Geneva hockey crushes Cary-Grove
It looked like it was going to be a long night for Geneva's hockey team in its recent Metro Invitational Tournament contest with Cary-Grove at the Fox Valley Ice Arena.
The Trojans scored two goals on their first three shifts, with Zack Wand scoring on the opening drive and Mike Caponigro tallying two minutes later.
However, the Vikings righted their ship after the very next faceoff as Mike Leskun scored on a breakaway to make it 2-1. Rich MacDonald evened the score as he jammed a power-play shot past the goalie from the front of the crease. Then Brian Cornich put Geneva ahead with shot from the slot, and the Vikings never looked back.
In the second period, John McSpadden chipped in a Leskun rebound for a 4-2 lead. Hunter Shodeen followed when he took an Anthony Roesch pass behind the net and scored on the wrap-around. Nick Kling added another Geneva tally with a hard drive from the left circle, then Nick Leon scored on the power play, running the score to 7-2.
Geneva's momentum was slowed by penalties in the third period and Cary-Grove's Bill Rogers broke through for a score midway through the frame. But the Vikings held the line the rest of the way, and Leskun and Leon assisted each other on two last-minute goals for the final 9-3 score.
Jon Smarsh garnered the win in goal, stopping 20 of 23 shots, and Leon and Leskun each finished with 2 goals and 3 assists on the night.
Geneva improved its record to 3-0-1 in the MIT and to 13-2-7 overall.
Boys basketball
West on TV:ŒLive video of West Aurora's 7:15 p.m. home game Saturday against rival East Aurora will not only be on be available on computer, but also, for the first time, on local TV.
The game will be webcast at tv.sd129.org. Also, in a public-access television experiment, stations ACTV Channel 10 and FVTV Channel 17 plan to carry the video webcast, which should be similar in quality to that seen from "on the scene" newscasts.
The game also is on radio station WBIG 1280 AM.
Mike Chapin, the School District 129 community relations director, said viewers should keep in mind that the simultaneous Web and TV broadcast of the East/West game is experimental, but could become a model for future broadcasts of local community events.
Neal Ormond, the voice of the Blackhawks, will call the game along with WBIG's Jeff Hem and Jim Leo.
Colleges
Welton honored:ŒAurora University men's basketball standout, senior forward Larry Welton (Thornwood High School), was named the Northern Athletics Conference Men's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week.
On the week in which Welton earned the award, he had stellar performances that included Spartan wins at Rockford College (94-70) and Milwaukee School of Engineering (70-63). For the week Welton averaged 27.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.5 blocks per game.
Thus far on the season, Welton is averaging a team leading 21.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. He is quickly approaching the 2,000-point mark for his career, as he currently is 74 points away with 1,926. He ranks third on the AU all-time scoring list, 220 behind Clyde Oatis for second all-time.
Baseball
Aurora Hitting Camp: Aurora University will host a four-day camp from December 26-29 designed to improve players' hitting skills.
The camp, hosted by AU's Director of Athletics and former head baseball coach, Mark Walsh, offers three daily sessions.
Session 1 is from 8:15 am to 9:45 am for players ages 8-10. Session 2 is from 10 am to 11:30 am for players ages 11-13. Session 3 is from 1 pm to 230 pm for players ages 14-18.
The deadline to register is Dec. 21 and the cost is $80 for the first camper and $70 for each additional child in the family. For more information, call (630) 844-6181 or (630)844-5111 or e-mail ndano@aurora.edu.
Basketball
St. Charles North Holiday Camp: St. Charles North will be hosting basketball camps for kids between grades through eight from January 3-5, 2008. The gender-specific camps run at the same time in different gyms.
Students in grades three through five attend from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and students in grades six through eight attend from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. North Stars head coaches Tom Poulin and Katie Sauber will run the camps and current North Star players will be instructing.
The skill curriculum will include shooting, passing, dribbling, games and more. The cost is $25 per day, $75 for the full length.
Wrestling
Batavia's 50th Anniversary: The 2007-2008 season marks the 50th anniversary of wrestling at Batavia High School. Several events during the season will commemorate this mark.
The anniversary celebration will culminate at a quadrangular meet on Saturday, Jan. 5 at 9 a.m. at Batavia. There will be a reception at Riverview Banquets from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. all past wrestlers, coaches, cheerleaders, parents, and supporters of the program are invited.
For more info, contact coach Tom Arlis at (630) 879-9001 or visit www.bataviawrestling.com.