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(02/11/04 5:00pm)
The College men s basketball team finally got the break it needed in its attempt to win its second straight game for the first time in nearly a month.
The Lions, whose last five league losses have averaged a margin of less than five points, were determined not to let another close game out of their grasp.
Even when trailing by three points with 4.8 seconds left in regulation, the Lions were able to put the game into overtime thanks to junior guard Bobby Henning's off-balance three-pointer with two-tenths of a second remaining.
The College was ultimately able to defeat William Paterson University 70-66 on Saturday inside a crowded Packer Hall.
"My biggest fear (about the team's league struggles) was that the kids would stop believing in themselves," head coach John Castaldo said.
Thanks to stong efforts by sophomore forward Scott Findlay and junior forward Derick Grant, the Lions improved their record to 12-8 overall and 3-6 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC), while the loss dropped the Pioneers to 13-9 overall and 4-6 in NJAC play. The Lions' victory evened the score with the Pioneers this season.
The Pioneers won the squads' first meeting this season in overtime on a last-second shot. This time, the Lions were the team beating the buzzer.
The game, which featured 12 lead changes, was filled with spectacular plays on both sides in the final seconds of the tense second half.
Derick Grant tied the game at 55-55 with 14.7 seconds remaining on a highly contested three pointer.
William Paterson senior guard Khayri Battle responded, scoring three of his 14 points on a driving three-point play with 4.8 seconds left.
After Battle s free throw went through the net, the Lions, who had no timeouts left, put the ball in Hennings hands. He took the ball down the court himself and hoisted his game-tying shot just outside the three-point line.
"It was a tremendous effort by our guys. They made big shots," Castaldo said. The Lions outscored the Pioneers 12-8 in the extra period to win the game. Junior guard Kyle Burke had six of his 19 points in the overtime on two three-pointers. The game was in doubt until Scott Findlay made two free throws with six seconds left to clinch the game.
"It was a great game to be a part of," Findlay said. "This has been a frustrating season, but we definitely put it all together today."
Early in the game, it appeared that the Lions might not even make it competitive. William Paterson took advantage of the College s turnovers and poor shooting to take a 17-3 lead more than eight minutes into the game.
"We looked a little tentative, and we weren t being as aggressive as we needed to be," Castaldo said. "It also came down to the fact that we couldn't make any shots early."
"We were probably a little anxious, tentative at the start," Findlay said. "Once we calmed down we were able to have success."
It quickly became apparent that the game would not be a blowout, as the Lions responded by going on their own 18-3 run over the next six minutes to take a 24-20 lead and get back in the game.
The College shot 11-for-23 from three-point range, including Burke's 5-of-9. Findlay finished with a team-high 22 points and 14 rebounds, while the Lions leading scorer on the season, Grant, had 21 points.
Senior guard Brandon Constantine scored a game-high 23 points to pace the Pioneers, who suffered their fourth consecutive NJAC loss.
In addition to his clutch basket at the end of regulation, Battle played a solid all-around game for William Paterson, chipping in with 14 points, nine rebounds, four blocked shots, four assists and four steals.
Earlier in the week, the College was able to get a convincing victory over Rutgers University-Camden by the score of 94-77. The Lions handed the Scarlet Raptors their 15th loss of the season in their visit to Camden on Wednesday night. Grant had 25 points, while Findlay contributed 18 points and 13 rebounds.
The Lions got their lead in the first half through defense, as they allowed only 26 first-half points to the Scarlet Raptors in gaining a 39-26 lead. They maintained the lead, though, due to their blistering offensive performance in the second half.
The Lions made 19-of-20 free throws, and 17-of-32 field goal attempts in the second half to put 55 points on the board in the game's final 20 minutes.
The Lions will try to win their third straight game when they play at Montclair State University on Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 8 p.m. The Lions won the previous meeting between the teams this season with a 73-63 home victory.
(10/14/03 12:00pm)
The Lions mens' soccer team (3-9-2) stayed with 10th ranked Elizabethtown College Blue Jays (10-1-1) for the first 66 minutes of their non-conference game on Saturday night, but eventually fell short in a 2-0 loss.
Lions junior goalkeeper Shawn Mecchi withstood five shots in the first half without allowing a goal. The Blue Jays' pressure in the second half yielded two shots past Mecchi.
"We were happy that we were able to come out and hold such a good team off of the scoreboard," sophomore forward Ryan McMann said. "We thought we could compete with them."
The Lions could not hold the Blue Jays off. The first goal of the game was scored at 67:24 by Elizabethtown's sophomore forward Will Ellerman. Ellerman, a substitute in the game, scored off of a pass from senior midfielder Brian Albrecht. Less than six minutes later, the lead was extended to 2-0 as junior Tim Filewicz, another Blue Jay subsitute, scored at 72:59 with an assist by sophomore forward Andrew Kummerer.
The Lions only managed four shots against Elizabethtown's senior goalkeeper Michael Ciattei, who made two saves for the shutout. Ciattei has not lost since starting as goalkeeper, allowing only three goals all season. His record improved to 9-0-1.
The loss puts the Lions losing streak at four games. Their offense especially has been stifled lately. They have not seen the opponents' net in the last 332 minutes of game play, including three consecutive shutouts.
"We just have to finish the chances we get," McMann said, who scored the Lions' last goal on Oct. 1. "We haven't been able to put away the shots we've gotten, which has basically been the difference between us and the teams that have beaten us."
Rangers 2, Lions 0
Earlier in the week, the College was shutout, 2-0, by the visiting Drew University Rangers. The Rangers improved their undefeated streak to five games, as they moved their record to 8-1-2 on the season in non-conference games.
Drew's first goal was scored by freshman midfielder Matt Sidie less than 35 minutes into the game. Sidie was a recipient of a corner kick off sophomore midfielder Craig Nimick, one of the Rangers' five corner kicks. The College was able to go into halftime down only 1-0 thanks to five saves in the first half by junior goalkeeper Rich Adams.
The College's deficit remained at one goal until a penalty called against them gave Drew University's junior defender Michael Jacobson a penalty kick.
Jacobson took advantage of the foul, as he scored past Adams at 62:00 to extend the Ranger lead to 2-0. The game was essentially over after that, as the Lions could only muster one shot in the second half.
The Rangers outshot the Lions 14-5 during the course of the game. The two losses this week did not affect the Lions' New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) record, which currently stands at 1-2-2.
Upcoming Game
The College's next game is an NJAC match at Rowan University tonight at 7 p.m. The game at Rowan will be the first of four NJAC games to end the regular season.
(09/23/03 4:00pm)
The Lions cross country team had incredible success at the New York Invitational held on Saturday in a field of 23 teams.
The meet was held at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.
The College's women's cross country team tied for first place.
The men's team finished just three points away from first place. They placed second in a field of 29 teams.
The women's team, ranked 14th nationally, finished with 60 points.
They are tied for top honors with the Wesleyan University Cardinals.
Finishing slightly behind third place, the Bowdoin College Polar Bears with 74 points.
In cross country meets, the lowest scoring team places first overall in the match.
Entering the weekend, Bowdoin was ranked eighth in the nation, while Wesleyan was not ranked.
Senior Beth Vesey led the team once again. Vesey, who led the Lions last week at the Connecticut College Invitational, finished third on Saturday with a time of 19:05 on the 5,000 meter course.
Vesey had two other Lions finishing with her in the top 10.
Seniors Lindsay Scarborough and Erin Cahill finished eighth and ninth respectively, finishing within one second of each otherat 19:43 and 19:44.
Freshman Christine Nystrom also scored points, finishing in 17th place in 20:10.
Fellow freshman Jenna Fasulo scored her first points for the Lions as she placed 23rd with a time of 20:20.
"While (Beth) Vesey is obviously doing a great job leading us, Erin Cahill and Jenna Fasulo both stepped up and showed great improvement," head coach Steve Dolan said.
Mens Cross Country
The Lions men's team was also successful at the NYU Invitational, finishing second to the Lock Haven Bald Eagles.
The Bald Eagles, led by first place finisher junior Chris Cowan, had 43 points compared to the Lions' 46 points.
Both teams lapped the rest of the field. The closest competitors, the New York University Violets, were a distant third with 167 points.
"I'm certainly pleased with the results," Dolan said. "It was a good-sized race, and considering we finished second to Lock Haven, a Division II team, we did very well."
After winning last week at Connecticut, Lion senior Adrian Cline placed second out of the 335 runners with a time of 26:22 on the 8,000 meter course. Senior Brian Brach took fourth place in 26:35.
Also placing in the top 10 was junior Brian Donovan, who finished in 26:42.
The College's Sean Lesniak finished in 27:11, which was good for 14th place.
To complete the Lions' scoring, junior Matt Molski picked up an 18th place finish in 27:17.
"The important thing this early in the year isn't necessarily to win, but to just do our best and start showing improvement," Dolan said.
"I thought the performances we got from both Adrian Cline and Matt Molski especially helped us," Dolan added.
Upcoming Meet
Both the men's and women's teams have off from competition next weekend.
The Lions' next meet will be the Paul Short Invitational on Oct. 4, at Lehigh University in Bethelem, PA. It will be held at 9:30 a.m.
(09/16/03 4:00pm)
Montclair State University Red Hawk's field hockey team surprised the top-ranked Lions on Saturday evening as they pulled out a double-overtime victory of 4-3 in the final seconds.
Red Hawks forward senior Sarah Levine scored the decisive goal at 99:59.
The game held at Sprague Field was the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) opener for both teams. Due to a lapse at the end of the game, the College started its league season of with a loss.
"We had the game won," head coach Sharon Pfluger said. "We're up 3-1 with only a few minutes left, and we should have hung onto the game."
The Lions (5-1 overall, 0-1, NJAC) started the game off in the successful manner that they had been accustomed to all year.
Unassisted goals from senior mid-fielder/defender Lauren Wooster at 14:31 and senior forward Christie Shore at 32:39 gave the Lions room to work with in the first half. The goals left the Lions with a 2-1 lead at halftime, as the Montclair Red Hawks' senior midfielder Megan Ulicny scored in the first half.
Senior forward Jessica Hamway fed junior forward Colleen Stamler, who scored past MSU senior goalie Trisha Winkle at 56:23 to open up the lead to two goals at 3-1. Facing a challenging deficit with less than 14 minutes left in the game, though, the Red Hawks (3-0 overall, 1-0 NJAC) maintained their composure.
Sarah Levine scored her first goal of the evening on an assist from Ulicny at 57:15. Over 12 minutes later, with only 38 seconds remaining in the game, Red Hawks senior midfielder Nicole Puso scored past the College's sophomore goal keeper Kristina Beyel to send the game into overtime.
"Once the game went into overtime, the emotional momentum of the game definitely changed," Pfluger said.
After 15 scoreless minutes in the first overtime, it appeared the second overtime would finish scoreless as well. That would have put the fate of the game in penalty shots. However, senior Levine scored her second goal of the evening off a rebound in the final seconds of the second extra period.
Lions 3, Blue Jays 0
On Thursday, the top-ranked Lions defeated Johns Hopkins, 3-0, who dropped to a record of 1-2. The game was the team's third shutout of the season.
After pitching her third shutout in five games as a starter, sophomore goalie Kristina Beyel left the game to a loud ovation and was relieved by rookie freshman Erin Mitschke, in her first game as a Lion goalkeeper.
The College controlled the action, especially in the first half. The team's leading scorer, freshman forward Allison Greene scored early at 8:03.
The Lions had a major boost when junior forward Colleen Stamler scored off of a pass from senior midfielder/defender Danielle Bechtel at 34:54, six seconds before halftime.
The game was never in doubt after that, as freshman forward Jessica Berkowitz scored at 53:24 for the final goal. A couple of difficult saves by JHU sophomore goalie Meredith Shifman in the second half kept the game from getting more lopsided.
Pfluger was satisfied with the team's solid performance against the Blue Jays.
"I thought we played very well," she said. "We passed well, and played well as a team."
The week started with the Lions being voted first in the first STX/National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division III National Coaches Poll of the season.
The College received 13 of the 26 first-place votes, ahead of No.2 Messiah College and No.3 Rowan University. Montclair State was ranked 17th in the poll.
Upcoming Game
The Lions' next game face the Drew University Rangers for a non-league game at 7 p.m., Sept. 18.