The Portland Press Herald / The Maine Sunday Telegram

COLLEGE CONNECTIONS

Geoghegan exemplifies
the value of hard work

By Mike Lowe mlowe@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

Mike Maker, the men's basketball coach at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., didn't know much about Joe Geoghegan when he took over the Ephs' program two years ago. Now he wishes he had more players like Geoghegan, a four-year starter at forward from Cape Elizabeth.

click image to enlarge

Joe Geoghegan

Select images available for purchase in the
Maine Today Photo Store

"He is the cog or the hub of what we do," said Maker. "He's the ultimate team player. And as good a player as Joe is, he's a better person."

Geoghegan is one of seven seniors playing for Williams (29-1), which will play in the NCAA Division III Final Four this weekend in Salem, Va. The season, he said, "validates all the four years of hard work we've put in to get to this position."

And nobody has worked harder than Geoghegan. He played just 11 games his junior year because of a variety of injuries. He injured his knee on a summer trip to Italy. After one game back, he broke his right hand. He returned late in the season and broke his left leg.

"It was frustrating and disappointing," said Geoghegan. "But I knew how talented and close our (senior) class was. I knew if we stayed together, we'd be really good."

That attitude and his work ethic showed Maker just what type of person Geoghegan was.

"Through all of last year, through all the injuries and surgeries, Joe remained the ultimate teammate and a quality human being," said Maker. "You learn a lot about someone when they go through adversity. Joe was an inspiration to his teammates and peers.

"He's a wonderful young man and contributed greatly to our program He's going to be difficult to replace."

Maker thinks so much of Geoghegan that he named two offensive plays after him, sort of. They're called "Moose" and "Lobster," references to Geoghegan's Maine heritage. Both put him in position to either get the ball for an offensive move in the low post or set the pick for another shooter.

"He takes great pride in being from Maine," said Maker, whose family also has ties to Maine.

Geoghegan also takes pride in his rebounding. Entering the weekend, he is fifth on Williams' career rebounding list with 743. If he gets six, he'll move into third place, not bad considering he missed most of one season.

This season Geoghegan is averaging a team-high 8.2 rebounds along with 7.2 points. His scoring average is about four points less than in the past, but he's all right with that. The Ephs have two prolific scorers in Blake Schultz (19.0 ppg) and James Wang (17.3).

"I've sort of found a niche where I'm most helpful to the team, getting rebounds," said Geoghegan. "My job is to prevent the good rebounders on the other team from getting offensive rebounds, and to get offensive rebounds for our team. Every offensive rebound I get is another possession for us."

Geoghegan added that winning means much more to him.

"I've been in both situations," he said. "Games where I've had good stats and the team loses and games where I've had no stats and the team wins. I know the latter feels better, especially now. I'll do whatever it takes to win."

The 22-year-old Geoghegan has had a moment of glory for the Ephs. It came in his freshman year when he tipped in a rebound with 15.7 seconds left to lift Williams to a 70-69 victory over top-ranked Amherst for the NESCAC championship. Amherst, which had twice beaten the Ephs by 20 points in the regular season, went on to win the national title.

"We ran a play for our best shooter, the ball came off the rim, I was in the right place at the right time," he said. "It's something I'll always remember, cutting down the nets on our rival's home court, like I'll always remember cutting the nets down on our home court this year.

"It's very nice to have those bookends on my college career. The key now is not to be content, to not be satisfied."

After graduation in May, Geoghegan will travel to Los Angeles and Hollywood where he hopes to "pursue a life in the entertainment and film industry."

He's an economics major with a lifelong love of movies.

"It's not something I planned," he said. "A lot of my friends got jobs on Wall Street and have really good jobs. I've had interviews with a lot of those people, but it seemed more interesting to do something with films rather than spending two, three years crunching numbers and then having to go back to school."

FENCING

Temple sophomore Cara Taggersell of Kennebunk finished 10th in women's foil in the NCAA Division I Mid-Atlantic/South Regionals last weekend at Drew University. Seeded 18th, she was one of four Owls that made the final pool. She also was undefeated in the National Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association championships.

HOCKEY

Lawrence University sophomore forward Sam Johnson of Portland (Cheverus) was named to the Midwest College Hockey Association all-academic team.

• Hobart freshman goalie Nick Broadwater of Portland (Junior Bruins) was named ECAC West rookie of the year. Broadwater went 10-8-3 for the Statesmen with a 2.41 goals-against average and .925 save percentage. He had one shutout.

MEN'S LACROSSE

Junior midfielder Ryan Oakes of North Yarmouth (Cheverus) is off to a good start for Susquehanna in Selinsgrove, Pa. Oakes, who led the team with 147 faceoff wins as a sophomore, along with 96 ground balls (second on the team), is again the leader in faceoff wins with 39. He has also collected 15 ground balls.

• Junior long-stick midfielder Cody Powers of Scarborough has one goal and five ground balls in two games for Wheaton. Sophomore defender Conor Finn of Kennebunk has one ground ball and junior midfielder Drew Kirstein of Scarborough has appeared in one game.

• Plymouth State senior attack Adam Rothbart of Portland (Deering) scored a goal in the Panthers' season-opening loss to Connecticut College.

• Merrimack senior attack Bryan MacPhie of Scarborough has three goals and four assists in four games for the Warriors.

WOMEN'S LACROSSE

Keene State junior attack Lauren Sawyer of Westbrook was the Little East Conference offensive player of the week. She had 12 points, including nine assists, in two games.

• Freshman midfielder Ellie Cole of Lyman (Waynflete) is on Colgate's roster.

• Senior midfielder Cameron McManus of Yarmouth, sophomore defender Alexandra Noyes of Freeport (North Yarmouth Academy) and freshman attack Gabi Michaud of South Portland (McAuley) are playing for Wheaton.

SNOWBOARDING

UMaine-Farmington sophomore snowboarder Katie Keough of Cumberland received All-American honors at the USCSA national collegiate ski and snowboard championships at Sunday River. Keough was an All-American in the giant slalom, where she finished eighth, and the individual combined, where she was 10th. She was also 18th in the halfpipe, 20th in the slopestyle event and 12th in the snowboardcross.

SOFTBALL

Wheaton sophomore pitcher Lesley Warn of Portland (Deering) has a 3-1 record for the Lyons. She has a 1.38 ERA with 19 strikeouts and four walks in 26 innings. Sophomore infielder Emily O'Connell of Kennebunk has appeared in one game, going 0 for 2 with a walk. She was also hit by a pitch.

• Bentley sophomore catcher/DH Megan Blier of Wells is hitting .250 with one run scored in three games for the Falcons.

SWIMMING

Senior Briana Gerry of Sanford had a strong final home meet for St. Michael's in Colchester, Vt. Gerry placed third in the 50-yard freestyle (28.71 seconds) and the 200 individual medley (2:30.37), and also helped St. Michael's win the 200 medley relay and finish third in the 200 freestyle relay.

TRACK AND FIELD

Wheaton freshman Ben Miklovich of New Gloucester (Gray-New Gloucester) earned All-American status in the recent NCAA Division III championships as a member of the Lyons' 1,600-meter relay team. The Lyons finished fifth of 11 teams in 3:18.31.

• Princeton sophomore David Slovenski of Brunswick helped the Tigers win the Ivy League championship by finishing first in the pole vault at 16 feet, 8 inches. He holds the league record of 17-3, set as a freshman.

• Middlebury junior Kaitlyn Saldanha of Scarborough gained All-American honors in the NCAA Division III championships while competing as part of the Panthers' distance medley team, which finished seventh.

TENNIS

Sophomore Neall Oliver of Portland (Deering ) has opened the spring season with two victories at No. 1 singles for Wheaton, as well as two doubles victories.

Staff Writer Mike Lowe can be contacted at 791-6422 or at: mlowe@pressherald.com