SELINSGROVE, (Pa.) — Still ranked eighth in the latest NCAA Division III STX/National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division III national poll, the 7-0 Susquehanna University field hockey team plays its biggest game of the season to date Thursday with a first-place showdown in the MAC Commonwealth Conference at Lebanon Valley, which is also 7-0 and ranked second nationally.
But field hockey and football aren’t the the only Crusader fall sports teams presently doing well.
The women’s soccer team has won three-straight games, all by shutouts, to get back to .500 at 4-4. The women’s tennis team has also won back-to-back matches and is now at .500 at 3-3. The Crusader women’s volleyball team also improved to 12-6 overall, 2-1 in the conference with a four-game win at Lebanon Valley Tuesday.
While the men’s and women’s cross country teams didn’t run last weekend, they both host their own eight-team Susquehanna University Invitationals this Saturday. In addition to the host Crusaders, teams from Baptist Bible College, King’s College, Lebanon Valley College, Lycoming College, the University of Scranton, Ursinus College and York College of Pa. will all compete in the event, which is scheduled to begin at 10:45 a.m. The course starts at the football practice field (site of the former Harold Bollinger Memorial Baseball Field) and proceeds to the field along Sassafras Ave. The finish is located on the track the home side of Amos Alonzo Stagg Field.
A complete capsule of every Crusader fall sports team, which the exception of football, follows.
THE FIELD HOCKEY REPORT
Under 25th-year head coach Connie Harnum, the Crusaders have already broken their school record for consecutive victories with their 7-0 start and have achieved their highest ranking ever while being nationally ranked for just the second time in program history. The team returns home Saturday for a 1 p.m. contest with Villa Julie (1-7).
Freshman inner Leah Bailor (Richfield/Middleburg H.S.) is the offensive leader of a Susquehanna squad which starts just five freshmen, two sophomores, two juniors and just two seniors. A 1998 Pennsylvania All-State selection as a high school senior, Bailor leads both the team and the Commonwealth Conference in scoring with six goals and four assists for 16 points (now 2.29 per game). She has been held scoreless in the last two games after recording at least a point in each of the first five games this season.
Freshman wing Katie McKeever (Worcester/Methacton H.S.) is second on the team and fifth in the Commonwealth Conference in scoring, now with six goals for 12 points (1.71 ppg). McKeever had the team’s first two goals in Saturday’s 3-0 conference home win over Widener.
The seniors lead the defense in tri-captain Amanda Reigle (Middleburg/Middleburg H.S.) – a four-year starter – and Taryn Moser (Lewistown/Lewistown H.S.). The defense has posted three-straight shutouts and allowed just three goals all season for a team goals-against average of 0.43.
Sophomore Kylie Cook (Huntingdon/Huntingdon H.S.) is the starting goalkeeper and has a 0.41 goals-against average and .875 save percentage. Cook had never been a goalkeeper prior to winning the starting job early last season. She has a 0.89 goals-against average and .874 save percentage in her 20 career games.
THE MEN’S SOCCER REPORT
After a 3-1 start, the Crusaders have dropped four-straight, including defeats at the hands of nationally-ranked Elizabethtown and Messiah, as well as Moravian and York recently.
Second-year head coach Jim Findlay’s squad now stands at 3-5 overall, and is winless in three conference contests. The Crusaders look to end their skid Saturday when they host non-conference foe Philadelphia College of the Bible at 2:30 p.m.
Following a 6-0 loss to Messiah, Findlay opted to start sophomore Patrick Quillian (Oklahoma City, Okla./Casady H.S.) in goal last Saturday against Moravian. Despite the 2-1 loss, Quillian made 14 saves in that game, lowering his goals-against average to 2.60.
Sophomore forward and returning MAC Commonwealth All-Star Aaron Littzi (Kingston/Wyoming Valley West H.S.) continues to lead the men in scoring, recording an assist against Moravian to bring his season point total to six, with two goals and two assists. Sophomore midfielder Beau Heeps (Allentown/Parkland H.S.) had the lone goal Monday vs. York, giving him now four points on a goal and two assists.
THE CROSS COUNTRY REPORT
First-year head coach Craig Penney and his Crusader men’s and women’s cross country teams had a week off after competing against primarily Division I competition at the Penn State Invitational on September 18.
The Susquehanna women are hoping to repeat as champion at their own eight-team event this Saturday, while the men hope to better their fifth-place finish of a year ago. Lebanon Valley is the defending men’s champion.
Senior captain Sarah Costello (Palmyra/Palmyra H.S.) was the women’s team’s top finisher at Penn State with a season best time of 19:49.7, while freshman Erin Colwell (Belleville/Indian Valley H.S.) wasn’t far behind in 83rd at 19:58.56. Costello and Colwell will lead the women into competition this weekend.
Sophomore Jake Trevino (Danville/Danville H.S.) returned from illness to finish first among the Susquehanna runners at the Penn State race, finishing 138th with a time of 28:45.28 over the 5.2-mile course. Fellow sophomore Mike Lehtonen (Laurens, N.Y./Morris Central H.S.) has been the men’s number-one runner and was second on his team in 174th (29:34.50) at Penn State.
THE WOMEN’S SOCCER REPORT
The Crusader women’s soccer team has won its last three games, all by shutouts vs. Juniata (6-0) Widener (1-0) and Lycoming (1-0). The women have now evened their record to 4-4 with the streak, and are 2-1 in the Commonwealth Conference in their first season under Findlay. They host conference rival Albright (1-5-1, 0-2 MAC CC) in a noon contest Saturday.
Freshman goalkeeper Dorn McMahon (West Caldwell, N.J./James Caldwell H.S.) continues to lead the team, getting credit for all three shutouts while making 19 saves. McMahon ranks second in Susquehanna history for saves in a season at 109, leaving her just 12 shy of the record of 120 held by Janee Shaner last season. McMahon still has eight games left to become a record-setter and is still fourth in NCAA Division III saves per game (now 13.6 per game) and first in Commonwealtrh Conference save percentage (now .893), sporting a goals-against average of 1.57.
Freshmen forward Kristin Abernethy (Wescosville/Emmaus H.S.) now leads the offense in scoring, recording an assist on the lone goal against Widener, and tallying her own goal to provide all the scoring versus Lycoming. She now has two goals and three assists for seven points (0.88 per game) this season. Junior forward/midfielder Lindsay Hayes (Troy, N.Y./Tamarac H.S.) scored on the pass from Abernathy against Widener, and junior forward Lauren Brown (Glenelg, Md./Glenelg H.S.) assisted on Abernathy’s score versus Lycoming.
Both Hayes and Brown are part of a three-way tie for second on the team in scoring with four points. Brown is the program’s career assist leader with 10 and has two this season to go along with a goal, while Hayes has a pair of goals on the year.
THE WOMEN’S TENNIS REPORT
The women’s tennis team of sixth-year head coach Bob Jordan has had the bulk of its lineup together for the last two match and rolled to a pair of wins over both Widener (7-2) and Wilkes (8-1). The Crusaders host Messiah (3-3, 2-2 MAC CC) Thursday at 3:30 p.m., and travel to Elizabethtown (3-5, 2-2 MAC CC) an 11 a.m. match Saturday.
Senior co-captains Meghan McGinnis (Washington Crossing/Council Rock H.S.) and Sarah Curley (Montrose/Elk Lake H.S.) have rolled to straight-sets wins in each of their last two matches and are now 4-1 and 3-2 respectively. The team has also won all three of its matches at number-one doubles this season.
Freshman Carly Kellett (Binghamton, N.Y./Chenango Valley H.S.) has also scored straight-sets wins at number-three singles in the back-to-back win and is 4-2 on the year.
THE WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL REPORT
The Crusader volleyball team got back on the winning track Tuesday with a 3-1 win at MAC Commonwealth Conference Lebanon Valley to end a two-match losing streak. The win upped the Crusader record to 12-6 overall, 2-1 in the MAC Commonwealth Conference for seventh-year head coach Bill Switala.
The Crusaders play in the tough Lycoming College Tournament this weekend.
The team’s middle blockers of sophomore Sarah Lauro (Collegeville/Villa Maria Academy) and freshman Traci Sariscak (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park H.S.) led the team up front vs. Leb Valley. Lauro had 17 kills, a solo block and 16 digs, while Sariscak hit at a .391 clip with 11 kills and a pair of solo blocks. Senior co-captain Missy Kuruzovich (Johnstown/Westmont Hilltop H.S.) led the defense with 24 digs, while freshman Alexis Miranda (Quincy, Mass./North Quincy H.S.) and junior Erin Leslie (Exton/Villa Maria Academy) split the setting role with 24 and 22 assists respectively.
Sariscak continues to lead the team hitters and ranks fourth in the conference in hitting percentage, now at .315. She is second on the team in kills per game (2.17).
Lauro is the team leader in both kills (2.43 ppg) and blocks (0.84 per game), ranking second in hitting percentage (.251). Her former high school teammate, Leslie is still fifth in conference assists per game with a team high 6.43.
THE FALL GOLF REPORT
Eleventh-year head coach Don Harnum finalized his roster a couple of weeks ago and his team has played in two fall tournaments, although its own Susquehanna University Fall Invitational at The Edgewood-in-the-Pines Country Club was called because of rain after six holes. Prior to that event, it had played in the 17-team Bucknell College Invitational on September 17 and 18, finishing 13th.
The Susquehanna golfers are five-time defending MAC champions and have made the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament in three of the last four seasons. While their formal season is in the spring, the fall matches do count on their NCAA record.
The Crusaders were competing at the Moravian Tournament Thursday and are travelling to a tournament in Ohio this weekend.
Highly-touted freshman Ryan Reid (Chambersburg/Chambersburg H.S.) led the team in its first outing at Bucknell, shooting a 73 and an 80 for an average of 76.5 as he finished 27th individually. The team’s top finisher from nationals last season, sophomore Ryan Franks (Huntingdon/Huntingdon H.S.) was 26th for the Crusaders at Bucknell with an 80 and 76 for a two-day average of 78.0.
The team is without the services of two of its three returning letterwinners this fall as juniors Hugh Leahy, III (Wilmington, Del./Archmere Academy) and Chris Sgaliotti (Allentown/Emmaus H.S.) are studying abroad this semester.
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