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College Roundup: Belfast’s Allen has the hot foot for Vermont

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

By John Manley

Vermont’s Jason Allen, a sophomore from Belfast, provided the Catamounts with their offense in recent contests with Northeastern and Boston University. Allen was the hero in a 1-0 victory over Northeastern, scoring the winning goal in the 47th minute. He knocked in a rebound in the 30th minute of the B.U. contest, putting Vermont up, 1-0. The Terriers, however, came back with two second-half goals to trip the Catamounts, 2-1. Vermont, coached by Belfast native Roy Patton, is 7-5-1 overall and 3-3-0 in the America East.

The University of San Diego defeated top-ranked Santa Clara, 2-1, in overtime to provide coach Séamus McFadden, a Donegal native, with the 200th victory of his career. The win was achieved on the road over a previously undefeated team. San Diego, ranked eighth in the nation, gained the lead in the first half with less than two minutes on the clock. Santa Clara evened the score six minutes into the second half, on the only one of 12 shots that got by keeper Matt Hall. The Toreros scored the winning goal in the 12th minute of overtime. San Diego is now 11-1 overall and 2-0 in the West Coast Conference.

Staying in the confines of the top 10, we find Barry Gorman and the fifth-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions. After regulation with Ohio State ended without a goal scored, they went into extra minutes, where the Buckeyes slipped the ball in for a 1-0 victory. Penn State is now 11-2-0, and 2-2-0 against Big Ten opponents. Coach Gorman hails from Belfast.

Norwich’s Gavin Woods went on a scoring binge recently. The junior from Belfast scored the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over Southern Vermont, then registered a hat trick in an 8-3 laugher over Johnson & Wales. He also assisted on another goal in the latter contest. Woods has 10 goals and five assists for the Vermont school, which is 10-2-0 overall and 6-0-0 in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference.

Rhode Island continued its assault on Atlantic 10 Conference rivals with a 5-2 battering of Dayton. Gareth Elliott, a Belfast sophomore, scored the Rams’ fourth goal. Rhode Island is 10-2-1 overall and 6-0 in Conference play.

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Clemson routed Winthrop, 9-0, then outlasted Virginia, 2-1. The Tigers are 5-5-2 overall and 1-1-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Belfast native Trevor Adair coaches Clemson.

Winthrop followed the Clemson debacle with a 2-1 overtime loss to Wofford. Gareth Hayden, a sophomore from Dublin, assisted on the goal that sent the match past regulation. He leads Winthrop (3-10-0, 1-2-0 Big South) in scoring with 11 points on four goals and three assists.

Christian Brothers pasted Louisiana College, 8-1, then lost to Alabama-Huntsville in overtime, 2-1, before rebounding to defeat Lincoln Memorial, 1-0. Sophomore Barry Gibney, from Swords, Co. Dublin, is tied for third in goal scoring in the Gulf South Conference with nine, two behind the leader. CBU, coached by Ballina, Co. Mayo native Gareth O’Sullivan, is 9-3-1 overall and 1-1-0 in the Gulf South.

Mercyhurst won its fifth in a row, pinning a 4-0 loss on Westminster. Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, native John Melody coaches the winners. Mercyhurst is 10-4-1 overall.

New York University remains undefeated in University Athletic Association play after a 0-0 tie with Carnegie Mellon. Dublin Joe Behan’s NYU team is 7-2-2 overall and 3-0-1 in the UAA.

Old Dominion defeated William & Mary and Pennsylvania by identical 2-1 scores. Belfast’s Alan Dawson coaches the Monarchs (10-2-0 overall, 5-0-0 Colonial Athletic Association).

Gary Hamill’s Wingate team split a pair of games recently. They handled Catawba, 3-2, then lost to Queens, 2-0. Wingate is 8-3-1 overall and 4-0 in the South Atlantic Conference. Hamill is a Belfast native.

Dartmouth’s season didn’t improve any. A 2-1 loss to Boston University dropped Fran O’Leary’s crew to 1-5-2. O’Leary is a Dubliner.

Brian Ainscough had to suffer through a pair of one-goal losses recently. His Providence Friars lost to Syracuse, 3-2, and St. John’s, 2-1. Providence is now 4-8-1 overall and 3-6-0 in Big East play. Ainscough is a Dublin man.

Boston College defeated Brown, 3-0, then lost by that score to Syracuse. Coached by Dublin native Ed Kelly, B.C. is 4-7-1 overall and 1-7-0 in the Big East.

Women’s Soccer

Slippery Rock’s Sonya Maher, a Clare senior, converted a penalty kick in the 22nd minute of a match with Bloomsburg to put Noreen Herlihy’s squad ahead, 1-0. Sixteen minutes later, the tide had turned dramatically. Bloomsburg had rallied to draw ahead, 3-1, and they would score a late goal to finalize the matter at 4-1. The Rock recovered to face down Millersville, 1-0, after two overtime periods. Herlihy’s team is now 11-3-0 overall and 6-2 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.

Christian Brothers’ distaff squad, also coached by Gareth O’Sullivan, racked up wins over Lambuth, 3-2, and Alabama-Huntsville, 5-0, to improve to 5-4-0 overall and 1-2-0 in the Gulf South.

Keene State split two games. Denise Lyons’ charges lost to Clark, 2-0, then defeated Mass.-Dartmouth, 2-1. Keene is now 9-4-2. Lyons is a native of Newcastle West, Co. Limerick.

South Carolina overcame its injury-depleted roster to post two victories before suffering a loss. They took Wofford into overtime before coming out with a 2-1 win. The Gamecocks then defeated Georgia, 1-0, despite having been outshot 27-4. Coach Sue Kelly’s team then couldn’t withstand Tennessee, falling 4-2. South Carolina is now 11-4-0 overall and 4-2-0 in the Southeastern Conference. Kelly comes from Cork.

Cross Country

Providence’s Keith Kelly and Brown’s Enda Johnson took their intercity grudge match north to Boston for the New England Championships at Franklin Park. Kelly, a senior from Drogheda, won the battle but his team lost the war. Kelly reported home first in 23 minutes, 43 seconds, with Johnson, a Monaghan sophomore, second, but well behind. He clocked in at 24:08. Brown, however, had the depth and won the team title with 69 points. Boston College was second with 100, while Ray Treacy’s Providence team was third with 108. Providence sophomore Ciaran Lynch, from Limerick, helped the Friars with his sixth-place finish. He ran the course in 24:27.

Boston College’s Shannon Smith won the women’s division in 17:20, but Treacy’s squad captured the second, third and fourth positions, enabling the Friars to defeat B.C. 39-49. Running for Providence but not figuring in the scoring were Kathryn Casserly, a sophomore from Galway, who finished 29th in 18:21, and Stephanie O’Reilly, a Wicklow junior, who was 85th across in 18:59.

Western Kentucky’s Valerie Lynch, a junior from Cork, continues to impress in the Midwest. She finished third in the Pre-NCAA "B" Division at Bloomington, Ind. Lynch, who covered the 5,000 meters in 18:00, actually finished second among collegians. First to cross was Collette Liss, a non-collegian, in 17:13.62. Western Kentucky also received strong performances from its other Irish runners, all from Cork, and took first-place honors in the 19-team field. Freshman Olga Cronin finished 32nd with a time of 19:09, freshman Caroline Daly was 37th in 19:14, sophomore Terri Hennessy was 47th in 19:22.06, and junior Lisa Cronin was 69th in 19:41.37.

Mick Byrne’s Iona Gaels placed 19th in the Men’s "A" race at Bloomington. Iona’s Vinny Mulvey, a junior from Ashbourne, Co. Meath, finished 40th in 24:59.96. Teammate Barry Egan, a sophomore from Caher, Co. Tipperary, was 173rd in 26:20.55. The 8,000-meter race was contested by 239 runners. Stanford took the team trophy, and Oregon’s Steve Fein was first to finish in 24:06.31.

Tulsa’s Margaret Danagher came in 29th in the Cowboy Jamboree at Stillwater, Okla. The junior from Templemore, Co. Tipperary, ran 5,000 meters in 18:51. Texas Tech’s Leigh Daniel posted the winning time of 17:14. Tulsa’s women finished seventh in the team standings, which were topped by Baylor.

Marie McMahon has joined Wesleyan University in Connecticut as a part-time assistant coach. A three-time All America in cross country for Providence University, McMahon also captured the 5,000-meter title at the 1996 NCAA Div. I indoor championships. She is a native of County Clare.

Golf

The University of Toledo won the team title in the Adams Cup of Newport in Rhode Island. Dublin sophomore Alan Murray won the individual title with a 54-hole total of 10-over par 220 (77-71-72) with stiff winds blowing throughout the two-day event. Teammate Tim Rice, a senior from Rosbrien, Co. Limerick, tied for second at 222 (73-75-74). The Rockets’ Ricky Elliott, a senior from Portrush, Co. Antrim, tied for seventh at 225 (77-72-76). Alabama-Birmingham’s Chris Devlin, a senior from Ballymena, Co. Antrim, tied for fifth place at 224 (76-76-72). Toledo had an 11-stroke margin over Michigan State. UAB finished fifth among teams.

Campbell’s David Carroll tied for 20th place in the Temple Invitational at Glenmaura National in Moosic, Pa. The Dublin sophomore was 12 over par at 154 (75-79), which was 12 strokes off the winning 142 shot by Georgia State’s Dave Womack. Campbell finished fourth in the team standings, which found Georgia State on top.

Tennis

Mississippi State’s Eimear Sloan won the Flight B Singles Title at the Southeastern Conference Fall Coaches Championship in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The Dublin senior reached the finals by defeating teammate Linda Mattsson, 6-4, 6-1. She then beat Kentucky’s Linda Bradwell, 6-4, 6-4.

Harvard won the ECAC Men’s Tennis Invitational at Princeton, with Dublin senior Joe Green competing in the first singles and doubles slots. The Crimson began with a 7-0 victory over Georgetown. Green beat Nick Sklavounos, 6-3, 6-1, and teamed with Andrew Styperek for an 8-0 win over Sklavounos and Andre Benjamin. Harvard then defeated Navy, 5-2, although a pesky Mitch Koch defeated Green in singles, 6-4, 7-6(2), and in doubles with Jim McHugh, 9-8(6). Green also lost to Brown’s Justin Natale, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(5), but, with Styperek, handed Natale and Kevin Chew an 8-3 defeat. Harvard won the match, 5-2, then took the championship from Columbia, 4-3. Green handled Steve Millerman, 4-6, 6-0, 6-2, but lost in doubles with Styperek to the duo of Salil Seshadri and Akram Zaman, 8-6. Green’s cousin, co-captain John Doran, continues to recuperate from a knee injury and did not play.

Brown’s Nick Malone, a sophomore from Greystones, Co. Wicklow, won his share of matches at third singles and second doubles. In a 6-1 victory over Marist, Malone defeated Eric Scheldt, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, and teamed with Josh Hoskins to knock off Scheldt and Jason Geller, 8-6. A 5-2 win over Penn State found Malone defeating Jeff Martini, 6-2, 6-2, and joining Hoskins for an 8-3 triumph over Damon Accardi and Steve Van Der Westhyszen. He then took care of Harvard’s Dave Lingman, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, but, with Hoskins, lost to Lingman and William Lee, 8-3.

The fall season began inauspiciously for California’s Claire Curran. Kansas State’s Eva Novotna eliminated the Dublin senior, who was seeded seventh, in the first round of the Arizona State Thunderbirds Invitational, 3-6, 6-0, 6-2. Curran then lost a consolation match to Arizona State’s Megan Yeats, 6-4, 6-2. Teamed in doubles with the singles top seed, Amy Jensen, she fared much better. After a first-round bye, they defeated Pepperdine’s Monika Horvath and Cintia Tortorella, 8-3, in the quarterfinals. The Cal duo advanced in the semis, when their opposition defaulted. But there was no happy ending. Pepperdine’s Dorothree Kurz and Ipek Senoglu avenged their teammates earlier dismissal, 8-4, and won the championship.

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