On Sunday, Oct. 23, Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) Women’sVolleyball defeated NECC Knights three sets to none in the semi finals at The David M. Bartley Center for Athletics & Recreation in Holyoke.
CCRI Knights won set one 25-19, won set two 25-18 and won the third and final set 25-14.
The winner of this game will play in the championship against Mass Bay or Holyoke.
The game officially started at 12:02 pm
In the first set Haileigh LaFlamme scored the first Knights points when the Knights were trailing 3-1.
The Knights went on to score four more points and take a 5-3 lead.
CCRI tied and took the lead but NECC fought back. When the game was tied at nine a nice save by Ashley Martinez of Lawrence prevented CCRI from scoring.
The game was 12-11 NECC trailing, but a spike from Caroline Burns of Haverhill tied it up at 12.
CCRI then took the lead and increased that lead by three.
The Knights of NECC were losing 21 to 16 when the timeout was called. CCRI was on a run against Knights.
NECC lost to CCRI 25 to 18.
In the second set the Knights of NECC were losing 2-0, but the Knights scored three straight points to make this game 3-2 in favor of NECC Knights.
NECC Knights vs CCRI Knights semifinals Photo by Editor-in-Chief / Sports Editor Jose Rodriguez
The game unfortunately was tied at five after CCRI took the lead. The Knights of NECC did not read the ball if it was in or out. When the ball is out and you don’t touch it, it means the point goes to your team but if it was in and you don’t touch it the point goes to the other team.
After the game I interviewed NECC Knight Women’s Volleyball head coach Mike Pelosi of Haverhill and we talked about reading the ball.
“It wasn’t a pattern that I noticed but what I would say about that is we got percentages and we go off our best guess, so we never know, not even the person hitting the ball and serving the ball know where it is going to land so defensively we tried to read patterns and tried to read the trajectory, we tried to read the spin and in or flow with the ball and make an educated guess where is going in or out,” said Pelosi.
The Knights of NECC were down by five, they were losing 13 to 8.
CCRI’s largest lead of the game so far is 11 when they were down 19 to 8. Who was down 19 to 8, I am a bit confused of whether it is CCRI leading or NECC leading at that point.
CCRI increased that lead to 12 when they were losing 21-9.
“I think that CCRI had a very strong roster this year, and I think that’s credit to the coach, they did a good job recruiting and he did a great job training his team, …. CCRI played today, (it’s)very clear to me
that they were practicing and developing with intensity and I have no doubt if I work (at) one of his practices I (would) see the players sprinting around the entire time they (were) very focused…” said Coach Pelosi.
The Knights of NECC were on a 5-1 run when CCRI coach called a time out.
The Knights of NECC were still down 22-14 and they lost the second set 25-18.
In the third set the Knights of NECC got a few points early to begin the set.
Heather Walsh of Harwich made a nice block from keeping the Knights of CCRI from scoring.
On Saturday Oct. 22, the NECC Knights defeated Bristol Community College 1-0at Ronald F. Arieta Football field in Taunton.
The game started at 4:30 p.m.
In the 17th minutes of the game the Knights had an opportunity to strike first. Sam De Amorim of Methuen shot the ball, but it was saved by the goalkeeper as the Knights did not score.
De Amorim was arguing with the referee, also few other players as well, that Bristol touched the ball but it didn’t gone the Knights favor. Other players was arguing as well.
In 26 minutes De Amorim scored the only goal for the Knights, that it was the game changer in the game that goal was the difference of the game. De Amorim also scored three goals two days prior in the Oct. 22 contest against Bristol.
Knights soccer in a match against Bay Hawks Photo by Editor-in-Chief / Sports Editor Jose Rodriguez
“(He’s) been a big player you know for us, definitely big that we got the result today, definitely not easy very difficult, so it is what it is we got the win though,” said Coach Eusebio Morate.
The Knights had four shots on goal and Bristol five shots on goal. The Knights had four fouls, Bristol five, the Knights had two offside, Bristol none. Bristol had four corner kicks while Knights none.
In the 53rd minute of the game Jaden Shaut of Haverhill almost scored on a corner kick as the ball curved and hit the post.
The Knights had their first corner kick of the game in the 58 minutes of the game.
The Knights weren’t playing aggressive throughout the entire game.
In the 64th minute, there was nice save by Anhuar Ramos Garcia of Nashua, N.H.
The Knights had a yellow card in the 74th minutes of the game.
The referee wasn’t consistent for the entire match.
“It’s just a couple calls that make no sense to me and they know it wasn’t 50/50 and they call for the other team so that (got) me pissed a little bit…” said De Amorim.
The Knights had two shots on goal and Bristol eight shots on goal. Bristol also had four fouls and the Knights two. Both teams also had three corner kicks.
On Thursday Oct. 20, Great Bay Community College defeated NECC Knights three sets to none in Portsmouth N.H.
The Knights lost set one and set two identical 25-23, and they lost the third and final set 25-21.
After a long intro ceremony of Great Bay senior Anna Layfield of Portsmouth N.H. final regular season game it was now time for volleyball action.
The game officially started at 6:13.
It was back and forth game in the beginning of the first set.
Caroline Burns of Haverhill scored the first point of the game, a spike by Kaithlene Perez-Flores tied at five.
The Knights made a few more points but they were trailing. A tip by Burns tied this game at 8 a piece.
The Knights were up by two the score was 10 to 8.
Great Bay came back to tie the game at 12.
The Knights were up by two when they had a 16 to 14 lead over Great Bay.
It was a good match up in the first set, either team could’ve won it, it could’ve gone either way.
The Knights were up 20 to 18 and needed five more points to win the set.
The game was tied 22-22 after assistant head coach, coach Marissa Reardon called a timeout.
After the time out Great Bay went on a 3-1 run to defeat the Knights 25-23 on set one.
The Knights’ momentum in the beginning of the sets was good but in the middle and the end of the set the momentum shifted into a negative way.
“Yep, that happened throughout the sets, we had enough stamina through the beginning and by the end we kinda keep losing it and I think that definitely affects the score,” Coach Reardon said.
In the second set Great Bay started off a little hot.
Great Bay was out of order, the point was awarded to the Knights, Great Bay was up by three, the Knights were losing 9 to 6.
Knights in action against Great Bay Photo by Editor-in-Chief / Sports Editor Jose Rodriguez
The Knights scored the next three points, including two of them from Heather Walsh of Harwich.
The game was tied at nine and at 10 apiece.
The Knights took a one-point lead over Great Bay and they increased that score by three.
The Knights had a 13-10 lead.
Great Bay scored a few points to inch even closer.
Great Bay then took advantage of some miscommunication for the Knights.
The Knights were up 23-18, two points away from winning the set.
Great Bay went on a 7-0 run to beat the Knights and had commending two sets to none lead.
“I don’t think we were in the correct position I think that definitely affected the scoring,” Reardon said.
In the third set the Knights were down 4-0, which means Great Bay had a 11-0 run going back to the end of the second set that Great Bay finished 7-0.
Ashley Martinez of Lawrence scored the first point of the Knights.
The Knights started a run on their own, the Knights went on a 5-0 run to take 5-4 lead over Great Bay.
Great Bay bounced back and was up by two.
Burns hit the ball to made it 9-8 as the Knights were losing by a point, Perez-Flores tied and Martinez give the Knights the lead.
Just like that the Knights had a 10-9 lead.
Eventually Great Bay was up 14 to 13 when coach Reardon called a timeout.
Great Bay then increased that lead to five.
The Knights cut Great Bay deficit by two as they were losing 22-18.
The Knights lost in set three 25-21 and lost in three straight sets.
I asked coach Reardon what happened during the game — the Knights beat this team back in the Sport and Fitness Center on Oct. 13, three sets to one.
“Yeah, I guess you have good games and you have bad games and I think this is the game that we could’ve won but I don’t think we played the best that we could’ve,” Reardon said.
On Tuesday Oct 18, NECC Knights lost three sets to two against Massasoit Community College in Brockton.
The Knights lost the first set 25-10, they lost the second set 25-20, the Knights won the third and the forth set identical 25-18 but they felt short in the fifth set 15 to 7.
The game officially started 7:40.
Warriors was up in fast gate against the Knights.
Warriors scored the first six point to begin the game before the Knights scored the next two.
The Knights was down by 12 they were losing 14 to 4 when assistant head coach Marissa Reardon called a timeout.
“I don’t know, I don’t have really excuses for that but I guess we just didn’t played our best I told them and they need to step it up for the rest of the sets,” said assistant head coach Marissa Reardon of Lawrence.
Kaithlene Perez-Flores of Lowell spike the ball for a few times during the first set but it was out and the warriors was awarded with the point.
The Knights didn’t have nothing to show for in the first set as they were losing 19 to 5.
The Knights got three more point but the deficit was to large for the Knights.
The Knights lost the first set 25-10 against Massasoit.
Knights vs Massasoit volleyball Photo by Editor-in-Chief / Sports Editor Jose Rodriguez
In the second set the Knights had their first lead of the game by scoring the first two points.
Warriors tied but the Knights bounce back by scoring the next seven points the Knights were on a 10-2 run against Warriors.
“Yeah, I think on that one we were starting to get our stamina back and I feel like some games you have a really rough first set and as the sets goes on they started to wake up a little bit more so that’s what happened on that set,” she said.
The Knights was up 12 to 4 the Knights was up by eight.
The scored was 14 to 9 when Anny Lommete of Lawrence pass out.
It was a long delay the referee told both teams to practice for a little before play resume.
Warriors was on a 5-0 run to tied the game at fourteen and they took the lead.
The Knights was down by three when they tied the game at 18.
The Warriors was on a 7-2 run to finished the second set.
In the third set the Knights was down a little early losing 6 to 3.
The Knights were working hard to set the points that they needed as they were down a run 9 to 8 in favor of the warriors.
The Knights tied the game at 9 and took the lead.
Eventually it was a back and forth game in the third set.
A miscommunication of the Knights Warriors took advantage to tied at 14.
The Knights was in a run as they increased their lead to six the Knights was up 20 to 14.
The Knights increased their advantage as they were three points away from winning the third set.
The Knights won set three 25-18.
In the forth set the Knights was on a 6-2 run to start the set.
Warriors tied the game at eight.
The Knights and Warriors played back and forth game.
The Knights was up by two as they increased their lead to four.
Warriors was fighting back a little but the Knights never quite as they were up 20 to 15 they were five points away from forcing a set five in Brockton.
They did just that the Knights came back down two sets to none to force a decisive set five.
I ask assistant head coach Reardon how big was coming down two sets to none and hopefully winning the fifth set that they came close but they didn’t ?
“I mean I don’t know I feel after the middle two sets were identical. I felt like the girls did very well they just kept their stamina up they work on communicating” Reardon said. “I felt like they played okay for the fifth set but I definitely see them play a little bit harder in the first set,” she said.
The Knights are looking to comeback two sets to none and win the game just like the did over the weekend on Oct. 15 against Bulldogs on their first game of the tri-match.
When the fifth and final set of the game begins the warrior scored the first two before the Knights scored a point.
The Knights was losing 10 to 6.
Knights comeback felt short in Brockton as they lost the fifth set 15 to 7.
On Saturday Oct 15, NECC Knights Volleyball defeated Mass Bay Community College in three straight sets in the second game of their tri-match and won both games of their doubleheader.
The Knights won the first two sets identical 25-16 and won the third set 25-17.
The Knights faced Mass Bay back in Newton on Oct. 6, when the Knights won three straight sets back in their place.
During the Knights warm up before the second game of their tri-match Ashly Martinez of Lawrence was down on the floor for several minutes and the trainer had to come and check on her but the good thing was she was ready to go in the beginning of the first set.
“She ended up getting a few muscle spasms so we had to wait for a few minutes so by the time the first set was about to start she was able to play so we were able to put her on the set,” said assistant head coach Marissa Reardon.
The game officially started at 3:48 pm.
The Knights started the game on a 5-1 run over Mass Bay a nice serve by Heather Walsh of Harwich that the ball just snuck in to made it 7-3.
I asked Reardon about the run that the Knights had “Yes, that we did that was definitely helpful to our outside hitter for helping out she (Kaithlene Perez-Flores) has a great serve so that’s definitely work,” said Reardon.
The Knights were up 12-5, they were up by seven when Mass Bay decided to call a timeout.
The Knights increased their lead by 10, they were up 19 to 9.
The score was 20-13 in favor of the Knights when the Knights were out of rotation.
The Knights had three total out of rotation during the game against Mass Bay.
Kaithlene Perez-Flores of Lowell made it 24-16, it was a set point for the Knights as Mass Bay hit the ball out and the Knights won set one 25-16 to Mass Bay.
Eliany Dejesus of Lowell set up Caroline Burns of Haverhill for a spike Photo by Editor-in-Chief/ Sports Editor Jose Rodriguez
In the second set the Knights were down early the Knights were looking to rally against Mass Bay. The Knights did just that, the Knights didn’t just tie they took the lead.
The Knights increased their lead to five when Perez-Flores was serving. It was 15-10 with three points that she scored made it 18-10 as they were up by eight.
A spike by Caroline Burns of Haverhill made it 21-11 in favor of the Knights.
Burns gave the finishing touches in set two, she tapped the ball with her two hands up. The ball went in as the Knights took care of business in the first two sets and had a commanding two sets to none lead.
In the third set the Knights hadn’t got a lead early in the match until they tied the game at 9 and took a 11 to 9 lead over Mass Bay.
Mass Bay went on a run against the Knights.
I asked Reardon about the slow start the Knights had in the third set.
“ I think our stamina was there in the first two sets and I think it declined a little bit in the beginning of the third (set) but I was very grateful they were able to pick it up at the end of the third set to win the game,” said Reardon.
The Knights were looking to rally after the time out and they did just that. They tied the game at 17.
The Knights took the lead as Perez-Flores passed it over to Martinez for a spike to make it 18 to 17.
The Knights went on a run late in the third set to defeat Mass Bay three set to none. 25-17 was your final for set three.
I ask Ashley Dominguez of Lawrence how is it fell having two wins in one game ?
“It feels amazing to see our team has grown and we have a connection know we played better know it’s just amazing the feeling is great,” she said.
On Saturday Oct. 15, NECC Knights defeated the Bulldogs three sets to two In the first game of a tri-match against Bunker Hill Community College.
The Knights lost the first set 25-18, the Knights won the second set 27-25, the Knights lost the third set 25-17, the Knights won the fourth set 25-21 and the Knights won the decisive set five 15-9.
The last time the Knights faced the Bulldogs prior to this matchup was in Sept. 29. That didn’t go well for the Knights way back in Charlestown as they were knocked around in three straight set.
“We find a few different focuses for the game and I feel like getting some different ones definitely work so I think definitely that helped them win,” said Assistant head coach Marissa Reardon.
The game officially started at 11:03 a.m.
The Knights was down 3-1 to start this contest but they tied the game at three.
A good save by Caroline Burns of Haverhill for the Knights prevented the Bulldogs from scoring.
A good spike by Burns put this game 8-5 in favor of the Knights. The Bulldogs rotation was wrong to put this game 9-6 in favor of the Knights.
The Bulldogs went on a 10-0 run against the Knights before the Knights finally could attack a run.
The Knights were down by nine 23-14 when the Knights called a timeout.
After the timeout the Knights settled in a little, the Knights scored two more and the Bulldogs one more to make this game 24-16 and a spike by Burns made this game 24-17 but it wasn’t enough as the Knights lost the first set 25-18.
“Definitely after the first set we were definitely pushing the girls we did try a different rotation and again rotations are hit and miss on how it i going to go in. Certain rotation work and certain parts of the rotation don’t work,” said Reardon.
Knights volleyball game one against Bunker Hill Photo by Editor-in-Chief / Sports Editor Jose Rodriguez
In the second set Bulldogs were on a 4-0 run before Burns spike made it 4-1. The Knights scored the next two points to make it 4-3 in favor of the Bulldogs. The Knights eventually tied the game at seven but couldn’t take the lead.
Kaithlene Perez-Flores of Lowell spike tied the game at eight.
The Bulldogs went on a run against the Knights. The Knights were down by four when they came back to tie the game at 13.
The Knights were s down by five, they were losing 20 to 5 when coach Reardon called a timeout.
After the time out the Knights settled in and make this game close. Perez-Flores was serving and made two straight points.
The Knights were up 25-24 and needed one more point to win, but instead the Bulldogs tied it at 25.
The Knights made the next two and won the second set 27-25.
In the third set the Knights were down three to one when they tied the game and took the lead 4-3. The Knights were up 5-3 when Bunker Hill scored three straight point to make it 6 to 5. The Knights eventually tied the game.
It was a good game early in the third set back and forth battle. The Knights were down by four 17-13 when coach Reardon called a timeout.
The Bulldog went on a run to increase the lead over the Knights.
The Bulldogs won set three over the Knights 25-17.
In set four the Knights were down early but they came back to tie the game at 7.
The Knights made it 10-7.
The Knights were up 16-12 when the Bulldogs’ miscommunicated as the ball landed between them.
The Knights called a time out when they were winning by three, six points away from winning the set.
The Bulldogs came back and made it a one point game as they took the lead 20-19.
The Knights tied the game at 21 as the ball was in.
Burns took the lead as they were up 22-21 with a spike.
I had a chance to talk to Burns after the game and talk to her about her performance.
“I think I just really want them to beat them since they beat us last time. So I tried to put my A game and get excited. It’s hard to get excited early in the morning but we all kinda hyped each other up and it’s also nice that your teammates are comforting and cheering you on,” said Burns.
Burns also said that they were working on stamina, to communicate better and work together as a team as a whole.
The Knights late in the game went on a 7-2 run to finish the set as they won 25-21 and forced a decisive set five.
In the decisive set five you need to win by 15 points to win the set.
In the beginning of the fifth set it was a good battle, back and forth game before the Knights increased their lead by three as they were up 8 to 5 and both teams switch sides.
The Knights were up 12 to 8 when the Bulldog coach called a timeout.
The Knights went on to win the decisive game five 15 to 9.
On Friday Oct. 14, Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI Knights) defeated NECC Knights 3 to 1 to snap the soccer Knights four game winning streak.
Knights had a four game winning streak coming into Oct. 14 contest in the Haverhill campus.
It was a return of Coach First Name Marote who had missed a few games because he was sick.
“Yeah, you know it was definitely hard. I was actually watching sideline from a far in my vehicle keeping eye on my team and you know our assistant coach did very well the last two matches pick up a couple win,” said Marote.“ So that’s always a great thing, you know our coaching staff here we believe everyone who is part of it from me to my assistant coaches and my goalkeeper coach. So it was good I am happy to be back, a nice beautiful day big game in conference today, it can factor a lot of things for us if we win today.”
The game was supposed to start at 3:30 but the CCRI Knights did not arrive until 3:50, 20 minutes after the start time.
The game officially started at 4:04.
In the fifth minutes of the game Sam De Amorim of Methuen almost scored as he kicked it directly to the goaltender.
NECC Knights soccer vs CCRI Knights Photo by Editor-in-Chief / Sports Editor Jose Rodriguez
In the 20th minute of the game Fadi Serhan of Middleton missed an opportunity that would’ve put up the Knights 1-0, but instead he over kicked as the Knights missed that opportunity to take the lead.
In the twenty minutes Juan Barrios of Pawtucket, R.I. scored the first goal of the game an assist of his brother Roy Barrios of Pawtucket, R.I.
In the 25th minute of the game the referee gave Cam’ron Aldana of Providence, R.I., a yellow card.
The Knights had few opportunities in the first half but couldn’t cash in as they missed a few opportunities.
In the first half the NECC Knights had eight shots on goal and CCRI had five. Both teams had at least one corner kick in the first half. CCRI Knights had six fouls while NECC Knights had four. The NECC Knights had two offside while CCRI Knights had one. NECC Knights had eight saves while CCRI Knights had four.
In the second half in the 74 minutes Wilson Penafiel of Providence, R.I. scored on an assist from Juan Barrios.
In the 81 minutes Penafiel scored the second goal of the ball game in an assist fromf Aaron Ramos of Warwick.
One minute later, Casey Darcey of Warwick, R.I., was issued a yellow card.
In the second half CCRI Knights had seven shots on goal while the NECC Knights had four. CCRI Knights had four corner kick while NECC Knights had two. NECC Knights had seven fouls while CCRI Knights had one. NECC Knights had five saves and CCRI had four.
On Thursday Oct. 13, NECC Knights defeated Great Bay Community College three sets to one.
The Knights lost set one 25-20 and came back to win the next three sets, set two 25-21, set three 26-24 and on the fourth set 25-15.
The game officially started 6:32 pm.
The Knights scored the first three points of the game before Great Bay scored the next three to tie it up at 3.
The Knights were up 7 to 5 before Great Bay evened the score apart at 7.
The Knights were down a point when Ashley Dominguez of Lawrence tied the game at 11.
It was a good battle early in the contest between these two teams.
The Knights were looking to get themselves into the game when Caroline Burns of Haverhill spiked the ball to make it 19-17 still in favor of Great Bay.
Great Bay was on a run against the Knights as the Knights fell short 25-20 in the first set.
“Definitely, the first set I felt it was a little rocky but I feel like the girls definitely pulled out of a hole they were in when it comes to point,” said assistant head coach Marissa Reardon.
In the second set the Knights were up 3-2 when Great Bay called an unusual early timeout way too quickly in the second set.
After the time out Great Bay went on a 5-0 run against the Knights.
After that the Knights scored the next three to put this game 7 to 6. Great Bay missed up the order to tie the game up at seven.
The Knights was up 12 to 9 when Ashley Martinez of Lawrence hit the ball and the ball barely went in to make it 13 to 9.
The momentum shifted he Knights’ way as they started to get into a run and were looking to blow it open in the second set.
The Knights were winning 13 to 9 as they increased that lead to 20 to 14. The Knights were five points away from winning the set.
The Knights increased their lead to 8, that lead Great Bay to shorten that lead a little bit but the Knights won the second set 25-21 to tie the series up 1-1.
“The second set it was a lot better they fixed a lot of the mistakes that we talked about in between the sets and I thought it went really well,” Reardon said.
In the third set Martinez did a great save from preventing Great Bay from scoring to make it 2-0 in favor of the Knights. Great Bay went on a 7-0 run before coach Reardon called a time out.
Kathleen Perez Flores of Lowell made it 11-9, she tip the ball with both of her hands up and the ball went in.
The Knights were up 16 to 14 but eventually Great Bay tied up at 17.
The Knights were up 19 to 17 before Great Bay tied the game and took a 20- 19 lead.
At the end of the third set it got pretty intense as the Knights defeated Great Bay 26-24 in the third set.
In the fourth set with the Knights winning two set to one over Great Bay.
The Knights were down 8 to 6 before they tied the game and took the lead 9 to 8.
When the Knights have that 9 to 8 lead Great Bay had no chance to defeat the Knights.
The Knights went on a 10-2 run against Great Bay to put this game at 19 to 10 as the Knights were 6 points away from winning the set.
Great Bay was looking for a comeback but the Knights would not allow that to happen in their house as the Knights defeated Great Bay 25 to 15.
On Wednesday Oct. 12, the NECC Knight’s men’s basketball held media day at 3 p.m. in the Sport and Fitness center in the Haverhill campus.
Their 2022-23 campaign is set to begin on Nov. 4 against New Hampshire Tech at 7:15 p.m. The Knights will play the first six games on the road before their home opener on Nov. 17 against Quincy College.
Ashton Ventola of Danville, N.H., played 23 games for the Knights last season. He is currently majoring in exercise science transfer.
Ventola said he is working hard during the offseason to get prepared for the season. “Just keeping my body right, definitely been incorporating a lot more weight training. I’ve gained fifteen pounds of muscle in the offseason definitely a significant increase,” he said. “Just also keep hitting the gym and just keep my work ethic up you know working on my skills, my ball handling, my guard skills, shooting, finishing around the rim all of that stuff like that.”
Ventola is most looking forward this upcoming season to winning Region 21 and make it to the nationals. “…We know we can make it there, we can compete I’m just trying to do my part to help my team win…”he said.
A personal goal for Ventola that he has for this upcoming season is working on his game and transferring to a four-year school to continue playing basketball.
I asked Ventola of how he thinks his experience is going to be playing in Long Island, N.Y., and in Newark, N.J., as the Knights is set to play a weekend match against Suffolk County Community College and Essex County College.
“Is going to be fun that’s all I got to say, make some noise, you know help my team make some noise, you know put us in the map outside of Region 21, the end goal like I said win a championship and my own goal is to move on to a four year. I know I can, my teammates know I can (there are) new faces this year… the mission is the same go get that chip” Ventola said.
Mike Diaz of Lawrence is a freshman business transfer major. He told me that he has been playing basketball since he was 6-years-old. “I had no offers coming into NECC and I chose this because my previous basketball coach told me this is going to be a great opportunity for me and NECC basketball coach took me in and it was history ever since that,” he said.
A skill that he has that it could be a game changer is his sportsmanship and his communication communications, he said. “ I feel like my sportsmanship is top tier and my communication skills and I am a leader even though I am one of the younger guys I still have that leadership from me coming from high skills and I feel that could help the team,” Diaz said.
He is most looking forward during the season is to get better everyday and to have as much film as possible.
Darlin Santiago of Salem he is a freshman a newcomer for the Knights majoring in business.
NECC Knights 2022-23 team photo during media day Photo by Editor-in-Chief/ Sports Editor Jose Rodriguez
He told me that he had other offers to play somewhere else. “I (have) been playing basketball since I was 5 years old,” Santiago said. “I had other offers other JUCCOS, COVID year missed up my grades so this is one of the best options I had so that’s why I picked Northern Essex,” he said.
A skill that he has on the table is he can find guys that are open so he can pass it to his teammates and score on open shots, he said.
He is working on his defense and his conditioning to improve before Nov. 4, which is the Knights first game of the season.
He is most looking forward to having that bond with his teammates and knowing the coaches better.
Philip Cunningham of Haverhill is a business major in his second year for the Knights as he is getting ready for the upcoming season last season he played 26 games.
“I really just being in the gym lifting, going on workouts and playing more for my teammates and others to be prepared for the season,” he said.
Other than wining region 21 Cunningham is looking for his team to go undefeated.
NECC Knights men’s basketball head coach is Darren Stratton, Stratton last season took the Knights to the Region 21 championship game.
I asked him if he had enough sleep during the offseason and hopefully the team that he and his coaching staff have has improved from the previous season.
“Yeah I think my biggest thing Jose, was I didn’t get enough sleep during the offseason part of coaching is once one season is over the another one begins,” said Stratton. “You know the lost to CCRI (Community College of Rode Island)in the Regional championship game kinda motivate us a little bit more in the aspect knowing what type of kids that we need to recruit what type of players we needed to add to the upcoming roster in order to get better … I’m excited for the upcoming 2022-23 season and hopefully we can build upon that is a new season and hopefully we can grow as a basketball team,” he said.
Stratton and I talked a little bit about the roster and how a certain player made the roster and also the decision of cutting players.
“… We (are) carrying a really large number this year. We (are)carrying 21 guys that we felt that we had close to 40 kids ether involved or trying to try out. We cut down to 21 kids but we (are) holding a couple of redshirt candidates as well, (those kids are) going to practice with us but not be able to play during the games, so I am a little skeptical carrying such a large number of our kids but we are going to try to work on the aspect of, give the guys the reps that we think they are going to play a lot and continue with it, while maybe those other guys that are in the bench could earn a spot or earn some time in the basketball court but right now we (are)carrying 21 guys so that’s what we going to continue with for the upcoming season …” Stratton said.
“Yes it is extremely difficult (cutting players) I’m going to be honest with you that’s the worst part of this job is making those tough decisions to try to put a team together. Sometimes I learned over the years I used to try to keep all of the best players and I was pretty successful so I tried to find an even balance of hardworking kids, talented players and try to find the right balance for that. Also I take into account that if I think a player is going to make the team but not seeing a lot of playing time as potential down the road I will probably have not played this year so we can develop (them) and make an easy transition for next year…” Stratton said.
Stratton also kept all of his returns that were on the last season and had an honest conversation with some of them.
Stratton told me that right now the team is figuring out their way to work as a team as a whole and be united.
Stratton is excited that the team is going to a weekend in New York and in New Jersey to play two different college basketball teams. “I’m excited about it Dan (Blair) and I had a conversation at the end of the season with us losing the region championship we were up for a large bid for the national tournament and the one knock on us was that we didn’t play (a) tough enough schedule,” he said. “Our strength schedule was weak they didn’t consider the teams from New Hampshire Tech conference as reliable opponents so what we did is Dan (Blair) and I sat down and we tried to create one of the toughest schedules that we can play. Inn order to do that you have to play teams that were out of your Region that are Region 15, some rank opponents and that’s what we trying to do. Going down to Long Island in New York to play Suffolk (County Community College) is going to be extremely difficult but what I think the kids is going to be up for the challenge and travel to division two Essex (County College) which have all scholarship kids is going to be difficult for us there but I think also is going to be extremely beneficial for us because it is going to put us on an overnight trip where we are forced to get a long and get a chance to know each other better by being on those trips. I’m looking forward to it… Stratton said.
Stratton and I talked about TD Turkey Classic that is going to take place during Thanksgiving weekend.
“Dan (Blair) and I, that’s another thing Dan wanted to do, he’s been a fabulous AD I couldn’t ask for a better athletic director to work for. I (have) worked for four different ones here at the college. So Dan and I got a great relationship in the aspect of he wants the best of the student athletes not only athletics but academically, also he wants the opportunity to play top notch programs so Dan asked my opinion on the Turkey Classic in Thanksgiving and I was all in and all for it from the beginning and we will able to get Suffolk up here and (SUNY) Adirondack, top two programs out of New York to come up here and play what I think one of the top teams in our region with us and Bunker Hill I think coming here and being able to compete against them is only beneficial for our Region to show what capable talent our region has as well…” Stratton said.
NECC’s Career Services office is here to be a resource to students at all stages of their academic journey and career development, and to support recent alumni after graduation.
Many aspects of career development are helpful to start early and we encourage students to connect with us.
We have career exploration resources to help those who are undecided research and learn about different occupational areas and set career goals and plans.
We also have tools and support to help those who already know the path they want to go and are ready for their next steps.
Career development is a process best started early to maximize opportunities and includes:
• career exploration and identifying interests, values, and priorities
• researching companies, occupations, and industries
• understanding networking: what it is, how to do it, and why it’s so important
• preparing targeted job search tools such as resumes, cover letters, and online profiles
• utilizing LinkedIn
• developing and practicing interviewing skills
• job and internship search strategies
• using the Handshake platform
• and more!
We encourage students to use the many free resources offered by NECC, including Handshake.
It is the #1 way college students get hired and is a great tool to use long before you are job or internship searching to learn about companies, attend virtual events, understand different fields, and hear what employers are looking for. It’s also a great place to start networking, an area that is important to start early.
Another place to start networking is right here at NECC.
The faculty and staff here want to help you succeed and the students that you interact with in your Academic Center and your classes are the people who are going to be working in your field.
Building your network with these connections helps you stay in touch and maintain these valuable contacts and we are here to help with all of these things!
To meet with Career Services, schedule an appointment through Navigate or reach out at careerservices@necc.mass.edu.
Appointments are available on Zoom or in-person at either campus in the Career Services office or the Academic Centers.
Access Handshake at https://app.joinhandshake.com/edu or through the link on the Career Services page of the NECC website and log in with your NECC credentials.
Reach out any time if we can be of any assistance, we look forward to working with you!
