Auburn's Jeremy Morin Drafted By NHL's Thrashers

With the 45th pick of the 2009 NHL Draft, the Atlanta Thrashers selected Auburn native Jeremy Morin. The high-scoring forward spent the past two seasons with the U.S. National Team Developmental Program. He scored a goal in the team's overtime victory at Oswego State on Oct. 17 after Lakers coach Ed Gosek had praised him as, "likely a first-round NHL draft pick some day."

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Morin will spend the 2009-10 season playing for the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League. One of Morin's Team USA teammates, Ryan Bourque, was drafted by the New York Rangers in the third round. Bourque scored the game-winning overtime goal in that Oct. 17 game at Oswego State (which was also the worst goal call - or no call - in my two seasons as VOTL). Bourque is the son of NHL Hall of Famer Ray Bourque.

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Judgment Week for WNYOsports in USCHO Tourney

The USCHO.com Tournament of Posters, an idea conceived by Matthew Webb years ago but then re-conceived more recently by Pioneers#1, has closed the polls on the tournament's first nine games. Oswego native jabber811 and Oswego State fan 93GreatLaker have advanced to the round of 32.

The polls have now opened on the second wave of first-round match-ups, a wave that includes yours truly. I am paired against 13-seed Mainehockeyman, a relative newcomer who joined the USCHO.com fan forums on April 18, 2007. Mainehockeyman has been responsible for the creation of a number of classic fan forum threads including: Will D3 ever go to a 16 team playoff?, Adrian's Out-Of-Conference Schedule, and What happened to Lake Forest?

I joined the forums on June 7, 2007, nearly two months after Mainehockeyman. Since then, I have cranked out a respectable 0.59 posts per day, enough to stay relevant without being a nerd. Here is the updated bracket:
UPDATE: Mainehockeyman and I were deadlocked at 5-5 prior to the publication of this post. It is now 15-6 in favor of VOTL. Let's crush that bastard! Go vote!

Pens Force Game 7 With Detroit

Former Wellington Dukes forward Matt Cooke made five hits and finished a +1 as his Pittsburgh Penguins beat Detroit 2-1 in game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals tonight in Pittsburgh. Watch the post game presser right here:

Mayne Street Returns

Watch for an appearance from SUNY Oswego alum Linda Cohn.

HS Baseball: Walk-Off Homer Pushes Mexico Past Massena

From Syracuse.com:

Senior catcher Kody O’Connor of Mexico [...] extended his season for one more day by crushing a three-run walk-off homer to lift the Tigers over Section X champ Massena, 5-3, Monday in the Class A state regional at Alliance Bank Stadium.

Mexico’s post-season life was on shaky ground as the Raiders took a 3-2 lead into the seventh behind pitcher Alex Kormanyos (6-2). But the Tigers had the top of the order up in the bottom of the seventh and they delivered.

Senior second baseman Evan Oustrich led off with a single then stole second to get the rally started. After Kormanyos got the next batter to strikeout, the Tigers stayed alive on an error as Conrad Dolbear’s routine fly ball to right hit the rightfielders glove and dropped to the grass. That brought clean-up hitter O’Connor to the plate with runners on first and third with one out.

O’Connor, who finished 2-for-4, drilled Kormanyos’ 1-0 offering to left field, a sharp blast that brought the Mexico faithful to its feet. Once O’Connor’s shot cleared the left field wall, Oustrich jumped up and down running toward home from third base.

Jon Silva (9-1) recorded his third straight complete-game win and sixth overall. He struck out eight and also went 2-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI single in the third.

The Tigers (20-7), winners of seven straight, advanced to the state quarterfinals and will return to Alliance Bank Stadium today to play Section II champ Ichabod Crane at 7 p.m.

Mexico Meets Massena in Regional Playoffs Today

The Mexico Tigers continue their quest for a Class A state title today when they meet Massena High at Alliance Bank Stadium in Syracuse. The first pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Following the conclusion of that game, Class AA Section III champ Cicero-North Syracuse will meet Section II champion Columbia.

Bucs Bid For Softball Sectional Title Ends in Extra Innings

From Syracuse.com:

C-NS 3, Oswego 2: The top-seeded Northstars needed 11 innings to get past Oswego and earn a berth in the Class AA final. With one out, Lindsay Flanagan scored the game-winner on a ground ball by Jennifer Huff. The defending sectional champs will play Liverpool for the title at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Gillette Road.

Dolgon Says "No" to OCL Offer, Dome a Possibility

From Syracuse.com's Lindsay Kramer:

The Onondaga County Legislature today approved a motion that would give the Syracuse Crunch $75,000 to help stage the first-ever outdoor American Hockey League game. Crunch owner Howard Dolgon, however, said thanks but no thanks.

Dolgon was looking for the Legislature to approve a measure that would give him the team $350,000 to cover the game. Lawmakers defeated that motion 16-2.

Syracuse Crunch President and CEO Howard Dolgon issued the following statement this afternoon.

"Once again we were disappointed but not at all surprised by the short-sighted and narrow minded thinking of the individuals in decision making power within the community where our hockey team plays.

Instead of embracing a rare opportunity to showcase the terrific attributes of our community at a benefit to the businesses and people that reside here, decisions are continually made with little or no vision considered.

We respectfully thank the legislators who supported the original proposal as well as the County Executive, her staff and the Syracuse Chiefs organization, who like us believed that an event of this magnitude would have positively exposed our community regionally as well as nationally and certainly would have created long term measurable benefits to Syracuse.

Instead we are asked to accept an unacceptable deal to which we respond - deal us out."

Watch Dave Matthews Band Perform Live

True, this is a sports blog, but I'm a whore for hits and will do anything to gain a larger audience. Concert starts at 9:00, enjoy:

LeMoyne Women's Soccer Coach Arrested

From Syracuse.com:

The women's soccer coach at Le Moyne College has been arrested by Baldwinsville police, accused of sending sexually explicit cell phone messages to a 16-year-old girl who was a former player in a youth soccer club.

James A. Riverso, 28, has been charged with 11 counts of endangering the welfare of a child and eleven counts of disseminating indecent material to a minor.

The charges stem from a complaint from the girl Riverso allegedly sent numerous cell phone messages to when she was 16 years old, beginning in July of 2008. The girl, whose name was withheld by Baldwinsville police, is now 17.

"We are aware of the alleged incident and the College is cooperating fully with law enforcement on the investigation,'' said Joe Della Posta, Le Moyne College spokesman.

Riverso has been placed on paid administrative leave, Della Posta said.

Riverso, a former standout men's player at Le Moyne, had been a coach with the Syracuse Girls Football Club, a youth soccer organization. The victim had been a former player.

Riverso, who lives at 366 Craigie St., DeWitt, was arraigned and released on his own recognizance. He was issued an appearance ticket and scheduled to appear in Baldwinsville Village Court on June 10.

Riverso graduated from Le Moyne in 2002 with a degree in Sociology. He received his Masters Degree in Education from Le Moyne in 2005.

He was an assistant women's coach at Le Moyne from 2003 to 2005. Riverso became the head women's coach in 2006.

His Le Moyne teams have been honored for the last three seasons with the Northeast-10 Conference Sportsmanship Award.

Riverso spent the last five years as a staff coach with the Syracuse Football Club. He also served as the head coach for the Bishop Ludden modified boy's team in 2002.