1. Comets

Category Archives: Comets

Matt Condon available for ACT and NSW cricket

Posted on by

Matt Condon has already had a taste of high-performance cricket. Photo: Matt Bedford

Comets coach Mark Higgs jokes it could come down to a "flip of the coin" to decide whether in-demand teenager Matt Condon plays for the ACT or NSW later in the summer.

Condon, an 18-year-old opening batsman, will battle on with a broken thumb and play for the ACT Comets in Western Australia in the four-day Futures League match beginning on Monday.

But Condon has also been splitting his time with Sydney grade cricket club, Easts, the NSW Second XI and has been drafted into the Sydney Sixers Academy, a feeder squad to the Big Bash League.

Higgs said Cricket Australia had relaxed laws enabling Condon, originally from Batemans Bay, to transition between NSW and the ACT.

Advertisement

"Last year there was a rule in place that said you couldn't do that, but this year it's changed a little bit," Higgs said. " More importantly, it's about the opportunity it gives individuals, I think Cricket Australia realise that and the opportunity was there for Matt to play both. He hasn't actually played a Futures League match [for NSW] yet, but he's played a Second XI game.

"He's had a good taste of high-performance cricket at the next level."

Condon has been a cricket commuter this summer, recruited by former ACT and Australian representative Michael Bevan to play with Easts in Sydney. He lives and trains in Canberra, but travels to Sydney for two day-matches of a weekend.

"I was pretty stoked to get an email from [Bevan] and a few other clubs chasing me," Condon said. "I picked Easts and [Bevan] was a massive part of that. He was my favourite player growing up, I really looked up to him.

View original post here:

Matt Condon available for ACT and NSW cricket

Comets want to be mentally prepared for Nevada

Posted on by

WEST LIBERTY, Iowa They've been through the physical training all season long.

Now, the West Liberty High School volleyball team wants to make sure that it's mentally ready for Wednesday morning's Class 3A state quarterfinal against Nevada at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids.

The Cubs (37-9) will face West Liberty (36-5) at 10 a.m. on Court Two.

"We need to get our minds ready," Comets senior Kayla Kaalberg said. "We know that we have to execute, be self-disciplined and know that every day we have a team we can trust behind our backs on the court."

The dossier on West Liberty's opponent is very similar to other opponents the Comets have faced.

The Cubs will have a height advantage, led by 6-foot junior Kati Cassabaum, who is averaging 3.12 kills per set and has accumulated 109 blocks, the third-most of any 3A state-qualifying player.

This is nothing new for West Liberty, who has no player on the roster taller than 5-foot-9. The Comets have instead found ways to play above their height, showing success in that area as recently as last Tuesday's regional final against Mediapolis.

"Our blockers have helped a lot," West Liberty's Summer Kopet said. "When we played Mepo, they had big hitters and our blockers helped make it easier for us on the back row.

"We don't have that tall of girls ... but even getting a touch [on the ball] helps."

Kopet, a senior, is one of five players averaging two or more digs per set on West Liberty's roster, which has helped make the Comets a tough team to score on.

More:

Comets want to be mentally prepared for Nevada

Comets heading to state finals

Posted on by

EMMAUS Ashleigh Thomas moment came midway in the second half.

The junior was in open field with only the goalkeeper standing in her way. As Oley Valley defenders chased her down from behind, the junior was able to get off a shot. It went wide and high.

The missed opportunity stung, so when Thomas collected a rebound off the keepers pad on a penalty corner, there was no way that ball wasnt going to find the back of the cage.

It was a little disappointing working it all the way up, Thomas said. I got so psyched. To mess it up right at five yards was kind of upsetting. It just gave me that much more drive to work together with my team and try to get that goal back.

Thomas redemptive goal gave the Comets (23-0-1) the breathing room it needed and paved the way to a 3-0 win over Oley Valley in the semifinals of the PIAA Class 2A Field Hockey Championships at Emmaus H.S. Tuesday night.

The win sends Crestwood into the finals for the third straight year. They will face Villa Maria, the No. 1 seed from District 1 and 3-0 winners over Moravian Academy. The championship game is slated for noon on Saturday at Zephyr Sports Complex in Whitehall.

Im so excited, Thomas said. Even if we make it to the same point, it still gives you that excited feeling. Im so excited.

After a sluggish start in their quarterfinals matchup against Selinsgrove, the Comets came out with much more energy.

Crestwoods first goal came at 6:06 in the first half on a busted penalty corner. Jordan Olenginski took advantage of a feed from Sarah Macko to put the Comets on the board.

From there, it was all about the Crestwood defense. Cara Jarmiolowski made a strong defensive stop on the goal line early in the second half, while Katie Karpinski and Lauren Rowski help to hold an Oley Valley offense that scored 105 goals this season scoreless. The Lynx finished with five shots on goal and four penalty corners, in comparison to Crestwoods 11 shots on goal and nine penalty corners.

More here:

Comets heading to state finals

Comets face rematch in state semis

Posted on by

To say Crestwood is in familiar territory is an understatement.

The Comets live in the postseason. The pressure, the intensity, the late-game heroics are something just about every player on the squad can share a story or two about.

Crestwood makes its third straight appearance in the semifinals of the PIAA Class 2A Field Hockey Championships tonight at 7 p.m. at Emmaus H.S.

The Comets will take on Oley Valley the No. 2 seed from District 3. The winner advances to the state championship game and will face the winner of Villa Maria vs. Moravian for the title on Saturday at noon at Zephyr Sports Complex in Whitehall.

Unlike the Comets who rallied in the second half to fight off a tough Selinsgrove team for a 3-2 win, the Lynx (23-1-2) scored two goals in the first six minutes of their game and cruised to a 4-0 win over Forbes Road in the quarterfinals.

(They do) lots of good passing. Good recaptures and move the ball around well, Crestwood head coach Pat Moratori said. Theyre very much like a District 3 team, short, crisp passing. They move the ball laterally well.

This will be a rematch of last years semifinals game in which the Comets won 2-1 in double overtime. The Lynx are led by senior Carly Kauffman who is headed to Boston College next year. Shes scored 32 goals this season.

As a team, Oley Valley has scored 105 goals, including 17 shutouts.

After playing relatively close to home since the postseason began, the Comets will be making the hour-plus trek to Emmaus. Despite the distance, Crestwood knows the field. The team plays Emmaus at the start of each season. This year, it was the Comets turn to travel.

Its newer than ours, there are no football lines, thats a little different, Moratori aid. It doesnt bounce as much as ours. Its slower than ours, ours has been packed down.

Read more from the original source:

Comets face rematch in state semis

Friday's Comets Game Is Sold Out

Posted on by

November 10, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL) Utica Comets The Utica Comets are proud to announce that Friday's game, vs. the Chicago Wolves, is now SOLD OUT. The Comets have sold out The AUD four times now. In the previous three sold out games at The AUD, the Comets compiled a perfect 3-0 record.

There are still seats available for Wednesday's game vs the Chicago Wolves. The first 2,000 fans through the door will receive a special nano-inspired puck courtesy of SUNY Polytechnic Institute. It's also college and Veteran's Night. $12 tickets are available for those who show a college, or veteran's I.D. at the Box Office.

Tickets to the all remaining games are now on sale at the Utica Memorial Auditorium box office and online through Ticketmaster. For more information, call 315-790-9070 or visit http://www.uticacomets.com.

Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board... Digg this story Add to Del.icio.us

Read more here:

Friday's Comets Game Is Sold Out

Seasoned Hackensack poised for playoff run

Posted on by

RECORD FILE PHOTO

Coach Benjie Wimberly says his team "is more prepared to move on in the playoffs.

Merely reaching the playoffs is no longer good enough within the Hackensack football program.

The Comets made the playoffs in each of head coach Benjie Wimberlys first two seasons, but they lost first-round road games by wide margins both times. Wayne Hills handed Hackensack a 35-0 loss two years ago in a North 1, Group 4 game and nemesis Passaic Tech handily defeated Hackensack, 40-6, in a North 1, Group 5 encounter last season.

The fifth-seeded Comets (7-1) will hit the road again Friday night, when theyre scheduled to face fourth-seeded North Bergen (7-2) in another first-round game in North 1, Group 5. Theyll arrive with a different mind-set.

"A couple years ago when we went it was the first time Hackensack had been in the playoffs in four years," Wimberly said. "I know that was very exciting and everything. Last year we had the talent to move on. We were just outplayed by Passaic County Tech. I think now were a little more prepared to move on in the playoffs.

"Were more business-like this year. Even after we lost to Passaic County Tech, nobody put their heads down. They just said, All right, lets just get back to the grind.

Hackensack has won four in a row since losing at Passaic Tech, 35-7, in a Big North, non-division game Oct. 3. The Comets, ranked No. 18 in The Record Top 25, proved to Wimberly by beating Eastside, Fair Lawn, No. 21 Ridgewood and Clifton in the aftermath of another Passaic Tech setback that this team is better equipped to respond to adversity than his first two teams.

"Were tougher mentally than weve been the past two seasons," said Wimberly, whose teams won seven sectional titles while he was Paterson Catholics coach from 1995-2009. "Its not good enough just to be a .500 team or a playoff team. That comes from a lot of the kids who are seniors being in this program for three years.

"Were changing a culture. This is Hackensack. Were supposed to win. The expectations have to be there. The first couple years I was here I think they were excited to be winning games. These kids dont think thats enough. Theyre saying, Weve got to raise the bar. Weve got to take it to where it belongs.

Read the original post:

Seasoned Hackensack poised for playoff run

Comets Defeat Mustangs in Chicago

Posted on by

November 8, 2014 - Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) Missouri Comets The Missouri Comets earned their second straight victory of the season after defeating the reigning PASL Champions Chicago Mustangs 12-6 at the Sears Centre on Saturday night.

For the second time this season, last year's MISL top scorer Leo Gibson tallied four goals and seven different players scored for the Comets.

Head Coach Vlatko Andonovski's team was too much of a challenge for the Mustangs who had not lost a game in over a year as they went undefeated last season ending with an overall record of 16-0.

Throughout the four quarters, Chicago had a hard time containing the Comets' offense and were unable to possess the ball in the first half, which saw the visitors take a 6-1 to the locker rooms.

Missouri went up early in the game after team captain Vahid Assadpour scored his fourth of the season before Andre Braithwaite and Brian Harris found the back of the net along with a shootout conversion from the home squad to end the quarter 3-1.

The second quarter saw Gibson score the fourth of the night before Max Touloute tallied his first of the season to make it 5-1. Moments before the end of the first half, Braithwaite notched his second of the match to end the second quarter with a score of 6-1.

After Gibson and Matingou increased the lead and made it 8-1 in the first five minutes of the third quarter, Head Coach Armando Gamboa's team scored two goals in a one-minute span but Stefan Stokic scored his first of the season to end the quarter 10-3.

The final fifteen minutes saw a total of five goals scored. The Mustangs shortened Missouri's lead with goals from Baca and Ortega. However, a rocket from Harris and a PK conversion from Gibson ended the match with a final score of 12-6.

"They were the better team tonight," Gamboa said. "I can give you a thousand excuses but we simply didn't play as a team in the first half, which cost us the match."

Next up, the Comets will face the Milwaukee Wave in the home opener at the Independence Events Center.

More:

Comets Defeat Mustangs in Chicago

Science lifts veil on comet

Posted on by

PARIS: For millennia, the sight of a comet filled humans with awe or dread. The birth of Jesus, the assassination of Julius Caesar, the Great Plague of London, the coming of war or peace, bountiful harvests or famine ... all thought to be portended by cosmic herald.

Bit by bit, mysticism about comets has been replaced by fact as scientists discover more about these epic and ancient travellers of the skies. As it turns out, comets may be more extraordinary than even the deepest superstition could imagine.

They may even have brought life to our planet, according to some theories. For decades, astrophysicists have debated whether, at the dawn of our Solar System, comets peppered Earth with some of the chemical essentials for life as we know it.

The answer may be within reach. On Wednesday, a European robot lab, Philae, will make the first-ever landing on a comet. It will carry out experiments on the comet's back as the pair hurtle toward the Sun, escorted by Philae's mother ship, Rosetta, in orbit.

"Comets are the most ancient objects in the Solar System," Francis Rocard of France's National Centre for Space Studies (CNES), told AFP. "We want to know if comets played a part in providing Earth with water and carbon. There is no doubt that the results from Rosetta and Philae will shake up what we know."

Dubbed "dirty snowballs" by US astronomer Fred Whipple, comets are deemed to be clusters of primeval carbon and ice, typically a few kilometres across. Blacker than coal, they were formed shortly after the Sun flared into life in a halo of dust and gas - the stuff that eventually formed the planets and other bodies.

Today, the Solar System is considered a pretty quiet place compared to 4.6 billion years ago, when it was a shooting gallery. The nascent Earth would have been whacked over and over again by comets and asteroids, swelling the planet in size and depositing ice, which on some theories became today's oceans.

"This would have created a wonderful culture medium - a liquid enabling highly rich carbon material to react and create prebiotic chemistry," said Rocard. "It would have led to the first membranes and ultimately the first cells - life itself," he said.

The key to confirming this theory lies in the ratio of hydrogen and deuterium on the comet, which Rosetta and Philae will measure with their instruments, to be compared to the chemical make-up of water on Earth.

Doomed to orbit the Sun in elliptical circuits, comets undergo thermal and gravity stress as they near the star. Some of their ice is melted and transformed into gusts of gas, the bright "coma" around a comet's head.

Go here to read the rest:

Science lifts veil on comet

Comets solve Spartans

Posted on by

Published: Friday, November 7, 2014 at 12:30 a.m. Last Modified: Saturday, November 8, 2014 at 12:58 a.m.

ASHEBORO When a defense runs into a team with an unconventional offense, it may take a while for that defense to figure out what needs to be done in order to be successful.

Central Davidson brought its very-tight double-wing offense into Lee J. Stone Stadium Friday night to meet Asheboro High School in the final Mid-Piedmont Conference contest of the regular season and it took some time for the Blue Comets to figure out the Spartans' unusual offensive set. But once they did, the Blue Comets dominated.

After allowing a 16-play scoring drive to the Spartans in the game's opening drive, the Asheboro defense stiffened, forced a couple of key fumbles and the Blue Comets went on to record a 28-15 victory.

The win boosts the Comets to 5-1 in league play and 8-3 overall, more than likely earning the Blue Comets a home playoff game for the first time since 2008. Central Davidson finishes 1-5 in league play and 3-8 overall.

"It's been a different week of practice in terms of preparation," second-year Asheboro head coach Owen George said after leading his team to the most wins in a regular season since 2008. "There were new things to learn and new reads to an entirely new system we were preparing for. It takes time to get acclimated to an offense like that. It can get frustrating. It was an unconventional offense that threw us for a loop. But once we got used to seeing what they were doing, we played much better. I was very pleased with how our defense played from really the second quarter on."

Central Davidson dominated time of possession in running a total of 54 plays from scrimmage 50 running plays and four passing plays. The Blue Comets ran just 38.

The Blue Comets trailed 9-7 at halftime before taking the lead for good midway through the third quarter and they then added a couple of more scores in the final period for a 28-9 lead. Central Davidson added a late score for the final tally.

"That is a very unconventional team and they are going to fight," George said. "We knew they would. They still had a chance to make the playoffs, so you can just throw the record out the door."

Central took the opening kickoff and behind the running of Perry Roach, Jerod Walls and Joe Beeson, drove 74 yards in 16 plays. When Roach scored on a 5-yard run, the Spartans had a 6-0 lead. The drive took 8:46 off the clock.

Follow this link:

Comets solve Spartans

Eriksson Backstops Comets to 4-1 Victory

Posted on by

November 7, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL) Utica Comets The Utica Comets extended their win streak to 7-0-1-0 tonight after a 4-1 win over the Lake Erie Monsters at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

Alex Biega (0-2-2) and Alexandre Grenier (0-2-2) led the way with two points apiece. Joacim Eriksson put in another solid performance recording 29 saves on 30 shots.

New Hartford native and first-year rookie, Mike Zalewski opened up the scoring in the opening period just 1:54 into the game, for his first goal of his professional career. With assists from Grenier and Biega, Zalewski guided the puck down the right wing to eventually overpower veteran defensemen, Maxim Noreau. As Noreau's stick got tangled up on the play, Zalewski took advantage of the distraction and slipped it in on Carter Pickard's left side to give the Comets the one goal lead.

Utica decided a one goal lead wasn't enough as they headed in to the second period. After receiving a pass from Grenier, Dustin Jeffrey dished it to the front of the net at 4:39 only to have the puck meet Shinkaruk's stick just above Pickard's right pad. This was Shinkaruk's second goal of the season and Jeffrey's sixth assist, which made it a 2-0 game.

The Comets found the back of the net again less than four minutes later after Brandon DeFazio fed the puck across the Monsters' zone to set-up a one-timer slapshot from Frank Corrado. This caught Pickard looking bewildered as the puck was buried high to his left side to make it a 3-0 game. The goal was Corrado's second goal of the season. Kellan Lain received the secondary assist on the goal.

After displaying some fancy puck handling skills at 3:19 in to the third period, Monster's forward Borna Rendulic split the Comets defenders to bring it in on Eriksson's right side. Rendulic lifted it over Eriksson's far side leg pad for Lake Erie's lone goal of the night.

For the final goal of the night, Alex Biega dished a cross-ice pass to Darren Archibald. This gave Archibald a break away look at the Monsters' empty net. Archibald's first goal of the year extended the Comets lead to 4-1.

The Comets are now leading the entire league with 20 points on the season out of a possible 24 points.

They are back in action tomorrow night as they head back to Upstate New York for their first meeting with the Rochester Americans at 7 p.m

Roster Move: Vancouver Canucks General Manager Jim Benning announced today that the Canucks have recalled right wing Nicklas Jensen from the AHL Utica Comets.

More:

Eriksson Backstops Comets to 4-1 Victory

Comets fall in state semifinals

Posted on by

Mason High School girls soccer coach Andy Schur wasnt sure what to tell his squad Tuesday night at Bellbrook High School.

The Comets dominated the final 40 minutes but fell just short of their third consecutive trip to the Division I state finals in a 1-0 loss to Dublin Coffman.

Im heartbroken for them, Schur said after the Comets finished 19-2-1. They put their heart and soul into this. They have worked hard since (open field in) June and bonded and learned how to be a team.. I just have to focus on the positives with them.

Mason did everything but find the back of the net in the second half.

Trailing 1-0, the Comets had the wind at their back and recorded nine shots on goal, but had a plethora of other opportunities that went just wide or high.

Senior Dani Meyer had a bulk of opportunities in the second half, including a shot from 35 yards out that forced the Coffman keeper Mikayla Buckley to make a diving save with 2:05 left in the contest.

Emily Calvani had a chance in front as the ball bounced across the mouth of the goal, but a Coffman defender pushed the ball back out after it appeared it had cleared the goal line.

I was surprised (we didnt score), Schur said. I thought Emilys was in. I thought it crossed the line.

Julienne Berry also had a near miss, heading a corner from Haley Moses off the bottom of the crossbar. The ball deflected down onto a Coffman defenders head and back up into the arms of the Shamrock keeper.

Mason played the bulk of the second half in the Coffman half of the field, allowing just two shots on goal one which came on a breakaway off a counter attack which Mason keeper Toni Bizzarro easily collected.

Read more here:

Comets fall in state semifinals

From doomsday to fact: Science lifts veil on comets

Posted on by

PARIS: For millennia, the sight of a comet filled humans with awe or dread. The birth of Jesus, the assassination of Julius Caesar, the Great Plague of London, the coming of war or peace, bountiful harvests or famine... all thought to be portended by cosmic herald.

Bit by bit, mysticism about comets has been replaced by fact as scientists discover more about these epic and ancient travellers of the skies.

As it turns out, comets may be more extraordinary than even the deepest superstition could imagine.

They may even have brought life to our planet, according to some theories.

For decades, astrophysicists have debated whether, at the dawn of our Solar System, comets peppered Earth with some of the chemical essentials for life as we know it.

The answer may be within reach. On Wednesday, a European robot lab, Philae, will make the first-ever landing on a comet.

It will carry out experiments on the comet's back as the pair hurtle toward the Sun, escorted by Philae's mother ship, Rosetta, in orbit.

"Comets are the most ancient objects in the Solar System," Francis Rocard of France's National Centre for Space Studies (CNES), told AFP.

"We want to know if comets played a part in providing Earth with water and carbon. There is no doubt that the results from Rosetta and Philae will shake up what we know."

Dubbed "dirty snowballs" by US astronomer Fred Whipple, comets are deemed to be clusters of primeval carbon and ice, typically a few kilometres (miles) across.

Read more from the original source:

From doomsday to fact: Science lifts veil on comets


  1. Comets