BSU 2022-23 Winter Sports Preview
Men’s Basketball: The Bridgewater State Bears Men’s Basketball team has a new head coach as legendary coach Joe Farroba retired after the 2021-2022 Basketball season. Their new head coach is former BSU player and assistant coach Matthew McLoughlin. Coach McLoughlin talked to The Comment about what to expect from the Basketball team this season.
Coach McLoughlin said that, “my first and foremost expectation and what I want to do is to really bond as a team so that we can be successful on the floor.” He has a few expectation for the team, including working hard every day with a positive attitude and making sure to focus on the things that the team is looking to improve on. He plans to hold the team to a higher standard this year.
McLoughlin named graduate guard Jordan Wetterlind and sophomore guard Quinton Champaigne as his key players for this season.
“I feel like we have a lot of young talent and we also have a lot of new guys coming in that will be able to help us, whether that be spreading the floor with attacking the rim and also defensively we look ten times better,” Junior Jaybray Griffin mentioned as one thing he’s excited for about the team this season.
The team will be facing strong competition from MASCAC conference rivals Westfield, Worcester, and Salem State.
Women’s Basketball: The Bears Women’s Basketball head coach Bridgett Casey is entering her 26th season as Bears head coach and coming back from their 20-8 record last season, which was the program’s best since the 2012-13 season.
Coach Casey’s mindset of the team is to get back to where they left off. The Bears made an appearance in the MASCAC Championship last season where they lost to Framingham State, and Casey wants to start a streak like from 2010 to 2015, where the Bears won five straight MASCAC Championships.
The three captains are senior guards Sydney Bradberry, Sophia Gaucher, and Kylee Piche. Coach Casey told The Comment that she was looking forward to the games against Framingham which are on January 4th and 28th.
Wrestling: The Bears Wrestling team had two wrestlers that advanced to the NCAA Division III National Championship last season, senior Fox Maxwell and junior Edwin Morales. Both with back with the team this year, Maxwell in his new role of assistant coach since graduating this May, and Morales returning for his senior season.
Maxwell’s expectations this season is to have three wrestlers advance to the national championship and six wrestlers place at the regional tournament.
“I am feeling optimistic, because I know my teammates and I have been working hard all summer and doing the right thing so that we are all better than last year, and to be ready to get after it,” Sophomore Stuart Glover said.
Men’s and Women’s Track and Field: The Bears will not be hosting the indoor men’s and women’s track teams this season. Instead, cross country and track and field athletes are instead practicing and getting ready for the next outdoor season.
