Colonels' Athletics recently concluded another successful year and experienced some major changes in personnel along the way.
The fall season was again a thrilling one for Curry football. Threes were "wild" for Steve Nelson in what came to be his eighth and final season as head coach. He led the Colonels to a third-consecutive New England Football Conference (NEFC) title, a third-straight NCAA Division III Tournament appearance and a #3 ranking in New England. Curry's dramatic 17-14 double-overtime win against Fitchburg State in the NEFC title game was followed up by a gutsy, impressive effort at #7 nationally-ranked Delaware Valley College in an opening-round NCAA Tournament match-up. The Colonels led the heavily favored Aggies into the third quarter before succumbing, 37-22.
The winter season had its share of exciting moments as well. The ascendant women's basketball program returned to post-season |
action after a one-year hiatus, while the hockey team stretched its regular-season unbeaten streak in the ECAC Northeast to 48 games, before losing 2-1 to UMass Dartmouth on December 3. After battling through a brutal non-conference schedule, the Colonels grabbed the #2 seed in the conference tournament. Head Coach Rob Davies notched his 100th career win after Curry's 5-1 trouncing of Fitchburg State in the tournament quarterfinals. Eventually, the Colonels advanced to their third-straight ECAC Northeast Tournament finals game before falling to UMass Dartmouth, 3-1.
During the spring, all five Curry squads qualified for post-season play, including the men's lacrosse team, which under first-year Head Coach Steve Batchelor made the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Tournament for the first time since 2002. Batchelor's team also picked up its first-ever win against CCC powerhouse New England College. |
Another Colonels' head coach reached a milestone as baseball mentor Dave Perdios collected his 100th career win after a 2-1 victory against St. John Fisher in Florida on March 5. But it was Curry's two women's teams that provided the greatest excitement of the spring. Softball advanced to the CCC finals for the second time in three years before suffering a 7-4 defeat at top-seeded Endicott. Still, the Colonels were selected to play in the ECAC Division III New England Tournament for an unprecedented third-consecutive season. The women's lacrosse program reached new heights in 2006 — in just its 6th year of varsity competition. Curry tallied its first-ever wins against CCC rival Gordon College, including a dramatic, 6-5 overtime win in the CCC Tournament quarterfinals. As the #5 seed, the Colonels ultimately played in their first-ever conference finals, where they nearly upset second-seeded Endicott, which hung on for a 16-12 win. Curry had a second chance at a |
championship 14 days later, as top seed and host for the ECAC Division III New England Women's Lacrosse Championship. At a rain-soaked Walter M. Katz Field in Milton on May 13, CCC rival and #3 seed Roger Williams built a 13-8 lead, then held off a furious late-game charge by the Purple and White, to capture the crown, 13-11.
Off the field, no other Athletic Department news overshadowed the departure of Steve Nelson on March 10 after eight years as athletic director and head football coach. Nelson moved on to a private-sector position in the computer industry and was quickly replaced as athletic director by Colonels' Associate Athletic Director Vinnie Eruzione. Days later, Eruzione announced the appointment of Offensive Coordinator Skip Bandini as Curry's 10th head football coach. Eruzione also hired Michael Bradley and Brian Moody as new head coaches for women's tennis and women's cross-country respectively. |
 Curry College Athletic Director Vinnie Eruzione has announced the appointment of Skip Bandini as head football coach. He replaces Steve Nelson, who resigned as the school's head football coach and athletic director to pursue a private-sector position in the computer industry.
Bandini had served on Nelson's staff for the past three seasons — as defensive coordinator in 2003 and 2004, then as offensive coordinator in 2005. Curry won the New England Football Conference (NEFC) title and participated in the NCAA Division III Tournament in each of those years. Out of 228 Division III football programs nationwide, his Colonels' defensive units ranked 12th and 16th respectively in 2003 and 2004 in team defense.
Over a career that now spans 25 years, Bandini has coached at five different high schools and five different colleges throughout Massachusetts. Among his high school assignments were head coaching positions at St. Clement (1989-1990) and Don Bosco Tech (1992-1995), his alma mater. Bandini also served in various coaching capacities at Dom Savio, Stoneham and Reading High Schools.
He launched his coaching career in 1981 with a two-year stint as assistant to the offensive line coach at Massachusetts Maritime Academy. Bandini then returned to the collegiate ranks in 1996, working as offensive coordinator at M.I.T. for three seasons before moving on to Mount Ida College as defensive coordinator for one year. |
Prior to his arrival at Curry, Bandini served as both defensive and offensive line coach at Division II UMass-Lowell from 2000-2002.
Bandini grew up in Brighton, and graduated from Don Bosco Tech in 1976, where he earned all-conference honors as a lineman and played on two Catholic Conference championship squads. Bandini then attended Bridgton Academy, graduating in 1977 after earning letters in three varsity sports (football, hockey and baseball).
He went on to Massachusetts Maritime Academy, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Engineering in 1981. A four-year starter at offensive line for the Buccaneers, Bandini was a two-time All-New England performer, earned numerous team and all-conference honors, played on an NEFC Championship squad in 1977 and was a team captain his senior year. In 1999, Mass. Maritime retired his #62 jersey and Bandini was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in June 2006.
 In 2005, Bandini was honored by the Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Association as their recipient of the Association's annual Distinguished Service Award. Bandini is the founder of Master Sports Inc. which is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit corporation providing memorial scholarships to student-athletes. |
