September 2, 2008

This Week in Walsh University Athletics

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Wed. 3
Men’s Soccer at Bethel College 4pm

Fri. 5
Volleyball at Saint Xavier Tournament
vs. Illinois Tech 4 pm, University of Saint Francis (IN) 6 pm

Sat. 6
Football (H) vs. West Liberty State 11:45 am (EST) 900 AM WCER, 640 AM WHLO

Men’s Soccer vs. Marietta College at Marietta Tournament 5 pm

Women’s Soccer vs. Marietta College at Marietta Tournament 11 am

Volleyball at Saint Xavier Tournament
 vs. Indiana Wesleyan 9 am, Saint Xavier 1 pm

Sun. 7
Men’s Soccer at Marietta Tournament / Consolation game 11am / Championship game 3 pm

Women’s Soccer at Marietta Tournament / Consolation game 9 am / Championship game 1 pm

FOOTBALL: Cavs Open 14th Season with Win (31-7) at Trinity

Walsh (1-0) limited Trinity International (0-1) to only 105 yards of total offense, in a convincing 31-7 win in the season opener for both teams on Saturday. Trinity's only score came after they recovered a Cavs' fumble inside the five-yard line and then proceeded to score.  Walsh opens the home season this Saturday, September 6 at Fawcett Stadium against West Liberty State at 12 pm.  Tickets for the game are available free of charge at the Giant Eagle in Washington Square, directly across the street from Walsh.  Magnet schedules will be handed out to the first 1,000 fans.  The game will be broadcast live on the Walsh University Football Network (AM 900 WCER, News-Talk 640 WHLO AM and www.wcer.us). Game time is 12 pm (EST) with the pre-game show starting at 11:45am.

While the defense was outstanding, the offense scored twice in the first quarter to give the Cavs a 14-0 lead.  Zach Pridemore (So., Scio, OH/Carrollton, OH) caught a 15-yard scoring pass from Marc Pullen (Sr., Akron, OH/Ellet) on the games first possession to give Walsh the early lead.  Eric Buchanan's (So., Green Cove Springs FL/Clay) point after put Walsh ahead 7-0 at the 13:37 mark of the first quarter. After the Cavs forced Trinity to a three and out, the Cavs marched 45 yards and increased their lead when Clinton Blossomgame (RS-So., Columbus, OH/Beechcroft) scored from seven yards out to put the Cavs up by two scores.  Buchanan's kick gave the Cavs a 14-0 lead. Trinity's only score came just five second into the second quarter, when quarterback Jakob Mareno scored on a four-yard run.  Walsh led 14-7 at the half.

Walsh added two scores in the third quarter, the first when Buchanan connected on a career-best 47-yard field goal to give the Cavs a 17-7 lead at the 9:08 mark of the third quarter.  Pridemore would then catch his second TD pass of the day, when Pullen found him open on a ten-yard TD pass.  Blossomgame closed the scoring with two-yard TD run with 9:37 to play.  Blossomgame rushed for 139 yards on 35 carries and Pullen passed for 88 yards.

The defense picked off three passes and recovered two fumbles. Chris Bivens (So., Alliance, OH/HS), Luke Kolic (Sr., Massillon, OH/Perry) and Brian Williams (Jr., Canton, OH/McKinley/Findlay) all had interception.  Williams also returned a kick-off 42 yards and returned three punts for 35 yards.  Bivins also recovered a fumble.

The Cavs lead the all-time series 6-4 with West Liberty, but lost 49-7 in the season opener in West Virginia last year.  The Hilltoppers lost their opener 35-10 at home to Edinboro University last Saturday.  Brendan Ore, a transfer tailback from Virginia Tech, led WLSC with 112 rushing on only 13 carries, with one TD.  West Liberty trailed 14-10 at the half, but did not score in the second half and trailed 28-10 after three quarters.

CROSS COUNTRY: Men 6th at Bill Sudeck Invitational at Case Western Reserve

Walsh (2-6) finished sixth, at the eight-team Bill Sudeck Invitational at Case Western Reserve University on Saturday.  Mike Groholy (Sr., Parma, OH/Valley Forge) paced the Cavs with a 26th place finish (28:22).  Brendan McKee (Sr., Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) placed 42nd (28:22), Phil Kress (Fr., Canton, OH/St. Thomas Aquinas) 43rd (29:10), Bob Fay (So., Canton, OH/Central Catholic) 55th (29:41) and Andrew Marchand (Fr., North Canton, OH/Jackson) 66th (30:04).  Dan Opeka (Fr., Louisville, OH/St. Thomas Aquinas) finished 73rd (30:17) and Luke Immel (So., Sugarcreek, OH/Garaway) 81st (30:50).

The Cavs host the Annual Alumni Run on Saturday.

CROSS COUNTRY: Women 4th at Bill Sudeck Invitational at Case Western Reserve

Walsh (6-3) finished a strong fourth at the ten-team Bill Sudeck Invitational at Case Western Reserve University on Saturday.  Andrea DiNinno (Sr., Harrison City, PA/Greensburg CC) paced the Cavs with an impressive 12th place finish in a time of 20:14.  Freshman Katie Laughlin (Malvern, OH/Canton South) was next at 19th in a time of 20:47.  Jackie Delamater (So., Uniontown, OH/Hoover) placed 24th (21:00), Megan Case (So., Louisville, OH/HS) 29th (21:07), Kristen LeFever (Jr., Alliance, OH/Marlington) 31st (21:10), Kim Swartz (Fr., Tiffin, OH/Calvert) 48th (21:44) and Molly Triner (Fr., Canton, OH/Central Catholic) 61st (22:15).

The Cavs host the Annual Alumni Run on Saturday.

MEN’S SOCCER: Cavs Open 38th Season with Split

Walsh’s men’s soccer opened its 38th season, by splitting games in the Comfort Inn/Subway Classic, held on campus last weekend.  The Cavs fell 3-1 to the University of the Cumberlands on Friday, but came back to blank 20th ranked Mid-Continent University 1-0 on Saturday.

This week the Cavs travel to Bethel College (IN) for a non-league contest on Wednesday and travel to Marietta College for a tournament this weekend.  Bethel is 0-1 and lost 1-0 to Olivet Nazarene last week.  Walsh meets host Marietta (1-0) at 5 pm on Friday.  Marietta beat Malone College 5-0 in their opener and plays the College of Wooster on Wednesday.  On Sunday, the consolation game is at 11 am and the championship game at 3 pm.  Walsh will play either Westminster (PA) or Christopher Newport (VA).

After suffering a 3-1 loss to NAIA No. 31 Cumberlands on Friday, Walsh stunned NAIA No. 20 Mid-Continent University 1-0 on Saturday.  Camden McCreary (Jr., Massillon, OH/Jackson) scored the games only goal on a penalty kick, 23:49 into the first half.  The rest was up to the defense, and the Cavs and keeper Ben Pflum (Sr., Napoleon, OH/HS) shined in keeping Mid-Continent off the board, with Pflum stopping 10 shots.  The physical game produced 35 fouls.  In the Cumberlands loss, Clint Merck (So., Randolph, OH/ST. Thomas Aquinas) scored the Cavs only goal, with Pflum recording 10 saves.

WOMEN’S SOCCER: Cavs Fall Twice at USF Classic

Walsh (0-2) lost twice at the University of Saint Francis (IN) Classic this past weekend.  Walsh fell 2-1 to the Bethel College on Friday and 6-2 to the University of Saint Francis on Saturday.  The weekend the Cavs play at the Marietta College Tournament.  The Cavs meet Marietta on Saturday at 11 and play either SUNY-Brockport (NY) or Westminster (PA) in the consolation game (9 am) or championship game (1 pm) on Sunday.  Marietta is 0-1 on the season, having lost 2-1 to Bethel in their season opener.

Bethel snapped a 1-1 tie with a goal in the final 28 seconds to defeat the Cavs 2-1.  Walsh scored first, as Jess Wilson (Fr., Hartville, OH/Lake) scored on an assist from Amanda Perry (Fr., Warren, OH/Champion), just a little over five minutes into the contest.  Bethel tied the game at the 32:45 mark, as the first half ended deadlocked at 1-1.  Walsh's Jillian Zanney (Fr., Brunswick, OH/OH) recorded six saves. 

Walsh fell to 0-2, after losing 6-2 to the University of Saint Francis, in the final game of the Cougar Classic Sunday.  Walsh took the early lead at 1-0, when Rachel Naumann (So., Hinckley, OH/Highland) scored at the 10:15 on an assist from Leya Spence (Sr., Mansfield, OH/Madison).  The rest was all USF however, as the Cougars scored twice in the first half to take a 2-1 halftime lead, and then four more times, before the Cavs answered with 14 minutes to play.  Stephanie Sussman (So., Wadsworth, OH/HS) scored the Cavs second goal on an assist from Andrea Easterling (Fr., Akron, OH/Coventry) at the 76-minute mark. 

VOLLEYBALL: Cavs Drop 3/4 at Cornerstone Invitational

NAIA No. 17 Walsh (1-3) lost three out of four matches at the Cornerstone Invitational last weekend.  This Friday and Saturday, the Cavs travel to Chicago, IL for the Saint Xavier Tournament.  The Cavs meet Illinois Tech at 4 pm on Friday and the University of Saint Francis (IN) at 6 pm.  On Saturday, the Cavs battle Indiana Wesleyan at 9 am and Saint Xavier at 1 pm.

Walsh opened the season with two losses at the Cornerstone Invitational on Friday.  The Cavs lost 20-25, 25-22, 21-25 and 19-25 to Goshen College.  Megan McDonald (Sr., Kirkland, IL/Rockford Lutheran) paced the Cavs with 11 kills and freshman setter Marie Jubak (Cincinnati, OH/McNicholas) had 18 assists.  Ashley Yuhas (So., Elyria, OH/HS) added 20 digs.  Walsh then fell in three games (20-25, 23-25, 21-25) to Aquinas College.   Erica Parker (Sr., Concord, OH/Mentor) led with 16 kills, Jubak had 16 assists and Natalie Phillips (Fr., Wooster, OH/HS) had 18 digs.

Walsh split their final two matches at the Cornerstone Invitational today.  The Cavs fell to 0-3, after losing in three straight games (16-25, 24-26, 22-25) to Indiana Tech, before notching their first win in three straight games (25-14, 25-14, 25-17) against Davenport University.  Megan McDonald led the attack with 15 kills in the loss to Indiana Tech.  Marie Jubak handed out 27 assists and Natalie Phillips had 14 digs.  In the Cavs first win of the season, Erica Parker led with 11 kills, Jubak had 27 assists and Ashley Yuhas had 16 digs, with Phillips adding 15.