Category: Sports

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Cross Country Sports Women

Women’s XC takes second in Penn St. Invitational

Cooper Mead

Senior Writer

The women’s cross country team claimed a runner-up finish at Penn State’s Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational at its first away meet of the season. The meet came after a great performance at the Bison Open. Penn State won the meet with 15 points. The Bison tallied 60 points to defeat Pittsburgh with 84 points, Mount St. Mary’s with 113 points, and West Virginia with 126 points.

The team was led by Catherine Scott ’17 and Kylie Pearse ’15, who both produced important top-10 finishes to propel the Bison to the runner-up spot. Scott placed 10th with a time of 22:05, and Pearse recorded the Bison’s best time of 22:00. In addition, Montana DiPietrantonio ’15 placed 15th with a time of 22:20, Katie Jessee ’15 placed 14th with a time of 22:20, and Sarah Chandler ’17 placed 12th with a time of 22:18 to aid the Bison effort.

“We wanted to practice pack running, which helped us with moving throughout the race,” Alison Lockwood’15 said. “I think that going in with a strategy helped us to focus during the race and achieve our goals for the meet.” 

“The meet this past weekend was our first really competitive meet of the year,” Beth Braunegg’14 said. “It was also our first 6k of the year, which can be daunting, but we made it our team goal to remain focused and vocal throughout the race. A lot of girls really stepped up to the challenge and we’re really excited to face more competition in Boston in two weeks.” 

After their encouraging performance at Penn State, the Bison are hoping to carry their momentum forward as they prepare to compete at the Boston College Coast to Coast on Sept. 27 and the Bloomsburg Invitational on Sept. 28.

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Sports Volleyball Women

Women’s volleyball digs out two victories in first home matches

Emily Evancho

Assistant Sports Editor 

The women’s volleyball team pulled through its matches this past weekend with a loss against Canisius and two victories over Fairleigh Dickinson and Rider, respectively. These were the first home court matches of the season for the Bison.

In the match against Fairleigh Dickinson on Sept. 13, the Orange and Blue entered the match with the intent to win, triumphing in their first set easily. Fairleigh Dickinson finally awakened, providing tough competition in the second and third sets. But ultimately the Bison dominated the court with six straight points in the fourth set, leading to a hard fought win in the fifth set. Katie Price ’16 achieved 21 digs during the match, while Morgan Mientus ’14 recorded 13 kills and 11 digs. Keane Brazda ’17 also pulled in 14 assists in three sets, bringing the match to a 3-2 win.

“We played really well as a team this weekend and it showed when we had to go to a fifth game with Fairleigh Dickinson which is a short game to 15 and takes everyone on the court and bench to step up and focus for 20 minutes,” Brazda said.

The Orange and Blue had an even tougher fight in the team’s first match on Sept. 14 against Canisius. The Bison secured the first two sets of the match but lost steam heading into the third set. The Bison ultimately dropped the match into lap of Canisius with a 3-2 loss.

The defeat did not hold back the momentum of the Orange and Blue in their second match of the day, when they pulled a 3-1 victory from the teeth of the Rider Broncs. The match was a tug of war in which the Bison captured the first two sets only to be beaten by Rider in the third. In the fourth set, the Orange and Blue came back determined, only trailing once to eventually claim victory after taking advantage of Rider’s three service errors during the match.

Mientus continued her solid performance, posting 12 kills against the Broncs and double-digit digs for both matches on the day, followed by Price who made 42 digs combined from both matches. Brazda also pushed the team with 59 assists in the two matches. Also for the Bison, Karen Campbell ’16 and Jordan Walker ’17 represented the Orange and Blue on the All-Tournament Team.

“Our hard work during pre-season is paying off,” Brazda said. “We plan to take this mentality into Patriot League play.”

The Orange and Blue return to the court tonight to challenge Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. Tomorrow, the team will travel to West Point, N.Y. to battle Army.

Categories
Men Sports Tennis

Men’s tennis keeps climbing

Chris McCree

Senior Writer

The men’s tennis team continues to build on its early success by taking the Flight C singles and Flight A consolation title at the Mount St. Mary’s Invitational last weekend in Emmitsburg, Md. Colby Burke ’17 defeated teammate Irwin Reibeisen ’14 in the Flight C finals on Sept. 15 after both players cruised through their first two matches. Scott Bernstein ’14 also came away with the victory in the consolation bracket.

“I think we competed well and can definitely build off of this weekend,” Reibeisen said. “The beginning of the season is always a time to get solid match play in and continue to build team chemistry.” 

Though the only two Bison in the Flight C bracket, Burke and Reibeisen dominated the first two rounds. Neither of the two allowed an opponent to take more than three games in a single set. Both players competed in their toughest match when they faced off in a back-and-forth contest that ended in a 7-5, 6-4 win for Burke.

“Playing these matches enables me to see what I am doing well and what I can improve upon,” Reibeisen said. “I am very motivated to work hard in areas that need improvement as well as continue to improve my strengths.”

Despite his loss in the first round, Bernstein battled back to take the consolation title in Flight A singles. During his second round matchup against Harrison Kunkel of Loyola (Md.), Bernstein recovered from a one-set deficit to claim the victory in a tiebreaker 10-3. Bernstein went on to win a close matchup in the finals against Daniel Nino of Coppin State and claim fifth place overall for the Orange and Blue.

“Overall, I believe we posted a solid performance at Mount St. Mary’s,” Bernstein said. “We fought hard to magnify our strengths, execute smart strategies and gain better court-sense. It’s important in the beginning tournaments of the season to find some fundamental personal areas to improve on for the rest of the season.”

With two weeks of competitive action under their belt, the Orange and Blue will head to Flushing, N.Y. this weekend to take part in the USTA Tournament. Still in the early stages of the season, the team will look to build on its early success and work toward its ultimate goal of the Patriot League Championship.

“We have a lot of talent and experience on this team,” Reibeisen said. “We need to continue working to maximize our potential as a collective unit. I have high hopes for this season– the Patriot League title is within reach.”

Categories
Sports Tennis Women

Women’s tennis wins five of seven brackets in Mt. St. Mary’s Invitational

Claudia Silvers

Contributing Writer

The women’s tennis team is off to a strong start in its fall tournament season after winning five of the seven brackets at the Mount St. Mary’s Invitational in Emmitsburg, Md. this past weekend.

Though fall tournaments are scored individually, the Bison won two doubles finals and claimed three singles titles at the end of the competition.

“I thought our doubles looked particularly strong for this early in the season. Sending three of our four doubles teams to the semifinals shows just how hard we work on the specifics of doubles,” head coach Rebecca Helt said.

Maria Cioffi ’16/Elena Vidrascu ’14 and Stephanie Pino ’16/Lydia Colvin ’15 won doubles crowns on the final day of the tournament. The Bison also appeared in the finals in four of the five singles flights. Cioffi made it to the final round of Flight A, ultimately losing to Megan Hahn from Loyola (Md.) 1-6, 6-2, 11-9. Flight C ended in an all-Bison final, with Melissa Parks ’17 claiming another close victory in a tiebreaker over Colvin. Jorie Fox ’17 won the singles title against Loyola (Md.) for Flight D, and Pino took victory over Coppin State for another Bison win in Flight E.

“It was a great chance to see all the freshmen in action and to observe how quickly they are picking up new strategies in their individual games,” Helt said.

Vidrascu, one of the two team captains, also noted the success of the first-year players.

“There were a few titles won, two of them being from our freshmen, which is a promising start to our season,” Vidrascu said.

Beginning today, the Bison will host the three-day Bucknell Invitational, the second home tournament of the fall.

Categories
Soccer Sports Women

Women’s soccer tops Towson

Doug Hendry

Contributing Writer

The women’s soccer team snapped its four-game losing streak in Maryland this past weekend, as it blanked Towson 1-0 on Sept. 13 at the Tiger Soccer Complex. In its second game of the weekend against UMBC, the Retrievers scored a late goal to win 1-0 at Retriever Soccer Park on Sept. 15.

Back on the road for a pair of games in Maryland, the Bison faced off against the Towson Tigers. Both teams started slow, with the scoreboard still blank at the end of the first half. In the second half, two juniors helped put the Orange and Blue into the lead. Brigit Falcon ’15 put the winning goal into the back of the net with the assist from Evelyn Nicinski ’15 in the 71st minute. The shot was Falcon’s first goal of the season.

Towson stepped up the pressure through the final part of the game, but the clutch play of Jessie Ashworth ’16, including five total saves, preserved the third shutout of the season for the Bison.

“The victory over Towson was crucial to building confidence and putting the past couple games behind us,” defender Lauren Dandie ’16 said. “We have a young back line which has had to endure some unfortunate injuries and adjust to new personalities, so getting this shutout is something we take a lot of pride in.”

On Sept. 15, for the second game in a row, the score was tied 0-0 at halftime, with the time of possession heavily favoring UMBC. The Bison were outshot 5-1 in the first half.

It looked as if the game was going to go into overtime, but UMBC headed the ball into the net off a far corner for the lone goal with 5:06 remaining. This score proved to be the deciding factor in UMBC’s victory.

The Bison have scored eight goals through eight games this season, while racking up nearly 15 shots per game.

The women’s soccer team, now 3-5, will face Army at home tomorrow at 2 p.m. for the start of conference play. Dandie has confidence in her team going against Patriot League opponents.

“With league play right around the corner, I believe that we need to take one opponent at a time and focus in on that. Hopefully from here on out we are able to stay healthy and continue to work hard in practices and stay positive as a team. We are an extremely close unit, and if we work for each other on the field while doing our individual jobs, I have faith that the victories will come,” Dandie said.

Categories
Men Soccer Sports

Men’s soccer continues winning streak

Ajan Caneda

Copy Editor

The men’s soccer team finished this weekend on the road with two shutout wins, defeating Albany 1-0 on Sept. 13, followed by a 2-0 victory against Siena on Sept. 15. The Orange and Blue are now 4-2 this season. Mayowa Alli ’14 earned Brine Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week honors for the second week in a row, while Jesse Klug ’16 earned his first career Offensive Player of the Week award.

The Bison entered their first road match looking to go over .500 for the first time this year. Shot attempts once again told the story for the Orange and Blue, who held a 9-3 shot advantage in the first half. Neither team found the net in the first half, but Klug lifted the Bison to a 1-0 lead just 2:05 into the second half. Justin Galiani ’17 delivered an assist to Klug, who was able to dribble across the box and launch the ball in the top right corner of the net. Albany had opportunities to bring the game into overtime, including a corner kick header in the 87th minute that sailed over the bar and a follow-up attempt in the 89th minute that was stopped by goalie Mike Lansing ’16, which sealed the win for the Orange and Blue.

“The key aspects to this weekend was everyone just doing their part and working as hard as they needed to to get a collective team win. In the Albany game it was just a grind-it-out match, and we prevailed from desire,” Josh Butzke ’14 said.

Against Siena, Butzke and Klug led the Bison to their fourth straight victory. The first goal came in the 21st minute when Sebastiaan Blickman ’17 dished the ball to Chris Thorsheim ’16, who found Klug on the breakaway. In just the beginning of the season, Klug scored his third goal of the year, tying his last season’s total. Butzke registered his second career goal in the 52nd minute after a defensive header ricocheted back, allowing him to score from 22 yards out. The Bison defense was stellar once again, holding its opponent to under 10 shots for the fourth time this season.

“With Siena, we played a great all-around game and really moved the ball well. As for my game, I was just ready for it and felt like I was going to really connect,” Butzke said.

Lansing, who had five saves against Siena, claimed his third shutout of the season.

“Personally, since the first two losses, I have made it my focus to work on the mental aspect of the game and to make sure that all of my orders to the back line are clear and precise. I’ve also pushed myself to be more aggressive on crosses and long balls into my 18. My defensive unit has been outstanding in the last four games,” Lansing said.

The Bison travel to New Jersey tomorrow to take on Seton Hall at 1 p.m.

Categories
Field Hockey Sports Women

Field hockey drops to 0-2 with loss to Lock Haven, Iowa

Lauren Boone

Sports Editor

Women’s field hockey suffered a 1-0 loss to Lock Haven on the Eagles’ home turf thanks to Kiersten Cepeda’s first-half goal. The loss marks the fall of the Bison’s overall season record to 0-2, following a loss at their opening game against No. 13 Iowa last weekend.

Although the Bison had many advantages on penalty corners (6-1), they were unable to muster a successful offensive drive. In just two games, the Orange and Blue clenched a 12-5 lead in penalty corners, but only managed five shots on goal.

The Eagles managed six shots, three courtesy of Cepeda. Goalie Erica Perrine ’14 had two crucial saves, and Liz Wills ’15 and Amie Pritchard ’15 each made a defensive save.

The Orange and Blue will compete next against Missouri State tomorrow in Columbus, Ohio.

Categories
Sports

Mike Muscala ’13 finds success in NBA draft

Alex Wagner

Senior Editor

When most college seniors graduate in the spring, they enter the job market. Mike Muscala ’13 is no different. It just so happens that the market he entered is the selective one of professional basketball. Simply put, there are only 30 teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA), with only 15 maximum roster spots on each team. Making a team is never easy because it is the goal of nearly every college basketball player in the country, as well as that of international players, to reach this highest level of basketball in the world.

In order to make his NBA aspirations possible, Muscala had to put in a lot of work this summer.

“I went to 14 different cities, so there was a lot of traveling,” Muscala said. “There were a couple times when I had a day or two in between workouts, but there was one stretch where I had seven workouts in nine days in all different cities. It got pretty tiring, but there is no other experience like that. I made sure to give it my all.”

Muscala travelled around the country for the entire month of June, visiting many locations including Los Angeles, Houston, Detroit, and Washington D.C.

Although he is the most decorated player in the history of the University, and arguably the Patriot League as well, there was still a lot for him to prove.

“You go into these workouts so that they can see how you do against guys from high major schools. It was frustrating at times. I put a lot of pressure on myself in the beginning because I really wanted to do well and prove that I could play. But I knew that if I go out there and play my game, everything will even out to where I want to be,” Muscala said.

Before long, the day of the 2013 NBA Draft was upon him.

“I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be, to be honest,” Muscala said. “I had done all of the workouts and all of the scouts had evaluated me, so I felt like I was done at that point. I liked having a lot of family and friends at the gathering.”

Bison basketball head coach Dave Paulsen and teammate Bryson Johnson ’13 were among those at the draft day celebration in Muscala’s native Minnesota.

After much anticipation, Muscala was the 44th overall pick in the draft. He was selected by the Dallas Mavericks, but his rights were traded to the Atlanta Hawks. Unfortunately, being drafted does not guarantee any player a roster spot. In addition to the drafted players, the Hawks acquired Elton Brand, Paul Millsap, Pero Antic, and Gustavo Ayon to fill positions in their frontcourt. The addition of these experienced players left little room on the roster for a rookie.

As a result, it was decided that Muscala would play in the Liga ACB, the top tier professional league in Spain, which is widely regarded as the second best league in the world. While there, he will play for Blusens Monbus Obradoiro, which is based in the Galician city of Santiago de Compostela.

It is common for draftees to spend a season abroad in order to refine their game before entering the NBA. In fact, Atlanta’s first-round pick Lucas Nogueira will also be playing in the Spanish league in the coming season. During his season abroad, the Hawks will still own the rights to Muscala, keeping his connection to the NBA alive.

As far as Muscala is concerned, he’s not quite sure what to expect from the highly-competitive Spanish league.

“I’m not sure how it’s going to be different. It’s going to be grown men playing, so more physical and more experience on the court. We’ll see,” Muscala said.

In addition to learning and growing stronger on the court, Muscala has a lot to look forward to in Spain. He majored in Spanish in addition to management while at the University, giving him an appreciation for the Spanish way of life.

“I always liked the culture as a kid and the language,” Muscala said.

But as far as traveling to Europe goes, this will be a new experience in many ways.

“We went to Italy as a team after my freshman year, but that is the only time I’ve been to Europe,” Muscala said.

As Muscala moves into a new chapter of his life, he still holds on to many memories he made at the University.

“Being back this weekend, I realized how nice it is to have the guys on the team around me, being able to live with them and doing everything with them,” Muscala said. “You can’t really get that in a professional setting. Not that that’s a bad thing, it’s just special here.”

Those who wish to keep up with Muscala during his time in Spain can do so by following his “mikejawz” YouTube channel. He promises to give an “MTV Cribs” style tour of his Spanish apartment for everyone’s viewing pleasure.

While Muscala certainly has much to be proud of in his career thus far, Bison fans everywhere will watch on eagerly as he continues to reach new heights and succeed in the professional basketball job market.

Categories
Bison Athlete of the Week Sports

Bison Athlete of the Week: Stefan Aleksic ’16

Lauren Boone

Sports Editor

Imagine this: you are sitting in the stands at the Navy Invite watching the men’s water polo team compete against Notre Dame (Ohio) in the squad’s season-opening match. The Bison have been fighting hard in this nail-biting game, and they are tied 14-14, with only seconds left on the clock. Just when you think all hope is lost, a Bison breaks through, scoring the winning goal.

This is not the first time that Stefan Aleksic ’16 has made a clutch play. In fact, despite his sophomore status, he is one of the squad’s strongest players.

Aleksic had a monster rookie season. He was one of only three Bison, and the only non-senior, to start all 31 games of the season. He led his squad in almost every category possible: assists (50), points (101), steals (44), and field blocks (30). He was also third in goals (51). He netted at least one goal for the Bison in 26 games, with 14 multiple-goal matches. After posting six goals, three assists, seven steals, and seven field blocks in just three games at the Eastern Championship, he was selected as the Rookie of the Tournament.

Aleksic was an accomplished athlete in high school, as well. As a member of his native Serbian National Team, he competed in several championships and world cups. He was also a 10-year member and starter for WC Partizan in Belgrade, assisting them to win tournaments in numerous countries such as Croatia, Greece, and Hungary, among others.

Keep an eye on this Bison athlete this season, as he is off to a strong start.

Player Profile

Hometown: Belgrade, Serbia

Position: RAT

Major: Computer Science & Engineering

Season Stats

Games started / total number of games: 3/3

Goals: 3

Assists: 6

Points: 9

Categories
Beyond the Bison Sports

Beyond the Bison: “That’s all there is to it?”

Julian Dorey

Senior Writer

Well that didn’t take long. 

Chip Kelly and his dynamic football acumen took the National Football League (NFL) by storm on Sept. 9 with a breathtaking offensive performance. On a night that was supposed to be a media-driven moment of honor for Redskins’ quarterback Robert Griffin III, it was the wily-old veteran Michael Vick that took the bull by the horns.

Vick was sensational, throwing for 203 yards and two touchdowns to go along with a running score in the first half. As it would turn out, that was all the Eagles would really need. A quick Griffin interception in the second half led to one more Eagles touchdown, and a 33-7 lead that the Redskins had no hope of overcoming.

For months now the NFL has been anxiously waiting for and debating about what would become of the mad scientist, college coach Kelly’s collegiate “track meet” style of football.

After just one game, Kelly has everyone and their mother hopping on his bandwagon. His team’s first-half offensive explosion featured 53 plays from the scrimmage. 53. The entire NFL averaged 64 plays per game last season. 

Not only did this tempo seem to fuel Vick’s game, but veterans LeSean McCoy and DeSean Jackson looked absolutely rejuvenated after injury-riddled seasons a year ago. McCoy was making video-game moves from the first snap last night, and the Eagles’ speed of play only made tackling him all the more difficult. He had 115 rushing yards at the half and finished with 184 for the game.

Jackson seemed to be running alone in space the entire first half. Not only could the Redskin defenders not stay with him, but the range of routes he was running was something else. For most of his career, Jackson was poorly misused by former Head Coach Andy Reid, and Offensive Coordinator Marty Mornhinweg. Despite Jackson’s small figure, he has strengths in route running and good hands in addition to his speed. For the first five years of his career, his coaches were so dead-set on using him as a deep ball decoy every play that the poor guy has not consistently been able to use his speed in five-yard slant situations since college.

After just one game that seems to be a thing of the past.

Some are worried that the offensive linemen will not be able to hold up throughout games this season because of the game speed. Kelly acknowledged that they will certainly get tired, just not as tired as the opposing defense.

Based on the evidence, he might just be right. There are 15 games to go this season and 12 new teams that will have their shot at slowing down the Eagles. Time will tell if Kelly’s mentality is a fad or a new football virtue.

One thing’s for sure, though—every week is going to be pure entertainment in some form of the word.