With winter fast approaching, a trio of players with ties to Warwick is taking to the ice for their respective colleges, lacing up their skates and making contributions that will hopefully lead to individual and collective success.

Hendricken product Nathan Palumbo joined the squad at Assumption via a stint with the New Hampshire Monarchs junior club and has earned a regular berth in the Greyhounds’ lineup, appearing in 12 of the 14 games played to date.

The former Hawk has notched a pair of points to his name, delivering an assist on a Sean Donoghue tally in a 4-1 win over Post on Nov. 19, then scoring his first collegiate goal three days later against Anna Maria.

Palumbo found the back of the net with 8:41 remaining in the third period, placing his shot past Amcat goaltender Connor Bradford while Assumption was killing off a penalty, one of two shorthanded markers for the Greyhounds in the contest.

His effort was the third of four straight lightings of the red lamp for Assumption, but Anna Maria made things interesting down the stretch with three of their own in a comeback bid that fell one goal short of forcing overtime.

The Greyhounds finished the 2023 portion of their slate last Saturday with a 5-3 victory on the road over Fitchburg State to improve to 12-2 on the campaign, which will resume on January 2 versus Johnson & Wales.

Heading closer to home, Toll Gate alumna Olivia Monte is suiting up for the Wildcats’ women’s team, playing all 13 games thus far for a team that is attempting to build on last winter’s 6-16-3 overall mark.

Unfortunately for the ex-Titan and her teammates, JWU has only managed to muster a 2-11 record, although they have been competitive in most of their defeats with the exception of an 11-1 shellacking administered by ninth-ranked Elmira on Dec. 1.

Mainly featuring on the blue line for the Wildcats, Monte ripped her only two shots on goal in a Nov. 21 meeting with Rivier, denied both times by Rachel Symmes as the Raiders scored once in each stanza on their way to a 3-0 blanking.

Last but not least, Isabella Marzano is in the midst of her second season at New England College, where she has figured in all but two contests for the Pilgrims after finishing her freshman year in a three-way tie for second on the team goal-scoring chart with four.

This time, goals have been harder to come by for the Tilton School graduate, netting for the first and only time in a 7-3 triumph over the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts on Dec. 1, the starting point for the Pilgrims’ current three-game winning streak.

NEC’s most recent victory came on Saturday, overturning a 3-0 deficit to claim a 4-3 decision over Worcester State, with Alexis Hornsby capping off the comeback thanks to her team-leading seventh tally of the campaign.

Heading into their mid-season break with a ledger of 4-9, the Pilgrims will hit the road on the opening weekend of the new year, traveling to Salem State on January 5 and paying a visit to Southern Maine the next day.

Pinheiro makes RIC debut FROM STAFF REPORTS

The Rhode Island College men’s track & field team competed at UMass Boston’s Beacons Season Opener held at The Track at New Balance on Sunday afternoon.

Freshman Alexander Pinheiro (Warwick, R.I.) finished 13th in preliminaries of the 60m (7.33).

In upcoming action, Rhode Island College will compete at the Tufts Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 13.