Tag: Joseph Quirk ’23
PCI: Which Winter Sports Team Will Have The Best Season?
by The Cowl Editor on October 31, 2019
PCI
Men’s Ice Hockey
By Eileen Flynn ’20
Sports Staff
Another winter is approaching and luckily at Providence College that means it is finally basketball and hockey season. Although both the teams have been preparing during preseason, the PC men’s ice hockey team is looking like they will have the most successful season.
After just a few short weeks, the PC men’s team has a record of 4-2, 2-1 in conference play. The difficulty of their schedule from the start foreshadows a strong season as the Friars have already faced Hockey East rivals University of Maine, Boston College and University of Massachusetts-Lowell. Their two wins against UMaine and BC were not close games, as the Friars managed to score a combined 13 goals against these two teams, proving that the team does not have trouble finding the back of the net.
A good team has a superstar, but a great team has talent spread through the second and third lines. This year, the Friars have already introduced multiple players that can pass the puck well and score when the team needs it. The underclassmen have proven to be an important asset to the Friars’ team as well. Starting with the freshmen, Cam McDonald ’23 netted the game winning goal against no. 10/9 Clarkson as well as scoring again against Boston College the following week. Michael Callahan ’22, Jack Dugan ’22, Matt Koopman ’22, and Tyce Thompson ’22 are four sophomores who have tallied multiple points since the season started. Dugan was awarded Hockey East player of the week after leading the conference in points (5) and assists (4).
The upperclassmen bring the experience aspect to this year’s squad. Last year, the Friars made it to the Frozen Four in the NCAA tournament. The team fell short to Minnesota Duluth, the No. 1 seed after a long, impressive season. This was the Friars sixth season appearing in the NCAA Tournament and this year should be no exception.
The Northeastern University Huskies came up on top in the Hockey East Tournament in 2019, this year the Friars will want to beat the reigning champions. Boston College was the team that knocked PC out of the Hockey East running last year. The Eagles won the series 2-1. This past week the Friars beat Boston College 6-2, showing a glimpse of a promising season from PC.
There is no doubt the Friars will be tested this season, but their revenge tour might just give them the push they need to make it even further this year. Nate Leaman enters his ninth season as head coach for the Friars, and since it has been several years since his 2015 National Championship title, he is ready for another one.
Men’s Basketball
By Joseph Quirk ’23
Sports Staff
As October draws to a close, we are reminded just how close winter is. Winter is an especially exciting time in Friartown as some of Providence College’s best sports open their seasons and begin their quest for NCAA glory. However, of all of the winter sports, men’s basketball will have the best season this year.
Arguments can be made for a couple of different teams here as several are coming off successful seasons. In reality however, all eyes are on two squads, the men’s hockey and basketball teams.
Men’s ice hockey, lead by Nate Leaman for the ninth season, is five years removed from a national championship and one year removed from a Frozen Four appearance. The squad was ranked No. 7 in the nation before Saturday’s loss to University of Massachusetts-Lowell and boasts a young roster with six players currently having their draft rights owned by NHL teams. All this being said, men’s ice hockey will not be the most successful team on campus this winter.
Something is brewing in the Dunkin’ Donuts Center and will be the big NCAA tournament run the Friars men’s basketball team has been expecting for some time now. The Friars will be led by ninth-year Head Coach Ed Cooley. Cooley returns after several rumors this offseason of him being considered a favorite for the Michigan coaching position, but ultimately withdrawing his name and signing an extension with PC. That was followed up with some big offseason acquisitions including University of Massachusetts-Amherst star graduate transfer Luwane Pipkins ’19G, transfers Noah Horchler ’20 and Jared Bynum ’22, and Greg Gantt ’23.
The Friars also expect a jump and improvement from David Duke ’22, Kris Monroe ’22 and AJ Reeves ’22. The Friars are also returning star center Nate Watson ’21 and seniors Maliek White ’20, Kalif Young ’20, and Alpha Diallo ’20, who even tested NBA waters this offseason.
This new Friars roster is filled with experience and new talent and has potential to far surpass last year’s team. Gantt was a four-star recruit and ranked no. 67 in the nation before joining the Friars. Diallo was considered an NBA prospect but has decided to keep his talent in Rhode Island. Pipkins is a very experienced and talented guard who scores with ease and is expected to start for PC this year. It would be wrong to assume this is not the best team on campus this winter.
Field Hockey Breaks into National Rankings
by The Cowl Editor on October 24, 2019
Friar Sports
Friars Voted 25th on Latest Coaches’ Poll
By Joseph Quirk ’23
Sports Staff
Last Monday brought some good news for the Providence College Field Hockey Team. Fresh off a big 4-1 win over the University of New Hampshire, the Friars learned one of their own, Mary O’Reilly ’20, was named to the Big East Weekly Honor Roll.
The senior midfielder, who was also named to the All-Big East second team in 2018, is having a great season. She currently has 3 goals and 6 assists, and has been a big reason the team is having an incredibly successful 2019 campaign. However, this was not the biggest news for the Friars this past week.
The next day, it was announced that the PC field hockey team had broken into the national rankings for the first time this season, ranking 25th in the nation. This is an incredible accomplishment for the Friars, as they have put together an incredible season on the backs of Izzy Mendez ’20, Allyson Parker ’20, and Maddie Babineau ’21 just to name a few.
The team is in the midst of an incredible year in which they have demonstrated numerous times that they are capable of going toe-to-toe with some of the best programs in the country. Four of the Friar’s five losses this season were to ranked teams and the biggest margin of defeat was a three-goal deficit that came at the hands of no. 3 ranked University of Connecticut. Otherwise, PC has been winning pretty handily and even beat University of Maine, ranked no. 24 at the time.
The Friars, however, are not the only team representing the Big East in the national rankings. They are joined by Old Dominion University, Liberty University, and UConn. All three schools are currently ahead of the Friars in the Big East conference rankings as well.
While the team has struggled a bit against ranked competition this season, they have been dominant against everyone else they have played, including two recent wins against Quinnipiac University in a shootout and Merrimack College.
The Friars beat Quinnipiac in thrilling fashion at home last Friday. A goal was scored in the first quarter by Mendez and assisted by Niamh Gowing ’22, putting the Friars up early. However, Quinnipiac would rattle off two straight goals in the second and fourth quarters putting them up one. That was when Parker scored off a penalty stroke, sending the game to overtime. Parker would also score the game winning goal in the shootout.
The Friars followed that up with another home rout of Merrimack. The Friars scored goals in every quarter, including a two-goal third quarter. Merrimack only managed to score one goal in the third. Sydney Cramer ’21 opened scoring for the Friars, followed by Babineau, Lisa McNamara ’23 and two by Olivia Ward ’21.
The wins pushed the Friars record to 10-5 overall and 3-2 in the Big East. The Friars are also now 7-3 at home.
Next up for PC is a Big East matchup against Georgetown University at home this Friday. PC will look to not only better their conference record but also continue a three game win streak and stay ranked within the top 25.
PCI: Who is the Greatest Coach in PC History?
by The Cowl Editor on October 10, 2019
PCI
Ray Treacy
By Meaghan Cahill ’20
Sports Co-Editor
There have been a number of coaches at Providence College who have contributed to forming the school’s reputation for having a top Division I athletic program. From former basketball coach Joe Mullaney to current hockey coach Nate Leaman, there have been many great coaches at PC. However, when weighing them against one another, it can be argued that Ray Treacy ’82 has been the greatest PC coach thus far.
The director of cross country and track, Treacy has been coaching at the College for the past 33 years. A member of the men’s cross country team during his time as a student at PC, Treacy has an extensive list of both champion runners and championship teams under his belt and is considered one of the nation’s most successful coaches.
Treacy has coached 65 All-American runners, who together have received a total of 176 All-American accolades and seven NCAA individual championships. Treacy’s coaching has led to 15 NCAA individual titles and 45 Big East individual champions, who combined for 117 Big East titles. He has also coached 11 Olympians.
Under Treacy, the women’s cross country team has won two NCAA Cross Country Championships (1995 and 2013), 14 NCAA Northeast Regional Cross Country Championships, 22 Big East Cross Country titles, and 20 New England Championships.
Under Treacy, the cross country teams have won the most championships of all of the teams on PC’s campus and the women’s cross country team is the only team besides the 2015 men’s ice hockey team to win a NCAA Championship title.
While only the women’s cross country team has been able to win the NCAA Championship, Treacy has successfully coached both the men’s and women’s programs to make seven NCAA Championship appearances; four of the seven appearances were back-to-back.
In addition to coaching successful men’s and women’s cross country teams, Treacy has also found tremendous success as a track coach. Throughout his career, Treacy has coached nine athletes to individual NCAA track titles and coached a team to setting the world record in the 4X1500 meter relay in 1991.
In addition to his success as a coach at PC, many of Treacy’s runners have gone on to compete internationally. To date, he has had more than 10 runners compete in the 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2012 Olympics. Treacy himself has also reached an international level; at the U.S. national level, three of the top five athletes in the women’s 10,000 meters at the USA World Championship Trials were coached by Treacy.
Treacy’s record alone speaks to the fact that he is the greatest coach PC has had to date. His ability to put together teams that continuously compete and win at the highest level is a job that not many coaches on campus have been able to do. His collegiate and international success demonstrates that he not only knows his craft, but that he is the best of the best and the College is lucky to have him.
Nate Leaman
By Joseph Quirk ’23
Sports Staff
Providence College has been very fortunate to be the home of a plethora of talented and famous coaches over the years. Picking just one as the greatest coach in school history has proven to be quite a difficult task. However, in the entire history of Providence athletics, no coach as had a more dominate run than current Friars men’s hockey coach Nate Leaman.
Coach Leaman took over the Friars bench in 2011 and since then there have been only two seasons (his first two) that the Friars did not qualify for the NCAA tournament. And in both those seasons, 2011-12 and 2012-13, the Friars made it to the semifinal round of the Big East Tournament. In addition, every year that Leaman’s squad has qualified for the national tournament, they have not been eliminated before the regional semis, which includes a 2014-15 National Championship and a 2018-19 trip to the Frozen Four.
Leaman’s team this year also looks strong as they beat the University of Maine 7-0 in the home opener this past weekend. In addition, this year’s squad features eight players who currently have their draft rights owned by NHL teams.
Leaman’s stretch of success with the men’s hockey program goes unmatched by any other coach in the school’s history.
The first coach to make a conference or NCAA tournament appearance (a semifinals loss) was Tom Eccleston in 1961-64. It would be another 13 years before the Friars made another NCAA tournament.
Before Nate Leaman, no team placed better than third in the tournament. Leaman won the first hockey national championship in school history. He stacks up well with coaches from other sports too.
The first notable name that could be thrown in is Joe Mullaney for basketball, but he coached in the ’50s and ’60s and only had two NCAA tournament appearances. Dave Gavitt had five, including trips to the final four and sweet sixteen, but again that was in the 1970s and Gavitt never placed higher than fourth. Rick Pitino had a short but memorable stint as the Friars leader but only served as coach for two years. Ed Cooley has also made the NCAA tournament five times but unfortunately has never made it past the second round.
There are many others as well, but I think the point is evident: Nate Leaman and what he has accomplished as a strategist, recruitor, and coach as well as what he looks to accomplish in the future establishes him at the greatest coach in PC history.
PCI: Should the 2022 World Cup Be Moved From Qatar?
by The Cowl Editor on October 3, 2019
PCI
PCI: Should the 2022 World Cup Be Moved From Qatar?
Yes, There is Too Much Controversy
by Liam Tormey ’22
The 2022 FIFA World Cup is set to take place in Qatar, an Arab country in the Middle East. Since the announcement on December 2, 2010, immense controversy followed, which is why the 2022 FIFA World Cup needs to be moved from Qatar.
Although never proven, there were numerous allegations after the bidding process in 2010 that Qatar had bribed FIFA members and executives to get the World Cup to Qatar. If true, they were successful in their attempt. However, even worse was ex-president of FIFA, Sepp Blatter, coming out a few years after the bid was complete to say that choosing Qatar was a “mistake.”
This doesn’t even scratch the surface of the problems in Qatar. The abuse of migrant workers in Qatar is astounding. There are 1.7 million migrant workers in Qatar, who make up over 90% of the work force. These workers are put in dangerous working conditions, often abused and exploited, and are then housed in appalling living conditions. Eight or more men must live in a room with just a single bunk bed for example.
Workers’ salaries are often delayed for months, leaving their families homeless. This is not to mention the monthly salary for a worker is only $220.
This is an issue of human rights. FIFA should have pulled the plug on Qatar once they heard of any reports such as this.
A big problem the media has also reported is the illegality of homosexuality in Qatar, punishable by up to seven years of imprisonment. This creates an uneasiness about traveling there not only for homosexual players, but for fans as well.
The 2022 World Cup is scheduled to take place during November and December. Besides the issues of scheduling it during the holidays, the domestic league seasons, and not having the traditional summer World Cup, the climate in Qatar is very hot. The conditions are not right for players to be competing in.
It is not too late to make a change. The 2022 World Cup location needs to be changed. If the reasons above do not make you hesitate to want a global event in a place with so much controversy, I am not sure what will. The ball is now in FIFA’s hand to make a change.
No, The Location is Fine
by Joseph Quirk ’23
Every four years, the world stops for about a month in the summer to watch one of the greatest international sporting tournaments known to mankind. And no, I am not referring to the Olympics. The FIFA World Cup is watched by billions and has the power to bring entire nations together, soccer fans or not. However, the announcement that Qatar would be the host location for the 2022 World Cup came with a lot of controversy.
Many people argued that there were a bevy of reasons why Qatar should not host the tournament, ranging from the country’s summer weather to concerns about the labor force. Because of this, many believe Qatar is unfit to host the cup and are calling FIFA corrupt because of the decision to allow Qatar to host. That being said, I believe that the World Cup should stay in Qatar and that FIFA made a good decision in their selection.
Qatar is an Arabian peninsula country off the shore of Saudi Arabia, jutting out into the Persian Gulf. It also happens to have the highest per capita income in the entire world due to its wealth in natural oil and gas resources. The wealth has made Qatar a very rich country and capable of building large and beautiful cities with futuristic designs, such as Doha, the country’s capital. This leads me to all the positives that Qatar hosting the World Cup has.
First of all, by having a relatively unknown, small country be the host of such a significant global event, FIFA is drawing tourist attention to a beautiful place that, up to this point, made the majority of their money off of oil and gas. The new hotels being built will also increase employment and open the country to new job opportunities. Because Qatar is so small, this can also have a spillover effect into neighboring countries’ economies as well, whether it be through tourism or other means.
Finally, Qatar has the funds to make this not only a fantastic spectacle to all those fans watching from home, but a very hospitable and luxurious experience for fans, teams, and broadcast crews alike.
While I understand why Qatar could be seen as a questionable choice by some, it has many positives to it as well, and I see no reason why FIFA should consider moving it. After all, having the tournament there is going to do more good than bad.