Page 14 The Behrend Beacon Women's soccer team set for clash against AMCC foe Frostburg by Rachel Lyons staff writer Seventeen games in the books for the Behrend Lady lions comes down to the final match of the season this weekend against Frostburg. Behrend's 2-0 week came in the form of back-to-back games against Penn State Altoona on Tuesday and Buf falo State College on Wednesday night. With a 5-0 conference record, the Lady Lions are set to take on their rivals, the Bobcats of Frostburg State University, for the right to host the AMCC conference playoffs next week. However, after a physically tough week, the Lady Lions will con tinue their season without their starting goalkeeper, Dara Nielsen. The Lady Liuns began their week in Altoona on Tuesday, making up a postponed game, originally scheduled fur Saturday, Oct. 24. Behrend shut out their conference foe, 2-0, to stay perfect in the AMCC. Junior Jen Baker and sophomore Michelle Newland led the Lady Lions offense with a goal apiece, while sophomore goalkeeper Nielsen col lected another shutout. Nielsen currently leads the AM('C ith a 1.17 GAA. The win boosted Behrend to a 5-11 conference record, tying them for first place with Frostburg. After less than a day's rest, the Lady Lions trav eled to Towers Field to square off in non confer ence action against Buffalo State College. Behrend scored in the 20th minute, courtesy of Newland. The Lions then held on for the 1-0 victory. The win improved the Lady Lions' record to 12-5 overall Men's Hockey team skates past Allegheny by Kevin Fiorenzo sports editor The men s hockey club team began this season on Oct. I I with a discouraging 5-1 loss to Penn State Altoona, hut they were able to rebound on Oct. 24 with a strong win against Allegheny by a score of 6-5. The Lions traveled to Altoona on Oct. 11 not re ally knowing what to expect, and they were not pre pared for the competition that Altoona gave them. Penalties played a key in their loss. Senior Captain and center Mike Fritts said, It was a combination of things. We had a lack of in tensity and we wcren t prepared for the game. Nobody came to play, said sophomore center Joe Persang. No one knew what to expect. We re still new and we re not used to each other. Next up ti)r the Lions was a chance for redemp tion at home against Allegheny. The squad would not he disappointed as they came away with a close 5-4 victory. The Allegheny game just showed that we can play, and a lot of good things came out of it, said Fritts We played better. We took chances given to us and our goalie played well, said Persang. The Lions are now I - I in College Hockey East, the conference they are now full members of. Next on the schedule for Behrend will be a home game against Pittsburgh s Division 111 team on Housing and Food Service Athlete of the Week PENNSTAI Eric dir' l6 Senior Erin Maurer is leading the Lady Lions in goals with nine, as well as gathering three assists. for the season Wednesday's win did not come without a price. The Lady Lions lost their starting goalkeeper for the remainder of the season due to a torn ACL. Head coach Dan Perritano reports that after back to-hack games, his team is a little banged up. SP N. .410 The men's hockey team got off to a good start this sesaon with a 5-4 victory over Allegheny Saturday. The team is definitely feeling confident about its chances to come out with a victory. They re style is more like ours; a lot of hitting and a quick and defensive game. We re expect ing a real competitive game and to come out and play our best, said Fritts. This past weekend playing top competition at the Eastern's at Justin IZycier Johns Hopkins ' 4 4X,Ac ' " h alk 4 4 1 10 1300 Friday, October 31, 2003 ~.,, ,~~... "These games were very demanding on the players," said Perritano. "They deserve a lot of credit." The last remaining game of the season will fea ture the top teams in the AMCC, as Behrend hosts Frostburg on Saturday. The Lady Lions' goal from the beginning of the season was to topple the two-year reign the Bobcats currently hold on the AMCC throne. The Bobcats have been on fire as of late, winning their last seven in a row. Frostburg also boasts this week's AMCC Player of the Week in junior forward Karen Kotofski, and Goalkeeper of the Week, senior Stephanie Zyck. Kotofski is the Bobcats leading scorer and is only one goal away from tying the school record in career points. Zyck has only allowed four goals in the last seven games, all wins. Four of those wins were shutouts. After an already exhausting week, Perritano re ports that his team will need to recover physi cally. "First, we're going to take a day off," said Perritano. "We're also going to run very short practices." He says practices will be focused on defend ing restarts and attacking a zonal defense. "We've played 17 games and we're definitely prepared," Perritano said. Saturday's game against Frostburg will begin at noon and is also Senior Day for the players. The winner of the contest will host next week's AMCC tournament, scheduled to begin Tuesday, Nov. 4. Freshman left wing Josh Grumski said, W e are working on a lot of skills, drills and skating to get in shape for the season. SPORT: Men's Water Polo the Behrend Lions went 0-3. De- CLASS: Freshman spite the loses, Ryder scored four DATE: Oct. 27, 2003 goals and posted threes steels along with three assists. Justin Ryder (St. Louis, MO/ Parkway High School) was named this week's Beacon/Food and Housing Athlete of the Week. Kevin Fiorenzo, Co-Sports Editor Men's soccer team gets ready for AMCC playoffs The men's soccer team suffered its first confer ence loss of the season last week to rival Penn State Altoona The 2-1 loss at the hands of 12-5 Altoona on Sat urday dropped the Lions to second place in the Al legheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. The Lions are now one game behind the Frostburg State Bobcats. Behrend plays their final game of the season this Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at home against those same Bobcats. Frostburg is currently unde feated in the conference and 9-4-2 overall. The game will determine the conference cham pion along with the site of the upcoming AMCC tournament. The first round of the playoffs will be held this Wednesday at a site to be determined. The top four teams from the AMCC earn a play off berth and are seeded according to regular sea son finish. Frostburg State, Behren and Pitt- Greensburg have all clinched playoff spots. The final spot is between La Roche and Penn State Altoona. The Lions played their final non conference game of the season on Tuesday against Thiel College. Behrend came away with a 2-0 victory, improving their overall record to 11-4-2, and finishing with a 7-3-2 non conference record. Behrend scored both of its goals in the first half, then relied on solid defense and steady goaltending to ensure the victory. Sophomore defenseman Bryan Blaszczyk scored the Lions' first goal in the 18th minute of the first half. He headed in the eventual game winning goal off a corner kick from sophomore midfielder Mark Cipriani to give Behrend the 1-0 lead. It was Blaszczyk's third goal and Cipriani's third assist of the season. Twenty-two minutes later, sophomore midfielder Justin Ramsay increased the Lions' lead to 2-0 with an unassisted goal. Sophomore defenseman Dan Bash was named to the AMCC's weekly Best of the Rest list. Bash performed strongly in both of Behrend's games last week. Bash is a member of a Behrend defense, teamed with senior goalkeeper Jake Hordych, that collec tively has allowed only 15 goals in 16 games this season. The team's six shutouts and .877 goals against average are both tops in the AMCC. Senior midfielder Andy Laver and freshmen forward/ midfielder Stan Kaweesi are currently in the top 10 in scoring in the AMCC. Laver has seven goals and five assists and Kaweesi has totaled seven goals and two assists. Following last year's 4-2 conference record and disappointing loss in the championship game to Pitt- Greensburg, the Lions are motivated to make an other title run. When asked at the beginning of the season if he felt the Behrend would appear in this year's cham pionship game, Hordych seemed sure that the Li ons would make another title run. "Definitely. It will be seven years in a row now I think. Definitely. I know we'll be there Nov. 8. No questions." With a victory over Frostburg on Saturday, Behrend would earn the #1 seed and give themselves even more confidence entering the playoffs. Next up for the blue and white will be the Collegiate Water Polo Association Tournament at Bucknell University October 31 through November 2. rEnE by Ray Immekus staff writer
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