The Behrend Beacon • October 25, 2002 Women's Soccer -N Cross country preparing Section B on a roll • for AMCC Championships - The men's and women's , 9 " cross country teams Ports The Lions have put together quite a run , L,4 nearing the end of the finished regular season season. The team took play with two highly on rival Penn State y. - contested meets. See how Altoona on Saturday. they did on page 28. See how they Scott Sottis & Zoe Rose, S • • its Editors fared on page 48. Behrend Athletic Events Friday Women's Volleyball vs Pitt-Greensburg, 7 p.m Saturday Men's Soccer @ Frostburg, 3 p.m Women's Soccer .0 Frostburg, 1 p.m Thursday Women's Soccer @ Grove City, 4 p.m WE ARE PENN STATE ntramural Schedule Flag Football Men's, Women's, & COED Entries due Friday, Oct. 4 Games begin Oct. 8 Billiards Men's, Women's, & COED Entries due Friday, Oct. 25 ncludes singles and doubles Schedules posted Sunday, Oct. 27 Play begins Mon. Oct. 28 Bowling Men's, Women's, & COED Entries due Nov.l ncludes Individual and Tea Competition At Eastway Lanes Sat. Nov. 9 3 vs. 3 Basketball Men's and Women's Entries due Nov. 8 Games begin Mon., Nov. 11 5 vs. 5 Basketball Men's and Women's Entries due Dec. 13 Games begin Spring Semester LIONS Lions pick up key AMCC win Trisha Adams leads the Lions in kills this season and ranks third on the team in digs by Dan Rehmeyer staff writer With a very impressive, yet very difficult season finally winding down and coming to a close, the Penn State Behrend Lions are really making an effort to finish the season with an even .500 record. With more than 30 games behind the well oiled team, and a season that started in late August with a 3 game winning spree, these Lady Lions have definitely seen their share of ups and downs. "Every year I am in awe of how far and hard these girls play, but we need to stay focused and not lose sight of the tournament," said Coach Kellie Diehl about the season. Such strong support has been the story of these Lions racking up numbers ehrend falls to Altoona Freshman standout Mark Cipriani slides on the field as a result of some heavy rain that pounded the field before Behrend dropped to faced Altoona. by Dan Vidal staff writer After a very slow start to the season, the men's soccer team has come roar ing back. It's been on a tremendous roll and has clinched a playoff berth. The Lions are 4-2-2 in their last 8 games and have played well in conference games, in particular. Through the first nine games of the season, it seemed as though the Blue and White were going to have a very long, that could shock a sold-out crowd. Danielle Bemis took steps forward with strong leadership and tactical movement with talent in all aspects of the game. Bemis, a junior at Behrend, has been a great team player, excelling in all aspects of the game. Bemis has tallied an outstanding 322 kills, 403 digs, and an outstanding game average of .190. Even with a player such as Bemis, the team still looked at help from other outstanding key players to help push through the season. But the look was, to say the least, a cake walk. Trisha Adams, Amanda Evans, and Rose Boni added their own flare to each and every aspect of the game as an almost sister trio. Adams, a Junior, Outside Hitter from Fairview, has tallied a team leading 325 kills with more than four games left in the season. and below par season, as they were a dis mal 1-6-2. However, they never quit and kept a very positive mental attitude. This very young team was very resil ient and determined on coming back from the hole they dug for themselves. The one good thing they had going for them early in the season was that they did not have any conference match-ups until the middle of the season when they played against Pitt-Bradford. That's when the team began to come together. The tean. has come together to play well as a whole. However there are some Evans an absolute essential key for Behrend, has set 932 assists with only seven errors and is still only a freshman on the Behrend campus. Finally Boni, a senior from Ridgeway, put up 474 digs, four errors, and seven assists. The numbers are absolutely outstanding and the Behrend Lions should be very happy with their accomplishments as of yet. After an good game in the Junker center against Lake Erie, the Lions improved their shaky AMCC record to 4-3, just barely maintaining the win average needed to attend the tournament. But after the win, the Lions continued the AMCC matches with poise and fierce competition. Another huge Behrend win was pulled off at Greensburg in the race for top positions in the tournament that sent the Lions back to Behrend to face No. 1 ranked Frostburg in a chance for top position. With an AMCC record of 5-3, a win against unbeaten Frostburg force would mean top position and possibly home court advantage in the upcoming tourney. "The game was outstanding" commented Diehl, "Frostburg is a very beatable team and there were times throughout the game I thought we had it." The Lady Lions ending up losing 3-2 at the Junker Center in an extremely close match against Frostburg. Some would call such a close defeat a heart breaker. But this is definitely not the case for the Behrend Lady Lions. The loss against Frostburg was like throwing gasoline on a fire. Altoona had given the Lions their only losses last season in securing home court advantage in the AMCC tournament with an unbeaten record. With a previous win already in the Lion's belt, they hit the court the same night of the Frostburg match and leveled Altoona right off the court. With a 3-2 win against Altoona, the Behrend team snatched a needed win to raise its record to 6-4. With the win in their mind, the Lions knew trouble was ahead. Oct. 22 marked a crucial game against Bradford which could grip a high spot in the tournament, or cast a shadow on the standouts during this season. The play of freshmen middle fielder/ defense man Mark Cipriani and junior middle fielder Andy Laver have really stood out dur ing the season, as they both lead the team in points with 13 points each. The Lions (5-8-4, 3-2) defeated Lake Erie convincingly in their first of four straight home games. This was the game that clinched a playoff berth for Behrend. On October 12 junior goalkeeper Jake SOCCER SLIPS continued on page 4B Lions. Bradford, known in the league as a huge powerhouse, had already beating the Behrend Lions 0-3 on the first of October. With the game scheduled in Bradt ord before a sellout crowd, the Behrend Lions took the court. Poetry in motion was the only way to describe the way the game was played. "Our passing was the hest, I have seen all season. Powerful Kills and key digs is what won this game for us," commented Diehl. "We played as a team and not only impressed ourselves, hut really impressed everyone in the stands." The game was outstanding and the perfect trio of Adams, Evans, and Boni played as if they had known each other since elementary school. The Behrend Lions went on to heat Bradford 3-1, improving their overall record to 14-16, and their crucial AMCC record to 7-4. With one game left against an already-beaten Greensburg team at home, the Lady Lions are looking to possibly clinch a top three seed in the tournament, which is to he announced at the end of the season Behrend will host a key game against Greensburg on Friday night at 7 p.m.