MEN'S SOCCER Lions shutout Wesle Danny Poljak and Mike Liebdzinski watch as fellow freshman Corey Hamilton handles a hard pass. Hamilton scored the game's winning goal. LAUREN LIEBDZINSKI staff writer Behrend freshman Corey Hamilton used his head to score the winning goal in the ECAC South Championship against Wesley College. At the 34:12 mark Hamilton connected with a cross from sophomore Aaron Meehl. He put the ball into the right cor ner of the net passed Wesley goaltender Nick Talarico. The number one-seeded Lions were anchored by senior goalkeeper Dustin Walker and defeated the Wesley 2-0. It was Walker's fourteenth shutout performance of the sea- Chris Ripley / The Perspective Behrend guard Kim Pol tightly guards a Medaille opponent. x v~-n ~hw"~ t . , .. lEcredit union I tudentChoice S convenience I trust I value • •G eneral i Electrc ERIE .... T . A., FEDERAL CREDIT UNION son as he blocked Wesley's four shots on goal. "This season was the perfect ending to my college career and I am really going to miss this group of guys," Walker said. Walker was named the ECAC Tournament's Most Outstand ing Player. The first half came to a close with Behrend ahead of Wesley 1-0, but not before Behrend freshman Danny Poljak got a little too aggressive. He re ceived a yellow card just 24 sec onds before half time. The second half began with Lions putting heavy pressure on Wesley's defense. Juniors ,win ECAC Title Ryan Banks and Jerry Tortella bombarded Wesley with shots, but could not find the net. Behrend continued control ling the ball and barraged Wes ley's Talarico with 16 shots on goal. Talarico gave up two goals, the second at the 76:08 mark to Meehl. Meehl got the goal of an as sist from junior John Teti. The game got dicey towards the end when Wesley's Joshua Chellah and Luis Rivera crossed the line with physical play. At the 81:25 mark, Rivera was yellow carded while Chel lah was red carded. The Lions kept composure and the 2-0 lead until the end. WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Medallle hands Behrend first conference loss, 78-69 Behrend's defense was trampled on throughout the game as Medallie had a 48.5 shooting percentage. Despite losing, Behrend guard Kim Pol led all players with 18 points and 40 minutes played. Behrend's freshman forward Julia Myers had the most points per minute played with 11 in 13 minutes. The Lady Lions finished with a mediocre 35.7 shooting percentage as several starters struggled to find the net. Behrend's shooting issues came from an inability to get baskets from beyond the three point arc. Over a third of the Lady Lions' 70 shots came from three-point range and only a third of those were made. Medaille held a 46-41 slight advantage in rebounding. The only statistical advantage the Lady Lions held was offensive re bounding by four boards. The teams had 13 steals apiece with Behrend's junior guard Amy Oldach leading all players with six. It is the first game of the season that the Lions did not score at least 80 points. Behrend (2-2, 1-1) plays its next game against Mt. Aloysius at the Junker Center on Dec. 5 at 1:00 p.m. to Payfor College We now offer Student Loans through Credit Union Student Choice to help fill the gaps that federal aid can leave behind. Behrend's victory earned the program's first ever ECAC South Championship. It was the Lions fourth ECAC Tournament appearance. The team handled Neumann (2-1, OT) in the first round and Lebanon Valley (1-0) in the sec ond to get to the Championship match. "Our team showed a lot of character throughout the entire tournament," Walker said. "Playoff soccer matches are always close and highly emo tional, but we were able to stay composed, score some big goals and keep a clean sheet." The Lions set a new soccer season record with 18 wins. logon to our website for information on how to apply! BEHREND BEACON December 4, 2009 www.thebehrendbeacon.com COLLEGE FOOTBALL Bobby Bowden defied the odds, became a legend Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden roamed college football sidelines for 44 years and accumulated 388 wins. SHAWN ANNARELLI sports editor At the ripe age of 80, Bobby Bowden's coaching career has one last chapter to finish. He will lead the Florida State Seminoles into its astounding twentieth straight bowl game and his going away party. It hasn't always been all roses for Bowden, though. Bowden has come a long way from a weathering battle with illness as a child to become one of the most legendary coaches of the modern football era. Diagnosed with rheumatic fever at age 13, Bowden spent six months in an Alabama hos pital fighting the potentially fatal disease. The disease was discovered when he came home one day barely able to walk. His knee joints were swollen, and he could barely stand up. He would spend a year con fined to his house after being released from the hospital lis tening to the world outside with a radio. The physical and mental pain he endured was excruciating. Rheumatic fever would claim that year and a half of Bow den's life, but in that time he grew an infatuation with war and football. Bowden had enjoyed playing football before the disease and 11A devestated to learn that he would not be able to play foot ball anymore. In what may be his greatest feat, Bowden proved his doc tors wrong and went on to play football in his junior and senior years of high school football. He went on to play at Alabama for his freshman year and then Howard College for the rest of his playing career. Bowden began his coaching career two years after his col lege days were over. Since 1954, he has built a legacy on the football field that no-one thought possible when he was a deathly ill teenager. Bowden's coaching career is just as unique as his life. Bowden and two of his sons are the only father-son combi nations that can say they have led Division-I FBS teams to un defeated seasons. His son Terry was the first Bowden to do it in 1993 at Auburn and his other son Tommy did it in 1998 at Clemson. Bobby Bowden is also the second-winningest coach in college football history with 388 wins. He has also won the second-most bowl games with 21. His football career is quickly coming to a close. He has his plans set for after football. "I'll go out tell everybody how good I was," Bowden said.