses to Villanova and Seton Hall. The team found themselves back on pace with back to back wins against Marquette and Georgetown, but DePaul, as mentioned previously, came out swinging to hand the team their fifth loss. All hope was not lost as the Friars brought the win to Villanova and look to carry the momentum of this win into the end of the regular season.
In a game filled with jaw-dropping dunks, plays, and a court storming by the entire student section, the team now has something to celebrate. The Friars defense was able to stop Nova from shooting threes and allowed 19 turnovers that turned into some scoring opportunities. The offense was excellent as five Friars had double digits in scoring, including a leading 17 points from Kyron Cartwright ’18.
Head Coach Ed Cooley stated to the press after the game, “Honestly, the greatest win I’ve ever had at Providence College.”
The team will look to continue this spark for the last few games, including the last home game of the season against St. John’s. Despite a few losses on the way, the players have played consistently good basketball throughout Big East games. Rodney Bullock ’18 has been leading the team in both minutes and points this season with 31.9 minutes per game and 14.6 points per game, as he continues to find a rhythm both on and off the court.
Cartwright has also been leading in assists with six per game, noticeably becoming the difference maker on the team. With games coming down to the wire, Cartwright has been putting the team on his back to provide the leadership needed for this squad.
The Friars must face each team this year without forward Emmitt Holt ’18, who is redshirting this year due to injury. However, Holt has been back on campus this semester and has been practicing with the team. This not only provides an on-campus energy used on game day, it creates the opportunity for Holt to teach the younger players and allow them to be stronger in the paint from experience.
These younger players include Alpha Diallo ’20, Kalif Young ’20, and Nate Watson ’21, all of whom have improved their game, including great offense and stellar defense against the Big East’s best players. With minimal games remaining in the regular season, it is now or never for the Friars.
Soon they will be sent off to Madison Square Garden for the Big East Tournament, hopefully taking down Villanova and becoming the champions again, which will hopefully make things easier after their upset. For now, Friar fans must wait and enjoy the last few games of the season while continuing to bring the constant energy to the Dunkin’ Donuts Center and help the team motivate each other to secure a spot in March Madness.