What a crazy Thursday night for sports. You have a pair of NHL teams (Tampa and Philly) almost outscore the Thursday night football matchup between the Bears and Dolphins… and oh yeah, Western New England beat Curry in a thrilling, up-tempo 6-5 game in overtime. Check out the recap here. In the words of Jerry from the Seinfeld episode “The Old Man”: Wild, wild stuff.
Fun fact: I’ve covered four hockey games across various levels this season: three have gone to overtime (and the fourth was a frantic last second rally away from heading to the extra period.) What’s that worth? Probably not a whole lot. And now, on to the picks.
Midweek Picks Record: I didn’t have a chance to do any picks for the Thursday games, so I went 1-2 with the other picks, correctly picking Westfield State over Framingham State on Tuesday, while faltering in the Nichols/Becker and Johnson & Wales Wentworth games. (I had Nichols and Wentworth).
With that, by my count, my record for the year currently sits at 14-13. Here’s what I’ve got for the weekend.
Saturday 11/20
Becker at Curry: Interesting game here. Becker just handed Nichols their first lost of the year, while Curry is still looking for its first win and probably still back on it’s heals a bit after last night’s blow in OT. “You’re not going to win that many games when the other team wants it that much more,” Curry head coach Rob Davies said after the loss to the Golden Bears. With that being said, I think Curry prevails in a close one here. Curry 4, Becker 3
Salve Regina at Nichols: Salve was the last ECAC Northeast team to get underway, taking an 8-4 loss in their season opener against Suffolk. They’ll face a tough test in Nichols, who I think will bounce back from Tuesday’s loss. Nichols 5, Salve Regina 1
Fitchburg State at Salem State: A matchup of arguably two of the top teams in the MASCAC. Both enter with unblemished 3-0 records and honestly, this is a tossup. Salem State 5, Fitchburg State 3
Plymouth State at UMass-Dartmouth: After a twelve day layoff following their successful home opener against Southern New Hampshire, the Panthers faltered Thursday night against Salem State, falling 5-2. UMass-Dartmouth is off to a 3-0 start, but I think Plymouth will deal the Corsairs their first loss. Plymouth State 3, UMass-Dartmouth 2
Worcester State at Framingham State: Two teams each looking for their first wins, although Worcester does have a pair of ties in their first three games. Worcester State 2, Framingham State 1
Sunday 11/21
Johnson & Wales at Suffolk: The Wildcats have been a tough team to get a read on in the early going, but I think they’ll prevail here. J&W 6, Suffolk 3
Western New England at Wentworth: This a tough one. Two teams going in the opposite direction so far. WNEC is 3-0-1, while Wentworth checks in at 1-3-1. I’ve got to think WNEC’s win over Curry was a wakeup call for Wentworth (and the rest of the league) not to take the Golden Bears lightly. The Leopards will pull it together before the season is over, but I’m going with the hot hand right now. Western New England 4, Wentworth 3
Indianapolis at New England: Ok, not a college hockey pick but I can’t resist. Completely unbiased, non-homer pick here. New England 27, Indianapolis 21.
Enjoy the weekend and check back in this space on Monday for the recapand for the Thursday column, in which I’ll go into a little more detail about WNEC’s hot start.
