February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By John Manley
Maryland won the Atlantic Coast Conference field hockey championship with a 1-0 overtime victory over second-ranked Virginia. The seventh-ranked Terps received sterling play in the net from Angela Platt, a sophomore from Coleraine, Co. Derry, who made five saves and several critical clears. In the semifinal game, Platt stopped seven shots as Maryland downed fourth-ranked North Carolina, 2-1. Platt was named to the All-ACC Tournament team following the victory over Virginia.
Men’s Soccer
Conor Porter set up teammate Joe Noonan for the only goal of the match as Villanova (5-12) closed its season with a 1-0 victory over Philadelphia Textile. Porter is a junior from Raphoe, Co. Donegal
Ross Hainsworth finished his collegiate career with an overtime goal to lead Northeastern (6-12) to a 2-1 victory over Holy Cross. Hainsworth, who hails from Swords, Co. Dublin, is third on the Huskies’ all-time points list with 35.
Boston University shut down the Huskies, 2-1, earlier in the week, with senior Bryan Murphy minding the net. Northeastern didn’t put the ball past Murphy, a senior from Killarney, until the very last second of the contest. Murphy recorded three saves.
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Christian Brothers University was defeated in the first round of the Gulf South Conference playoffs by Lincoln Memorial, 3-2. CBU finishes with a mark of 9-11. CBU’s Barry Gibney, a freshman from Swords, Co. Dublin, was named to the All-Tournament team.
Trevor Adair’s Clemson Tigers upheld their status as the top-ranked team in Division I by defeating Wake Forest, 1-0. Clemson finishes the regular season with a record of 18-1 overall and 5-1 in the ACC. The Conference tournament begins in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Thursday. Adair is a Belfast native.
Mercyhurst won its fourth straight Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title by defeating Findlay, 7-2. The Lakers followed with three successive victories over Concord, 5-1, Northern Kentucky, 2-0, and Missouri Southern, 6-0. Mark Fitzgerald a sophomore from County Kerry had a goal in the Northern Kentucky win. Mercyhurst (15-3-1, 6-0 GLIAC) then suffered its first defeat since Oct. 1 when they fell to Oakland, 3-0. Dungarvan, Co. Waterford native John Melody coaches Mercyhurst.
Ohio Wesleyan (12-5) recorded a 3-0 victory over Tiffin. David Pedreschi, a sophomore from Dublin, sent an indirect kick to teammate Martin Forman, who headed in the second goal of the contest.
Boston College finished the 1998 campaign on a down note. Ed Kelly’s Eagles were defeated by Georgetown, 2-1. B.C. was 5-10-2 overall and 2-8-1 in the Big East. Kelly is a Dublin native.
Georgetown then turned the lights out on Providence’s season with a 1-0 victory in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament. Georgetown scored the winning goal with 21 ticks of the clock remaining in the second overtime period.
Earlier in the week, the Friars defeated Dartmouth, 3-1. Despite a record of 9-9-1, the season was a marked improvement for the Friars, who are in their third year under Dubliner Brian Ainscough. The Big Green, coached by Dublin’s Fran O’Leary, fell to 9-5-1 with the defeat.
New York University brought down the curtain in disappointing fashion, suffering three straight losses. The Violets were victimized by Emory, 2-0, Montclair State, 3-0, and Kings Point, 1-0 in overtime. NYU went 7-11 overall and 3-4 in the University Athletic Association for coach Joe Behan, a Dublin man.
Penn State finished the regular season with a 1-0 victory over James Madison. Barry Gorman’s Nittany Lions head into the Big Ten playoffs with a record of 12-4-2 overall and 4-1 in the Conference. Gorman comes from Belfast.
Wingate reeled off three victories over USC-Aiken, 4-0, UNC-Pembroke, 3-0, and Carson-Newman, 4-3. Gary Hamill, a Belfast man, coaches the 11-9 Bulldogs.
Women’s Soccer
South Carolina set a record for regular-season victories (11) by defeating North Carolina State, 1-0. The Gamecocks were then ousted from the Southeastern Conference tournament in the first round by Florida, 6-0. Sue Kelly’s team finishes with a mark of 11-6-1. Kelly is a Cork native. The Gamecocks’ Linda Greene, a junior from Dublin, was named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll.
Greene, a Media Arts major who will be graduating early, carries a 3.37 grade point average.
Keene State prepped for the NCAA Northeast Regionals with a 1-0 victory over Southern Maine. The wheels came off in the postseason game, as Colby spanked Keene, 5-1. Denise Lyons, a native of Newcastle West, Co. Limerick, coaches Keene, which is hopeful of an invite to the ECAC tournament. Keene’s record is 16-4.
Wingate finished the regular season at 8-8-1 by tying Tusculum, 1-1. Gary Hamill’s Bulldogs were then defeated in first-round action of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament by Catawba, 2-1.
Cross Country
Iona, ranked No. 11 in Div. I, monopolized the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. Mick Byrne’s Gaels won this race for the eighth consecutive time by placing seven of the top eight runners. A Marist runner got fifth place. Ricardo Santos was the winner in 24 minutes, 40 seconds. Vinny Mulvey, a sophomore from Ashbourne, Co. Meath, was second in 24:51. Farther back were Barry Egan, a freshman from Caher, Co. Tipperary, who was seventh in 25:35, and David Brosnan, a senior from Cork, who was 17th in 26:52.
Boise State placed third in the men’s division of the Big West Championships, held in Denton, Texas. The Cowboys boasted the top two finishers in that race in Travis Armstrong, who ran the 8,000-meter course in 24:52, and Tom Carey, who crossed in 25:02. Carey is a junior from Castleconnell, Co. Limerick. Boise sophomore Gearoid O’Connor, from Dublin, was 30th in 26:54. Boise, with 83 points, just missed second place, which went to Utah State, with 82. Cal Poly, with 30 points, was the champion.
Tennis
Harvard’s Joe Green, a junior from Dublin, made it to the semifinals in the singles competition in the Crimson Fall Classic, before being eliminated by the top seed, Illinois’ Jakub Tepley, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2. Green had earlier defeated Dartmouth’s Erich Holzer, 6-1, 7-6 to advance.