The University of Maine women’s hockey team kicked off their 24th season as a Division I program on Friday night. The group welcomed the #No.8 ranked Quinnipiac Bobcats to the Alfond. This was new head coach Molly Engstrom’s first regular season game as a collegiate head coach. Engstrom was a former member of the USA Olympic silver medal-winning team in 2010. In addition to this, she played for the University of Wisconsin from 2001-2005 and professionally from 2008-2017. She replaced Richard Reichenbach who spent seven seasons as the head of the program. 

The opening night saw UMaine lose in heartbreaking fashion with a 3-2 overtime loss in a very tight and exciting game. The scoring started with the Bobcats’ senior center Sadie Pert netting one goal halfway through the first period. The first period remained scoreless while Quinnipiac controlled the pace of play, time of possession, shots on goal, and faceoffs. The Black Bears started the second period on fire after assistant captain Ida Kuoppala scored 56 seconds into the frame, with Rahel Enzler and Grace Heiting getting the assists. 

UMaine controlled the tempo for the majority of the period by edging out Quinnipiac for shots on goal (10-9), faceoffs (10-7), and not committing a penalty in the second period. Two of those penalties happened within 30 seconds of each other and resulted in a five-on-three opportunity that Black Bears capitalized on. Second-year center Mira Seregely scored to get UMaine the lead for the first time of the day, with Kuoppala and Olivia King on the assists. 

While UMaine dominated the middle frame, the Bobcats took over the third. They outshot UMaine 13-4, with one of those shots getting behind the Black Bears’ netminder Jorden Mattison. The tying goal came with 10 minutes left in the period when Lexie Adzija collected a pass from Olivia Mobely and slammed the puck home. Both teams had solid scoring opportunities in the final few minutes but both Mattison and Bobcats fifth-year goalie Logan Angers came up with massive stops. 

The game went into overtime and the teams went rapidly up and down the ice. With 10 seconds left, Quinnipiac won the faceoff and Olivia Mobely fired a shot behind Mattison to end it. The Bobcats dominated the shots on goal in the extra time with a commanding seven to two difference. The end-of-game statistics heavily favored Quinnipiac with the Bobcats outshooting the Black Bears 36-20 and winning 56% of faceoffs. While it was a tough and heartbreaking loss, a lot has to be said for UMaine competing so well for so long with a team that has national championship tournament hopes this season. 

Quinnipiac was able to keep the number of shots to a minimum due to their strong forechecking presence in the offensive zone. They controlled the majority of the time of possession, and when UMaine was able to get control of the puck, they were not given much time or space because of the Bobcats’ stifling defense. UMaine was able to get some quality opportunities with a net-front presence. However, this left a lot of 3v2 or 2v1 rushes going the other way. Another reason why the Black Bears couldn’t add more onto the scoreboard was because of the performance of Angers and her ability to not give up many rebounds for UMaine to try to slam home. The Bobcats had plenty of fabulous breakouts out of their own zone with crisp passing and strong and fast skating. That is something that UMaine will have to work on going forward to compete with these upper echelon teams. 

UMaine’s roster has plenty of new faces with five first-years playing considerable amounts of playing time on the ice. Ava Stevenson, Ashley Bialis, Anna Caumo, and the Welcke twins (Lilli and Luisa) all made an impact on the game. UMaine has started to revamp its program by cleaning out its coaching staff and bringing in new players. With only 12 players on the roster who are upperclassmen, the Black Bears do have an aspiring future ahead. This being said, they still have a lot of older and experienced talent on the roster already. Enzler and Amalie Andersen were named to their country’s Olympic team this past February (Germany and Denmark respectively.) Other older key contributors to the team include the aforementioned Kuoppala, Seregely, Heiting, and Mattison, as well as star Nicole Pateman, Emma Lange, Elise Morphy, and King on defense. On the offensive side of things, key returners include the Trimper twins – Ally and Morgan (the captain) – and Alyssa Wruble rounding out the deep and talented roster.

The Boston Celtics were two wins away from raising the franchise’s eighteenth NBA championship banner, before the Golden State Warriors defeated them in the finals in June. Stephen Curry claimed the Finals MVP to win his and his team’s fourth championship in the last eight years. Boston lost four games to two in a very frustrating fashion with star forward Jayson Tatum having the most turnovers in a single playoff out of any player in NBA history. The team also had plenty of stretches in those games where they were either missing open shots or turning the ball over seemingly on every possession. Before falling to Golden State, Boston swept Brooklyn in the first round and went seven games to take down Milwaukee and Miami.

It has been an exciting offseason for the Celtics. Most of the summer has involved trade rumors of acquiring Kevin Durant, but nothing ever was solidified and he is still currently in Brooklyn, with the trade instead landing former Indiana Pacer guard Malcolm Brogdon. The team also brought in 15-year veteran Danillo Gallinari to be a big-bench contributor. However, he recently tore his ACL in his left knee so he will not be playing this season. Brogdon will be playing though and figures to be in the sixth-man role, coming off the bench. The 29-year-old, 6-foot-5 guard is a former rookie of the year, despite being selected in the second round of the 2016 draft. Brogdon can be a good scorer for the team, with a career average of 15 per game and is coming off consecutive seasons of over 19 points per game. His only negative during his career has been his durability, only having one season with over 65 games played. If he can stay healthy, he will provide much-needed bench shooting and ball handling. 

The Celtics have their entire main core back from last season. All-star wings Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are still under the age of 26 and have not officially hit their collective primes yet so they should still continue to develop. Now that the duo has finals and deep playoff experience, they should be more prepared to try and get back and eventually win a ring. The only question is if the pair will stay in Boston long term. Brown has said publicly that he has not enjoyed being in trade rumors for most of his career, as well as not being appreciated enough by fans in Boston. On the court, the two have had growing pains over the years, but both work very well and have been consistently scoring over 20 points a game each for several seasons, as well as playing elite defense. 

Defense on the Boston Celtics can not be mentioned without naming guard Marcus Smart. Smart is the longest-tenured Celtic, being drafted by the team in 2014, No. 6 overall. Smart is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year in the NBA. Nobody questions his intensity, leadership ability or defensive prowess, but what people do question is his shot selection on offense. While Marcus has proved he can hit big shots, he has proven time and time again that he is not afraid to shoot, even when it is hurting the team to do so. Smart is the heart and soul of the team, and they go as he goes.

Joining Smart on the NBA’s All Defensive Team is teammate Robert Williams. The center had a career year having his best season in every single statistic, including blocks where his 2.2 swats per game were No. 2 in the association. The thing that makes Williams such an asset to the team is his freakish wingspan of 7-foot-6 and impressive vertical of 40 inches. He is a force on both ends of the floor as a shot blocker and easy lob finisher. He has even earned the nickname of “The Timelord” realistically for arriving late to his first press conference with the team, but equally for seemingly being able to stop time for being in the air so long. 

Other key contributors for the squad include big man Al Horford who had a bit of a renaissance year in 2022 in his fifteenth NBA season and second stint with Boston. Derrick White was a mid-season acquisition from San Antonio who made an immediate impact as a bench guard. The rotation rounds off with forward Grant Williams who provides shooting and defense and Payton Pritchard as a solid, young backup point guard.

As the leaves begin to change and the autumn breeze begins to blow, we are reaching the golden time of the year for football fans. The NFL is entering its 102nd season in 2022, and if the 101st was any indicator, fans are in for quite a treat. Back in February, the Los Angeles Rams ended a 22-year championship drought with a win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI. This is the franchise’s second Lombardi trophy. Both teams are title contenders again this year. 

To start off the discussion of the NFL’s best, the Rams will set out to be the ninth team in NFL history to repeat champions. The main stars, such as quarterbacks Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp, Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey, will have somewhat of a new squad. The team lost tackle Andrew Whitworth, edge rusher Von Miller and wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. in the off-season, resulting in them bringing in linebacker Bobby Wagner and wide receiver Allen Robinson. This team will be one of the favorites to win the NFC.

The Bengals kept nearly all of their young core and vastly improved their previously weak offensive line to protect their budding superstars, quarterback Joe Burrow and receiver Ja’Marr Chase. The team had no real free agency losses so the AFC’s defending champions have the same core intact. However, in a much tougher conference, the Bengals will have to prove that they were not a one-year wonder and can compete with the top competition year in and year out, something that the franchise hasn’t been able to do yet.

The team with the highest odds in Las Vegas are the Buffalo Bills. The team features five All-Pro team selections from a season ago, in addition to the signing of future hall of famer Von Miller and slot receiver Jamison Crowder. Having the league’s top ranked defense a season ago, and an extremely explosive offense, it seems that the team’s only weakness has been winning close games. Hopefully for Bills Mafia, the Bills will do what they do best, and “circle the wagons” as the great Chris Berman would say.

Tom Brady came out of a brief 40-day retirement to return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for his 23rd NFL season. Brady and his squad figure to be in contention to win the NFC. Rob Gronkowski — Brady’s go-to target for over a decade — retired, but plenty of other lethal weapons remain. Not only are All-Pro receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin returning, but the team also added arguably the best receiver of the last decade in Julio Jones. In addition to having a fast, young, and talented defense, the Buccaneers also traded for Brady’s old New England teammate, guard Shaq Mason, to add to the already loaded roster. If Tampa can stay healthy, we very well could see the GOAT walk away from the game on top with rings on eight fingers.

With those aforementioned being some of the NFL’s elite teams, there is a team close to home that is not considered to be elite by any measurement, the New England Patriots. The Patriots are now predicted to be a middler team in a very crowded AFC. There is a question on all fans’ minds. Is Mac Jones going to have a big second year jump that a lot of good quarterbacks use as a stepping stone to a great career? It has been a confusing off-season for the most successful franchise of the new millennium.

The Patriots losing offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels for him to become the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders was not the best start for the franchise. However, the decision to replace him with two former failed head coaches who have never called an offensive play is a bit head scratching. Their draft board was also confusing to many fans, taking guard Cole Strange and receiver Tyquan Thornton in the first and second round respectively, but only time will tell on that. The team did bring in receiver Devante Parker from Miami to help stabilize the pass game. But with an off-season of uncertainty and a sloppy training camp, a winning season may be the goal for the Patriots.

We’re currently witnessing potentially the greatest second vs seventh-seeded matchup in NBA history, featuring the Boston Celtics and the Brooklyn Nets. The series features several of the league’s top players, including Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. However, none of these stars are the headline of the matchup. The biggest storyline in this series is the relationship between current Nets player, and former Celtics point guard, Kyrie Irving and the city of Boston and its fans. 

Irving initially had a great relationship with the city. His dad played basketball at Boston University (BU). As a young child, he spent a good amount of time in Boston and was even offered a scholarship to BU when he was in fifth grade. Irving went on to be drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers and eventually teamed up with LeBron James. The pair knocked out the Celtics in the playoffs in 2015 and 2017. 

After losing the 2017 finals to the Golden State Warriors, Irving looked to separate from LeBron and lead his own team. The Cavaliers traded him to the Celtics for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder and a first-round pick. In his first season with Boston, he was named an All-Star and even led the team on a 16-game winning streak. 

Irving injured his knee toward the end of the regular season, which sidelined him for the rest of the year. Boston went on a playoff run without both Irving and the injured Gordon Hayward. The team, which was then led by rookie Tatum, was only one game short of a finals appearance, before losing to Cleveland and LeBron.

The next season, the team and Irving had high expectations, but it was a disaster. Irving individually had a good season, and he was named to the All-Star team as well as an All-NBA 3rd team selection, but the team as a whole had massive problems that centered around Irving. At the beginning of the 2018-19 season, he addressed Celtics fans and told them that he intended to re-sign with the Celtics after the season when his contract was up. Shortly after, tempers flared among the many personalities of the team. 

The young players who led the previous year’s run, such as Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier, felt as though their voices should be heard more. Irving, as well as other veterans, believed that their experience should be respected. Irving went public with his opinion and let the basketball world know that there was turbulence. 

As the season progressed, the team’s frustration and unwillingness to cooperate with each other became more evident. The Celtics earned the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference and made it to the second round, where the Milwaukee Bucks absolutely wiped the floor with them in five games. Irving shot 25-83 in the final four games, the last he played for the Celtics. 

In the 2019 offseason, Irving teamed up with fellow superstar and widely villainized player, Durant. Durant tore his achilles tendon in the 2019 finals when he was playing for the Warriors, so he missed the whole next season. Irving only played in 20 games due to a shoulder injury. In Irving’s first game playing against Boston, he walked around the parquet and burned incense to “clear the air of bad spirits” and also stepped on “Lucky,” the Celtics leprechaun logo at midcourt, which was not received well. In 2021, Irving and the Nets beat the underachieving Celtics in the first round of the playoffs, where Irving was booed every time he touched the ball. Before the series, he spoke to the media about how racist Boston can be, an allegation the city has had for decades. 

This brings us to this season where they yet again faced off in the first round. During game one, Irving “flipped the bird” to the fans multiple times and had a verbal altercation with a fan after the game. Irving did not let the crowd get to him as he scored 39 points, but it was not enough to secure the team’s victory, as the Celtics won on a buzzer-beater from Tatum. In game two, the Nets had as much as a 17-point lead at one point in the game, but the Celtics came back to win. Irving had a terrible game, only scoring 10 points. 

This season has been a battle back and forth between Irving and the city of Boston and based on the first three games it looks like Boston has gotten the better of its former star.

The NBA has added a new twist to the playoffs over the last couple of years. Starting in the 2020 season when all sports got shut down due to COVID-19, the NBA created a tournament to allow lower-seeded teams a chance to fight their way into a playoff spot, and have continued the practice the past few seasons. The tournament format sees the seventh and eighth seed teams in each conference play one game to determine the seventh seed. The ninth and tenth seed teams also play a game and the winner of that game plays the loser of the seventh versus eighth seed game. 

The first game in the tournament was the Eastern Conference’s seventh versus eighth game with the Brooklyn Nets facing off against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Nets won the matchup 115-108 and will play the second-seeded Boston Celtics in the first round. Brooklyn was led by their two superstars, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. Irving scored 34 points, shooting 12 of 15 from the field, as well as picking up 12 assists. Durant scored 25 points in the game as well. The Nets were up by as much as 20 points in the second half, but even when the Cavs cut it to a four-point lead, they still couldn’t complete the comeback, despite a game-high 34 points from Darrius Garland. 

The next game in the East was the ninth-seeded Atlanta Hawks versus the tenth-seeded Charlotte Hornets. It was never a close game, as the Hawks won 132-103. Atlanta did not get a stellar game from their star point guard Trae Young, while he scored 24 points it was done with terrible efficiency. However, as a team the Hawks were on fire for many stretches of the game, shooting 52% from the field and 50% from the three-point line as a team. The Hornets could not get it together with Lamelo Ball and Terry Rozier shooting a combining for 15 of 47 from the field, eliminating the Hornets from the playoffs. 

The final game in the East was for the eighth seed, played between the Hawks and the Cavs. The Hawks won 107-101 on the road, ending Cleveland’s season. Young looked like he was going to have another slow game at the beginning of the contest with six points on 3 of 13 shooting with his team down 10 at halftime. However, he turned it on in the second half and scored 32 points, only missing two shots in the half. Atlanta earned the right to play the Miami Heat in the first round with this victory. 

In the West, the seventh versus eighth game featured the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Los Angeles Clippers. The game was a close one throughout but the Timberwolves held on to win 109-104. D’Angelo Russell and rookie Anthony Edwards combined for 59 points. However, what really stole the show was the antics of Minnesota guard Pat Beverley, who was very animated at the end of the game after beating his former team. He was later fined $30,000 by the NBA for “an egregious use of profanity” in his post-game interview. 

The ninth versus tenth game saw the New Orleans Pelicans host the San Antonio Spurs. The Pelicans won 113-103. They had three players get over 20 points: Jonas Valenciunas with 22, Brandon Ingram with 27 and CJ McCollum with 32. The final score makes the game seem a lot closer than it actually was. The Pelicans were up as many as 21 points in the fourth quarter and it only became close towards the end. But it was too little too late for the Spurs, as their season came to an end with this loss. 

The final game was between the Pelicans and the Clippers. New Orleans won 105-101 after coming back from being down 11 points in the fourth quarter. Ingram had a 30-point outing to lead the way to victory. The Clippers were without their all-star forward Paul George due to an injury, which may have helped the Pelicans come back at the end. The Pelicans will play the Phoenix Suns in the first round.

On April 18, 1995, legendary San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Joe “Joe Cool” Montana retired from the sport of football. Montana walked away from the sport as a four-time Super Bowl champion, three-time Super Bowl MVP, two-time NFL MVP, eight-time pro bowler, five-time all-pro and is widely considered one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.

Montana was born on June 11, 1956, in New Eagle, Pennsylvania, a region also known as “The Cradle of Quarterbacks” with other prominent players coming from the region including Dan Marino, Johnny Unitas and Joe Namath. After a storied high school career and a strong start as the country’s top recruit, he took his talents to the University of Notre Dame. 

He did not see the field as a freshman due to a team rule but played in several relief appearances where he led his team to two fourth-quarter come-from-behind wins against the University of North Carolina and the United States Air Force Academy. Montana separated his shoulder during the next season, so he was given a medical redshirt. In his third season, he started as the team’s third-stringer. He was quickly thrown into action in the third game and after he led them to another comeback win he never gave the job back. 

The team won its next nine games, including the 1978 Cotton Bowl against the University of Texas, and won the national title. Their next season was not as strong, but they again made it to the Cotton Bowl, where Montana put up a game of legendary proportions. During the game, he developed hypothermia and was given hot blankets and chicken soup as he stayed in the locker room to start the second half. With his team down three scores, Montana led them to victory. Aptly, this performance is remembered as “The Chicken Soup Game.” 

His collegiate career was enough to get him drafted in the third round in the 1979 draft by the San Francisco 49ers. Montana was the backup behind Steve DeBerg before taking over the starting job halfway through his second season. In that season’s finale, he had the first of his 31 career fourth-quarter comebacks. 

The next year, Montana led the 49ers to the best season in the team’s history. By the end of the season, Montana was named to his first all-pro and pro-bowl teams. In the NFC championship game, Montana made NFL history when he threw a game-winning touchdown to Dwight Clark, throwing off of his back leg while being surrounded by three Cowboys defenders. The play was later named “The Catch.” The next week, the 49ers won their first Super Bowl, beating the Cincinnati Bengals. Montana was subsequently named the game’s MVP. 

Three seasons later he won another Super Bowl and the game’s MVP against the Miami Dolphins and Dan Marino. Two seasons later Montana had a serious back injury and missed the rest of the season and the team traded for Steve Young. This resulted in a quarterback controversy that later developed into hatred. Montana ended up keeping the job when returning from injury, leading the team to back-to-back Super Bowl wins. In ‘88, they beat the Bengals again with yet another Montana comeback with a 92-yard game-winning drive. The next season they beat the Denver Broncos and John Elway 55-10, the biggest blowout in Super Bowl history.

The next season, the 49ers sought a three-peat, but Montana took a hard hit in the NFC Championship game against the Giants and was injured. This injury lasted a while, seeing Montana carry the injury into the next season. That’s when Young took over the starting job, and after the ‘92 season, Montana was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. The following season, he led the Chiefs to their best season and their first AFC championship game appearance in over 20 years before losing to the Buffalo Bills. He played one more season before retiring 27 years ago. Montana was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000.

On April 10, 1947, Jackie Robinson’s contract was purchased from the Montreal Royals by the Brooklyn Dodgers, making history by breaking baseball’s color barrier. 

Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia on January 31, 1919. The family moved to Pasadena, California when Robinson’s father left. Robinson showed athletic excellence at a young age and was a four-sport letterman at John Muir high school. He played shortstop in baseball, point guard in basketball, quarterback and safety on the football team and competed as a long jumper in track. After high school, he moved on to Pasadena Junior College where he continued to compete in those four sports. 

Robinson was also very outspoken about racial activism. He was arrested for trying to verbally defend his friend from being wrongfully incarcerated. 

Robinson enrolled in UCLA in 1939, becoming the first athlete in the school’s history to letter in four sports. Baseball was arguably his worst sport in college, believe it or not. His baseball season was lackluster compared to his NCAA championship win in the long jump, West Coast Conference MVP award in basketball or leading the nation in punt return average along with leading UCLA’s football team in passing and rushing yards. 

Robinson left school just months before graduation and got a job as an assistant athletic director. He tried to play professional football until he was drafted into the Army, where he eventually became a lieutenant. He was honorably discharged after he refused to sit on the back of a bus. He was also charged with public drunkenness, even though he didn’t drink. His time in the Army led to an opportunity to play in the Negro Leagues.

Robinson signed a contract with the Kansas City Monarchs and made the league’s All-Star game in the 1945 season. The next season, he was assigned to the team’s AAA affiliate, the Montreal Royals. He had an exceptional season and was named the league’s MVP.

When Robinson had his contract purchased by the Dodgers in the 1947 season he officially broke the color barrier, and he was met with mixed reactions. Many of his fellow players and the media reacted positively to his addition to the team, but many fans and some players were opposed to baseball being integrated. Robinson got death threats from fans and some opposing players tried to intentionally injure him. 

Although this reception hurt him literally and figuratively, Robinson didn’t let it affect his play. Robinson went on to become a 6-time All-Star, the 1949 NL MVP, a 1955 World Series champion and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1962. 

After his career was done, Robinson continued working as an activist as well as a part-time sports analyst. His time after baseball was cut short due to health problems, and he passed away in 1972. 

The MLB retired his number 42 across the whole league in 1997 and created Jackie Robinson Day. Every year on April 15, Jackie Robinson Day celebrates him for breaking the color barrier, and every player in the MLB wears 42 in the games played on that day.