Tuesday, April 30, 2013: Cooperstown approves name change to Hawkeyes

   Leading off today: Cooperstown's board of education has given final approval to the change in nicknames for the high school's sports teams, and the Redskins will become the Hawkeyes on July 1.

   Hawkeyes won out over Huskies, Pathfinders and Pioneers in polling of school alumni, faculty and staff, students and community members, The Observer-Dispatch reported. The name was OK'd by Thomas Hickey, owner and president of the Cooperstown Hawkeyes summer collegiate baseball league team.

   The school's orange and black colors and district emblem will remain.

   The district is working in conjunction with Oneida Indian Nation, which previously said it would underwrite the cost of purchasing any new sports uniforms at an estimated cost of up to $10,000 if Cooperstown changed its nickname.

   Quite the roller coaster: That was quite a 72 hours for the Bishop Timon-St. Jude boys lacrosse team, beating Hamburg on Friday, soaring to a 14-10 win over Ithaca on Saturday and then losing to St. Joe's on Monday at a highly controversial finish.

   St. Joe's beat Monsignor Martin Association rival Timon 13-12 in two overtimes Monday, ending a 49-game league winning streak dating to May 2007.

   Junior James Bassett scored 59 seconds into the second OT just moments after Timon thought it had won the game on junior Connor Fields' shot, which appeared to ripple the net before bouncing out of the cage, and had started celebrating, with players even coming off the bench. But there was no whistle or goal signal from officials, and St. Joe's went on the fast break that concluded with Bassett scoring.

   "I think we won that game," Timon coach Mike Burke told The Buffalo News. "We scored in overtime. The net moved. We won, we cleared the bench, and our kids run down the field, and they went down and scored. It's just a bad thing all around. I hope that there is a way that this can be overturned. We have video evidence of the goal. It's unfortunate the officials didn't see it that way. I don't know how they missed it. It was clear-cut."

   Speaking of lacrosse: We have a new No. 1 in Class A this week, with Ward Melville ascending to the top spot (current rankings here). I's a result of Class B No. 3 Yorktown downing previous No. 1 Chaminade 12-8 on Saturday.

   Austin Graham made 11 saves for Yorktown.

   The Huskers broke a 4-4 tie midway through the third quarter, went up 7-4 on one of attackman Conor Vercruysse's three goals and led 9-4 after three quarters.

   “This has got to be the most complete game we’ve ever played as a team,” Vercruysse told The Journal News.

   Girls lacrosse: St. Anthony's now owns victories over teams from six states after a significant weekend triumph vs. an opponent with wins against foes from seven states.

   Friars coach Corinne Lomangino told Patch.com the 9-8 win over St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School from Alexandria, Va., was the biggest in program history. “For us this was such a huge game,” she said. “Our program

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has never had a win this big. This is the top for us.”

   Sophomore Isabela Mangan scored what proved to be the game-winner with 2:27 left and freshman goalie Charlie Campbell made 11 saves, including two stops in the final moments.

   St. Anthony's improved to 9-1 after beating St. Stephen's and St. Agnes, ranked as high as No. 2 nationally after having won its first 19 games this spring.

   Wrestling rules revisions: Forfeits will no longer count toward a wrestler’s daily match limit beginning with the 2013-14 high school season, the National Federation of State High School Associations announced last week.

   Currently, wrestlers are limited by rule to five matches in one day.

   “The limit on the number of matches permitted in any one calendar day was established as a safeguard to prevent any wrestler from undo fatigue, thus increasing the possibility of injury,” said Dale Pleimann, chair of the NFHS's wrestling rules committee. “Since there is no fatigue or exertion involved with accepting a forfeit, the committee felt that it was not necessary to count forfeits in the match total for any wrestler.”

   In another revision, state associations have been given the OK to allow electronic devices for video recording and review by the wrestler or coach, though the use of electronic devices enabling communication between a coach and athlete during a match is still prohibited.

   Catching up: Elizabethtown-Lewis senior shortstop Kylee Cassavaugh broke the NYSPHSAA for career stolen bases back on April 19 with a pair of thefts vs. Minerva/Newcomb. Cassavaugh had entered the game tied with Caitlin Attfield, who graduated from Niagara-Wheatfield last spring with 128 career steals.

   Cassavaugh started her varsity softball career as an eighth-grader, when she stole 21 bases.