Tracking the Bears

• Senior goalie Richie Burns is on the mend after injuring his shoulder in last week's 1-0 shutout of Connecticut College in the Whale Cup game. He sat out Saturday's 2-1 loss to Clark in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference action. It was the 23rd-ranked Bears' first loss of the season.

The Bears (8-1, 1-1) hope that Burns, who has a conference-leading four shutouts and allowed just four goals, returns to the lineup sometime soon. They host Mitchell College on Wednesday afternoon.

In Saturday's loss, Patrick Hanrahan of New London scored a goal and goalie Jake Sorenson of Oakdale made two saves in his first career start.

• Junior Caroline Eastman has a team-high four goals for the Bears (5-3-1, 1-1), who went 1-1 last week in women's soccer action. Senior goalie Holly Moore has a conference-best five shutouts, needing just one more to set the program record for most in a season.

Coast Guard hosts Mitchell College at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

• The Bears (10-6, 4-0) are one of three unbeaten volleyball teams in the NEWMAC. They visit first-place Babson (14-5, 5-0) tonight for a pivotal conference match.

• Last weekend, junior Avery Fanning captured the sailing program's first New England Men's Singlehanded Championship since 2006 and earned a berth in the national championship in November. He won three of 12 races, finishing in the top five 10 times, and ended up with 39 points.

Camel highlights

• The Conn College women's soccer team is climbing the New England Division III rankings, residing at No. 5. The Camels (6-1, 2-1) suffered their first loss of the season last week, losing to No. 21 Williams College, 3-0, Saturday. Ther've shooting for their first winning season since 2004 when they went 9-7 overall. That's also the last time that they won more than five games in a season until this fall.

• The Camels (3-5, 0-4) did their part to raise awareness about the need for cancer research by hosting a Play 4 The Cure event on Saturday for their field hockey game against Williams.

• In a rematch between two NCAA Regional tournament volleyball opponents, Conn swept Framingham State 3-0 last weekend. Sophomore Alex McDevitt averaged two kills and two digs in eight sets for the Camels (4-7, 1-2).

• The women's cross country team is ranked seventh in the recent New England Division III poll. Sophomore Ashley Curran is having a break-out season, posting the program's second fastest time (17:52) for a 5K race at the recent UMass Dartmouth Invitational.

• The water polo team broke into the win column on Sunday, beating California Institute of Technology, 19-12. It also was first-year coach Matt Anderson's first victory. Junior Carlos Heros had six goals and two steals while Nick DiLeo added three goals and three assists for the Camels (1-5). Robert Spencer added two goals, three assists and three steals.

Mariners riding a wave

• Joshua Muckle, a senior from Waterford, shot a career-low 83 to finish third overall and led his team to a third place finish in a quad golf match on Monday at William J. Devine Gold Course at Franklin Park in Boston. It also was the lowest round by a Mariner golfer this season. Junior Matt Grudgen had his best round, finishing with a 91. The Mariners will compete in the NECC Championship next week at Stow (Mass.) Acres Country Club.

• The men's soccer team snapped a three-game losing streak and three-game scoreless streak with a 2-0 win over Daniel Webster on Saturday in New England Collegiate Conference action. Frank Williams, a senior, scored his team-leading fourth goal and senior Jordan Derosier added his second goal. Goalie Ramazian Sinani had five saves in the shutout and lowered his goals-against-average to 1.23.

• After scoring just two goals in their previous six women's soccer games, the Mariners fired home six while beating Daniel Webster, 6-2, Saturday for their first win of the season. Freshman Elisa Johnson scored three times to give her a team-best four goals overall. Junior Katie McBride added one goal and an assist for the Mariners (1-6, 1-0).

Around the region

• Chanel Johnson of New London is certainly making her mark at the University of Hartford. She earned her third straight America East Conference women's soccer player of the week honor after contributing two goals, including the game-winner in Sunday's 1-0 win over Albany, and two assists last week. She leads the league in goals (8) and points (19).

One of Johnson's teammates is Melina Spanos, a freshman forward/midfielder from Waterford. Spanos has appeared in all 10 games, starting three.

"Out of all of the freshmen, she's getting the most playing time," Johnson said. "I think next year she's going to have even a better year. She's definitely contributing."

Coach John Natale had this to say about Spanos: "When Melina is a senior, I want her to play in Chanel's role. I want her to do what Chanel is doing."

• Carine Jacque of New London won her singles match in Western Connecticut State University's 7-2 loss to Bridgewater State last week. She rallied for a 4-6, 7-6, 1-0 (10-3) win at the No. 5 spot.

• Former Stonington High School soccer standout Kelsey Thomas had an assist in Trinity College's 3-0 women's soccer win over Albertus Magnus.

• Senior captain Julie Lavoie has helped lead the Central Connecticut State University women's soccer team to a 4-3-2 overall record. A two-time all-state forward during her Waterford High days, she has two goals and one assist this season for the Blue Devils.

• Quarterback John Trudel, a Ledyard graduate, completed 16 of 37 passes for 184 yards and a touchdown in Massachusett Maritime's 48-14 loss to Worcester State on Saturday. He's thrown for four touchdowns and rushed for two this season and also punted six times for an average of 42.7 yards.

• Sophomore Jaclyn Greenman of Waterford had a goal and two assists in the Rhode Island College women's soccer team's 4-3 loss to Framingham State on Wednesday.

g.keefe@theday.com

Twitter: @GavinKeefe