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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.

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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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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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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.