BEACON SPORTS
Lady lions earn second seed in AMCC tourney
By Matt Waronker
assistant sports editor
The Penn State Behrend
women's basketball team ended
their regular season this past
Saturday at the Junker Center
with a decisive 72-53 victory
over visiting confer
ence foe Pitt-Bradford.
With the win, the Lady
Lions ended the season
with an overall record
of 20-4, and were able
to tally an impressive
conference record of
15-3. The Lady Lions
conference record
proved to he strong
enough to earn them a
number two seed in this
weekend's AMCC con
ference tournament, as
well as a first-round
bye. The tournament
will be held at top seed-
ed Medaille College.
Behrend's first game
of the tournament,
which is scheduled for
Friday, Feb. 23, pits the
Lady Lions against
sixth seeded Pitt-
Bradford
Bradford
earned their place in the CONTRIBUTED PHOTO at this point in time. Right
tournament semifinals The team huddles before a recent game. now we're focusing on the
by defeating third seed
ed Pitt-Greensburg 56-54 in In Behrend's previous meeting
opening round play. with the Bradford Panthers last
Since Behrend's previous Saturday. the Lady Lions domi
game was against this same Pitt- nated on both sides of the ball.
Bradford squad, head coach Roz After a close first half, in which
Fornari expects a well-prepared Behrend held a slight 35-27 lead
Behrend team to take the floor at the half, the Lady L ions
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Get involved while getting great newspaper writing experience.
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HOUSING AND FOOD SERVICES
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
0 1.Taa.
s Pi"
t.~:
~~.
NAME: Jim Palmer
SPORT: Men's Tennis
CLASS: Senior
DATE: February 12, 2007
Jim Palmer (Sharon/Sharon) has been named the Housing and Food Services Athlete of
the Week. Palmer won both his third-flight singles match and second-flight doubles
match. He took care of Waynesburg's Jeff Canning 6-0, 6-3 and then paired up with
teammate Garret Grenek to win doubles 8-4. The team shut out Waynesburg 9-0 to
improve to 1-1 on the season. Palmer will look to find a place back on the AMCC All-
Conference Team. He was named to the All-Conference Second-Team as a junior.
Next up for men's tennis will be the Franciscan University of Steubenville at home on
Mar. 3. The men head to Hilton Head, S.C. on Mar. 10 for a week that includes seven
matches against teams from all over the eastern U.S.
Housing and Food Services Athlete of the Week is selected by the Sports Information
Staff.
this Friday evening
"Since we just prepared for
IPitt -Bradford] and got to see
their game, we have a much
more detailed look at the way
their team will play, - said
Fornari. "We should he very pre
pared for this game.-
r _LINA ,t,A
A 11-LUI
surged into the second half,
building a substantial lead
behind senior guard Brittany
Mays. and her team high 20-
point performance. The Lady
Lions outscored Bradford 37-26
in the second half, and on the
defensive side of the ball,
Behrend's constant pres
sure forced seven second
half Bradford turnovers.
The Panthers were held to
37% shooting from the
floor for the game. Also
contributing in the win
ning effort was sophomore
forward. Victoria Innes,
who shot seven of eight
from the field for 16
The tournament champi-
onship will he held on
Saturday Feb. 24. The
winner of the tournament
will automatically receive
a hid for the NCAA tour-
nament. This bid, howev
er, remains the least of the
Lady Lions' worries.
"The NCAA tournament
bid is an added goal at this
point." said Fornari.
"Winning the conference
championship is our goal
pressure to get through
Friday's game and then we'll
focus on the championship and
possible NCAA bids. However, I
don't feel we need to get to that
point to make it a good season,
but it would be a very nice end-
Men's basketball head to AMCC tournament in good position
The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team closed out
their regular season with a 55-53 victory over conference
rival Pitt-Bradford this past Saturday at the Junker Center.
With the win, the Lions, who finished the season with an
overall record of 18-6, climbed their way into second place
in the AMCC conference.
In what was to be their final home game of the season, the
Lions gave the Behrend crowd one last dose of their signa
ture defense, holding Pitt-Bradford to 38% shooting from
the floor for the game. Behrend's defense continually stag
gered the Panthers offense, containing Bradford's normally
prolific shooters and holding the team to a season low 53
points. While Behrend's offense had trouble capitalizing off
of their defense's success, the Lions were nonetheless able to
hold off Bradford in the low-scoring contest, maintaining
their slight lead throughout the entire game. Behrend was led
by junior center. Kevin Buczynski, who led all scorers with
20 points. Buczynski also contributed seven rebounds and
three blocks while freshman guard Justin Kovac scored eight
points and dished out four assists.
The win, which marked the Lions' 16th overall conference
victory, earned Behrend the number two seed in this season's
AMCC conference tournament. The victory also gives
Behrend a considerable amount of momentum, as the team
rides back-to-back victories all the way into Painesville. The
victories, which came against third seeded Pitt-Bradford and
top seeded tournament host Lake Erie, were significant since
both teams are among the top three teams in the AMCC con
ference.
This momentum, although only two games strong.
remains undeniable among the Behrend team.
"The Lake Erie and Pitt-Bradford wins were big for us
because we could face both teams in the tournament this
weekend," said freshman guard Adam Kaiser. "We have a
Opportunity for involvement
If you're looking for a chance to volunteer your
time towards a good cause, Penn State Behrend has
the perfect opportunity for you.
TOPSoccer will be starting up it's sev
enth year at Behrend and will run
every Wednesday from March 21
through May 9 from 6 p.m. until 7:30
p.m. in the Junker Center Gym
TOPSoccer is a community-based
program developed by U.S. Youth
Soccer and is aimed at giving children
with special needs the opportunity to
learn and play soccer. Behrend men's
soccer head coach, Dan Perritano,
started the program at Behrend in 2002
after learning about it at a coaching CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Kara Struski and Emma Perritano
convention. If you are unsure, come to the Junker
share a laugh at last years program.
Center classroom, downstairs, for the
organizational meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 5
p.m. This is an excellent opportunity to give some
thing back to the community while helping others.
During the eight week time period, you will serve
as a coach for one child. The children involved in the
program have a wide range of disabilities, from
Behrend hockey completes season above 500
By Jessica Carlson
staff writer
The Penn State Behrend
Hockey Club ended their season
last Friday with a record of 16-6-
2. The season began strong in
late Sept. with five consecutive
wins. Unfortunately, it ended
abruptly on Friday when the
team lost to Saint Vincent 0-5.
The club is a part of College
Hockey East (CHE). CHE is a
club hockey league for the colle-
The hockey team gathers on the ice during
giate level. It's comprised of
regional teams from colleges
and universities in and around eastern
Pennsylvania. CHE is divided into two divisions,
the North Division and the South Division.
Behrend is a part of the North Division, along
with Robert Morris University (RMU), Case
Western, Edinboro and the University of
Pittsburgh. Teams who are a part of the South
Division are California University of
Pennsylvania (CaIU), Indiana University of
Pennsylvania (lUP), Penn State Altoona. Saint
Vincent, and University of Pitt—Johnstown (UPJ).
Behrend's toughest opponent this season was
CaILL
Along with being members of CHE, Behrend
Hockey also is a part of the American Collegiate
Hockey Association (ACHA). ACHA gives the
teams a chance to compete in a national champi
onship, instead of just regional competition. In
other words, CHE is more or less like the
Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference
(AMCC), and ACHA is like the NCAA of hockey.
Behrend hockey is a fairly new program, start
ing just five years ago. The Behrend athletic
department currently does not have the funding to
sponsor a hockey team, thus the reason why they
are considered a club team. The team practices
three times a week at Mercyhurst College and
:MC Ice Arena, while their homes games are
By Matt Waronker
assistant sports editor
The men's basketball team brin Ts it in before a tame
good mentality going into the tournament. Along with the
wins, we have had some good practices preparing for this
weekend. I really think our team has come together and that
is helping us a lot down the stretch."
The Lions will face third seeded Pitt-Bradford in semifinal
action this Friday. Pitt-Bradford advanced to the semifinals
after defeating sixth seeded Penn State Altoona 61-49. The
tournament championship will be held Saturday, Feb. 24,
and the winner of the tournament earns an automatic bid into
the NCAA tournament.
autism, down syndrome and cerebral palsy, to visual
impairment and some with severe developmental
impairments. Your time and commit
ment to each child will be repaid with the
bond that you will develop with your
The Behrend Beacon I
Friday, February 23, 2007
played at Mercyhurst and the Igloo Ice Arena.
Because the team is a club sport and not a var
sity sport, there are a lot of responsibilities for all
32 members of the team to keep the program run
ning. Papers must he turned in on time and fund
ing needs to he taken care of. amongst other tasks.
President D.J. Craven has displayed his leadership
ability on the ice. as s ell as off. Craven was
named Ed Bittner G.NI. of the Year because of his
excellent Student-Leadership this season. Other
members of the team \\ ho help with the program
are Vice President Br\ sten Jones. Treasurer Josh
Grumski, Secretary Dan Thiessen. and Fundraiser
Andrew McLachlan.
Although the team did not finish on top this
year. high hopes still remain for next season.
"This team has really , come along over the years.
With the players returning and a good incoming
freshman class, this team has a great shot at a
CHE title, - said Junior Forward Andy McLachlan.
Behrend Hockey is coached by Giovanni
Duchini. More news and information about the
he found at
http://eteami.actise.com/pshhockey/. More
information regarding games, team standings,
scores and points can he found on the College
Hockey East website at http://www.collegehock
eyeast.com/index.asp.
player.
This is a great chance to meet other
Behrend students as well as members of
the local community. Don't have any
soccer experience? No need to worry,
there are several soccer players who vol
unteer, along with Behrend men's and
women's head soccer coaches, Perritano
and Patrick O'Driscoll, to help you
along
this season
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO