Page 11 The Behrend Beacon Lions sink Mercyhurst by Adam Massaro staff writer Over a month has gone by since the men's water polo team has walked away from a match winners, but with four games left in the regular season that could all change. The Lions, 2-16, have taken their lumps against veteran teams, but against Division HI rivals Mercyhurst and Grove City University, the team has dug in for some battles. The team started their regular season quartet with Slippery Rock, a team that shutout the Lions early in the season. The Rock coasted to a 20-3 win over the Lions. With a musky smell of déjà vu rising from the pool water, Salem International followed up Slip pery Rock's performance by handing the Lions a 20-3 loss, too. Fittingly, their last two games of the season came in the form of a twin bill against Mercyhurst and Volleyball getting on the right track get ready for upcoming games Men's soccer team ranked first in AMCC, now ready for Lake Erie by Ray Immekus staff writer The men's soccer team went 2-0 last week with wins on the road against Bethany College and Buffalo State University. The wins improved the Lions' overall record to 8-2-2 and 3-0-1 on the road and puts them in first place in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. On Monday, sophomore defenseman Brian Blaszczyk was named the AMCC men's soccer player of the week. Blaszczyk scored Behrend's first goal Saturday against Bethany only five minutes into the game. He also was a linchpin for a Lions defense that allowed only three shots on senior goalkeeper Jake Hordych in the same game. The Lions led 1-0 at half time after Blaszczyk's goal, which was assisted by junior forward Eric Nyberg at the five-minute mark. Behrend took a 2-0 lead only two minutes into the second half when sophomore defenseman Luke Goldner netted his first goal of the year in the 47th minute. Nyberg picked up his second assist of the day and fourth of the season on Goldner's goal. Behrend's shutout hopes were forgotten when sophomore forward Kenneth Vescovi put Bethany on the board in the 66th minute with an unassisted goal. The Lions kept Bethany scoreless for the remaining 24 minutes and closed out their seventh victory of the season with a 2-1 win. "I think we're just dangerous from different areas of the field. And that's real positive that we have =:21:3 Grove City. The Lions entertained Grove City first, but could not maintain offensive momentum and lost 10-4. by Amy Hiles staff writer For the past week, Penn State Behrend's Lady Lions have been working hard. This past Saturday the lady lions took on Washington and Jefferson University as well as Grove City College. Though the Lady Lions fought hard, the team was not successful in trying for a win from W & J, as the ending score was 3-1. However, the team was able to pull through against Grove City, avenging a loss to them earlier in the season, with an ending score of 3-1. "At Grove City, we played really well as a team. We communicated really well in all aspects of the game. We did really good," said freshman Elaine Voltz. On Tuesday, the Lady Lions took on Allegheny. Despite just coming off a great win the team was not able to hold it together, taking a losing 3-0. On Wednesday, the team was determined to achieve a win from La Roche since losing to them earlier in the season 3-1. The Lady Lions were different players scoring rather than one individual," said Head Coach Dan Perritano. The Lions traveled to Buffalo State on Wednesday to face the 4-7-2 Bengals. Reminiscent of Saturday's game, Behrend scored an early goal to take a sudden 1-0 lead. This time, the goal came off the foot of sophomore midfielder Justin Reese in the seventh minute, assisted by senior midfielder Andy Laver. The Lions scored their second goal in the early stages of the second half. Sophomore midfielder Andy . Lesser made the score 2-0 with a goal assisted by sophomore defensemen Dan Bash at the 49 minute mark. Buffalo State's response was immediate when the Bengals scored in the 56th minute to make the score 2-1. This goal was the one and only time Hordych and the Lions' defense would allow a Bengal shot to reach the back of the net. Reese added an unassisted insurance goal in the 70th minute to make the score 3-1. "We grinded out a win. We stayed composed and grinded out a road win against a somewhat undisciplined team," said Perritano. The Lions play four of their six remaining regular season games on the road. This stretch includes the final three conference games against Lake Erie, Penn State Altoona and Frostburg. The final six games will be vital in the Lions' preparation for the AMCC tournament. When asked if there is any chance Behrend will host the tournament this year, Perritano responded by saying, "Only time will tell." • .1 „ • Friday, October 17, 2003 Earlier this season the team flirted with victory against Grove City, losing 12-9 and 13-11, respectively. The Lions were down to one game to shed the 14 game losing streak that had been looming over them for more than a month. In deciding fashion, the Lions downed Mercyhurst 10-4. With the losses behind them and a clean state for the postseason the team is optimistic. "I think they're already behind us and we're just looking forward. We're starting to really come together as a team, and I think we'll do well," said sophomore Brandon Sieber. The squad will now look to ride their one game winning streak into postseason play later this week, when they travel to the Princeton Inter- Regionals. going to do whatever it took for a win as their home games were narrowing down. With that kind of determination in mind, the lady lions came out with an outstanding win of 3-0. "We have been working really hard and it is just finally paying off," senior Lauren Senkevich. The Lady Lions have been practicing hard to win these upcoming games. However, since the beginning of the season, practices and drills have definitely increased. As a result of these tiring and demanding practices, however, the Lady Lions were able to bring up the number of wins and lower the number of losses. "Our practices have been helping us prepare for games, defensively and offensively," said Voltz. "They have been challenging us more than at the beginning of the season." Coming up, the team has three AMCC conference games in a row. Starting on Saturday, Oct. 18 the Lady Lions will look to avenge loses against Penn State Altoona, and Frostburg State University on Sunday, Oct. 19. Finally on Tuesday, Oct. 21 the team will look for another win against Pitt-Bradford. Tennis prepares for AMCCs by Greg Smith contributing writer The Behrend women's tennis team came out of last weekend with a tough loss and an extremely easy win. The Lady Lions traveled to Pittsburgh to take on Chatham College on Saturday in a non conference match. The ladies put forth a strong effort but fell just short as the Cougars took the match 5-4. Freshman Mindy Calvert won her num ber two singles match and Jenny Zhang picked up a number six singles win for Behrend. Calvert teamed up with Amber Weckoski to win at number one doubles, while Zhang and Amy Frizzell came out victorious at the number three doubles spot. "It was a tough match," said sophomore co-captain Weckoski, of the close loss at Chatham. The Lions were scheduled to play a home match versus AMCC rival Penn State Altoona on Sunday, but due to suspensions on the Altoona team, Behrend picked up the 9-0 victory due to forfeit. The women's team must now prepare for the upcoming AMCC tournament, which will be held this Saturday at Penn State Altoona. The Lions enter the tournament with a 7-11 overall record (3-3 AMCC), but the team's season record has no bearing on the conference tournament. The women are seeded based on indi vidual record in their respective flights and they each play a tournament within their own flight, earning points which count to ward the team's overall total for the day. The ladies will first play doubles, which Amy Frizzell & Kevin Fiorenzo Runners make tracks by Amy Frizzell sports editor Over the weekend the cross country team finished strong yet again. On Saturday the team traveled to Shenley Park in Pittsburgh, where they participated in the Carnegie Mellon Invitational. "They had an exceptional finish, especially the women who ran strong," said head coach Dave Cooper. The women jogged into the race with a regional ranking and fifteen teams to out run, and ran away with second place. This finish added another notch to their way to ranked as sixth place in the Midwest Region Cross Country coaches poll for the second consecutive week. "The teams reginal ranking added legitamacy to the great finihsed this season," said Cooper. "The women have set their goals higher as a result." Leading the way for the women was senior Jessica Knapp with a time of 19:17 to give her a seventh place finish out of 137 runners. Though the men are not regionally ranked like the women they still made a strong finish as well, taking fourth place out of eleven teams. Once again leading the way was freshman Brad Ruffo with a time of 13:12 to place thirteenth out of 142 runners. Next for the runners is the Robert Wesleyan Invitational on October 18. This invitational will serve as a chance to work on their weaknesses. "A weakness for the women is just numbers. There are only eight runners and it would be nice to have more," said Cooper. "While a weakness for the men is just having to develop some consistency." While both teams still have some tough work ahead of them they've been able to rely on one thing, their strengths. "A strength for both men and women is just their great work ethic," said Cooper. This great work ethic will come into play as the Lions head into the AMCC championships on November 1. "The women are looking to finish regionally in the top 10, while the men hope for a top 15 regional finish," said Cooper. look to look to step up play at second doubles for AMCCs. will consist of an eight-game pro-set and then will play their best-of-three set singles matches. The team has a lot of potential and tal ent this year. That said, the Lions seem to struggle with the mental aspect of the game from time to time, an aspect on which they'll need to focus to have a strong show ing at Altoona on Saturday. Head Coach Jeff Barger said, "I'm not sure what to expect. I think all of the women have a good chance to win their singles flights, especially Frizzell, No. 3 Christy Leininger, and No. 4 Jenna Yankowski." "If all the players put it together on Sat urday, they definitely have a good chance to win," he said. After many ups and downs, a first place finish at the AMCC tournament would cer tainly be a fine way for the women to cap off their season.
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