KARL WINTER: Hello, and welcome to a special all sports edition of the NCC News Brief. I’m your host Karl Winter.
MICHAEL O’CONNOR: And I’m Michael O’Connor, bringing you the latest from NCC Sports today, Monday, June 26th. Here are just a few of today’s stories we’ll be covering.
WINTER: The Syracuse Crunch have a new head coach on the bench.
O’CONNOR: SU football’s 2024 recruiting class rockets up the national rankings.
WINTER: And the Men’s College World Series comes down to a final game tonight. Let’s start with the Crunch. The team’s parent club, the Tampa Bay Lightning, announced today that Joel Bouchard will be the next coach of the Crunch. Bouchard succeeds Ben Groulx, the winningest coach in the franchise’s history.
O’CONNOR: And Syracuse football is improving in the recruiting ranks. Coming off the heels of yesterday’s commitment of four star quarterback Jakhari Williams, SU’s 2024 recruiting class currently ranks 39th in the country. This would be the program’s best ranking in recruiting since 2001. The Orange opened the 2023 season September 2nd against Colgate.
WINTER: Running back Latavius Murray signed with the Buffalo Bills this off-season. Murray was in Central New York over the weekend at the CNY Football Academy. Our Jailah Pettis was at the event and interviewed the new Bill. Jailah, what did you speak with Latavius Murray about?
JAILAH PETTIS: Well Karl, we talked about the impact of having football camps for kids in the area of Syracuse since he’s an Onondaga native. Then we proceeded to talk about a community center that he is building in Syracuse in memory of his friend who was shot years ago in Armory Square. And then I proceeded to ask him just about what he’s looking most forward to for training camp next month.
O’CONNOR: Thanks Jailah. The Men’s College World Series Championship comes down to a winner-take-all game three tonight in Omaha. Our NCC sports reporter, Matthew Kibby, has been tracking the tournament. Matt, LSU and Florida will play at 7:00 PM Eastern for all the marbles. Coming off a blowout 24-4 loss in game two to even the series, how does LSU respond here in game three?
MATT KIBBY: LSU is gonna have to rely on their stud pitching. They have Paul Skenes, the best pitcher in the nation was a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award. The only problem? He’s on three days rest with 246 pitches thrown in just the two games he’s pitched at in Omaha. LSU is gonna need to rely on him. If they can get him at least through three or four innings of work, they might have a chance to stop a dominant Gator offense that has really found their groove here in the past two days.
O’CONNOR: Well, we’ll see how it all shakes out later tonight, Matt. Thank you. Over to soccer now, the Women’s World Cup is coming up next month down under.
WINTER: Our former division one soccer player, Sydney Staples, joins us now with what to look forward to at the tournament. Sydney, team USA are the reigning champions. What are the chances we see a three-peat?
SYDNEY STAPLES: Well, they’re actually two time reigning champions and that is what is so special about this coming World Cup. They’re looking to do — to do really what no male or female team has ever done before and win a third in a row. But it’s not gonna be easy and I think a lot of that is tethered to the fact that their team is young. There are 14 players that this will be their first ever World Cup. Taking that into consideration and the fact that the women’s game is growing globally, it’s not gonna be easy for the women’s World team. But I am excited to see it and I’m looking forward to — I still have them winning, but who, I’m not sure who’s gonna really rival them.
O’CONNOR: And Sydney, do we have any local or New York players who made the Team USA roster for the World Cup?
STAPLES: Yes, we do. In fact, Gotham FC is a team in the National Women’s Soccer League that is in both New York and New Jersey. So those three players that are really gonna, you could say are like the homegrown state, exciting players to watch out for, is Lynn Williams, Kelly O’Hara and Kristie Mewis.
O’CONNOR: Thank you Sydney. That’s all for this special sports edition of the NCC News brief.
WINTER: For additional information on other stories, NCC News has you covered.
O’CONNOR: You can also follow us on Twitter at @NCCNewsOnline for more updates. I’m Michael O’Connor.
WINTER: And I’m Karl Winter. Get the very latest from NCC News 24-7, at NCCNews.online. Have a great day, Syracuse
SYRACUSE N.Y. (NCC News) — Co-hosts Karl Winter and Michael O’Connor bring you a special all-sports addition of today’s news in Central New York. The Syracuse Crunch have a new head coach on the bench while SU Football’s 2024 recruiting class shoots up to 39th in the nation following the commitment of a 4-star recruit. Our very own Jailah Pettis telling us about the annual CNY Football Academy with a familiar face. Matt Kibby previews tonight’s Men’s College World Series championship game, and Sydney Staples tells us which local stars to watch out for ahead of the 2023 Women’s World Cup. All that and more on nccnews.online.
