Marcus: No bowl for unbeaten Nassau CC

Despite an 11-0 record, the fifth-ranked Nassau CC football team will not go to a postseason bowl game, athletic director Mike Pelliccia said.

"We wanted to play someone who was highly ranked,'' Pelliccia said. "We were hoping for [sites] in Arizona or Texas.''

Junior college bowl games are sanctioned by the NJCAA but are run by local civic groups, such as the chamber of commerce. There is no firm playoff situation; bowl matchups and invitations are at the discretion of the host site. Nassau was unranked to start the season, and by the time it made its climb, the top teams already had been invited to the most notable bowls.

Nassau's options centered on playing schools that were ranked behind it. Because the competing schools have to come up with a significant portion of the expenses associated with travel, Nassau decided it made sense to play only a highly ranked opponent.

"Do we really want to play against an unranked opponent?'' first-year coach Jermaine Miles said. "It was kind of a lose-lose situation.''

Miles believes a better system could be instituted in the future. "The winner of each conference should be allocated specifically to a bowl,'' Miles said, "whether it be a union between two conference or what have you. I don't think that the number one team in a conference should be left without a bowl. There has to be some sort of agreement. I truly hate the fact that I wasn't able to take these kids to a bowl game. I honestly believe that they deserved it. This might have been - arguably, of course - this might have been the best Nassau team ever.''

Nassau used to host its own bowl game, but, Pellicccia said, the sponsor pulled out. "Plus,'' the AD added, "playing the game in December weather conditions could be anything - freezing, snowing.''

Miles has come up with a nice alternative for his team. The school will hold its first football banquet. "We'll get these guys some trophies,'' Miles said. "And award some public service.''

That will include a presentation to Norman Murray, 85, a former FBI agent who has been the team's public address announcer for years.

Pelliccia said he was thrilled with the efforts of Miles, a former player at Nassau. "He did a great job,'' he said. "How could you ask for anything more? My remark to him was where are you going to go from here?''

Said Miles, "At this point in time, I'm prepared to play against the best of the best.''

Hofstra women look for fourth victory

Led by sophomore forward Shante Evans, the Hofstra women's basketball team (3-1) hosts Fairfield (4-1) on Sunday. Hofstra has not played since an 80-76 road victory over Big East Conference member Providence on Nov. 22.

Evans had 26 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, two blocked shots and a steal against Providence. She is averaging 16.8 points and 10.5 rebounds.

Junior center Marie Malone is averaging 12.3 points and 6.8 rebounds and freshman guard Kate Loper is third on the team with an average of 11.0 points.

The Hofstra men's team hosts Towson (2-3) on Saturday in its first CAA game of the season. Charles Jenkins leads the Pride (3-3) in scoring with a 21.7 average and has 1,897 career points - 379 behind all-time leader Antoine Agudio.

In other games, the Stony Brook men's team is at Columbia on Saturday and the women's team hosts Iona on Sunday.

Stony Brook, Hofstra lacrosse in preseason poll

Stony Brook is ranked eighth and Hofstra ninth in the 2011 Inside Lacrosse Division I poll. Syracuse is ranked first.

Stony Brook opens its home season against Virginia on Feb. 26. The Seawolves and Cavaliers met in the NCAA Tournament last season. Virginia won, 10-9, before a sellout crowd of more than 10,000 fans at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium.

Hofstra hosts Colgate Feb. 15.

In Division II, two-time defending national champion C.W. Post was ranked No. 1 in the poll. Dowling was fourth and NYIT sixth. Post is 31-2 in the last two seasons.

SUNY Maritime lacrosse named three Long Islanders as team captains: Keith Messina (Sayville), Michael Hanratty (Floral Park) and Taylor Beaudette (Floral Park).

St. Joseph's to add outdoor facilities, start lacrosse program

Women's and men's lacrosse is on the way at St. Joseph's in Patchogue. The school is building a 23-acre outdoor complex about a mile away from the campus on Sunrise Highway. It will contain an artificial turf field for soccer and lacrosse, baseball and softball fields, tennis courts, a track and a field house. The women's lacrosse team will be formed first and is scheduled to start play in 2012. The men's team will follow a year later.

Stony Brook to host Final Four women's lacrosse

Stony Brook announced the sale of all-session passes for the Final Four of the 2011 NCAA Division I women's lacrosse championship to be held at LaValle Stadium May 27 and May 29.

Passes cost $20 for adults and $18 for children 12 and under. Group all-session passes also are available for $16, with a minimum purchase of 20 tickets.

To order, call 631-632-4513 or through the Stony Brook website GoSeawolves.org. Tickets also can be purchased at the Stony Brook ticket office between 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. The event is expected to sell out.

Locals compete in nationals

The St. Rose women's soccer team is in the NCAA Final Four in Louisville. The Albany school has a 23-0-1 record and is led by senior goalkeeper Deanna Esposito (Sayville), who was named the Northeast-10 goalie of the year. Freshman Sydney Bond (Deer Park) has 11 goals and nine assists. Allison Schmidt (St. John's the Baptist) and Kimberly Morton, formerly of Glen Cove, also are on the team. St. Rose has lost only once in the last 49 games. Last summer, St. Rose played in Europe against the Italian, French and Moroccan national teams, beating all three.

In volleyball, three-time All-American Melissa Vanderhall of Uniondale is competing for Tampa in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in Louisville.

Around the campuses

The Hofstra women's soccer team had four players named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-Mid-Atlantic Region team. Senior midfielder Tiffany Yovino became the first four-time All-Region selection in program history. Senior forward Salma Tarik joined Yovino on the first team. Junior midfielder Brittany Butts was named to the second team and junior midfielder Courtney Breen made third team . . . Billy Corrao was hired as volleyball coach at Molloy College. He had been an assistant at Adelphi the last four seasons. A former track and field athlete at St. John's University, Corrao coached volleyball at St. Anthony's High School from 2004-07. He was 32-5 and led the Friars to a pair of Catholic High School Athletic Association titles . . . Sophomore center Amanda Bender of St. Joseph's averaged 29.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals in two games. She scored 33 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had six steals against CCNY.