College Roundup Fairfield’s Harkin sets school assists record

By John Manley

Bryan Harkin gets only a cut of the glory, but he excels at the playmaking role assigned him. The Derry sophomore set a Fairfield University soccerrecord with his ninth assist of the season when he set up Aaron Kingi on a free kick. Kingi headed the ball into the net at the 86:39 mark, allowing the Stags to leave the pitch tied with Virginia, 2-2. Fairfield, ranked 24th in Div. I, is now 8-2-1.

Barry Gibney’s goal from the top of the box in the 43rd minute proved the margin of victory as Christian Brothers University edged Montevallo, 1-0. Gibney is a junior from Dublin. CBU then dropped one by the same score to West Florida. The Bucs, coached by Ballina, Co. Mayo, native Gareth O’Sullivan, are now 9-2-0 overall and 2-1-0 in the Gulf South Conference.

Derek Cobbe, a senior from Dublin, booted in the winning goal as Providence knocked off Notre Dame, 3-1. The Friars improved to 3-7-1 overall and 3-4-1 in the Big East.

Penn State, ranked 17th in Div. I, regained its stride after three consecutive losses, defeating Big Ten rivals Northwestern, 6-2, and Wisconsin, 2-0. Freshman Dale Jordan, from Dublin, scored the Nittany Lions’ final goal against Northwestern with less than two minutes left in regulation. Penn State is 8-3-0 overall and 3-1-0 in Big Ten play for coach Barry Gorman, a Belfast native.

Colm Kierans had a goal for North Florida in a 3-2 loss to Morehouse College. Kierans, a junior, calls Dublin home. The Ospreys are 8-3-0.

David Pedreschi’s corner kick found the head of teammate Stephen Miller, who used his noggin to direct the ball into the net for the winning goal in North Carolina-Charlotte’s 2-1 victory over South Florida. Pedreschi is a junior from Dublin. Charlotte is now 6-3-2 overall and 4-1-1 in Conference USA.

Gary Curneen put the ball into motion on a play that resulted in a 2-1 Wingate victory over Catawba. Curneen is a sophomore midfielder from Omagh, Co. Tyrone. That win, coming on the heels of a 1-0 triumph over Lenoir-Rhyne, puts Gary Hamill’s Bulldogs over the .500 mark. They are 5-4-0 overall and 3-1-0 in South Atlantic Conference play. Hamill comes from Belfast.

Mark Fitzgerald’s goal allowed Mercyhurst to tie the University of Charleston, 1-1. Fitzgerald, a Kerryman, is a senior. John Melody, the pride of Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, coaches the Lakers, who are 9-3-1 and 3-0-0 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

The University of San Diego began its West Coast Conference schedule with a 1-0 victory over San Francisco on a goal with 33 seconds left in regulation. Seamus McFadden’s Toreros defeated Cal-Irvine, 6-2, earlier in the week and are now 10-1-1 overall. McFadden hails from Donegal.

Conference play also agreed with Roy Patton’s Vermont team. After a middling showing against non-league opponents, the Catamounts defeated America East rivals Towson, 3-2, and Delaware, 2-1. Jason Allen, a junior from Belfast, assisted on both goals in the Delaware match. Vermont is 6-5-0 overall for their coach, a Belfast product.

Another Belfast coach, Clemson’s Trevor Adair, sent the Tigers (7-2-1) out to a scoreless standstill with South Carolina.

Conference action has turned around Alan Dawson’s Old Dominion Monarchs. They’ve reeled off victories over George Mason, 4-2, East Carolina, 2-0, and Richmond, 3-0, to go 5-4-1 overall and 3-0-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association. Dawson is yet another coach from the Belfast pipeline.

Dubliners Fran O’Leary and Ed Kelly, pull the strings at Dartmouth and Boston College, respectively. That was O’Leary’s

face with the big smile on it last week as time ran out with Dartmouth up, 2-1. The Big Green moved to 6-2-0, while the Eagles fell to 5-4-0.

Women’s soccer

Gareth O’Sullivan’s women’s squad at Christian Brothers has been as productive as their male counterparts. The Lady Bucs improved to 8-2-0 overall and 3-0-0 in the Gulf South with victories over West Florida, 3-0, and Montevallo, 3-0.

Mercyhurst, ranked ninth in Div. II, was extended to overtime by Gannon, but the Lakers prevailed, 1-0. John Melody has the team at 9-1-2 overall and 6-0-1 in the GLIAC.

Keene State won a nailbiter, defeating Worcester State, 1-0, on a goal in the second overtime period. Keene (7-5-2), coached by Denise Lyons, then had an easier time with Rhode Island College, enjoying a 6-0 win. Lyons is a native of Newcastle West, Co. Limerick.

Don’t blame South Carolina coach Sue Kelly if she’s looking past the remainder of this season. The Gamecocks were trounced by Southeastern Conference rivals Kentucky, 5-1, and Vanderbilt, 8-0, last week to fall to 4-10-0 overall and 0-4-0 in the SEC. Kelly is a Cork native.

Tennis

Arkansas sophomore Patricia D’Arcy went 1-2 in the Lady Razorback Invitational recently. The Dubliner began by losing to Texas-El Paso’s Kendall Exelby, 6-4, 6-4, but rebounded with a three-set victory over Southern Methodist’s Sara Love Swaney, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5. D’Arcy was then defeated by Rice’s Karen Chao, 7-5, 7-6(2).

Cross-country

Iona’s men’s team, coached by Dubliner Mick Byrne, won its own Meet of Champions at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. Vinny Mulvey, a senior from Ashbourne, Co. Meath, finished sixth with a time of 24 minutes, 46.4 seconds. The Gaels’ Tom Carey, a senior transfer student from Boise State, finished 40th in 25:36.6. Carey’s home is in Castleconnell, Co. Limerick. Brown’s Enda Johnson, a junior from Co. Monaghan, was the 28th man in, with a time of 25:22.5. Iona alum Ricardo Santos won the race in 24:34.3, wearing the colors of the New York Athletic Club.

Mercyhurst’s Ciaran Brewster checked in fifth at the Le Moyne Invitational in Syracuse, N.Y. The junior from Co. Longford was the Lakers’ top finisher, covering the course in 28:47. Mercyhurst placed fourth of 10 teams.