Volleyball wins tournament pool

Field Hockey, Men’s Soccer Fall 3-2 Field Hockey It was a tough start to the season for the Muhlenberg field hockey team, which squandered a 2-0 lead in the final seven minutes, then lost to Susquehanna in penalty strokes in the second game of the Mule Classic. After a scoreless first half in which they managed just two shots, the Mules needed less than two minutes to find the back of the net in the second half. Sophomore Amanda DiMarco -- one of five Muhlenberg players making her first or second career start – rolled in a shot from the top of the circle on a penalty corner for her first career goal. Midway through the period, junior Tara Cohn slammed the ball in after collecting a deflected pass to make it 2-0. That’s the way it stood until the Crusaders scored twice in a 2:30 span late in the game. Both teams had excellent chances in the two overtime periods, with the Mules owning a 13-5 edge in shots, but no goals were scored and the game went to a strokeoff. Despite a pair of diving saves by senior Michelle Consiglio, Susquehanna won the shootout, 2-1. Senior Kristin Garbutt made a pair of defensive saves for Muhlenberg, which will face Elizabethtown, a 4-2 winner against Misericordia, on the second day of the tournament. Click here for box score. Men’s Soccer The Muhlenberg men’s soccer team had to fight both William Paterson and a steady rain and lost its season opener, 3-2 at Varsity Field. The Mules took a pair of one-goal leads early in each half, as sophomore Matthew Cecconi scored his first career goal 10:10 into the game and sophomore Tom Reilly netted his first career goal 44 seconds into the second half. The Pioneers came back both times, though, and scored the winning goal with 8:28 left. Click here for box score.

The Muhlenberg volleyball team opened the 2008 season by winning its pool at the Greyhound Premiere Invitational.

The Mules defeated Centenary in three sets and Rowan in four to advance to the Championship Bracket along with the other pool winners, Richard Stockton and host Moravian.

This is the fourth consecutive year Muhlenberg has won its pool at Moravian. The last two times, however, the Mules went 0-2 on the second day of the tournament.

Junior Liz Dean (right) totaled 19 kills in the two matches and made only four errors, hitting at a .529 clip vs. Centenary. Junior Phylicia Lee led the Mule attack with 21 kills.

Senior Megan Eiser surpassed the 1,500-assist plateau for her career with 32 in the Centenary match. She finished the night with 1,549 to move into fourth place on the program’s all-time list.

Muhlenberg served up 13 aces vs. Centenary and 12 vs. Rowan, with junior Brittany Williams notching five in each match.
Click here for box scores.

• Cross country results unavailable: Due to a computer malfunction, results from the Lehigh Valley Championships are not available.