On Saturday, Feb. 17, the University of Maine Black Bears Women’s Basketball team defeated the University of Vermont Catamounts in Burlington by a final score of 57-55. Previously, during their first game of the season, The Black Bears beat the Catamounts in Orono 60-48.

After winning America East last season and returning all five starters, UVM Catamounts were voted as the America East conference preseason favorites this season. However, the Black Bears secured the regular season sweep over Vermont with their win on Saturday.

Third-year forward Adrianna Smith led the way for the Black Bears and ended the game with 16 points. Smith, the reigning America East Player of the Year, is tied for third in the NCAA with 18 double-doubles. She came up just short of her 19th on Saturday but stuffed the stat sheet for the Black Bears, securing eight rebounds, three assists, and two steals.

The Catamounts opened up the game with a great first quarter, taking a 20-8 lead after the first 10 minutes. Second-year guard Andjela Matic came off the bench to score 11 points in the first quarter. After draining her buzzer-beating three-pointer, Matic outscored the Black Bears first quarter-total points single-handedly. She finished the game with a team-high 14 points.

In the second quarter, Maine chipped away at the lead, led by fifth-year guard Anne Simon. Simon, who has won six America East Player of the Week awards this season, scored 11 of her 16 points for the Black Bears in the second quarter. She also racked up five steals during the game. The Catamounts led at halftime, 32-24. 

Maine needed to make some defensive adjustments to limit Vermont’s three-point shooting. The Catamounts started  6-8 from behind the arc, while Maine was going under screens on defense. After Coach Amy Vachon’s halftime adjustment of going over Vermont’s screens, the Catamounts finished the game shooting just 2-11 from beyond the arc.

Second-year guard Sarah Talon stepped for the Black Bears to start the second half. Talon catalyzed an 11-2 run to start the half and scored 12 of her 15 points in the third quarter. The Black Bears dominated the third quarter with a score of 22-11 and took a 46-43 lead into the final quarter.

The Catamounts opened the fourth quarter on a 5-0 run with points from fifth-year players Emma Utterbuck and Delaney Richardson. However, turnovers by Vermont kept the Black Bears in the game. Vermont had 16 turnovers throughout the game, including five in the fourth quarter. In comparison, Maine finished the game with just seven turnovers.

With Maine up 50-48 with 4:32 left in regulation time, Vermont’s fourth-year forward Anna Olson exited the game suffering an awkward leg injury while grabbing a rebound. Olson finished with a double-double, posting 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Catamounts. 

With 2:50 remaining in regulation time, fourth-year forward Caroline Bornemann scored her first points of the game on a contested three as the shot clock expired. This crucial basket gave Maine a 55-51 lead, and after strong defensive possessions by each team, the score remained the same with under a minute to play.

Following a series of intentional fouls by the Catamounts, the Black Bears maintained a 56-53 lead with 30 seconds left to play. Vermont gained possession and could tie the game with a three-point attempt, but Sarah Talon snagged her second steal of the game, raced down the court, and was fouled. She made one of two free throws to increase the lead to 57-53.

Second-year Vermont guard Keira Hanson made a layup with 10 seconds left, and then Adrianna Smith was intentionally fouled. With a chance to ice the game, Smith missed both free throws to keep the score at 57-55. The Catamounts had no timeouts remaining and had to move quickly. Utterback dished it off to Hanson, who couldn’t quite finish a contested reverse layup attempt, and the Black Bears secured the win.

Maine advanced their America East record to 11-1, claiming first place over the University of Albany, which stands at 10-1. Vermont stays in third place in America East but is now 1.5 games back of Maine in the standings as they dropped to 10-3. The Black Bears will continue their road trip as they play two more away games next week against UMBC and NJIT.

The 2018 Boston Red Sox team stands as one of the most formidable teams in baseball history. They finished the regular season with a Major League Baseball top 108-54 record and won the World Series. This was Boston’s 4th World Series championship win in 14 years.

 In 2018, the Red Sox led the MLB in payroll totals, spending $235 million, above the league average of $141 million. Fast forward to the 2023 season, the team dropped to the 13th highest payroll, spending just $175 million compared to the league average of merely $150 million.

The MLB is a league where a team’s success correlates with the team’s payroll. For example, the 2023 Oakland Athletics finished with the league’s worst record at 50-112, and also had the league’s lowest payroll. The Boston Red Sox are typically a big market, high spending team that uses their finances to boost them to success. However, the past two seasons have been different, as the Red Sox finished last in the American League East division in both the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

At the start of this year’s offseason, the Red Sox fired Chaim Bloom, their chief baseball officer of four years. To some fans, Bloom was seen as the issue with the team. Bloom built a solid young core that could one day help the team, but the owners wanted a new person to make winning a priority. They hired Craig Breslow, who won a World Series with the Red Sox back in 2013, to take over the position. 

At a November press conference, the Red Sox ownership promised the team would be going “full throttle” in the offseason to make up for the last two seasons of disappointment. However, the team has yet to make significant financial investments as spring training practice starts in a week. They have allowed players to leave the team in free agency who have verbally expressed they wanted to stay, such as Justin Turner. Turner could have been a great asset to resign for the 2024 transition season after producing solid numbers for the team last season.

So why aren’t the Red Sox spending money in the offseason to improve their team? Well, belief in future prospects seems to be the supposed strategy that ownership believes in. The Red Sox boast one of the best farm systems in the league, highlighted by standout talents such as 21-year-old shortstop Marcelo Mayer. 

In 2021, the Red Sox drafted Mayer 4th overall, and he ended the season playing for the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs last season. Promising players like Kyle Teel and Roman Anthony are also poised to have breakthrough minor league years in 2024. However, these players likely won’t be developed until at least the 2025 season and are not expected to affect the 2024 Red Sox roster. This signifies that the 2024 season will be a transition season, and another rebuilding year for the team.

Another factor contributing to the lack of significant financial investments spent on the team is attributed to the owners themselves. The Red Sox are owned by Fenway Sports Group, made up of John Henry and his partner Tom Werner. Fenway Sports group also currently owns the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, the Premier League’s Liverpool, as well as stake in NASCAR. And in Jan. 2024, Fenway Sports Group landed a $3 billion deal with the PGA golf tour. 

The most expensive MLB ticket on average in 2023 was the Boston Red Sox. Yet instead of flipping all the ticket revenue profit back into the product on the field and Fenway Park, Henry and Warner seem to be busy spending the money on new projects like golf tours. There could be heightened pressure on Henry and Werner to sell the team if they don’t achieve much success this year.

After two consecutive last-place finishes in the AL East, it appears that the Red Sox could be on their way to a third. Boston fans will not be happy if the season starts heading south, and with a 162-game season, there could be a lot to complain about.

The University of Maine Black Bears Women’s Hockey team faced off against the Merrimack Warriors for the third time this season. Their first matchup of the season was on Jan. 20 at Merrimack and ended in a 3-3 tie. They lost 3-2 in overtime in game one of the homestand at Alfond Arena on Friday and were eventually swept after losing 2-1 on Saturday.

Trying to bounce back from a blown third-period lead on Friday, the Black Bears quickly jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first period. Fifth-year forward Ida Kuoppala scored three minutes into the game on a one-timer from the hash marks on the left faceoff circle. Fourth-year forward Rahel Enzler, who now has a team-high 17 assists on the season, aided Kuoppala in scoring the goal. 

However, Merrimack tied the game with three minutes left in the first period. First-year forward Maria Lindberg tipped the puck into the goal, which fourth-year defenseman Natalie Nemes assisted with a wrist shot from the blue line. With a lot of traffic in front of the net, Maine’s fourth-year goalie, Jorden Mattison, could not track the puck’s deflection. Mattison would finish the game with 11 saves on 13 shots. The period would end with a score of 1-1.

In the second period, Maine was stonewalled by Merrimack second-year goalie Calli Hogarth. The Black Bears had three power plays in the game, all of which came in the second period. They dominated the Warriors in shots on goal in the period by a tally of 18-2 but had no goals to show for it. Hogarth was the x-factor in the game, as she saved 39 of 40 shots. The two teams would head into the second intermission with the score still knotted at one apiece.

The third period started with a slashing penalty by Maine first-year defenseman Sophia Johnson. The Black Bears killed off the Warriors’ power play, but soon after, Merrimack would take the lead with under 13 minutes left to play.

Lindberg fired a shot on a rush from the right faceoff circle. Maine’s Mattison made the initial pad save, but Lindberg shot the rebound off the back of Mattison’s left skate, and it bounced into the net for her second goal of the game. Even with their goalie pulled for an extra skater, the Black Bears failed to score before time expired and lost the game 2-1.

Maine entered the weekend in 8th place in Hockey East, with 22 points in 20 games played. Merrimack trailed the Black Bears by just two points at 20, with 19 games played. After losing five of six points on the weekend, Maine swapped spots with Merrimack and dropped into ninth place. 

After losing their last four games, Maine needs to pick up some momentum by improving their offensive play. The Black Bears are on the road in Boston next week as they play both Boston University and Northeastern University.

The University of Maine Men’s Basketball team hosted the Binghamton University Bearcats at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor on Saturday afternoon. The 1,287 fans in attendance sparked the Black Bears’ second-half comeback, but they couldn’t maintain the lead and lost the game 51-50. 

The Black Bears started off strong, as second-year guard Jayden Clayton scored the game’s first basket with a fadeaway mid-range jumper towards the baseline. A steal by third-year guard Kellen Tynes immediately followed this. 

The Bearcats would eventually tie the game at two points with a jump shot from the free throw line by fourth-year forward Tariq Balogun. After a series of missed shots, offensive fouls, and turnovers by the Black Bears, Binghamton started the game up 8-2. Nine minutes into the game, the Bearcats extended their lead to 15-4. Fourth-year guard Armon Harried scored six of those points and assisted on one. The highest-scorer of the game, Harried, had 15 points added on eight rebounds, four assists, and two steals. 

Maine struggled to hit their shots and attack the basket, partially caused by Binghamton’s tough defense. The Bearcats forced 12 turnovers and were very effective perimeter defenders. A 3-pointer by Maine’s Jayden Clayton scored 19-11 in favor of Binghamton, but the Bearcats responded quickly. Fourth-year forward Nehemiah Benson was dominating the paint and scored two layups. He finished the game with 12 points for the Bearcats. 

One of the only bright spots of the first half was a huge block by Black Bear fifth-year forward Adam Cisse. Cisse had four blocks in the first half and ended up with five. However, he left the game late in the second half with what appeared to be a leg injury. 

The Black Bears headed to the locker room at halftime with the score 28-19, as a late Jayden Clayton jumper cut the Binghamton lead to single digits. Maine struggled as they had more turnovers than field goals in the first half. They shot 6-23 from the field in the first 20 minutes while going 1-5 from beyond the three-point line. 

It was pretty evident Maine would need a quick offensive start in the second half to have any chance at a comeback, and that’s exactly what happened. They started the half on a six-zero run in the first three minutes, and the score was eventually 30-28 with 14 minutes to go. Black Bear’s fourth-year forward, Peter Filipovity, scored four of those points. 

Back-and-forth baskets were traded off between the teams in the following minutes, with third-year guard Quion Burns leading the charge for the Black Bears. Burns scored some tough buckets and totaled 13 points while shooting an efficient 5-7 in the afternoon.

With eight minutes left to play, Binghamton committed traveling violations on back-to-back offensive possessions, giving Maine much-needed momentum. Jayden Clayton made a deep two-point jump shot and a layup with under 5 minutes remaining. This gave the Black Bears the lead for the first time in the game since the opening basket made it 2-0, and the home crowd loved it. 

But a quick 5-0 Binghamton run engineered by Armon Harried electrified the Bearcats bench and silenced the crowd. Maine’s second-year head coach Chris Markwood called timeout with just over 3 minutes left, scoring 47-43 Binghamton. 

After misses on both ends, Kellen Tynes made a great hustle play for the Black Bears. He snagged an offensive rebound and kicked the ball out to Jayden Clayton, who assisted a clutch Ja’Shonte Wright-McLeish 3-point basket with 2 minutes to go. On the other end, Symir Torrence knocked down two important free throws with a minute remaining to make the score 49-46 Binghamton. Maine responded right away as Kellen Tynes drove to the basket, stopped, pump faked, and then drilled a smooth mid-range floater to make a one-point game once again. 

The Black Bears then got a much-needed stop with 32 seconds left as Harried missed a contested three-point shot. With a chance to take the lead and potentially win the game, Maine’s Jayden Clayton was fouled with 12 seconds left.

Clayton made both free throws to give him 15 points on the day and give the Black Bears a 50-49 lead. 

Binghamton’s Head Coach Levell Sanders called a timeout to call one last play for his team. The Bearcats advanced the ball up the floor, where Symir Torrence avoided a double team, and then hit a floating layup to give Binghamton a 51-50 lead with 4.8 seconds remaining. 

Markwood called his last timeout for the Black Bears, and they drew up a game-winning shot. Graduate student guard Ja’Shonte Wright-McLeish scored five points and inbounded the ball to Kellen Tynes, who raced up the floor. He dished it back to Wright-McLeish, who launched a 3-point attempt that hit the rim as time expired. 

After an intense and hard-fought comeback attempt, there was an anticlimactic ending for the Black Bears, and the final was 51-50 in favor of Binghamton. The Bearcats picked up their first America East victory of the season, improving their record in those games to 1-5. 

The Black Bears played a disappointing game to end their home stand in what has felt like a promising season. They scored a season-low of 50 points on 34.8% shooting. Their record dropped to 10-11 overall and 2-4 in America East games. They continue their America East conference play on Thursday, Feb. 1, at UMass

Lowell, who is 5-1 in America East games. Keys to the game for the Black Bears will be improved defensive intensity and fewer turnovers.