Muhlenberg College 2000 Fall Sports Update

Muhlenberg College

2000 Fall Sports Update

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For the Week of October 23 to October 29
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News and notes about Muhlenberg athletics

WOMEN’S SOCCER WINS CC CHAMPIONSHIP
The Muhlenberg women’s soccer team clinched its first Centennial Conference championship by edging Ursinus, 1-0, in the regular-season finale. The Mules receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which begins Wednesday, Nov. 1. The final regular-season standings:

                        CC     Overall
MUHLENBERG ........... 8-1-1 ..14-3-2
Johns Hopkins ........ 8-2-0 ..16-3-0
Western Maryland ..... 7-3-0 ..15-4-0
Gettysburg ........... 6-2-2 .. 9-5-2
Haverford ............ 6-3-1 .. 8-10-1
Franklin & Marshall .. 6-4-0 ..12-4-1
Dickinson ............ 4-5-1 ..10-7-2
Ursinus .............. 4-5-1 .. 8-9-1
Washington ........... 2-8-0 .. 8-11-0
Swarthmore ........... 1-9-0 .. 4-12-0
Bryn Mawr ............ 0-10-0.. 1-16-1

FIELD HOCKEY EARNS PLAYOFF BERTH
It went down to the final game of the regular season, but the Muhlenberg field hockey team earned a spot in the first Centennial Conference Tournament. The Mules got in by defeating Bryn Mawr, 8-0, while Johns Hopkins was blanking Franklin & Marshall, 5-0. Muhlenberg tied Gettysburg and F&M for fourth place, but defeated both during the season and thus earned the fourth and final seed. The Mules lost to top seed and host Johns Hopkins in the semifinals, 2-0, ending their season with a 9-9 record. The standings at the end of the regular season:

                        CC   Overall
*Johns Hopkins ....... 9-0 ....15-4
*Swarthmore .......... 7-2 ....13-5
*Washington .......... 6-3 .... 9-8
*MUHLENBERG .......... 5-4 .... 9-8
Gettysburg ........... 5-4 .... 9-9
Franklin & Marshall .. 5-4 .... 8-11
Dickinson ............ 4-5 .... 8-10
Western Maryland ..... 3-6 ....10-9
Haverford ............ 1-8 .... 5-13
Bryn Mawr ............ 0-9 .... 1-16
* clinched playoff berth

BURKE NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior cornerback Mike Burke of the Muhlenberg football team has been named defensive player of the week by the Centennial Conference for the second time in his career. In the Mules’ 41-0 shutout of Gettysburg, Burke intercepted two passes, one of which he returned 60 yards for his first career touchdown. His second pick led to a field goal. Burke also recovered a blocked punt on the 1-yard line to set up another touchdown. The Muhlenberg secondary allowed the Bullets only 55 passing yards.

Monday, October 23
FIELD HOCKEY Drew 2, Muhlenberg 0. Drew scored two late goals to win this non-conference game. Click here for box score.
MEN’S GOLF finished first at Muhlenberg Fall Classic. Senior Steve Moore and freshmen Matt Katz and Jesse Neider each shot a 76 to lead Muhlenberg to its second championship in four fall outings. Senior Matt Berman added a 78 for the Mules, who defeated second-place Susquehanna by five strokes. Freshman Joe Bedway, playing on the Muhlenberg B team, tied for first with a 75. Click here for complete results.
VOLLEYBALL Muhlenberg 3, Cedar Crest 0. The Mules returned home after 12 straight matches on the road and swept local rival Cedar Crest. This marks the first time since 1993 that the Mules have defeated Allentown, Cedar Crest and Moravian in the same season. Sophomore Meaghan Billie had a team-high 13 kills to become the third player in program history to record 300 kills in a season. The victory clinched a winning record for Muhlenberg. Click here for box score.

Wednesday, October 25
FIELD HOCKEY Muhlenberg 8, Bryn Mawr 0. Seniors Kerry Lambert and Kelly Gower, playing in their final home game, each recorded a hat trick as Muhlenberg routed Bryn Mawr to earn a Centennial Conference playoff berth. The goals scored and margin of victory for the Mules were the greatest since an 8-0 shutout of Delaware Valley in 1990. This marked the first time since a 1978 game against Philadelphia Bible that Muhlenberg had two players record hat tricks in the same game. Lambert added an assist to her first career hat trick. Gower’s hat trick was the fourth of her career and second this season. She is the first Muhlenberg player since 1985 to notch two hat tricks in one year. Junior Amy Yalch and sophomore Holly Pico also scored for the Mules, who outshot the Mawrters 38-0. Click here for box score.
WOMEN’S SOCCER Muhlenberg 4, Centenary (N.J.) 0. Four different players scored as Muhlenberg picked up a non-conference victory at Centenary with its ninth shutout of the season. The Mules came out with a fury as junior Nancy Grove netted her sixth goal of the season off the foot of senior Jen Sands. Sands proceeded to pick up her team-leading sixth assist of the season by finding freshman Dawn Iberer for a score about eight minutes later. Sophomore Jamie Gluck and junior Jennifer Ehret each picked up her first goal of the season. Click here for box score.
MEN’S SOCCER Franklin & Marshall 1, Muhlenberg 0. Muhlenberg lost its second straight Centennial Conference match-up on a late second-half goal. Click here for box score.
VOLLEYBALL Muhlenberg 3, Ursinus 2. The hitting of sophomores Meaghan Billie and Lisa Giammalvo in Game 5 lifted Muhlenberg to a come-from-behind win in its Centennial Conference finale. Billie finished with 21 kills and 6 blocks, while Giammalvo recorded a career-high 15 kills to go along with 17 digs. Junior Laura Funsten had a triple-double (46 assists, 11 kills with no errors, 15 digs). Click here for box score.

Friday, October 27
FIELD HOCKEY Johns Hopkins 2, Muhlenberg 0. The Mules saw their season come to an end with a loss in the semifinals of the Centennial Conference playoffs. Muhlenberg took possession first and had an excellent opportunity to score right off the bat, but a cross from the right went through the goal mouth untouched. Johns Hopkins, ranked 18th in Division III, came back down the field and scored only 1:48 into the game. The Blue Jays added a second goal midway through the first period, and although the second half was played evenly the Mules could not get on the scoreboard. The win was the 14th straight for Johns Hopkins. Swarthmore blanked Washington, 2-0, in the other semifinal game. Click here for box score.

Saturday, October 28
CROSS COUNTRY men finished fourth and women seventh at Centennial Conference Championships. The Muhlenberg men posted their best finish ever at the CC Championships, coming in fourth, only five points behind third-place Gettysburg. The Mules’ previous best was seventh place in 1995. Sophomore Brendan Gallagher earned second-team All-CC honors by running the 8-kilometer course at Western Maryland in 27:24.99. The rest of Muhlenberg’s top five — junior Will Elson, senior Chris Catalano and freshmen Rob Uniszkiewicz and Brian Cash — all placed among the top 40. The women finished seventh, two points shy of sixth place. Senior Laura Roth and junior Katie Garrett crossed the finish line 26th and 29th, respectively. Click here for complete results.
FOOTBALL Muhlenberg 21, Ursinus 19. Freshman Matt Bernardo, making his first career start, rushed for 239 yards and three first-half touchdowns as Muhlenberg shocked Ursinus. The win gave the Mules a final Centennial Conference record of 5-2, their best since 1988. The Bears came into the game allowing only 44.4 yards rushing per game, among the top 10 in Division III, but Bernardo had 191 yards by halftime and finished with the fourth-highest single-game total in school history. Muhlenberg clinched the victory when junior linebacker Jon-Paul Skarpetowski ran 4 yards on a fourth-and-1 with under two minutes remaining. The Mules were able to run out the clock from there. Junior Ian Ximinies led a defense that held Ursinus to 212 total yards with 10 tackles, two pass breakups and a sack. Senior David Jones added two sacks, bringing his season total to seven. Senior James Barski helped Muhlenberg win the battle of field position on a cold, windy day by dropping four punt inside the 20-yard line. Click here for box score.
WOMEN’S SOCCER Muhlenberg 1, Ursinus 0. Muhlenberg scored a goal with the wind in the first half, then held on against the wind in the second half to nip Ursinus and claim its first Centennial Conference championship and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Mules scored the only goal of the game when senior Alissa Desiderio took a pass from freshman Dawn Iberer near the top of the penalty box and one-timed a shot to the far post and back of the net. Sophomore Kim Laurino stopped five shots, enabling Muhlenberg to tie the school record of 10 shutouts in a season. Click here for box score.
MEN’S SOCCER Muhlenberg 7, Swarthmore 0. Sophomore Tom Hartey scored one goal and assisted on two others in a 2:04 span of the second half as Muhlenberg snapped its two-game skid. The Mules blew the game open by scoring four times in a span of 3:24 early in the second half. Sophomore Ben Long scored two goals and freshman Justin Marx added two assists for the Mules, who posted their biggest win since shutting out Swarthmore, 7-0, last year. Click here for box score.
VOLLEYBALL Muhlenberg 3, Wilkes 0. Senior Jennifer Kahn, playing in the final match of her career, recorded a career-high 10 kills to lead Muhlenberg to a win in its season finale. Junior Laura Funsten had 26 assists, including the 2000th of her career, 17 digs and 6 aces. Sophomore Meaghan Billie recorded 12 kills to finish with 344, the second-best single-season total in school history. Click here for box score.

Sunday, October 29
MEN’S GOLF finished fifth at Ocean City Collegiate Golf Classic. Muhlenberg placed fifth out of 16 teams in a tournament hosted by Western Maryland. The Mules trailed Allegheny, the top team in the district, by only one stroke after the first round, but cold and windy conditions on the second day drove the scores up. Senior Matt Berman and freshmen Matt Katz and Jesse Neider all tied for 13th place with a score of 164. Click here for complete results.

Questions or comments? Send mail to falk@muhlenberg.edu

Last updated October 28, 2000