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The Behrend Beacon
Men's soccer finishes third place;
optimisitc for rest of season
Sophomore, Justin Reese heads down field
by Ray Immekus
staff writer
The Behrend men's soccer team recently finished
third in the Herb Lauffer Memorial Soccer Tourna
ment held over Labor Day weekend. The Lions
went I-I in the four-team tournament that also in
cluded teams from Baldwin-Wallace, Hiram, and
Medaille.
Q & A with new
Water Polo coach
Above: Women's Water Polo during a spring 2003 match
Right: Behrend's new Men's and Women's Water Polo coach
and also assisstant swimming coach, Joe Tristan.
by Adam Massaro
staff writer
Joe Tristan, the new head coach of the water polo
program grew up in Southern California, where he first
became acquainted with the sport of water polo before
attending college at Eastern Michigan University.
Tristan was previously ranked in the top 20 in FINA and
top 100 in the world in the 100 m and 200 m freestyle.
Q: What are the focal points or keys to success for
this team?
A: The key to our programs success is in the team
unity that we build, and the traditions that we will
manufacture and cherish for the life of the program.
Q: From a coaching standpoint how do you educate
new, inexperienced recruits to water polo?
A: Coaching new players is just like coaching
experienced players. All athletes have to learn basic
fundamentals. They have to be repeated every season
and re-taught every season. So when the new players
come into the program, they learn the same fundamental
skills the veterans learn, as well as practicing them with
the veteran players.
Q: The team finished 1-2 in the Grove City
Invitational, what were you able to take away from the
team's performance?
A: We played great against Grove City. We started
slow in the first quarter, but we were able to readjust and
give GCC a run. The tournament showed the players are
doing their best and practicing the fundamental basics.
Mercyhurst and Gannon were a little different, but we
still did what we were supposed to do, and we are only
going to get better as the season progresses.
Q: How imperative is it for a player to have a
strong background in competitive swimming?
A: A strong competitive swimming background is
always a plus, but it is not required. Some players on
The tournament marked the beginning of the
2003 season for the Lions, a season that has poten
tial to be a memorable one for them. Last year's
team reached the AMCC Championship game, los
ing to Pitt-Greensburg, 2-1 in overtime.
The Lion's first game was played on Saturday.
August 30th, against Medaille. The game remained
scoreless for the first 32 minutes, until junior
FILE PHOTO
the Women's National Team played basketball before
water polo. I know one male that played in 2 Olympics in
Water Polo was a basketball player before he started water
polo in high school. It you know how to swim, and you
have the drive and work ethic to succeed, then you can
play water polo.
Q: What is the hardest aspect of water polo to teach?
A: Every aspect of polo is hard to coach. You just
have to know how to get the information to the athletes so
they can understand, practice and execute.
Q: The team is predominantly comprised of under
classmen, where do you see the team leadership coming
from'?
A: Team leadership will come from Eric Phillips,
Nick McGrady and Dario Vis. The fine gentlemen are our
Captain's and they will lead our program just fine.
Q: What does the future hold for a program that is in
its fourth year of existence?
A: Success, success and more success. Win or lose
we will still be successful.
Q: You recently took over the program before the fall
semester started, how difficult of a transition has that
A: The only hard transition is the move. I still own a
house in Michigan, and that must sell before I can move
on a house here in Erie. Then I can bring my wife and
animals out here and we can live happily together again.
Q: In the future do you plan to recruit players?
A: Yes I plan to recruit.
Q: As tar as the popularity of water polo as a sport,
what direction do you see it heading?
A: I see water polo moving in the direction of
success and glory.
September 12, 2003
PHOTO BY HEATHER MYERS
midfielder Eric Nyberg scored on Medaille goalie
Nick Lupatta to give Behrend a 1-0 lead, with se
nior Andy Laver providing the assist.
The Lion's lead did not last for very long. Cory
Cwilinski scored in the 42.nd minute on an assist from
Russell Allen to tie the game for Medaille. The
teams went into halftime with the scored still tied
1- I .
Charles Wood ended the deadlock at the 60-
minute mark, with a goal assisted by Cwilinski to
give Medallic the lead at 2-I.
The final 30 minutes of the game were scoreless,
with both teams playing hard nose defense. The
game ended in a 2-1 Medaille victory.
Although the Lion's lost the opener and the oppor
tunity to play in the championship game their posi
tive thinking was not lost.
"I feel that even though we lost the game this
experience was a very good eye-opener into how
we must perform in the future in order to be suc
cessful," said Nyberg.
Behrend's next opponent was Hiram, in the con
solation game held on Sunday, August 31st. Hiram
had been shutout by eventual champion Baldwin-
Wallace in the opening round by a score of 3-0.
For the first 40 minutes, the game looked as if it
were going to be a defensive match all the way
through, which was pretty much true, minus a ten
minute span that ended the first half and began the
second. These ten minutes were dominated offen
sively by the Lions, harnessing them a third place
finish in a tournament that could have been won by
three of the four teams.
The offensive barrage by the Lions began in the
41st minute, by sophomore defenseman Dan Bash,
who recorded an unassisted goal that gave Behrend
a 1-0 halftime lead.
The Lions immediately continued where they left
off, scoring two goals in the initial six minutes of
the second half. The first goal came from fresh
man Sean Ruhlman, unassisted, at minute 49.
Volleyball travels to Colorado
The Lady Lion's volleyball team par
ticipated in their first tournament at
Colorado College in Colorado this past
weekend. The girls won their first game
3-2 followed by three consecutive losses.
The first game against Milwaukee
School of Engineering began as a 2-I
score with Milwaukee leading. Shortly
after, the lady lions pulled through, high
spirited, and quickly lifted the score to
3-2.
Sophomore player, Erin Bennett
stated, "We all handled the pressure
well."
As for the three consecutive losses, the
girls all agreed that those losses helped
them determine exactly what things they
could use more work on.
"The tournament was definitely a
learning experience for us all," said
Bennett.
"It gave us all an opportunity to learn
what we, as a team, need to work on."
Not only did the girls get to play in the
tournament but they also got a chance to
meet the United States Olympic volley
ball team.
I Sophomore, Elizabeth Bello stated, "It
was just amazing!!"
I Bennett also agreed saying, "It was
PHOTO BY HEATHER MYERS
by Amy Hilam
staff writer
Amy Frizzell & Kevin Fiorenzo,
Sports Editors
The Lions added an insurance goal only a minute
later, also by Ruhlman, this time assisted by sopho
more Mark Cipriani, to extend the lead to 3-0.
Behrend played mistake free defense for the final
40 minutes to secure victory.
Eric Nyberg summed up the Lions' performance,
"I think everyone on the team realized the com
petitiveness of this league and the need to work hard
for 90 minutes and it was apparent in our victory
on Sunday."
"1 feel that we bounced hack well as a team to
get the victory in the second game. We saw a lot of
positive things in the game against Hiram and have
an optimistic attitude for the rest of the season,"
added Dan Bash.
Senior goalkeeper Jake Hordych notched his
first shutout, following last year's five-shutout sea-
The Lion's take on Westminster on Saturday,
September 13. Check out On Deck for locatoin
and time
Two Minute
Drill
Women's Tennis
Behrend 5 Westminster
Volleyball
Behrend 3 Milwaukee Eng
Behrend 0 Colorado
Men's Soccer
Behrend 1
Women's Soccer
Behrend 2 Alfred 1
Women's Tennis
Behrend 2 Waynesburg
Men's Water Polo
Behrend 9 Grove City
Behrend 12 Mercyhurst
Behrend 2 Gannon
Volleyball
Behrend 0 Pacific 3
Behrend 0 SCAD 3
Men's Cross Country
@ Thiel Invitaional, Ist place
Brad Ruffo 27:20
Women's Cross Country
@ Thiel Invitational,lst place
Jessica Knapp, 24:46
very exciting a huge inspiration to
us all."
One of the most important contribu- •
tions to the Lady Lion's volleyball
team, besides the skills and great atti
tudes from the players, is from the I
head coach herself.
Kellie Diehl is in her third season as
head volleyball coach along with be- I
ing head softball coach as well.
Before Behrend, however, she was'
also an active head coach at Mt. Union
College, Heidelberg College and
Wilmington College. Along with head
coach Diehl, comes assistant coach
Pisano.
Phil Pisano is in his first year as the
assistant coach for the lady lion's vol
leyball team. He coached the women's
volleyball team at Slippery Rocky for
a few years prior to Behrend. Pisano
is far from being the only "new" per
son to the team. He is followed
byseven new freshman players, who
are filling positions as defensive
specialists,middle hitters and outside
hitters.
Overall the team is excited for the I
rest of the season.
9-4-03
9-5-03
9-6-03
Alfred 1 (2 OT)
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