The good thing about Saturdays UConn-Boston College game was that no matter who won, a former Staples Wrecker would taste victory.
This time around it was BCҒs Dave Kashetta who won bragging rights against best friend UConns Sean Mulcahy Җ with Staples coach Marce Petroccio and members of the current Staples football team watching from the sidelines.
With a little help from Kashetta, a tight end who caught a 29-yard touchdown pass two minutes into the second half, Boston rolled over UConn 24-14.
Mulcahy, who plays defensive end and had five tackles and one sack in the game, wished for a better outcome but was still happy for Kashetta.
I was very happy that he scored a touchdown,Ӕ Mulcahy told reporters after the game. But I just wish it wasnӒt against us.
ԓAfter the game, Sean said Keep playing hard and go beat Miami,ђ Kashetta said. ԓAnd I told him, Keep playing hard and good luck the rest of the season.ђ
In a matchup of two state division champions, the Staples Wreckers opened their 2003 football season Friday night with a 36-0 win over New Canaan.
Playing under the lights on artificial turf at New Canaan, Staples gained a 29-0 lead by halftime. Both teams were ranked in the top 10 in a poll of state writers and coaches.
With one day to go before Saturdays UConn-Boston College football game, the friendship/rivalry of longtime Westport pals Sean Mulcahy and Dave Kashetta is getting increasing press.
TodayҒs New Haven Register is the latest to focus on the UConn defensive tackle and BCs backup tight end and includes these tidbits:
NFL scouts are already calling UConn following MulcahyҒs eight tackles in the teams season-opening win again Indiana.
Staples Wrecker Coach Marce Petroccio said he plans to bring his team’s 20 seniors to UConnҒs Rentschler Stadium in East Hartford for the game.
“Im like a proud parent,” Petroccio told the newspaper. “IҒve got two sons the two nicest kids in the world ח playing against each other in the biggest game in the history of UConn football.”
It also notes a few non-football facts about the two, including word that they are so popular in Westport that Fortunas Deli has named its outdoor patio after them.
Then there was the time they engaged in a different kind of fun on the Staples playing fields.
ғOne spring afternoon, late in their senior year, they took a friends Jeep on a joyride through the Staples athletic fields, buzzing past the girlsҒ lacrosse team, doing a few doughnuts for kicks, the newspaper said.
It also reported they would phone Coach Petroccio in his office and pretend to be Mafioso on the other end, making threats.
Petroccio eventually caught on.
“I mean, come on, Marcellino Petroccio?” Mulcahy said, “It doesnԒt get more Sicilian than that.
Today’s Boston Globe also has a story focusing on the two Westporters, noting that “in last year’s game, a narrow 24-16 BC victory, Mulcahy proved to be a one-man distraction for Kashetta.”
When the UConn Huskies take the field Saturday against Boston College, it will have a special meaning for Westporters Sean Mulcahy and Dave Kashetta.
Mulcahy, UConns defensive tackle, could line up against Kashetta, BCҒs backup tight end. Both are Staples 2000 grads and starred for the Wreckers in their high school years.
I don’t have any brothers, so I consider him a brother,Ӕ Mulcahy told The Day of New London. I’ve known him since I was 6. We talk two or three times a week and every time we’re home we hang out together.Ӕ
The AP reported that the game at UConn’s new Rentschler Field in East Hartford is a sellout with online brokers asking up to $600 for a seat.
“Wow, that’s kind of ridiculous for a college football game,” Mulcahy told the AP. “Hey, but it’s sold out and people are enjoying it. That’s all that really matters.”
Update (9/11/03): The Connecticut Post focuses on the Mulcahy-Kashetta friendship/rivlary in today’s issue.
Shes gone from the Wrecker basketball court to the front office of the New England Patriots football team, with a few stops in between.
She just started her second year as their business development manager and assistant to Andy Wasynczuk, the team’s senior vice president and chief operating officer—and he makes clear she very well one day could take his job.
“I think running a team requires a lot of things: passion, work ethic, creativity, leadership,” Wasynczuk said.
“Jessica has strong skills in each of these areas. Over time, as she gains experience, I have no doubt she’ll continue to grow as a manager and leader and eventually be able to run a team.Ҕ
The almost completed new bleachers frame the Staples Wreckers football team today in a Sunday practice. The new bleachers will be ready in time for the team’s home opener Sept. 20. WestportNow.com photo
Todays Connecticut Post spotlights Staples grad and UConn football star Sean MulcahyҒs career aspirations and if he doesn֒t get to play in the NFL, he has a backup plan to become a general manager.
The 6-foot-6, 295-pound defensive lineman from Westport would love to get a chance to play in the NFL, with the Giants or anyone else for that matter, after he graduates from UConn,” the newspaper said.
ӓWith a successful final season for the Huskies, who open up their new campaign and new stadium, Rentschler Field, Saturday against Indiana, Mulcahy might be given a shot to play professionally.
But if he doesn’t get to tackle fullbacks, Mulcahy has a fallback plan. If the Giants don’t have a hole on the defensive line, they might have an opening in the front office.
ӓMulcahy, it turns out, wants to be a general manager.
“That’s something I’d definitely like to do,Ғ the 2000 Staples High graduate said this week. I want to stay in the game in some way, and whenever my career ends, I’d want to get into the front office.ђ
The 17-year-old Staples soccer player pulled from a burning car wreck near Long Lots School Aug. 1 by a passerby has undergone major surgery at New York University Hospital, according to the Staples soccer Web site.
In an item headlined Rob Paniccia Ӓ04 Update, the site said Robert J. Paniccia, a striker on the Staples team who will be a senior this year, underwent almost six hours of surgery on Monday.
ԓA team of doctors inserted three plates and numerous screws in his elbow and rebuilt part of the bone, the report said. ԓThey also secured his hip and said he will begin walking soon. The prognosis is good, although therapy and recovery will take many weeks.
Paniccia, who was a front seat passenger in the car, was pulled from the wreckage by Kevin Slater, a Westport Realtor and Staples summer theater technical director. Three others in the car managed to escape with lesser injuries. (See WestportNow Aug. 1, 2003)
Paniccia transferred to Staples last year from Greens Farms Academy.
The Associated Press zeroes in on Westport’s Saugatuck Rowing Club and the Olympic hopes of Rickey Visinski.
Excerpt: “What a sight. A 6-foot-1-inch Rickey Visinski emerges from Westport’s Saugatuck Rowing Club carrying his metallic orange scull with the name ‘Sunburst’ overhead.
“His long, lean body moves methodically; his arms flexed as the seat of the upside down boat rests on his head.
“‘That’s why I wear a hat,’ he says, and continues down the slight path to the Saugatuck River like the letter ‘T’ in motion.
“This routine takes place twice daily as Visinski, a 2003 Fairfield Prep graduate, prepares for his greatest challenge.
“By winning each of the three U.S. National Team junior trials in Princeton, N.J., Visinski, a lightweight rower, qualified for the first time to compete in August at the World Junior Rowing Championships in Athens, Greece, site of the 2004 Olympics.”
