European connection bolsters Bears

ORONO – The European presence on the University of Maine women’s basketball team has tripled this summer with the addition of a recruit and an assistant coach.

Eva Moldre, a player from the former Russian republic of Estonia, and Barbara Garbova, a coach from the Czech Republic, have joined coach Joanne Palombo-McCallie’s program.

Moldre, a 6-foot-3 post player, was discovered by UMaine assistant coach Jody Benner while she was playing in England. Back in the Czech Republic, her father coached Eva Nemcova, who now plays with former Maine star Cindy Blodgett for the WNBA’s Cleveland Rockers.

Palombo credited Benner in finding Moldre, who apparently was looking for an opportunity to play college basketball in the United States. Moldre should provide another strong inside presence to complement UMaine veterans Jamie Cassidy, Martina Tinklova and Andrea Clark.

“Eva is a physically strong player and she has some excellent post moves with her back to the basket,” Palombo said.

Moldre joins 5-10 shooting guard Lacey Stone of Wisconsin, 5-8 point guard Ellen Geraghty of Connecticut and 6-1 forward Raquel Burke of Ontario in this year’s recruiting class.

However, Burke cannot enroll at UMaine until the second semester. Palombo explained that a mixup in Burke’s high school guidance office resulted in her failing to take sufficient credits to satisfy NCAA initial eligibility requirements.

“We were all under the impression she’d be fine,” Palombo said. “She’s a couple of credits short. It’s not the best-case scenario, but she can come to Maine in January and practice and we’ll decide at that time whether we would activate her or not.”

Assuming the academic requirements are met, Burke could join the team for the second semester, or she could be redshirted and retain for seasons of eligibility.

Garbova is a 1998 graduate of Eastern Illinois University, where she was a first-team, All-Ohio Valley Conference selection. The 23-year-old replaces former Bear Catherine Gallant, who coached under Palombo for two seasons while doing graduate studies.

“Barbara’s great. She’ll be working with the post players along with [assistant] Kim [Lazor],” Palombo explained. “I think she’ll be a tremendous role model for the other players and she also gives us an edge with European recruiting.”

With the addition of Moldre, the Bears have five international players on their 15-player roster. The others are Tinklova, of the Czech Republic, and Canadians Kizzy Lopez, Jessica Lawson and Chantal Macream.

Colby College hockey coach Jim Tortorella has been named an assistant coach for the United States team that will compete in the World Junior Championships Dec. 26-Jan. 4 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He will attend a pre-tourney camp in Ann Arbor, Mich., beginning Dec. 13.

Former Lake Superior State coach Jeff Jackson will be the head coach and Tortorella and Bob Mancini will assist him. Jackson is the director of the U.S. Elite Development Program and Mancini coaches one of the elite teams for Jackson.

“Any time you have an opportunity to represent your country in the highest possible setting at the amateur level, it’s an honor,” said the 38-year-old Tortorella, a former University of Maine goalie. “I’m excited about it.”

Tortorella recently attended a 10-day camp in Lake Placid for potential World Junior players.

“There were 54 of the top [17-to-20 year old] players in the country,” said Tortorella, who was recently named the third vice president of the American Hockey Coaches Association. “It was fun and it was a challenge to try to teach them the systems we’ll be using in Winnipeg.”

Tortorella has been the head coach at Colby in Waterville for the past three seasons, compiling a 51-21-4 record. He has guided the Mules to their first NCAA Division III Tournament berth and an ECAC Division III East tourney title.

Previously, Tortorella, a finalist for the 1995-96 National Division III and ECAC East Coach of the Year honors, was an assistant coach at the University of New Hampshire and the head coach at Cony of Augusta and Brunswick high schools.

Michael Connolly, who has been an assistant coach at Brandeis University (Mass.) the past four years, has been named the head baseball coach at Bowdoin College in Brunswick.

He replaces Harvey Shapiro, who coached Bowdoin for 15 years. Connolly will be the 17th coach in the 131-year history of the program.