Friday, October 29,2004
Men’s waterpolo takes it to the next level
Finishes 4th
By Kyle Woodside
staff writer
There’s that old adage that “nice guys
finish last.” Coach Tristan’s Lions de
cided that they don’t believe in that ad
age this weekend when they traveled
to Washington and Jefferson this week
end for the much anticipated Division
111 Eastern Championships.
The squad competed against five
other teams in hopes of having a strong
showing. Not only did the team have a
strong showing, they placed something
other than last for the first time in men’s
water polo history.
Fourth place isn’t too shabby when
you are given absolutely no chance go
ing into a tournament with six teams
competing, most of these teams being
ranked in the Division 111 top 25 polls.
“We had a great weekend,” said
Coach Tristan. “Once we got going
mentally, we didn’t let up physically.”
The Lions began the tournament by
facing Johns Hopkins University, who
is ranked fourth in the nation. Behrend
gave a good fight, but came up short,
21-12.
Senior Nick McGrady made 12 saves
in net. Freshmen Anthony Spoto and
Andre Pranckevicius bombarded the
goalkeeper of Johns Hopkins with five
goals apiece. Sophomore Justin Ryder
scored 2 goals.
Next, the team faced Connecticut
Nittany Lions give dissappointing performance
By Mike Tomko
staff writer
Happy Valley wasn’t so happy follow
ing Penn State’s abysmal performance
against the 4-2 lowa Hawkeyes Satur
day. lowa defeated the Lions by the
score of 6-4, which those who only saw
the score of the game might have con
fused it for a baseball game. TTie Nittany
Lion offense was non-existent because
of predictable play calls and a lack of
execution.
“I don’t know what to feel,” said Matt
Guidish. “Honestly, four points in a
football game is not even capable of
being called pathetic, pathetic would be
a compliment. I am not sure I have a
desire to see this team play ever again.”
The Lions first points came on lowa’s
first offensive possession when, on
fourth and five, the snap went over
punter David Bradley’s head and then
out of the back of the end zone for a
safety.
On Penn State’s second drive of the
game, kicker Robbie Gould missed a5l -
yard field goal. Despite starting this
drive at the lowa 24 yard line, the Lion’s
offense was unable to move the ball and
ended up losing 19 yards on the drive,
giving Gould a much more difficult kick
to make.
Following the missed kick, lowa be-
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“We dominated from start to finish,”
Tristan said about his team’s 16-11 vic
tory. “It wasn’t until the third period
that Connecticut created some offense
and made the game somewhat respect
able looking.”
Ryder blitzed Connecticut with six
goals. Spoto had five goals again and
Pranckevicius netted three more. Jun
ior Steve Schleicher also found the
back of the net once.
In the third game, which was a semi
final match, Behrend had a tough op
ponent in MIT, who was last year’s
number one Division 111 team overall.
“Despite losing, this was definitely
our best game of the year,” Tristan said.
Behrend played an even match with
MIT all the way through the first half.
Impressively, it was 3-3 after the first
period and 7-7 at halftime.
MIT finally managed to take some
control midway through the third pe
riod until a five-minute scoreless span
that carried over into the fourth period.
Going into the fourth period,
Behrend was down, 12-9. MIT man
aged to hold on, 16-11 in a see-saw
like final stanza.
“After this game, we can say we can
compete with any Division 111 team out
there, even the powerhouses,” Tristan
said. “We’re turning heads.”
Pranckevicius had five goals in this
game, while Spoto had three and Ryder
had two. McGrady saved 12 shots.
gan the drive with good field position
and moved the football down to the
Penn State eight yard line, but the Lion
defense stepped up and held the
Hawkeyes to only a field goal. lowa
then led the Lions 3-2.
Quarterback Zack Mills, who
struggled throughout the game going 7-
19 for 82 yards, threw his first of two
interceptions in the second quarter to
lowa defensive back Sean Considine,
who returned it 50 yards to the Penn
State ten. Mills other pick came later in
the second quarter. Once again though
the defense, which has been the only
bright spot on the team all year, came
up big and held the Hawkeyes to only a
field goal, increasing the lowa lead to
6-2, which is how it stood at the half.
A glimmer of hope occurred when the
Lions blocked the Hawkeyes punt in the
third quarter. The punt was recovered
by Andrew Gum an at the lowa nine yard
line, but once again the Lions offense
sputtered gaining only one yard on the
drive and then culminating with a
missed 25 yard field goal by Gould.
In the middle of the third quarter, the
Penn State fans finally cheered, when
Zack Mills was removed from the game
after being hit while trying to throw a
pass. Michael Robinson, who lead the
team in receiving yards for the game
making three catches for 52 yards, but
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MIT wrote an online article on
Behrend’s strong game. In the past, other
schools have not had much to say about
Behrend’s performance, but now they are
starting to realize that the Behrend men’s
water polo program is no pushover any-
The energy drained from the MIT game
caused the Lions to fall to W&J, 16-10.
Spoto netted a hat trick. Pranckevicius
and Schleicher had two goals each, and
Ryder tallied the remaining goal.
Spoto and Pranckevicius made the Di
vision 111 Eastern Championship All-Tour
nament Team. This was the first time any
players from Behrend accomplished this
feat. They have done it as freshmen.
“They made history yet again.” Tristan
said.
Sophomore Brandon Thiel and Junior
Brandon Sieber were given props by Coach
Tristan as being exceptional in the water.
“They were role players for the four
scorers this weekend,” said Tristan. “They
were the two men behind the scenes. They
were the ones that got things rolling and
made the plays unfold to help us be suc
cessful.”
Behrend looks forward to travelling to
Princeton this weekend for the Southern
Division Championships. They play 17
ranked U.S. Naval Academy at noon on
Saturday and then Slippery Rock at 4:40
later that afternoon.
“The guys are playing well, and the
training’s starting to show,” Tristan said of
his team.
struggled at the quarterback position com
pleting only two of nine passes and throw
ing two interceptions, replaced Mills.
Entering the fourth quarter, the Lions still
trailed 6-2, but after a penalty and some
positive offensive plays, the Lions were in
striking distance positioned to come up with
some points at the lowa 10#After a one yard
run by Tony Hunt, a Penn State penalty
moved them back to the lowa 14 and on
third down, any excitement that was left in
the crowd was taken away when Robinson
threw an interception to lowa defensive
back Antwan Allen and returned it to the
lowa eight.
Penn State's dominating defense pushed
the Hawkeye offense back to the one yard
line. On fourth down, the Hawkeyes inten
tionally ran the ball out of the back of the
endzone for a safety making the score 6-4,
still in favor of lowa.
Penn State never got any closer to scor
ing during the rest of the fourth quarter and
the game was summed up by a Robinson
fumble that allowed the Hawkeyes to re
cover and then run the clock out giving lowa
the win 6-4.
The one and only bright spot for the Li
ons was the play of their defense which held
lowa to only 168 total yards of offense and
forced two turnovers. It is just a shame the
offense was not able to capitalize off of
them. Penn State (2-5) visits Ohio State (4-
3) this Saturday in another Big 10 match up.
HOE
izations
Freshman Anthony Spoto tallied 16 goals, six steals and three assists in
the four games. Spoto along with freshman teammate Andre
Pranckevicius made the Division 111 Eastern Championship All-Tournament
Team. Pranckevicius netted 12 goals for the blue and white.
Correction: The Oct. 22 issue of the Behrend
Beacon stated that senior goalie Nick McGrady
held the single season record for most saves.
McGrady currently holds the career record for
most saves
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