October 6, 2008

This Week in Walsh University Athletics

Monday, October 6, 2008

Tuesday 7

Women's Soccer (H) Malone 7 pm

Volleyball (H) Mount Vernon Nazarene University 7 pm

Wednesday 8

Men's Soccer at Malone 3:30 pm

Thursday 9

Women's Golf at Allgheny Invitational 11 am

Friday 10

Volleyball at Daemen 7 pm

Saturday 11

Football (H) Urbana 12 pm *

Cross Country at University of Wisconsin-Parkside

Volleyball at Houghton 11 am

Women's Golf at Wittenberg Invitational 1 pm

Men's Soccer (H) Grace 3 pm

Women's Soccer at Rio Grande 4:30 pm

* Broadcast live on AM 900 WCER, News-Talk 640 AM WHLO

FOOTBALL: Cavs (1-4, 0-1) Drop MSFA Opener 23-7 at St. Xavier

NAIA No. 21 Saint Xavier University (3-2, 1-0) limited Walsh (1-4, 0-1) to 152 yards total offense in handing the Cavs a 23-7 loss in the MSFA Mideast opener for both teams last Saturday in Chicago.  The Cougars' top ranked defense kept Walsh off the scoreboard for 59:57 seconds and held the Cavs to only 26 yards rushing.  Walsh is 1-4 for the first time in school history; and looks to get back on track in a non-league game against Urbana University (1-4) at Fawcett Stadium on Saturday at 12 pm.  The game will be broadcast live on the Walsh University Football Radio Network (News-Talk 640 AM WHLO, AM 900 WCER) and on the internet at www.wcer.us and www.640whlo.com.

Saint Xavier drove 72 yards in three plays on the games' first possession to take a 6-0 lead on a 36-yard TD pass.   The Cougars missed the extra point.  In the second quarter, SXU tacked on three more points to take a 9-0 lead on a 20-yard field goal.  The score remained 9-0 until the opening minute of the fourth quarter (14:53), when SXU scored on a 14-yard TD pass.  The PAT put the Cougars up 16-0.  The Cougars final tally came on a one-yard run at the 7:09 mark to give them a 23-0 lead.  Walsh avoided the shutout when Jim Shiplett (Fr., Canal Fulton, OH/Northwest) hit Mike McGill (Jr., Barberton, OH/Coventry) on a slant for a TD with three seconds to play.  Shiplett started in place of Marc Pullen (Sr., Akron, OH/Ellet), who injured his left hand against Quincy University last Saturday.  Pullen is out for at least three weeks.

Shiplett was injured on Walsh's first possession, after running for a first down, and was replaced by University of Akron transfer Kade Wagner (R-Fr., Green, OH/HS).  Shiplett returned in the second half and was 6-21 for 95 yards in his first collegiate start.  Wagner was 5-12 for 31 yards.  The MSFA's top rusher, Clinton Blossomgame (So., Columbus, OH/Beechcroft), was held to 39 yards on 22 carries. Blossomgame still leads the MSFA in rushing, averaging 123.6 yards per game and 4.3 yards per carry.  His consecutive streak of eight straight games of rushing for more than 100 yards in a single game was snapped.  The Cavs defense did come up with two fumble recoveries and two interceptions.

Walsh and Urbana (1-4) meet for the 14th time on Saturday, with the Cavs holding a 12-1 series advantage.  Urbana, now a NCAA ll affiliate, won for the first time 9-6 last year.  Last Saturday, the Blue Knights lost their third straight game, falling 14-13 in overtime at home against Taylor University.  After Taylor scored to take a 14-7 lead in the first overtime, Urbana scored but fumbled the snap on the extra-point attempt.

WOMEN'S GOLF: Cavs (25-7) finish Third at ODU's Kiser Classic, Collins on All-Tourney Team

Walsh (25-7) shot a two-day total of 688, and finished third at the Ohio Dominican University Kiser Classic.  Wittenberg University won the tournament with a two-day total of 676, with the host Panthers finishing second (680).  Walsh was six strokes back, and tied for second with ODU after the first round on Friday.  This Thursday, Walsh travels to Meadville, PA for the Allegheny Invitational (11 am) and then plays in the Wittenberg Pat Clouse Invitational on Saturday and Sunday.

Katy Collins (Fr., Youngstown, OH/Ursuline) was named to the all-tournament team after carding a two-day score of 170 (87-83).  Nikki Kulasa (Fr., Amherst, OH/Amherst Steele) also scored 170 (83-87), Abbey Kimar (Fr., Canton, OH/Jackson) (86-89) and Mackenzie Smith (Fr., Magnolia, OH/Canton Central Catholic) (87-88) each shot 175 and Kim Smith (Fr., Whitehouse Station, NJ/Hunterdon Central Regional) scored 178 (91-87).

MEN'S SOCCER: Cavs (4-6-1, 3-3) Take No. 1 Rio to Limit

Walsh (4-6-1, 3-3) played the NAIA top ranked University of Rio Grande down to the wire on Saturday night, before falling 3-2 at home.  The loss was the second straight for the Cavs, now in sixth place in the American Mideast Conference.  Walsh travels to rival Malone University (2-8-1, 1-5) on Wednesday (3:30 pm) for an AMC contest, and then hosts Grace College in a non-league game on Saturday (3 pm).

Alex Birtcher (Sr., Napoleon, OH/HS) scored both the Cavs’ goals in the loss to Rio.  Birtcher scored on a re-start to give Walsh a 1-0 lead at the 22:54 mark of the first half, a lead the Cavs took into the locker room at halftime.  Rio would then score twice in a span of seven minutes in the second half to take a 2-1 lead.  Birtcher would again score, on another re-start, to tie the game at 2-2 at the 49:17 mark.  Rio's Paul Nicholson would then score the game winner at the 83:29 mark.  Rio out shot the Cavs 24-7.  Ben Pflum (Sr., Napoleon, OH/HS) was outstanding in goal for Walsh with 11 saves

Birtcher leads the Cavs with eight goals and 16 points.

WOMEN'S SOCCER: Cavs (7-5, 5-2) Host Rival Malone on Tuesday

Fresh off back-to-back American Mideast Conference wins, Walsh (7-5, 5-2) plays host to rival Malone University (2-7, 2-5) in an AMC contest on Tuesday night (7 pm).  The Cavs will then travel to the University of Rio Grande (3-7-2, 1-4-2) for an AMC match up on Saturday (4:30 pm). 

Walsh extended its modest win streak to two games with a 1-0 AMC road win at Ursuline College last Saturday.  Stephanie Sussman's (So., Wadsworth, OH/HS) goal at the 8:23 mark of the first half was all the Cavs needed.  Amanda Patrick (Jr., Medina, OH/Cloverleaf) assisted on Sussman's second goal of the season.  Walsh out shot Ursuline 6-2 and controlled the tempo for the entire 90 minutes.  Jill Zanney (Fr., Brunswick, OH/HS) recorded the shutout and recorded two saves and lowered her goals against average to 2.05. 

Amanda Patrick leads the Cavs in scoring with 12 points, on three goals and a team-leading six assists. 

VOLLEYBALL: Cavs Hand Unbeaten Shawnee State First Loss, Share AMC Lead

NAIA No. 25 Walsh (14-8, 4-0) won two American Mideast Conference matches last week and is tied for first place with rival Malone University.  The week was highlighted by Walsh's win over previously unbeaten Shawnee State University.  The blemish was the loss at Cedarville University, after the Cavs took the first two games.  This week, the Cavs host AMC rival Mount Vernon Nazarene University (19-6, 5-2) on Tuesday (7 pm) and play AMC matches at Daemen College (7-17, 1-3) on Friday night (7 pm) and at Houghton College (7-10, 1-6) on Saturday morning (11 am).

Walsh won its seventh straight match, defeating Notre Dame College in four games (26-24, 27-25, 24-26 and 25-19) on the road last Tuesday.  The Cavaliers were led by Jessica Schmidt's (5-8, Fr., Michigan City, IN/HS) 54 assists.   Megan McDonald (5-10, Sr., Kirkland, IL/Rockford Lutheran) led with 21 kills, with Erica Parker (6-0, Sr., Concord, OH/Mentor) adding 14.   Amy Police (5-5, Jr., Perry, OH/HS) and Ashley Yuhas (5-9, So., Elyria, OH/HS) each had a team-high nine digs and Hilary Dattilo (Sr., Mason, OH/HS) had 2.5 blocks.

Walsh split matches at Cedarville University on Saturday. The Cavaliers started the day by defeating Shawnee State in an AMC match by the scores of 24-26, 25-20, 25-20 and 25-16.  Walsh was led by Jessica Schmidt (5-8, Fr., Michigan City, IN/HS) with 56 assists.  Erica Parker (6-0, Sr., Concord, OH/Mentor) had a team-high 21 kills to go along with seven digs and six block assists. Megan McDonald (5-10, Sr., Kirkland, IL/Rockford Lutheran) added 16 kills and 15 blocks.  Amy Police (5-5, Jr., Perry, OH/HS) and Ashley Yuhas (5-9, So., Elyria, OH/HS) contributed 24 and 21 digs.

In the second match of the day, Walsh was defeated by Cedarville University in five games in a non-conference match (25-21, 25-21, 21-25, 18-25 and 9-15). McDonald led with 20 kills and also added 10 digs. Parker was right behind with 19 kills on a .429 hitting percentage. Police had a team-high 25 digs and Yuhas added 20. Schmidt led the offense with 59 assists.

Megan McDonald leads the AMC, averaging 4.1 kills per game.  Erica Parker is sixth in attack percentage (.317).