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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.