Muise’s third-period burst lifts Oswego past Norwich, into national title game

NCAA.com:  LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – It’s pronounced “muse,” and that’s rather fitting, considering Chris Muise provided all the inspiration the Oswego State Lakers needed to book a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Division III national championship game.

A senior forward from Oakville, Ontario, Muise provided the spark in the third period of Friday night’s national semifinal against Norwich, as he figured in three of the Lakers’ four third-period goals as Oswego State broke open what was a tie game through two periods to grab a 6-3 victory.

Muise slipped a wrist shot past Cadets goaltender Chris Czarnota to give the Lakers the lead for good 6:14 into the third period, provided an assist on Tyler Leimbrock’s goal that pushed the lead to 4-2, then squashed any thought of an improbable Norwich comeback by burying an empty-net goal in the final minute.

It was an offensive eruption for a player who, while known more for taking on an aggressive, instigator role in his first three seasons, has taken a more prominent role in the Lakers’ attack this season. With three points Friday night, Muise sits third on the Oswego State scoring charts this season with 36 points (12 goals, 24 assists) — equaling his offensive output from his first three college seasons.

“Honestly, I’ve got to give a little bit of credit — just a little bit of credit — to the coaching staff,” Muise said with a wink at Lakers head coach Ed Gosek. “I’ve always taken on that instigator role, ever since my junior days, but the past couple games, I don’t want to focus too much on that. With my linemates, we kind of want to provide that secondary scoring, and in order to do that I can’t get too involved in that sort of instigating role — although I do like to do it.”

Jasper's thoughts:  A disappointing ending to a great season.

Lester's perfect outing powers Sox past Rays

redsox.com:  FORT MYERS, Fla. - Jon Lester was so good Sunday, it was almost a waste.

Lester, the leader of the Red Sox staff and the expected Opening Day starter, threw six perfect innings Sunday afternoon at JetBlue Park in a 5-1 win over the Rays. A capacity St. Patrick's Day crowd of 9,626 surely would have liked to have seen Lester go farther after history - he left after 79 pitches and six strikeouts -- but a perfect game in March isn't worth the risk of a hurting arm in April.

"I had a pretty good idea," Lester said when asked if he knew he left after 18 up and 18 down. "I pitched the whole time in the wind-up. ... You got the scoreboard right in your face. It's too hard to miss."

Lester is in line to start Opening Day for the Sox on April 1 in New York, but the lefty said after the game he hasn't been told anything. Manager John Farrell said before the game he had no announcement.

Jonny Gomes went 3-for-3 and drove four of the Sox's runs.

Anthony Carter and Joel Hanrahan kept the perfecto going in the seventh and eighth.

The Sox carried the perfect game all the way until one out in the ninth, when Jason Bourgeois hit an infield single off Marco Duarte. Cole Figueroa then got Tampa Bay on the scoreboard with a ground-rule double to right field.

Jasper's thoughts:  We better see this Lester come April 1st, but this is a good sign that we will.

Concussion symptoms narrowing window for Drew

redsox.com:  FORT MYERS, Fla. -- David Ortiz has already been ruled out for Opening Day, and now shortstop Stephen Drew's chances of playing April 1 against the Yankees are shrinking, too.

After getting hit in his helmet March 7, Drew is still battling concussion symptoms, including feeling "wavy," as manager John Farrell put it Sunday morning.

"I think the window starts to narrow a little bit here. We're down to the final two weeks," Farrell said. "He's going to actually start to initiate some on-field activity, and that's just to go through stretch and get his arm ready to play catch. No BP. When those symptoms are fully subsided is when he starts to ramp things up more intently, and we're not there yet. ... We're getting into this last stage of camp. Yeah, you've got to think about all the options."

Ortiz still felt heel discomfort running on the treadmill on Saturday. Taking batting practice on Monday was a goal, but that may now not be reasonable.

"We'll see where he's at as far as being in a cage to take some initial swings tomorrow or over the next couple days," Farrell said.

Jasper's thoughts:  These injuries are bad news for the Red Sox.  I didn't expect this to happen to Drew, especially with the MLB's new helmets.