Williston Observer

CVU finishes regular season with 12-1-1 mark

Oct, 27, 2011

By Mal Boright

Observer correspondent

For the Champlain Valley Union girls soccer team, the regular season’s final week featured a lopsided win and its first loss.

But that defeat (1-0 to Burlington, Oct. 21) did not keep the Redhawks from the top seed in the Division I playoffs that saw them in action Wednesday (after Observer press time) against Mount Mansfield Union (3-11).

Coach Brad Parker’s ladies finished with a 12-1-1-record, which included home-and-home 3-0 wins over the Cougars.

In preparing for the contest this week, the Redhawks were no doubt still smarting from Friday’s downer on the Seahorses’ turf, which has never been kind to the Hawks.

“We didn’t play well,” Parker said Saturday of the defeat in which Burlington held a narrow 5-4 edge in shots on goal.

The lone score came past the halfway mark in the second half when the Seahorses’ Gwen Buchanan unlimbered a long 30-yard free kick blast that found the net just under the cross bar.

This game was in stark contrast to last Wednesday’s (Oct. 19) explosive, 4-0 rumble over a strong 11-3 South Burlington contingent at the CVU booting place.

“We really played well today,” Parker said immediately after the season’s second victory over the veteran Rebels. “We were focused from the kickoff.”

Sophomore midfielder Audrey Morehouse was focused and then some. The quickster scored twice and assisted on two other goals — one of which was truly spectacular.

Poet John Keats once wrote, “A thing of beauty is a joy forever.” There will be talk of this one for some time. Midway through the second half, with CVU holding a 2-0 lead, Morehouse got the ball in South Burlington territory. She took the ball quickly and — upon reaching the top of the box — slid a fast pass to a fast moving Shelby Hanlon on the right side. The co-captain, in one motion, knocked it into the South Burlington cage before goalie Sophie Barrett could react.

Commenting on the special play, Parker noted that it was Hanlon who originally got the ball to Morehouse at the other end of the field and then beat feet to get in position for the score.

Morehouse had the game’s first two goals. On the second, with about five minutes elapsed in the second half, she blazed close to the end line on the right side of the Rebels’ net and sent a quick shot that nudged the left post and fell into the cage.

“It was actually a cross,” Morehouse said after the game. “I’ll take it.”

MacKenzie Kingston had the other CVU score while Sophia Steinhoff and Haliana Burhans also garnered assists.

Hardly the Real Thing

Oct. 27, 2011

2 popcorns

By Michael S. Goldberger

Special to the Observer

 

“The Thing,” director Matthijs van Heijninjen, Jr.’s prequel to John Carpenter’s 1982 “The Thing,” reminds of a rule of thumb I learned early on in my moviegoing career — when my mom would beg me to take a sandwich to the full day of cartoons and a double feature. The really bad stuff happens not in the Arctic, but in Antarctica. It’s much colder.

Maybe not. But it’s a longer name. And it’s south, where it’s supposed to be warm. Such an anomaly of nature surely bodes of daunting dangers. Yeah, must be colder. But, I’m still not taking a sandwich, mom — I’m after popcorn, Goobers and Jujyfruits. Even David, my partner in filmgoing, brought no sandwich. And he was a better kid than me.

Another rule when you are little and confronted not with comedy or a Western but the dreaded horror flick that must inevitably rear its head at the Bijou, is that it must be decided beforehand whether or not you are going to look at the scary parts. Real good friends don’t show each other up, but are cowards together. It’s OK if you peek…a little.

Had they been as well practiced, perhaps the crew of Norwegian and American scientists who sojourn here to investigate what they think is an alien spaceship would have fared much better. I, of course, approached this latest “The Thing” armed with a lifetime of mechanisms essential to fending off all that could frighten me to the cockles of my heart.

That isn’t to say I didn’t achieve liftoff on a few surprising occasions. But for the most part, Mr. Heijninjen’s addition to the cult and lore that has been accumulating ever since Christian Nyby’s 1951 original — now regularly referred to as “The Thing From Another World” — is much more gruesome than it is scary. That’s just in case you’re going to peek.

And, while humming the special effects of a mediocre effort is like informing that a blind date has a great personality, the CGI razzmatazz here is nonetheless stellar. Pity it’s for such a nauseating purpose. These are the nightmarish images of a very disturbed mind. If you’re planning to remake “The Blob (1958),” get a hold of these folks.

Plot wise, it’s rather simple, and plays like a drawing room whodunit, only with lots of blood and very little subtlety. Once “The Thing” is out of the box, it’s every man and woman for themselves — with alliances regularly formed and broken to supply tension in-between devastating blurts of conscienceless attack. Democrats can learn something here.

In fairness, it’s pretty well acted for what it is. Plus, that the spatial geography in the Polar complex attains an almost kaleidoscopic aura as the action chases from room to room is a credit to filmmaker and art director alike. Shot from both the monster and scientists’ points of view, it’s just a matter of time before there’s nowhere left to run.

If you’re still living in your parents’ attic and delivering pizza, then there’s no sense me telling you where this “Thing” slots in among its cinema species. But for the great unwashed who don’t care enough to consult Wikipedia, but would like to know just in case it comes up at the next Daughters of the American Revolution meeting, it’s a prequel and paean all rolled into one.

John W. Campbell Jr.’s novella, “Who Goes There?” published in 1938 is the root DNA for the franchise, and is credited as such by all three permutations. But if you’re hoping to experience the kitsch of the original — fuhgeddaboudit. Still, the survival instinct at the core of its black heart is unchanged. It’s from another world, and it’s trying to get us.

Worse yet, this horrible “Thing” can replicate the form of any living being. So, uh oh … what we are dealing with is the black magic of biology. Someone in the compound isn’t who we think they are, and wants to eat us, or rather, assume us. And it’s not pretty when they do…yecch! Here’s a clue, though: It can’t copy inorganic matter.

This explains the teeth fillings Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s paleontologist, Kate Lloyd, discovers in a shower where one of these ugly metamorphoses took place. Gee, it’ll be a shame if it’s her. She didn’t even want to come. But then it would be too obvious if it’s Dr. Halvorson (Ulrich Thomsen), the crazy zealot who would put us all in harm’s way.

When little and kicking through autumn leaves on the way home after seeing a horror movie, it’s proper to suddenly yell, ”I’m the Thing!” and attack your best friend, David. Then it’s his turn. You laugh. You are going to a warm supper where, happily, there is no “Thing.” Sadly, this “Thing” will not engender any of those emotions.

 

“The Thing,” rated R, is a Universal Pictures release directed by Matthijs van Heijninjen Jr. and stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ulrich Thomsen and Joel Edgerton. Running time: 103 minutes 

Oct. 27, 2011

 

CVU FIELD HOCKEY ADVANCES, TAKING ON REBELS

Coach Kate McDonald and her Champlain Valley Union field hockey team will continue their climb through the hills of the Division I postseason Friday with an assault on No. 1 South Burlington’s (12-2) mountain. The game is on the Rebels’ turf, slated for 3:45 p.m.

CVU bowed twice to South Burlington during the regular campaign.

The Redhawks, seeded ninth after finishing the regular season with a 3-7-4 mark, blanked No. 8 Mount Mansfield, 2-0, Tuesday afternoon in a playoff opener at Jericho Center.

In knocking off the 4-8-3 Cougars, CVU scored more than a single goal in a game for only the second time this season. Previous meetings with Mount Mansfield resulted in ties — 0-0 and 1-1.

Kathryn Loucks and Sarah Reed fired home the scores while goalie Evangeline Dunphy sparkled in the CVU cage with eight stops. The Redhawks had six shots on MMU netminder Kimi Kenney.

STATES NEXT CHALLENGE FOR CVU HARRIERS

The Champlain Valley Union cross country team returns to Thetford Saturday and the annual Vermont State meet, the scene of past triumphs for the defending state and New England champion girls team.

It will be the Redhawks second appearance of the season at the hilly Thetford course, where the girls won an invitational event Oct. 1.

On Oct. 22, the girls crowded seven finishers into the top 12 positions in capturing the Northern Vermont Athletic Council metro title at Missisquoi Valley Union High School in Swanton.

Taylor Spillane led the Hawks with a second place finish to Essex’s Markie Palermo. Palermo crossed the finish line in 17 minutes and 55.5 seconds and Spillane timed out at 18:02.

The subsequent cluster of Redhawks included Adrienne DeVita (fourth), Autumn Eastman (fifth), Julienne DeVita (ninth), Isabelle Unger (11th) and Sophie Hess (12th).

In team totals, CVU won the seven-team competition with 30 points. Essex followed with 47 and South Burlington placed third (88).

The CVU boys took fourth place with 107 points. The winning Mount Mansfield Union team had 32, led by Jack Hegman third-place finish. No Redhawk finished in the top 15.

BUCCANEERS FINISH SUCCESSFUL SEASON

The CSSU Buccaneers fifth and sixth grade junior varsity youth football team completed an 11-1 season on Oct. 16.

At the conclusion of the day,  coaches thanked the players for their efforts — individually and as a team.

The team then held a brief ceremony to honor three players: Jack ZuWallack of Williston received the sportsmanship award, Cole Boffa of Charlotte earned the offensive most valuable player award and Tre’ Diemer of Shelburne received the defensive MVP award.

Third-seeded CVU blanks Brattleboro, 4-0

Oct, 27, 2011

By Mal Boright

Observer correspondent

On a home field showing the soggy effects of wet weather and frequent games, the Champlain Valley Union boys soccer team sent visiting Brattleboro out of the Division I playoffs Tuesday, and looked ahead to a quarterfinal match against Wednesday’s (after Observer press deadline) opening round winner between No. 9 Hartford and No. 8 Colchester.

As of Tuesday night there was some uncertainty as to where and when the quarterfinal contest will be played.

If Colchester won Wednesday, the Redhawks and Lakers will meet Friday (3 p.m.) at CVU, according to Redhawks athletic director Keven Riell. The game site could be switched to Colchester if field conditions are poor.

Possibly a tad cranky after suffering their second loss (3-2) of the season last Friday (Oct. 21) in the regular season finale at South Burlington, the now 12-2-1 and third-seeded Hawks scored early in putting a 4-0 licking on the 14th-seeded Colonels (5-9-1).

Co-captain Ben Comai scored the all-important first goal early in the contest after a set-up pass from speedster Shane Haley. Comai scored again later in the first half with a short blast from the front of Brattleboro’s cage (Roshi Brooklyn assist).

The final two goals came off the powerful foot of Todd (TNT Toes) Forrester on direct kicks — near the end of the first half and with just over five minutes gone in the second half.

“I look for the wall and the where the goalie is and try to get the ball through a gap,” Forrester said when asked his thinking when lining up the shots from 20-plus yards.

On the first score, aggressive and solid Colonels’ goalie Galen Finnerty could not reach the blistering shot into the high, right side of the net. On the second, he was unable to move as the blast rocketed into the cage’s right side.

Despite giving up four goals, Finnerty racked up serious robbery on shots by Haley, Forrester, Sam Raszka and Chad Bateman as the Redhawks outshot Brattleboro by w hopping margin, 19-2. CVU netminder Brandon O’Connell earned the Hawks eighth shutout of the campaign.

In the loss at South Burlington, Haley and Ezra Mount-Finette scored CVU’s goals.

CVU traveling to South Burlington Friday

Oct, 27, 2011

By Mal Boright

Observer correspondent

The Champlain Valley Union football team will test Division I playoff waters Friday night with a return to South Burlington High School, scene of a narrow, 42-35, defeat just two weeks ago.

With that loss, plus last Saturday’s (Oct. 22) last minute, 27-21 nipping at home by Middlebury, head coach Jim Provost and the fifth-seeded Redhawks (5-3) may have a little attitude going for them when they travel to South Burlington to meet the No. 4 Rebels (6-2).

“We have to find a way to win games late,” Provost told the Observer Monday.

For the past two weekends, it was the Rebels and visiting Tigers who got the late game-changers. South Burlington snapped a 35-all tie with a 63-yard touchdown pass with just over five minutes left.

Middlebury (7-1) took advantage of a misplayed punt reception deep in CVU territory to push over the winning score with less than 40 seconds remaining.

South Burlington will also be in comeback mode, having lost (28-19) to 3-5 Essex.

The Hornets held the Rebels — who raked up 476 yards in offense against CVU — to 258 yards, something of great interest to Provost and his staff.

“We feel pretty good about where we are,” Provost said in looking ahead to Friday night.

The coach hopes to have key running back Nick Ferrentino in the lineup to chew up big chunks of yardage. The junior missed the past three games with an ankle injury.

Senior co-captain and linebacker Ryan Fleming might also be ready to return after missing the Middlebury clash.

In addition, Provost noted the team is looking forward to another game on the South Burlington turf.

“Our team is built for it (turf),” he said.

For the Redhawks, post-season play is familiar territory. CVU appeared in the D-II championship game last year and reached the semifinals in 2009.

REGULAR SEASON FINALE LOSE COULD PROVE COSTLY

Last Saturday’s nudging by Middlebury probably cost the Hawks a home playoff contest but they still put on an offensive show for the CVU faithful in the season’s Hinesburg finale.

CVU took the opening kickoff and marched 81 yards in 15 plays, with halfback Brent Carreiro blasting in from five yards out for the touchdown. Tucker Kohlasch nailed the first of his three extra-point kicks.

In the drive, quarterback Drew Nick completed 5 of 6 passes for 34 yards and ran three times for 32 yards.

The Redhawks authored 80- and 66-yard scoring thrusts in the second period, with Nick scoring on 4- and 1-yard plunges to give CVU a 21-14 lead.

It would be the last paydirt visit for the Hawks but the Tigers, behind a slashing running attack that ground out a game total 314 yards, scored twice after intermission. Middlebury gained the final and winning touchdown after recovering a CVU bobble at the Redhawks’ 30 with 1:43 left in the game. It took four running plays for the Tigers to get the sixer — capped by quarterback Dillon Robinson’s 3-yard plunge.

For the CVU defense, Robinson was more than a handful. The senior signal caller ran 14 times for 90 yards and was 6-for-6 through the air for another 97 yards.

The Tiger passer’s successes came on short, on the move throws. When he dropped back and tried to go deep, the Redhawks sacked him five times for 35 yards of losses. Quinn Kropf, Matt Bauer, Michael Fournier and John Keen were among the defensive contributors.

Nick paced the CVU offense with 12 rushes for 74 yards, and 17 pass completions in 29 tries for another 200 yards. Keen had five catches for 103 yards. Big Ryan Beaudry grabbed eight passes for 63 yards.

Carreiro carried on 15 occasions for 72 yards, and caught one pass for nine yards.

 

 

MIDDLEBURY 27, CVU 21

MUHS (7-1)            CVU (5-3)

First downs                        21                                    16

Total yards                        376                                  350

Yards rushing                  314                                   150

Yards passing                   97                                    200

Passes att-com-int        7-6-0                             30-17-1

Fumbles-lost                     2-1                                    5-1

Sacked-yds lost               5-35                                   0-0

Penalties-yards               3-25                                   3-20

Punts-avg                          1-32                                   3-26

Return yards                       117                                    55

 

Scoring:

MUHS            0            14            7            6  — 27

CVU                7            14            0            0  — 21