Author: Rob Duffy

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Field hockey wins at home

By Joyce Novacek

Contributing Writer

The field hockey team clenched its first victory this season and established a two-game winning streak in a pair of home games this week. The Bison field hockey team shut out Cornell on Saturday and Towson on Sunday with scores of 3-0 and 4-0, respectively.

Earning their first win against the Big Red, the Bison got off to a tremendous start when Rachel Misko ’14 netted her first career goal less than three minutes into the game.

About 10 minutes later, co-captain Kelly Bruvik ’11 scored an unassisted goal, propelling the Bison to a two goal lead. With this impressive score, Bruvik tallied her 18th career goal, putting her into a tie for 13th-place on the all-time career goals scored in program history.

Bruvik reflected on the victory compared to the team’s previous losses.

“The Cornell game was different in that we collectively played great hockey for an entire 70 minutes. For the first time this season, we really focused on our own offensive and defensive goals instead of adjusting our style of play based on our opponent,” she said.

Unrelenting despite their two-goal lead, the Orange and Blue drew a corner with five seconds remaining in the first half. Christine Weiss ’11 executed the penalty corner and scored, sending the Bison into halftime with momentum that carried them into a strong second half. Weiss’ goal was assisted by Mallory Smith ’12 and Corinne Raczek ’11, who is now three assists away from tying the school record for career assists, currently held by Amanda Faust ’09.

Bison defense shut down the Big Red’s efforts in the second half. Goalkeeper Sarah Zargarpour ’12 counted six saves on the game.

“Our mentality going into the Cornell game was to make a statement about who we are and what we can do on the field and as a team,” Zargarpour said. Their statement extended into Sunday’s competition, when Zargarpour and the Bison defense kept the Towson Tigers scoreless.

Offensively, Morgan Kauffman ’11 led the way for the Bison on Sunday, scoring two goals against Towson in the first half. Her first came about 15 minutes into the game, on a Bison breakaway and an assist from Bruvik.

“The momentum from the Cornell game undoubtedly carried over into the win [Sunday]” Bruvik said.

Continuing her scoring streak from Saturday, Bruvik scored a goal in the second half of Sunday’s game, along with teammate Tayler Siegrist ’13. Siegrist’s goal, her second of the season, and the fourth Bison goal of the game, forced Towson to pull their starting goalie from the match.

The Bison outshot the Tigers 21-8 and snapped Towson’s three-game winning streak.

The Orange and Blue continue their home stand this weekend, facing Sacred Heart on Saturday and Indiana on Sunday. Both games will start at 1 p.m. at Graham Field.

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Volleyball gets win at Canisius

By Cooper Sutton

Contributing Writer

The women’s volleyball team played three matches at the Niagara/Canisius Invitational this past weekend, winning against Canisius but losing against Indiana and Niagara.

The Bison started the tournament poorly, losing in three straight sets to Niagara. Young players kept the Bison afloat, as Ragin Jackson ’13 and Morgan Mientus ’14 both posted hitting percentages of nearly .500 apiece.

The team struggled even more against Indiana. The Bison failed to score more than 18 points in any set and was out-hit .271 to .013. “The Indiana match was a tough loss, the energy was definitely not there, and we lost focus,” Mientus said. Indiana came into the tournament with a perfect 6-0 record.

The highlight of the tournament came against Canisius in a 3-1 victory. The Bison came out strong, taking the first set 25-22. After losing an extremely close second set, the team took off, winning the following two sets for its second victory. This turnout was the Bison’s “most solid match of the season,” Mientus said.

Even with a record of 2-7, the team still believes it can turn things around.

The most notable Bison feat of the tournament belonged to Jackson, who was named to the All-Tournament Team. “Getting named to the All-Tournament team was definitely due to my team having my back and pushing me to be my best, and all of us playing well,” Jackson said. She tallied 19 kills in the tournament, 14 of which came in the win against Canisius.

The team will need Jackson’s help again this weekend to perform well at the Columbia Classic, where they will play Columbia, Fordham and Fairleigh Dickinson.

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Offense propels Bison to four wins

By Chris McCree

Contributing Writer

The men’s water polo team went 4-1 at the Bucknell Invitational this past weekend. The team hosted an eight-team invitational and played five games over three days. The Bison cruised by Toronto, Diablo Valley and Penn State Behrend in their first three contests, but faced stiffer competition in their next two contests, beating Brown and losing to No. 16 St. Francis.

Beau Caillouette ’12 was an offensive stud for the Bison with 10 goals over the weekend. He scored four goals Friday to lead the team to a 15-4 defeat against Toronto.

Brian Barron ’13 and Captain Richie Hayden ’11 each had five goals to contribute to the high-powered Bison attack. Over five games, the Bison scored a total of 74 goals, including a 26-goal outburst against Penn State Behrend.

“The invitational went well, but we need to improve our team defense so that we are able to hold teams to under seven goals,” Hayden said. After holding Toronto to four goals and Penn State Behrend to three in their first two games, the Bison defense let up nine goals in each of their last three games.

The highlight of the weekend was the team’s 13-9 victory over Brown. Brown had outscored its previous two opponents by a margin of 22-11. The Bison jumped to an early 3-0 lead thanks to two goals by Paul Reamey ’11 in the first period. Hayden upped the intensity by causing two Brown players to get ejected from the game. Brown was able to bounce back thanks to a four-goal effort by senior Gordon Hood, but the Bison defense proved to be too much for Brown to complete the comeback.

The Bison concluded their weekend with a 9-5 loss against St. Francis. Although they were tied with the Terriers at the half, the Orange and Blue were outscored 6-2 in the second half.

“We struggled to execute our game plan and it hurt our overall performance,” Hayden said.

The Bison plan to use this weekend as a launching point for the rest of the season.

“I think we have a bright season ahead,” Hayden said. “We have the raw talent to be successful, but when it comes to winning championships, we need to master our defense if we want to be successful. If we can come together as a team and execute our game plan, we will be successful come November.”

Now 6-2 , the Bison will play in the ECAC championship next weekend as a number-one seed and then will begin their conference events upon their return.

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Women’s soccer struggles continue

By Eric Weiss

Senior Writer

It was a tough week for the women’s soccer team, which dropped a 2-1 decision at St. Francis in overtime Friday and lost at Penn State 5-1 Wednesday.

Against St. Francis, Christa Matlack ’11 scored just five minutes into the game. This did not deter the Red Flash, who were able to equalize the score just 10 minutes later at 1-1.

Goalie Sandita McDermott ’13 finished with seven saves. Casey Crowley ’12 also cleared a ball that was resting on the line.

In overtime, Kelliann Doherty ’11 rocketed a shot wide of the goal. At the 3:08 mark in sudden death, St. Francis rocketed a shot into the upper right side. After a hard-fought battle, the Orange and Blue had to swallow a tough 2-1 loss.

In the first half of the Penn State game, the Bison were able to keep pace with the Big Ten powerhouse school. In the 24th minute Penn State jumped to a 1-0 lead.

In the second half, the Bison were unable to contain the Penn State attack as they scored three goals in 11 minutes. Matlack attempted to bring the Bison back into the game with a goal in the 70th minute.

The Nittany Lions sealed the game five minutes later as they scored their fifth goal of the game to bring the score to 5-1. “These games have really showed us where we need to grow as a team. I am confident that the lessons we learn will come forward during the rest of the season,” Doherty said.

“We are gearing up for the remainder of the season and we are certain that we will bring 100 percent to the rest of our games,” Jules Harris ’11 said.

The Bison will be in action next for two home games against Mt. St Mary’s and Cornell.

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Men’s soccer upsets PSU

By Joe Ruby

Contributing Writer

The men’s soccer team defeated No. 15 Penn State 2-1 on Friday and fell to No. 11 Ohio State by the same score on Sunday at the Penn State Classic in State College. Brendan Burgdorf ’13 scored in each game and was named to the All-Tournament Team along with Ross Liberati ’11 and Ryan Sappington ’12.

Burgdorf’s goal against Penn State, his first of the year, came with 13:45 remaining on a header from a corner kick by Tommy McCabe ’11, breaking the 1-1 draw and propelling the Orange and Blue to their second straight win at Jeffrey Field.

Penn State began the scoring at 1:14 when the ball was played across the box from deep in the right corner and Jordan Tylerhis career. The Bison had trouble generating offense until the 37th minute, when a free kick was taken from just outside the box and the resulting pressure forced a Penn State miscue.  The ball went off a defender’s foot to score the first goal against Penn State this year.

The Nittany Lions outshot the Bison 22-11, but only managed three shots on goal. Goalkeeper Tommy Caso ’12 saved a difficult close-range header in the first half, and made a sprawling stop in the 86th minute to preserve the Bison advantage.

Against Ohio State, Burgdorf’s goal, assisted by Luke Joyner ’12 at the 77:29 mark, pulled the Bison to within one goal. Ohio State defense held strong from that point on. The Buckeyes’ first goal was scored 17 minutes into the game when Konrad Warzycha’s free kick deflected off a defender into the net. Ohio State scored an insurance goal at the 76:31 mark, when Austin McAnena broke away from defense and put one in from the 6 yard line.

The Bison outshot Ohio State 10-9 and earned eight corner kicks to the Buckeyes’ two. Ohio State improved to 4-0-0 on the season.

The Bison (2-2-0) compete next in the Nike/Aaron Olitsky Tournament in Charleston, taking on the College of Charleston (1-2-1) at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Furman (3-1-0) at noon on Sunday.

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Football drops opener

By Greg Stevenson

Senior Writer

Taking the field at Duquesne last Saturday night with a new face calling plays, the Bison football team struggled to get its offense going, falling to the Dukes 17-13 in a hard-fought season opener.

“On offense, we must be able to run the ball better, especially early in the game,” Head Coach Joe Susan said. “We need to settle some personnel issues that will enable us to develop more consistency.”

In Susan’s first contest as head coach for the Orange and Blue, the Bison offense, headed Brandon Wesley ’14, could not find much in the way of points. The offense scored only twice, both times off field goals. Wesley  completed 12 of 21 passes for 81 yards and rushed for another 48.

Duquesne capitalized in the first quarter, putting together a four-play, 40-yard drive that ended with Dukes quarterback Sean Patterson running in an eight-yard touchdown. Bison Kicker Drew Orth ’12 knocked home his first of two field goals midway through the second quarter, cutting the Duquesne lead to 7-3, which the Dukes kept into halftime.

The signature play for the Bison came five minutes into the second half. After the Dukes upped their lead to 10-3 with a field goal, Tyler Smith ’13 took the kickoff 89 yards to the end zone to tie the score at 10. Smith’s pivotal kickoff return earned him Patriot League Special Teams Player of the Week.

The Dukes did not wait long to regain the lead. Patterson drove his team 74 yards for the go-ahead touchdown, scoring on a nine-yard pass to Dave Williams. Orth kicked another field goal with ten minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, cutting the Dukes’ advantage to four.

The Dukes’ defense held on a fourth-and-two with less than two minutes left.
Despite the offensive struggles for the Orange and Blue, the defense came through, limiting the Dukes to 267 yards and just 115 in the second half.

“Other than the first drive, we played physical on defense,” Susan said. “Our front four was good against the run most of the night. We need to be able to create more QB pressure with four-man rush. We had a chance to stop them late in the game and potentially get the ball back to our offense. We did not and they were able to run the clock out.”

In a rematch of last season’s dramatic 17-16 Orange and Blue victory, the team will head to Marist this Saturday at 6 p.m. to take on the Red Foxes.

“As we approach this weekend against Marist there is a lot of similarity in the schemes they utilize so there will be carryover,” Susan said. “We need to focus on ourselves and work to get better.”

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Field hockey comes up short in home games

By Eric Weiss

Senior Writer

The Bison field hockey team faced another weekend of stiff competition as the women fell to Albany 3-2 and No. 4 Princeton 7-0.

At this weekend’s first home game, the Bison conceded two early goals to Albany. Daphne Voormolen led Albany to victory. Her hat trick was the only offense the Great Danes could offer.

Morgan Kauffman ’11 closed the gap to a single goal with 11:20 left in the first half, registering her first goal of the season.

“We know what we have to do now in order to win, it’s just going to come down to executing,” Kauffman said.

In the second half, Voormolen continued her success as she scored her third and final goal of the day off a rebound from one of her teammates.

The Bison then pulled within one goal as Marci Richard ’12 tipped in a shot from Tayler Seigrist ’13.

The Orange and Blue continued the pressure all the way to the final horn but failed to score a tying goal, falling 3-2.

“Albany was a tough one; we felt like we made some serious progress in our defensive decision making and put a ton of pressure on them offensively, just came up a bit short in the end,” Head Coach Jeremy Cook said.

Against Princeton on Sunday, the Bison faced one of the nation’s best as they were only allowed three shots in the contest. Sarah Zargarpour ’12 made nine saves but was unable to silence the punishing Tiger attack.

Two seniors led the offensive charge for the Bison as Kelly Bruvik ’11 and Christine Weiss ’11 respectively attempted one and two shots on goal.

The women will return home for a five-game series where they will host Cornell, Towson and Lock Haven over the next 10 days.

“The home games coming up should be a blast. Graham Field is a fantastic venue, and the team has had some really memorable performances there,” Cook said.

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Water polo wins three out of four

By Eric Brod

Senior Writer

The men’s water polo team opened its season with three wins at the Navy Open this past weekend in Annapolis, Md.

On Sunday, the Orange and Blue capped off an impressive weekend with a 16-13 victory over the Fordham Rams.

The team tallied eight goals in the third frame to take a commanding lead. Brian Barron ’13 led the Bison  with three goals.

Teammates Beau Caillouette ’12, Julian Colina ’14, Richie Hyden ’11 and Howie Kalter ’11 each contributed two goals, Kalter also offered three assists. The team achieved 12 ejections.

Earlier on Sunday, the team fell to  Queens (N.Y.) 15-14.

The Knights were able to set the tone early, netting six first-period goals.

The Bison fought back and evened the score at eight going into halftime, but were outscored 4-3 in the fourth period.

Hyden posted a team-high five goals and two assists. Barron netted three goals and Mike Kimble ’14 scored two.

On Saturday afternoon, the Bison defeated Gannon 22-3.

Hyden and Spencer Richley ’12 led the way, each posting six goals and helping the team to an 11-2 halftime lead.

Trevor Reitz ’14 tallied a team-high five steals.

Hyden believes it is critical that the first-year players gain experience quickly.

“With this many new guys coming there are always going to be setbacks, but I think the guys have done a solid job at practice working together and trying to learn the systems that we run here,” Hyden said.

“We will need the new young guys to gain experience as fast as possible and this weekend was a great opportunity for that.”

Earlier on Saturday, the men took care of Vanguard in a convincing 18-6 victory. Once again, the scoring was evenly distributed among the team, with six players scoring multiple goals.

Goalie Miles Gilhuly ’11 recorded 10 saves.

Hyden believes  the team needs to work on improving its overall game and team chemistry.

“We were able to work on some areas of our game that we want to develop, and this will be crucial come league games when we need to execute at a high level,” Hyden said.

“This weekend everyone was able to play a lot of minutes and work on the things we have practiced over the past few weeks.”

The Bison return to action today when they open the Bucknell Invitational.

All games will be played at Kinney Natatorium.

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Cross country teams off to fast start

By Eric Brod

Senior Writer

On Saturday, the men’s and women’s cross country teams opened their 2010 season at a non-scored meet against Bloomsburg, Juniata and Susquehanna on the West Fields.
In the men’s race, 10 of the top 12 finishers were Bison. Chris Sacks ’14 won the three-mile race in 14:56.
“Running this race was pretty nerve-wracking, but it helps when you have upperclassmen to look up to,” Sacks said.

Teammate Evan Novakowski ’11 finished in a close second. The Orange and Blue kept a tight pack throughout the race, capturing places four through eight. D.J. Krystek ’13 placed fourth,

Christopher Boyd ’10 placed fifth, Joshua Clark ’10 placed sixth, Keith Sansone ’12 placed seventh and Charles Murphy ’10 placed eighth.

The Bison women, coming off a Patriot League Championship, were led by Stephanie Fulmer ’12 (17:13) and Sarah Moniz ’11 (17:14) who finished first and second, respectively.

Fulmer feels the performance of the Orange and Blue will help set the tempo for the rest of the season.

“I think that the meet this weekend was a fabulous start to our season. Having our first race at home was a great start for the freshmen who can right away get that team feeling, as well as an awesome thing for our seniors who are going to play such a huge part in preparing for Patriot Leagues,” Fulmer said.

Teammate Alysha Hooper ’12 finished third while Stephanie Bryan ’14 and Kady Weisner ’14 finished fourth and fifth respectively.

Both the men’s and women’s teams will return to action on Sept. 18th in Pittsburgh for a tri-meet against Pitt and Duquesne.

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Volleyball gets first win

By Rob Duffy

Managing Editor

The women’s volleyball team came from behind to win its first match of the season, defeating Providence in five sets in the final match of the Bison Open. Kyleigh McAhren ’12 had 18 kills and Rachel Rodriguez ’11 had 30 assists for the Bison, who snapped a 12-match losing streak dating back to last season.

“We have had a tough preseason schedule so far, and although our record might not show it, we have become a stronger team in just these past two weeks of tournaments and practices,” McAhren said.

After the Bison dropped the second and third sets and fell behind 13-4 in the fourth, a kill by McAhren sparked a rally. With three kills by Katie Baumgarten ’12, the Orange and Blue went on a 9-1 run to climb back within one.

After Providence widened its lead to 18-14, the Bison scored seven straight, including three kills by Rodriguez, to take a 21-18 lead. The Orange and Blue won the set 25-20.
Providence opened the fifth with a 9-5 lead, and once again the Orange and Blue had to fight to come from behind.

Down 13-9, the Bison forced four straight errors to even the score. After the two teams traded kills, Anne Ellenberger ’12 scored to give the Orange and Blue the lead for good. The Bison won the set 16-14.

The comeback followed a 25-21 loss in the second set and a 25-14 setback in the third set. In the first set, the Bison overcame an early deficit to win 25-22.

The Bison lost to Eastern Michigan 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-18) and to Iona 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-15, 25-23) in the previous two games of the tournament.

Heidi Kamp  ’11 was named to the All-Tournament Team for the second straight weekend.

“We learned how to play better together as the weekend went on,” McAhren said. “This weekend started out with a couple of losses, but we ended on a positive note, giving us the confidence we need to win at this weekend’s tournament in Niagara.”

The Bison, now 1-5, will take on Niagara, Canisius and Indiana this weekend in the Niagara/Canisius Invitational.