Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men's basketball and women's basketball teams as well as some of the other sports. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis. As always, links can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you're on the home page.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

Back in August I made my predictions about the New England Patriots 2011 season schedule and how they would fare in the season.  Below are the predictions along with the actual result.

I’m proud of myself I did pretty well.  I plan on having my NFL season recap published shortly as well.

Week 1 September 12 @Miami 7p MNF ESPN

Prediction: Football is officially back; Patriots squish the Fish 35-6.

Actual: Patriots 38-24

Week 2 September 18 SAN DIEGO 4:15p CBS

Prediction: Chargers always have a tough time in Foxboro; Pats win 31-21.

Actual: Patriots 35-21

Week 3 September 25 @Buffalo 1p CBS

Prediction: The streak continues; Patriots rout Bills 38-10.

Actual: Bills 34-31

Week 4 October 2 @Oakland 4:15p CBS

Prediction: Go west get into a battle; lose to Raiders 28-24.

Actual: Patriots 31-19

Week 5 October 9 NY JETS 4:15p CBS

Prediction: Rebound nicely to beat Jets at home 24-21.

Actual: Patriots 30-21

Week 6 October 16 DALLAS 4:15p FOX

Prediction: Cowboys do not look good on the road; Patriots win 31-17.

Actual: Patriots 20-16

Week 7 October 23 BYE WEEK

To continue reading, click on the read more button below if you're on the home page.

The Boston Red Sox have been know to do their scouting all over the world. And their latest signing shows that effort.

Rob Bradford of WEEI.com confirmed a report from Australia that the Red Sox have signed 17-year-old Daniel McGrath. He will not play in the Red Sox organization this season as he has to finish up school which will end for him next November.

McGrath made 13 appearances for the Melbourne Aces in the Australian Baseball League, going 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA. He had made four appearances last year for the Aces with no record and a 3.86 ERA.

If you watch the video below, you will see that he slightly resembles Jon Lester on the mound.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

Photo credit: TheABL.com

Here are the highlights from the UConn Huskies women's basketball team's 56-46 win over the Louisville Cardinals at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, KY on Tuesday night.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

By Brian Ring

Hartford, CT, February 7, 2012 - The Connecticut Whale defeated the Syracuse Crunch, 3-1, Tuesday night at the XL Center in Hartford. Mats Zuccarello, Blake Parlett and Scott Tanski all scored for Connecticut, with defenseman Jeff Woywitka adding two assists. Goaltender Chad Johnson made 23 saves in winning his third straight start in the month of February.

The Whale’s victory put them two points ahead of idle Bridgeport for first place in the AHL’s Northeast Division with 53 points.

“We’re all playing together and playing well right now,” said Johnson. “We’re more conscious of the score and of what we want to do, which is to get the two points.”

The Whale struck first midway through the opening period, taking a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal from Zuccarello 7:31 into the frame. Zuccarello tipped Tim Erixon’s shot from the right point past Syracuse goaltender Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers (25 saves) for his tenth goal of the season, with the secondary assist going to Brendan Bell.

Jean-Francois Jacques tied the game for Syracuse with 5:11 to play in the first, as he cut across the Whale slot in front of a sprawled Johnson. Jacques was able to flip the puck on the backhand up and over the Whale goaltender for his 14^th goal of the season, with the assist going to highly-touted Anaheim prospect Devante Smith-Pelly.

Connecticut would retake the lead with 1:46 left in the second period with the game-winning tally, as the power-play came through for the second time in the game. Parlett’s shot from the blue line managed to fool a screened Drouin-Deslauriers for Parlett’s fourth goal of the season, putting the Whale ahead, 2-1. Woywitka and Casey Wellman would assist on the goal, Wellman notching his second assist in two games with the Whale.

Tanski would increase the Whale lead to 3-1 with 12:08 left in the third period, as he backhanded a Woywitka rebound into the Syracuse cage. Woywitka would receive his second assist of the game on the goal, Tanski’s fifth, with Jordan Owens picking up the secondary helper.

The win kept the Whale perfect in February (3-0-0-0), with tough tests coming this weekend with games in Springfield Friday, Manchester Saturday and a GEICO Connecticut Cup match with Bridgeport on Sunday.

The Whale will return home on Friday, Feb. 17, when they host the Springfield Falcons at the XL Center (7:00 PM).

Tickets to all 2011-12 Whale home games, are on sale now at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center, as well as on-line at www.ctwhale.com and through TicketMaster Charge-by-phone at 1-800-745-3000.

The Whale and the CT Hockey Hall of Fame will partner to hold a CT Hockey Hall of Fame night at the Whale’s home game at the XL Center Saturday, March 10 vs. the Norfolk Admirals.  That night will mark the enshrinement of a new class of 2012 inductees into the CT Hockey Hall of Fame, which has adopted eight members from the storied Hartford Whalers Hall of Fame.  The new inductees are: Connecticut-bred Hockey Hall of Famer Brian Leetch, ex-Hartford Whalers 56-goal scorer Blaine Stoughton, former Whalers goaltender Mike Liut, former Whalers captain Pat Verbeek, Connecticut Whale/Hartford Wolf Pack franchise icon, long-time captain and current head coach Ken Gernander, three-time Olympic medalist for Team USA and all-time NCAA women’s leading scorer Julie Chu, and one of the founders of the New England Whalers, William E. Barnes.  There will be an induction ceremony before the game, which faces off at 7:00 PM on March 10, and the new inductees will also be recognized on the ice during the first intermission.  Fans can take home a special souvenir of the March 10 night, as 5,000 Hall of Fame posters will be given away, courtesy of SuperCuts.  There will also be a special meet-and-greet event on March 10, details of which will be announced soon.  This will be the first class of inductees since 1990, and further details are available at cthockeyHOF.org.

College students can get discounted tickets to Whale weekday games with the Whale’s “Ditch the Dorms” deal.  For Monday through Friday home games, students who show a valid student ID at the Public Power Ticket Office at the XL Center can get $2 off Upper Level tickets and $5 off Lower Level seats.

Save on your tickets, and get the best seats, with a ticket plan for the Whale’s 2011-12 AHL campaign, which are on sale now. For information on season seats, mini plans and great group discounts, visit www.ctwhale.com, or call the CT Whale ticket office at (860) 728-3366 to talk with an account executive today.

To continue reading, click on the read more button below if you're on the home page.

no comments

On Monday night, the UConn Huskies men's basketball team was embarrassed at the KFC Yum! Center by the Louisville Cardinals. On Tuesday night, the UConn women's team was looking to return the favor to the Cardinals women's team.

Instead, the Huskies found themselves in a prized fight with the Cardinals and it wouldn't be at all surprising if there's a lot of ice used during the flight home.

After building up a big first half lead, UConn was able to survive the physical battle and a Louisville comeback to notch a hard fought 56-46 win in front of 16,483 and a nationally televised audience on CBS Sports Network. The crowd was the largest to see a women's basketball game at the KFC Yum! Center.

The Huskies improve to 22-2 (10-1 Big East) and now have won 10 straight games. The Cardinals fall to 17-7 (6-5).

Caroline Doty led the Huskies in scoring in 15 points and was the only one to score in double digits. She also had three rebounds, three assists and four steals. Tiffany Hayes had nine points, 11 rebounds and three assists before fouling out for the third time in her career. Bria Hartley also added nine points while Stefanie Dolson had eight points and nine rebounds.

Despite shooting 6-of-20 from the floor, Shoni Schimmel led all scorers with 20 points and led the Cardinals with eight rebounds. She did have eight turnovers. Sara Hammond had 10 points and two rebounds before fouling out.

Early on, the Cardinals kept it close with UConn. With the Huskies clinging to a 9-8 lead and 12:01 remaining in the half, they went on a 11-0 run on the strength of three three-pointers and a Kiah Stokes layup. Schimmel ended that Huskies run with a three-pointer only to see UConn go on a 13-1 run to open up a 21 point lead at 33-12.

The Cardinals responded though with a 5-0 run to close out the half and narrow the gap to 16 at 33-17.

UConn built their lead right back up to 20 pts before things changed. The Cardinals began to play a little more physical and this seemed to disrupt the flow of the Huskies. Behind the play of Schimmel and Hammond, Louisville got themselves and the crowd back into the game with a 9-2 run to cut UConn's lead to 13 at 40-27 with 13:49 to go.

Over the next eight minutes or so, Louisville kept on fighting and cut UConn's lead down to six when Schimmel drained a jumper with 5:17 to go. Hartley silenced the crowd with a three to push the lead back to nine. The Huskies would make sure the Cardinals wouldn't get any closer though using a 5-1 run to push the lead back to 13 points before settling for the 10 point win.

A win is a win at this point but a certain times during the second half, the game didn't resemble a basketball game. It looked like more of a boxing match. The refereeing was definitely terrible and they were the ones who allowed the play to get the way it did. They were lucky no one got seriously hurt.

Give credit to the Huskies though for stepping and battling it out.

The UConn women are back in action on Saturday afternoon when the Georgetown Hoyas come to Gampel Pavilion. Tip is scheduled for 4 p.m. and the game will be televised locally in Connecticut on CPTV.

To continue reading the UConn Huskies @ Louisville Cardinals recap, please click on the read more button below if you're on the home page.

The NCAA women's basketball rankings are out and the UConn Huskies remain at No. 3 in both polls.

The Baylor Lady Bears are still the unanimous No. 1 team in both polls and are followed by the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, UConn, Stanford Cardinal and Duke Blue Devils in both as well.

Joining Notre Dame and UConn in the top 25 from the Big East are the Georgetown Hoyas (14/13), Rutgers Scarlet Knights (17/16) and Louisville Cardinals (20/17).

The DePaul Blue Demons are ranked No. 22 in ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll but are among the others receiving votes in the AP Poll. The St. John's Red Storm and West Virginia Mountaineers are also among the others receiving votes in both polls.

For a complete look at the 2012 NCAA Women's Basketball Rankings - Week 13 (Feb. 7), click on the read more button below if you're on the home page.

Now that the 2011 NFL season is over, it's time to start getting ready for the 2012 NFL Draft that will be held from April 26-28 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

The first event that's always held is the NFL Combine at Lucas Field in Indianapolis, IN. which will take place this year from February 22-28. And for three members of the UConn Huskies football team, they'll get their first chance to impress all 32 NFL teams at once.

The NFL released the full invite list for the 2012 NFL Combine and that list includes UConn DT Kendall Reyes, WR Kashif Moore and K Dave Teggart.

Teggart will be part of Group 1 meaning that he'll arrive in Indianapolis on February 22nd. His workout will come on February 25th. Moore will be a part of either Group 4 or Group 5 which means he'll arrive in Indianapolis on February 23rd and conduct his workout on February 26th. Reyes will be a part of Group 7 or Group 8 making his arrival in Indianapolis on February 24th. His work out will come on February 27th.

Here's the full schedule for the 2012 NFL Combine of what the players will have to go through.

You can watch the coverage of the workouts on the NFL Network which will be live on February 25th from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., February 26th from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., February 27th from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and February 28th from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

About two weeks ago, MLB.com revealed it's 2012 Top 100 prospects for all of MLB. Included in that list were four members of the Boston Red Sox organization.

They were third baseman Will Middlebrooks, outfielder Bryce Brentz (No. 64), shortstop Xander Bogaerts (No. 76) and catcher Ryan Lavarnway (No. 93).

Now MLB.com has released it's 2012 Top 20 Prospects for the Red Sox. Included in the list below if when MLB.com thinks they will help impact the Red Sox.

1. Will Middlebrooks, 3B - ETA: 2012
2. Bryce Brentz, OF - ETA: 2013
3. Xander Bogaerts, SS - ETA: 2014
4. Ryan Lavarnway, C - ETA: 2012
5. Anthony Ranaudo, P - ETA: 2013
6. Felix Doubront, P - ETA: 2012
7. Brandon Jacobs, OF - ETA: 2014
8. Kolbrin Vitek, 3B - ETA: 2014
9. Garin Cecchini, 3B - ETA: 2014
10. Jose Iglesias, SS - ETA: 2012
11. Blake Swihart, C - ETA: 2015
12. Matt Barnes, P - ETA: 2014
13. Drake Britton, P - ETA: 2014
14. Oscar Tejeda, 2B - ETA: 2013
15. Stolmy Pimentel, P - ETA: 2014
16. Sean Coyle, 2B - ETA: 2014
17. Jose Vinicio, SS - ETA: 2016
18. Jackie Bradley, OF - ETA: 2013
19. Juan Carlos Linares, OF - ETA: 2012
20. Brandon Workman, P - ETA: 2014

You can read more about each player by heading over the 2012 Top 20 Prospects for the Red Sox on MLB.com.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

When the Boston Red Sox signed Cody Ross, they needed to make room on the 40-man roster for him. They ended up doing that by designating Scott Atchison for assignment.

On Monday, Atchison cleared waivers and was outrighted to the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox. Since he is no longer on the 40-man roster and under a minor league deal, the Red Sox have invited him to spring training as a non-roster invitee.

He'll report with the rest of the pitchers and catchers in 10 days on February 17th.

Atchison spent the 2011 season shuttling between Pawtucket and Boston making 17 appearances with the Red Sox. In those 17 games, he was 1-0 with a 3.26 ERA. He will be given a chance to compete for a spot in the revamped Red Sox bullpen.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.