Author: Rob Duffy

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Featured Sports

Second-half burst propels Bison to win

By Joe Ruby

Contributing Writer

Ross Liberati ’11 and Tommy McCabe ’11 both played a part in each of three second-half goals to help the men’s soccer team beat the host La Salle Explorers 3-1 on Friday night.

Down 1-0 after the first half, the Bison offense went to work. About 13 minutes into the second half, Liberati scored his first goal of the season, and his first since 2008, off a McCabe free kick.

The Bison took the lead 11 minutes later on a goal by Josh Plump ’13. Liberati and McCabe, who began the play with a corner kick, assisted.

Liberati scored his second of the game with an insurance goal 3:12 later, at the 72:23 mark. Luke Joyner ’12 and McCabe assisted.

The Orange and Blue outshot La Salle 20-13 (13-8 in the second half) and gained six corner kicks to the Explorers’ two. Bison goalie Tommy Caso ’12 faced five shots on goal, stopping four, while La Salle’s Kyle Quigley faced 10 shots on goal and stopped seven.

La Salle scored its goal 22:04 into the game when Glenroy Chapman blasted a long shot into the back of the net. The Bison had a number of set pieces in the game—La Salle committed 16 fouls compared to the Bison’s seven—but the Orange and Blue could not capitalize until the second half.

The win for the Bison is their first of the year, bringing their record to 1-1. The last time the Bison lost to La Salle was in 2004; since then, the team has played five games against the Explorers, earning two wins and three draws.

The Bison next travel to State College for this weekend’s Penn State Classic. The Bison will face No. 15 Penn State tonight at 7:30 and will follow with a game against No. 11 Ohio State on Sunday at noon. The Bison defeated the Nittany Lions in the 2008 Penn State Classic, but suffered a 2-1 loss last year in Lewisburg. The Bison last met the Buckeyes at the 2008 Penn State Classic when the teams battled to a 1-1 draw.

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Volleyball struggles in first tournament of season

By Rob Duffy

Managing Editor

The volleyball team lost three matches in straight sets at the Trojan Invitational last weekend in Los Angeles, Calif. The Orange and Blue struggled to get any momentum going against quality competition.

Against Loyola Marymount on Saturday, each set started out close, but each time the Bison eventually fell behind and allowed the Lions to build commanding leads. Loyola Marymount beat the Orange and Blue 25-17 in the first set, 25-16 in the second, and 25-15 in the third. The Lions recorded a total of 44 kills compared to 20 for the Bison.

Earlier in the day, the Orange and Blue could not keep up with No. 10 USC, falling 25-7, 25-18, and 25-13. The Trojans jumped on the Bison from the very beginning, getting off to a 13-2 lead in the first set. The second set was closer as the Orange and Blue prevented the Trojans from going on any extended runs. The Bison battled back from a 20-14 deficit to a 21-18 gap, but USC closed out the set with four straight points. The Trojans continued this run into the third set, getting off to an 8-0 lead from which the Bison could not come back.

The Bison also failed to get off the ground in their season opener against Cal State Fullerton Friday, losing 25-16, 25-11, and 25-15. Fullerton opened up large early leads in the first two sets, but even when the Bison stayed close early in the third set, they allowed several large runs to prevent victory.

Low attack percentages plagued the Bison all weekend. Out of its nine sets, the team’s top percentage was .115, and the team played four sets with either a negative percentage or zero. The team’s opponents only recorded one set below .200.

Heidi Kamp ’11 was named to the All-Tournament Team.

The Bison will try to turn things around in the Bucknell Invitational this weekend. The team will face Eastern Michigan at 7:30 p.m. tonight before taking on Iona at 12 p.m. and Providence at 5 p.m. Saturday. The Orange and Blue hope that home-court advantage will help them to their first win of the season.

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Sports

Fifth Down: LLWS

By Greg Stevenson

Senior Writer

It’s where dreams of playing baseball on the grandest stage on television in front of the entire world begin. It’s where boys that haven’t even reached their teenage years come to play the national pastime. It’s where fans can enjoy the ideals that baseball is supposed to promote—like fair play and sportsmanship—but fail to get watching the pros. It’s why people congregate by the thousands to central Pennsylvania every August. It’s the Little League World Series.

Every year, right about the time University students return to school and start classes, 11- and 12-year-olds from eight regions in the United States and eight regions around the world travel to Williamsport, Pa. for the most notable championship in all of youth sports. Even ESPN and ABC bring camera crews to televise each of the games.

Teams this year came from the far reaches of the United States and the globe. The United States was represented by one team from each region—Fairfield, Conn. (New England); Toms River, N.J. (Mid-Atlantic); Columbus, Ga. (Southeast); Plymouth, Minn. (Midwest); Auburn, Wash. (Northwest); Waipahu, Hawaii (West); and Pearland, Texas (Southwest); Hamilton, Ohio (Great Lakes).

In the international bracket, the eight regions were represented by teams from Vancouver, Canada; Tokyo, Japan; Manati, Puerto Rico (Caribbean); Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei (Asia-Pacific); Chitre, Panama (Latin America); Dhahran, Saudi Arabia (MEA); Nuevo Laredo, Mexico (Mexico); and Ramstein AB, Germany (Europe).

This World Series was the first to be played with a double-elimination format. In the past, the championship rounds were determined based on teams’ records in pool play, but the 2010 tournament was changed to more of a knockout-style.

The teams from Japan and Chinese Taipei emerged victorious in the opening rounds of the international bracket to set up what became an epic battle for the international championship last Saturday. Trailing 2-1 for most of the contest, the Japanese knocked home the tying run with one out in the bottom of the sixth and final inning of regulation. Japan capped off the come-from-behind win with an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh, earning a spot in the World Championship game.

Later on that day, for the U.S. Championship, Hawaii turned in an all-around offensive performance en route to a 10-0 victory that ended in the fifth inning due to the Little League’s 10-run mercy rule. This was Waipahu’s second World Championship appearance in three years, after their 12-3 victory over Mexico in the championship game in 2008.

This year’s championship was not as favorable for Waipahu. The Japanese scored first and did not let the lead go, winning 4-1. It was the seventh time a team from Japan won the Little League World Series, and the fourth time since 2001.

But, just like it has been since it began in 1947, there were no losers this past weekend. The experience of reaching and playing in Williamsport puts the sixteen teams in an elite fraternity of athletes. And for the families of the players and fans, there is nothing better than watching our national pastime in its purest form.

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Sports

Women’s soccer goes 1-1 in Gamecock Cup

By Rob Duffy

Managing Editor

The women’s soccer team fell to Louisville 2-0 Sunday in the championship game of the Gamecock Courtyard Cup in Columbia, S.C. The Bison had advanced to the championship with a 1-0 victory over Ohio on Friday.

“I won’t say that we were satisfied with the loss on Sunday because we truly do believe that we have the depth and experience to earn a result against a Big East team such as Louisville, or any team for that matter,” said Kelliann Doherty ’11, who along with Megan DeGennaro ’12 and Caitlin Holtz ’11 was named to the All-Tournament Team. “Having said that, we did a lot of great things throughout the tournament and had moments of brilliance in both games.”

The Bison fell behind early when Louisville midfielder Angelika Uremovich notched a goal from 35 yards out in the 19th minute. Lousville struck again in the 72nd minute when Julie Casselman completed a successful counter-attack for the Cardinals.

Cardinals goalkeeper Taylor Vancil, who was named Tournament MVP, kept the Bison off the board with four saves. Bison goalie Sandita McDermott ’13, making her first start in net, recorded seven saves.

The Cardinals outshot the Bison 9-3 in the first half and 10-5 in the second, but the Bison just missed on several close opportunities in the second half.

“Though we didn’t get the result we wanted against Louisville, it was a game that was much more equally matched than the 2-0 score shows,” DeGennaro said.

Louisville defeated No. 13 South Carolina 1-0 in the first round to advance to the championship.

A goal by DeGennaro in the 73rd minute lifted the Bison to their opening-round victory over Ohio. DeGennaro dribbled in from the left side and crossed a ball into the far upper corner of the net from 20 yards out. fact-checked.

The Orange and Blue defense kept the Bobcats scoreless, holding them to just one shot the rest of the way. Colleen Garrehy ’12 recorded six saves in net for her second career shutout.

DeGennaro’s goal broke open what was previously an even game. Ohio outshot the Bison 10-5 in the first half and finished with a 16-13 shot advantage, but the Orange and Blue got more shots on net and forced Bobcat goalie Mattie Liston to make seven saves.

“We looked extremely comfortable in our formation and were able to execute many of the principles which we have been focusing on at practice,” Doherty said.

The Bison, now 1-2 for the season, will face Duquesne in their home opener at 7 p.m. tonight. They will then remain home to take on Rutgers at 2 .m. on Sunday and Binghamton at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

“I think we can walk away from the weekend knowing that we had a respectable showing in South Carolina, and we are ready to move on and look forward to our games this week,” DeGennaro said.

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Sports

Sports – Men’s soccer week 1

By Eric Brod

Sports Editor

Coming off an impressive season in which they captured the Patriot League title, the Bison men’s soccer team opened their season with a disappointing 2-1 loss to the Villanova Wildcats Wednesday night at Emmitt Field at Holmes Stadium.

Throughout the first half, neither team was able to generate much offense as both defenses worked hard to keep the ball out of their goal. But with nine seconds left in the first half, Ryan Sappington ’12 netted the first goal of the season for the Orange and Blue. The play was set up by a flawless throw-in deep in Wildcat territory by Tommy McCabe ’11.

In the opening minutes of the second half, goalie Tommy Caso ’12 made a series of spectacular saves, but Villanova player Dylan Renna found the back of the net seven minutes into the second half. Neither team was able to score the rest of regulation, which forced the first game of the season into tense sudden-death overtime.

Villanova first-year Joseph Schmid scored the game–winner 6:18 into the overtime period after the Orange and Blue struggled to defend their own end of the field.

The game was played evenly throughout, with the Wildcats edging the Bison in shots 12-11.

The Bison return to action today at 7 p.m. as they travel to Philadelphia, Pa. to face off against the La Salle Explorers.

….Sports Writers, how about CHECK YOUR FACTS.

1. We didn’t win; we LOST.

2. Joseph Schmid is not a Bison player, nor did he win us the game. He won the game for Villanova, WHICH IS HIS ACTUAL TEAM.

3. Don’t copy off the Bison Web site and perhaps you’ll get your facts straight.

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Sports

Field hockey falters at Temple Invitational

By Eric Weiss

Senior Writer

The field hockey team had a rocky opening weekend, falling  to Temple and Saint Joseph’s by scores of 4-2 and 7-3, respectively. Although both games were competitive, the Orange and Blue were unable to overcome their opponents in either contest at the Temple Invitational.

In their first game of the season, the Bison struck first as Taylor Siegrist ’13 netted a goal just 7:12 into the game. The Owls clawed back, registering the next 11 shots on goal. Temple did not allow the Bison another goal in the first half and closed with a 3-1 advantage.

Christine Weiss ’11 brought the Orange and Blue back within one when she scored off a penalty corner early in the second half. The Bison continued to battle but Temple put the game away at the 49:55 mark with an insurance goal.

“We showed that we are capable of playing great hockey but we need to be able to play with the same level of intensity and composure for an entire 70 minutes,” Kelly Bruvik ’11 said.

In their second game of the weekend the Bison showed their grit as they battled back from two goals down against St. Joseph’s. Weiss and Bruvik both scored to knot the score up at 2-2.

St. Joseph’s put the game away, though, closing the door on the Bison by rattling off two more goals quickly just as the Bison were hitting their stride.

Against St. Joseph’s the Bison had a 14-3 penalty corner advantage, allowing them to total 22 for the weekend while their opponents only managed seven.

“We have a very deep bench this year with eight [first-years] total and 12 others looking to make an impact. We hope to use these numbers to our advantage as the season progresses,” Morgan Kauffman ’11 said.

The Orange and Blue take on Albany in their home opener at 1 p.m. on Saturday.