i The Behrend Beacon
Friday, December 15, 2006
Fall sports teams leave
The Penn State
Behrend Lady
Lions volleyball
team finished the
season with a
school record of 26
wins and only two
losses in the regular
season. The Lady
Lions then captured
the runner up trophy
in the AMCC tour-
'lament and went on
to the ECAC tour-
nament. where they
finished second to
NJCU.
HOUSING AND FOOD SERVICES
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
NAME: David Gahan
SPORT: Men's Basketball
CLASS: Junior
DATE: December 11, 2006
David Gahan (Erie/East) has been named the Housing and Food
Services Athlete of the Week.
Gahan led the Behrend Lions to a pair of conference victories this
past week over Hilbert and Pitt-Greensburg. The men are now 5-2 and
a perfect 4-0 in the AMCC
Gahan connected for eight points, four boards, and two assists as the
blue and white routed the Hilbert Hawks by 20 points, 59-39. Three
nights later, Gahan emerged off the bench to provide a spark in the
Behrend offense as he put together a double-double, dropping 15 points
and grabbing 11 rebounds in a 12 point victory over the Pitt-
Greensburg Bobcats.
Housing and Food Services Athlete of the Week is selected by the
Sports Information Staff.
BEACON SPORTS
The Penn State Behrend
Lady Lions soccer team
started with high expecta
tions and finished with
even better results. The
!women brought home an
AMCC Championship
and an NCAA appearance.
The women had six play
ers named to the AMCC
all conference team, as
well as having one team
member, Nikki Frisbee
named to the all region
;team for the Great Lakes
region. The ladies are
only losing one senior but
she is one of the greatest
women to ever play soc
cer at Behrend. Kara
'Struski started almost
every varsity game in her
four years at Behrend and
also captured the career
assists record her senior
year.
their mark on
After only having nine of their 29 players return
the Penn State Behrend mens soccer team got off to
a slow start, but finished the season winning six of
their last 10 games, including their first round
AMCC game against Pitt-Bradford. The men had
three all-conference recognitions, including Dave
Balenos first team selection. Joining Balino were
Ahmad Salim and Sean Ruhlman, forward and
defense respectively. The team loses three seniors,
Ruhlman, Josh Serafini and DJ Craven whose pres-
ence will be missed on the field
The Penn State Behrend Lady Lions tennis team
started their season by winning the Behrend
Invitational. The ladies continued to stun the compe
tition, finishing their regular season with a 15-1
record and capturing their third straight AMCC
championship title. Throughout the season, the ladys
had four players named as AMCC players of the
week at numerous different times.
ens basketball undefeated in AMCC
The Penn State Behrend mens basketball team added on their undefeated AMCC record with a 73-61 win over Pitt-
Greensburg December 9 at the Junker Center. The Lions, who are now 4-0 in conference play, saw strong performances from
juniors Kevin Buczynski and David Gahan. Buczynski led all scorers with 23 points, shooting a solid 6-8 from the field and
an even more impressive 11-12 from the line. Gahan provided the Lions with a much needed spark off of the bench, shooting
a perfect 7-7 from the floor, contributing 15 points and dominating the boards with 11 rebounds.
Behrend maintained a slim 25-22 lead entering the half, and in a game that constantly exchanged scoring runs, no lead was
safe for the Lions until late in the second half. The Bobcats kept themselves in the game with a run of four consecutive three
point shots early in the second half, and managed to scrap for any shot Behrend's tenacious defense would allow them. Pitt-
Greensburg shot 8-19 from beyond the arc, however their inconsistent 14-33 from the field couldn't keep pace with Behrend's
61% shooting in the second half. Despite a few late opportunities, the Bobcats were no match for Behrend's second half dom
inaing performance. The Lions controlled the boircLout-rebounding Pitt-Greensburg 40-26. "As a team they definitely played
very well," said head coach Dave Niland.
Behrend's win over Pitt-Greensburg marked the first time they have beaten the Bobcats since the 2004-2005 season. The
Lions dropped all three of their games against Pitt-Greensburg last season by a combined total of eight points.
The Lions followed their victory over Pitt-Greensburg with a 73-55 loss to non-conference opponent Westminster College.
What began as a close match-up, with both teams shooting an identical 52% from the floor, quickly turned into 18 point rout
of the Lions. While the Titans continued to shoot a consistent 52% from the field during the second half, the Lions perimeter
game practically disappeared. Behrend shot 9-28 from the floor and couldn't find an answer for Westminster's scoring attack.
Five Westminster players reached double-digits in scoring. Sophomore guard Tom Newman contributed a team high 14 points
in the losing effort. Buczynski had 11 points and nine rebounds, and Gahan shot a solid 5-7 from the floor supplying 10 points
The loss drops Behrend to 5-3 overall
The Lions have over two weeks until their next cooltest, 'lido tournament held in Dajtona Beach, Florida. The Daytona
Beach Classic, an annual tournament, will be held ► 28 apd 29. The Lions will play Lebanon Valley and Saint John's,
two of the stronger teams Behrend expects to face thqi •
"These teams will be outstanding competition," saidNilatil. "They're definitely two of the better teams we'll face all year."
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
By Matt Waronker
Behrend Athletics
The Penn State Behrend mens water polo team finished their season
strong with two wins in the Division 111 Eastern Championships, giv
ing them a third place finish in the tournament hel at Behrend. The
men had a rough season as a team but they excelled individually in
two different areas. Behrend goalie Leandro Azevedo was tied for top
in the nation for his outstanding save totals. He had an 11.6 saves per
game average and 163 saves on the season. Juniors Andre
Pranckevicius and Anthony Spoto are tied for 19th in the nation for
their goals per game average, and 44th in he nation for their goal total
for the season with 2.1 and 40 respectively. Graduating only three sen
iors, the team looks to come back stronger next season.
BMW
The Penn State Behrend mens and womens cross-country teams
were off to a quick start, having two top five finishers at the first invi
tational. At the AMCC championships, the women finished runners-up
as a team and were lead by outstanding sophomore Jenny Bailey.
Bailey was also named the AMCC Runner of the Year. The mens team
also finished with a strong second place finish and were led by senior
runner and captian Brad Ruffo. Ruffo finished an outstanding career
here at Behrend, where he became the first runner to ever compete at
the NCAA national cross-county meet in 2005.
staff writer