Friday, May 4, 2007 Bears and By Danielle Brown sports editor 1/26/2007 On Feb. 4, 2007 the Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears will battle for the title of Super Bowl XLI champs. The New Orleans Saints and the Chicago Bears played for the NFC title. The Bears started off the first half of the game with three field goals by kicker Robbie Gould, and a touchdown by running back Thomas Jones to give them a 16-0 lead over the Saints. Before the end of the first half, Saints quarterback Drew Brees threw a touch down pass to wide receiver Marques Colston, putting New Orleans on the board. In the second half, the Saints looked like they had a chance when rookie Reggie Bush caught an 88-yard pass from Brees for a touchdown, giving the Bears only a 16-14 lead. The rest of the game was dominated by the Bears, who added three more touchdowns and a safety to their score, giving them a 39- 14 victory and the title of NFC Champs. This game was won by the Bears' defense, who forced four turnovers and more or less shut down the number one offense in the NFL, the New Orleans Saints. Other factors included quarter back Rex Grossman's zero turnovers and the two touchdowns and 123 yards running by Jones. The Indianapolis Colts and the New Don't let the skirts fool you The Behrend Lacrosse club huddles during a game By Kara Struski sports editor 4/6/2007 They may play in skirts, but the Penn State Behrend women's lacrosse club is not afraid to run hard and get dirty. "Armed with sticks, determina tion and confidence, we are looking to improve last year's record of 5-3," said co-captain Heidi Brackbill. The club, which currently consists of 25 women, is in its second season as members of the Women's Collegiate Lacrosse League (WCLL). The league is the largest women's college club in the country and it represents 39 schools from New York to lowa. The teams in the league are divided between two groups: an A-team or a B-team. The difference is that A-teams have paid coaches and staff members while B-teams do not have a non-playing coach. Behrend is considered a B-team. The Behrend lacrosse club is coached by two co captains, senior Brackbill and sophomore Lindsay Miller. "We collaborate on teaching inexperienced play ers, scheduling games, running practices and lead ing the club during games," Brackbill said. Since the club is entirely student-run, the captains also manage the team's money for referee fees, trav el feels and league dues. The Student Government Association and Student Activity Fee provide fund Colts meet in Miami for Super Bowl XLI CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Coaches Smith and Dungy are the first African -American head coaches in the NFL to take their teams to a Super Bowl. England Patriots fought hard for the AFC title. The Patriots scored the first points of the game when running back Laurence Maroney fumbled a hand-off from quarterback Tom Brady, which was recovered by offensive lineman Logan Mankins in the end zone for a touchdown. The Colts answered this touchdown with a field goal, making the score 7-3 in the first quarter. New England dominated the second quarter, scoring two more touchdowns and holding Indianapolis to only one last field goal before the end of the half. Going into the locker room, the Patriots had a commanding lead of 21-6. The Colts came into the second half ready to fight back, scoring two touch downs and a two-point-conversion to tie the game 21-21. The scoring went back and forth several times, tying the game at 28 and 31. Then, with 3:49 left in the game, Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski put New England ahead 34-31 with a 43-yard field goal. The ing, but for the most part this funding is extremely limited. The club has developed some creative fundrais ing tactics to raise money for the club. For exam ple, last Valentine's Day, the team set up a kissing booth where a customer could receive a kiss on the cheek and a Hershey's Kiss for a dollar. The ladies also have several t-shirt and sweatshirt sales throughout the year. The club kicked off their season on Saturday, March 24, with games against West Virginia Wesleyan, Grove City College and Slippery Rock University. They won two out of their three games for the day. Miller has high hopes for the club after the team's first few games. "We are going to do well. We have some new players that show a lot of potential, as well as a lot of promising returning players," said Miller. The team consists of both experienced and less experienced players. While many players have been playing since high school, there are several who are completely new to the sport. The majority of the fall semester consists of teaching rookies stick skills and the rules of the game, so they are prepared to play with the veterans before the season begins in the spring. Sophomore Courtney Mineweaser was new to the sport of lacross last year. Mineweaser played bas ketball in high school, she decided to try something new in college. "I came into this sport knowing nothing about it but I had great teachers and now I love the sport," said Mineweaser. "It's amazing that only last year we were a rookie team with several rookie players and we ended up 5-3 in the league. We beat the undefeated team [Kent State] in the last game of the season." The lacrosse club will play at home this month. Due to inclement weather and poor field conditions, the only home game at this time is scheduled for Wednesday, April 18. Other home games are cur rently being rescheduled. All home games take place at the Behrend Fields and are 60 minutes long. T-shirts will be raffled off and free food will be pro vided to fans. r)T ~i J ..._ the game,with exactly one minute left to play. Brady began driving down the field with two timeouts left, when he was intercepted by Sharon native Marlin Jackson to seal the win for the Colts who became the AFC Champions. The wins for both the Bears and Colts made history in the NFL. Chicago coach Lovie Smith and Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy are the first African- American head coaches to take their teams to a Super Bowl. After the Colts victory, Dungy commented on this his torical event saying, "I'm very proud of being an African-American. I'm very proud of Lovie." Smith also shared his feelings stating, "Tony Dungy has done an awful lot for our game. He hasn't had a chance to coach in the Super Bowl. I would love to see it." Even though Dungy and Smith both respect each other, they both have only one thing on their minds--to win the Super Bowl. r*- 1 ,::..) Colts got the ball back and began to drive down the field when a roughing-the passer call gave them the ball on New England's 11-yard line. Quarterback Peyton Manning handed the ball off to running back Joesph Addai three times, and he finally got into the end zone to put the Colts ahead 38-34, for the first time in The Fornari factor By Nicole Rafle contributing writer 2/2/2007 "It's a lot of time, and a lot of effort, but in the end it's always worth it," says Behrend's women's basketball head coach, Roz Fornari. Fornari just finished up her fourteenth season as head coach, sealing over 243 victories. She gladly holds the title of Behrend's all time leader in women's vic- In her 14 seasons, Fornari clenched the 1995- 1996 ECAC Southern Region Championship and has twice been the AMCC Tournament Champions in the 1998-1999 and 2003-2004 sea sons. To add to her list of accomplishments, Fornari has been named AMCC Coach of the Year by her peers four times. "If it was up to me and the team, she would have won again this year," said junior basketball player Meagan Bielanin. Fornari didn't start her career coaching at Behrend, and she didn't start it by playing basket ball. During her four years of college at Hofstra University, Fornari played softball on a scholar ship. "Basketball was my passion, but softball was how I was going to school," said Fornari. During her junior season, Fornari became a stu dent assistant to the basketball program. Fornari completed graduate school at Alfred University, becoming strongly involved with the basketball program there. After the completion of her graduate degree, Fomari made her way to Behrend, where she would become an institution for the basketball program and start her long career within the walls of Erie Hall. "It's a small compact space," Fomari said. "I didn't have to yell as hard." With five years spent in Erie Hall, the original gymnasium on the Behrend campus, the construc tion of the Junker Center was a big deal. Fornari explained that having a larger gym was good for Hockey clinches playoff spot By Danielle Brown sports editor 2/2/2007 The Penn State Behrend Hockey team won a hard-fought battle against Pitt-Johnstown on Saturday, Jan. 27 at the Mercyhurst Ice Arena. This 4-2 win clinched a playoff spot for the Lions in the College Hockey East North Division. This was also the first time in the team's history that they beat Pitt-Johnstown. The game started off with a goal by junior forward Dan Thiessen, putting Behrend up 1-0 in the first period. Pitt-Johnstown answered this goal ending the period with a tied score of 1-1. In the second period Pitt- Johnstown scored another goal put ting them in the lead 2-1. Then, in the third period, forward Brian Hammel scored a goal for the Lions, tying the game 2-2. But, it was senior forward DJ Craven who sealed the win for Penn State with two goals in the third period, ending the game at 4-2. This game Ryan Gallagher/THE BE HRE D BEACON brought Behrend hockey players huddle during a recent game. Craven's total goals for the 2006-07 season up to throughout the rest of the season. 19, which is the second highest on Their next home game is sched the team behind Chris Simanic's 23. uled for Friday, Feb 2 at 9:45 p.m. The game was intense, due to sev- against Case Western eral fi.hts and man •enalties. It The Behrend Beacon I was clear that both teams wanted to prove to be the dominant team, but it was Behrend who pulled off the win and the playoff spot. Aiding the victory was the latest addition to the Lions, freshman goalie Eric Thiessen. Theissen recently transferred to Behrend from Penn State New Kensington to play hockey. He has brought skill and teamwork to the team, helping to take them to victory. Theissen has played two games this season and has won them both. Assistant captain and vice presi dent of the Behrend Hockey team. Brysten Jones, talked about how the spring semester has been a success ful one thus far. "Starting off a new semester 3-0 is a pretty big deal. We came back to school knowing what we had to accomplish to earn a play off spot. Now we have to work hard to bring back the league champi onship,- Jones said. He is confident that the teams success will continue the team but harder on her voice. If she wanted to talk to one of her girls on the other end of the court, she had to scream to get their attention. After several seasons of constant yelling and not talking, it took a toll on Fornari's voice. Fornari had strained her vocal chords over the years of intense coaching. To fix the problem, doctors went in and placed a voice enhancer under the skin. The enhancer helps her to speak for a long period of time without much strain. Yet the problem isn't completely fixed, her voice will still go after an intense game or a long season. The off-season gives her time to rest. However, Fornari does have some remedies to help her through practices, games and lectures. "I have a huge supply of gum and suckers always on hand," said Fornari. Fornari's voice has changed the way she speaks to her team during games "It's a way to keep calm, and by the time I get to what I need to say, it comes out nicer," said Fornari laughing. Since she can not yell across the court when she wants to critique something or suggest improve ment, her team has to come to her. It allows for time to get her point across. Fornari is not just a staple in the basketball community, but to the Behrend community as well. Fornari and her team offer mini camps and clinics in the off season. They also make a huge effort to support the mens' basketball program at Behrend, traveling together and cheering each other on. Her hard work and dedication at Behrend just keeps going. "She helps each player individually and as a team," said Bielanin. "She does an awesome job of developing team unity every season." Fornari has had an outstanding impact on the basketball program. She continues to keep it growing and becomes more successful with each year. At the end of her fourteenth season, all Fornari had to say was, "I can't wait for next NW to Wei
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