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The Behrend Beacon
Women's soccer continues
winning ways
by Kevin Fiorenzo
sports editor
The women's soccer team suffered its first
loss of the season on Saturday against
Westminster, but was able to bounce back with
a commanding victory on Wednesday against
Hilbert.
On Saturday, Sept. 13, the Lions played host
to Westminster. Within mere minutes, Behrend
had scored its first goal, in the 10th minute.
Unfortunately it would also be its last.
Westminster went on to score three unanswered
goals and run off with a 3-1 victory.
Westminster's goalie ended up playing a
complete game with six saves.
The loss was particularly frustrating because
it was the Behrend squad's first of the season.
Although the team made some mistakes, the
team was aware of them and ready to improve.
"We created some great scoring opportunities
but we were unable to finish," said senior Erin
Maurer.
While the loss was a difficult one, the women
couldn't dwell on it as they had another game to
look forward to on Sept. 17 against Hilbert.
Once again the Lions were playing at home
and this time they did a much better job of
protecting their turf. Behrend controlled the
entire game and rolled to a dominant 5-0
victory. The squad got five goals from five
different players: sophomore Holly Greiner,
freshman Kara Struski, junior Jen Baker,
sophomore Kacie Burns, and Maurer. Goalies
Dara Neilsen and Liz Hall combined for the
shutout.
All involved were necessary for Behrend's
victory and the players believe that this team
effort is one of the keys to its recent success.
"We are really getting comfortable playing
together," said Maurer. "All of our players are
great and we expect that everyone will continue
Men's soccer dominates
against Westminster
by Ray Immekus
Staff Writer
The Lions played 180 minutes of solid soccer
last week, winning two games and allowing zero
goals. The victories came against Hilbert and
Westminster, improving the men's team record to
3-1-1 and securing senior goaltender Jake Hordych
his second and third shutouts of the season.
"Jake is certainly one of the best goaltenders in
the league, he gets the job done," said head coach
Dan Perritano.
Sophomore midfielder Mark Cipriani was
named AMCC men's soccer player of the week,
after netting three goals and raising his season point
total to seven. Cipriani had a goal against Hilbert,
and two against Westminster: including the
game winner.
"It was a surprise to me about becoming player
of the week. I really feel that the team is coming
together well as the season progresses." said
Cipriani.
Behrend began its week with a game against
Hilbert last Thursday at home. Hilbert came in
with a 0-I record, losing their only game to Lake
Erie by a score of 3-0. The game was dominated
from beginning to end by the Lions. Hilbert man
aged only two shots in 90 minutes, opposed to
Behrend's 24 shots. The game ended as an 8-0
rout by the Lions, giving Hilbert its second loss in
as many tries.
The victory was an overall team effort. Eleven
Lions contributed points with eight goals scored
by different players. Sophomore midfielder Jus
tin Reese led all scorers with a goal and an assist.
"We did what we needed to do to win the game
and I was very pleased with the team's effort,"
remarked Coach Perritano.
The Lion's second game was played last Satur
day at home against the Westminster Titans.
Westminster entered the game with a I- 4 record,
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PENNS-TAIT.
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SPORTS
PHOTO BY HEATHER MYERS
Junior, Jen Baker beats Hilbert defender
to work hard."
This is definitely evident when looking at
Behrend's statistics. It leads the AMCC in
scoring defense and are second in scoring
offense, trailing La Roche.
With the win over Hilbert, Behrend improved
its record to 5-1, the best record among AMCC
teams so far. The schedule only gets tougher for
the Lions, though. Its next game will be an away
match against Pitt Bradford. It will also be the
team's first game of the conference season. The
team knows that it will he a hard fought game
and that it can't take any conference games for
granted.
Maurer said, "I think we are ready to take
them and we will come out with the
So while the team is off to a very successful
start, the season is still very young and there are
a lot of games to be played. The Lions can only
hope that it is able to keep up this level of play
all season long.
losing its last three games.
This game was over almost as soon as it began.
Behrend scored two goals in the first six minutes,
taking both the lead and Westminster's morale.
Cipriani scored the first goal, off an assist from
senior midfielder Andy Laver. Laver made the
score 2-0 only a minute later, with a goal assisted
by sophomore defenseman Brian Blaszczyk.
Cipriani added an unassisted insurance goal in
the 78th minute to make the final score 3-0.
Behrend played solid, flawless defense for the en
tire game, allowing only six shots on goal.
"With only a few games under our belt, we
played the best game of our season last week
against Westminster. All parts of the team are fi
nally coming together and we are looking forward
to start conference play," said sophomore
midfielder Andy Lesser.
Cipriani added, "The first loss was an eye
opener and it has given our team character. The
win against Westminster was our most important.
It was great to see the team come out focused and
poised and we finished them early."
The Lions have one non-conference game re
maining, against Washington and Jefferson, be
fore the start of league play next Wednesday. The
Washington and Jefferson game will be the first
away game of the season for the Lions.
"I think the team is definitely ready for the
challenging conference play beginning next week
and we will need to he on top of our game in or
der to be successful," said junior forward Eric
Nyberg.
Perritano agreed with his players, saying, "We
have one non-conference game left, against W &
J, and we will be ready to compete and be suc
cessful in the conference this year."
Friday, September 19, 2003
Men's water polo looks for
inspiration
by Adam Massaro
staff writer
If the men's water polo team is searching for a
sports mentor—they need look no farther then
the infamous Detroit Tigers.
The Lions 1-6 start eclipsed the Detroit Tigers
0-6 start, but if the pieces fall into place and the
Lions drop its next two, it could find themselves
a mirror image of the Tigers, who did not stumble
onto their first win until its eighth game.
"We are inexperienced, and coach is trying to
get us back to the basic fundamentals of the
sports," said sophomore Chris Gleditsch.
"Once we work on those areas and become
more experienced during the season, we will get
better"
Both teams began their respective seasons with
the odds stacked against them: young, inexperi
enced, and not accustomed to the rigors of the
"We've been focusing more on our swimming
in an attempt to improve our endurance and
strength for the matches. It has been a slow pro
cess but it can be accomplished," said freshman
Justin Ryder.
Clearly, it is slim pickings on the home front,
but for these young cubs, but it may just be part
of the maturation process.
"Our teams chemistry has come together well,
everyone gets along and works well with each
other," said freshman Brian Kustra.
"The biggest thing separating us from major
programs is the experience level. Players on other
teams have been playing for awhile. As for our
team some kids are learning how to play for the
first time."
The squad will try to prevent joining the dubi
ous 1-8 company of the Detroit Tigers, by mak
Men's golf looks
for AMCC crown
by Greg Smith
staff writer
After a mediocre 2002 season, the Behrend
men's golf team looks to regroup and take a shot
at the AMCC championship this year.
The predominantly young team, who finished
fifth last year at the AMCC championships, re
turns two key players in Jeff Black and Anthony
Pagliari, both juniors playing their third seasons
at Behrend.
"They're leaders on the golf course; they lead
by example," said head coach Mark Murphy.
"They are guys who are really committed to
the team. They're good students and good all
around people, so they're a great example for the
younger guys." Pagiliari earned AMCC All-Con
ference honors in 2002.
Sophomores Daniel Russo and Kevin Thieman
will also be returning from last year's squad.
Along with Russo and Thieman, Ryan Deimel, a
junior transfer from University Park, will round
out the team's top five.
The rest of the team is comprised of four fresh
men. Coach Murphy expects big things from
Josh Loaney, a newcomer who had one of the
top scores in team tryouts. Josh Hull is another
freshman who may be able to do some damage
for the team. Aaron Becker and Andrew Powell
will be joining the team this year as well. With
the strong top five of the team, it may be hard for
the young players to prove themselves, but
Murphy feels that they will get their chance.
"I think we have a few freshmen who could
step in and play," said Murphy. "The young guys
will get their chance when the older guys can't
miss certain classes... but it's tough because we
Sport: Men's Cross Country
Class: Freshman
bate: September 15
Brad Ruffo (West Middlesex/
West Middlesex) was named
this week's Beacon/Housing and
Food Athlete of the Week
Next up for the blue and
white will be the Allegheny
Ruffo set an 8K course record Invitational on Sept. 20 at 10
with a time of 27.20.10, finish- a.m.
ing first at the Thiel Invita-
Kevin Fiorenzo, Co-Sports Editor
Amy Frizzell. Co -Sports E
ing some waves at the Grove City Invitational
over the weekend.
The Lions have matches against Salem Inter
national, Grove City University and Slippery
Rock
"Water polo is a demanding sport both men
tally and physically, especially it' you are play
ing more than one match," said freshman Mark
Quinones.
"The mental aspect is the toughest, you just
got to have faith you can do it, and bond together
as a team."
The team has not faced Slippery Rock this sea
son but went a combined 0-3 against the Rock
last year. The Lions have already faced Grove
City University twice this season, with the last
meeting at the Bucknell Invitational resulting in
a 19-2 lambasting.
"Each game is part of the learning process,
coach goes over a game plane and we try to ex
ecute it. There is hope for the program, as we
build on our foundation; we are going to be a
pretty dominating team in Erie," said Quinones.
The team will more than likely have to gain
that vital experience it is lacking on the road, as
the Lions only have only two more home games
slated for this season.
"It is pretty rough not having our home fans
involved, but some of the parents and fans travel
to the closer matches, especially ones at Grove
City," said freshman Mark Walczak.
"It certainly is nice having a fan base, but that
presence definitely isn't there for match's far
away like at Bucknell or later this season when
we travel to Princeton.-
only have about 8 times to play."
Both the coaches and the players have an opti
mistic outlook for the upcoming season. "I think
we have one of the best teams we have had here
in a long time," said assistant coach James
Bowen. After the disappointing AMCC cham
pionship play of the prior year, the team's obvi
ous goal is to work hard and win the conference
title in 2003. The keys to success for the team
this year are overall team commitment and ef
fort. Murphy explains that five golfers play at
the tournaments the team participates in, and the
lowest four scores count towards the team's fi
nal tally.
"What happened last year," said Murphy, "is
that we had a couple people play well and the
other people would play bad. The guys know
that at the invitationals, they need to all play well
in order to win. We need a team effort."
There is no regular season championship in
AMCC men's golf, so the championship all
comes down to one day at the conference tour
nament. Murphy stresses the importance of the
tournament, saying, "We all have each other's
invitationals, but it matter what you do in those
invitationals, it matters what you do on that day
of the AMCC finals." Pitt-Bradford, last year's
conference champ, appears to be the block in
Behrend's road to the title this year.
The men were not able to play their first sched
uled match with Pitt-Greensburg on Sept. 11, but
they have scheduled a make-up match with
Mercyhurst on Oct. 2, at Lakeview. The team
was again denied on Sept. 15, when they were
rained out after seven holes at Penn State Altoona.
tional. Ruffo was a top fin
isher for Behrend at both
meets that have taken place
so far this season, finishing
first at Thiel and ninth at the
Behrend Invitational.