February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By John Manley
Barry Gorman and Séamus McFadden haven’t had the smiles wiped from their faces yet in the 1999 soccer campaign. Their respective Penn State and University of San Diego squads remain ranked and undefeated.
Penn State won three contests last week, beginning with a 3-0 spanking of Robert Morris. The Nittany Lions then captured their own Penn State Nike Classic with victories over New Hampshire, 2-1, in overtime, and Akron, 3-2.
The latter game was not as close as the score would indicate. Penn State held a 3-0 lead when, with 12 minutes on the clock, goalie Whit Gibson was yanked to give a substitute some minutes. Akron proceeded to push the ball into the net in the 83rd and 88th minutes. Ranked second in Div. I, Penn State is now 6-0. Coach Gorman is a Belfast man.
McFadden’s San Diego Toreros are a gaudy 6-0 to justify their ranking at No. 13. They recently dispatched Oregon State, 3-0, Sacramento State, 4-1, Fairfield, 3-2, and Florida International, 3-2. The latter contest proved that luck is with McFadden. The opponents tied the score at 2 with 53 seconds left in regulation. But 34 ticks of the clock later, San Diego freshman Ryan Coiner booted the ball in off a header from Mike Marvil to notch the win. The start is the best in the program’s history. McFadden’s roots are in Donegal.
Gary Hamill’s Wingate Bulldogs are also undefeated (4-0). Their recent outings haven’t resembled competitive matches as much as they have target practice. The most recent victims include Newberry, 9-0, and Anderson, 7-1. Hamill came out of Belfast.
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Gareth Elliott directed a cross to teammate Steve DeMoura in the 103rd minute for the only score of the match in Rhode Island’s 1-0 overtime victory over Boston University. Rhode Island is now 1-1-1. Elliott is a sophomore from Belfast.
Declan Condron had an assist in Southern Connecticut State’s 2-0 victory over Bentley. Condron, a senior from Dublin, transferred to SCSU from Hofstra.
Patrick Geraghty, an old teammate of Condron’s, won the match for Hofstra over Dartmouth, when Stuart Duffin touch passed a direct kick to the Dublin sophomore, who blasted the ball into the upper left corner of the cage for the only goal of the game. Hofstra, ranked 21st, moved to 4-0.
Vermont recorded victories over Central Connecticut State, 5-2, and Dartmouth, 1-0. The Catamounts, coached by Belfast’s Roy Patton, are now 3-1-1. Dartmouth, with Dubliner Fran O’Leary at the reins, is now 0-2 with the losses to Hofstra and Vermont.
Boston College earned its third win of the season, downing Villanova, 2-0. The Eagles, coached by Dublin native Ed Kelly, improved to 3-2 overall and 1-2 in the Big East.
After Clemson glided through the 1998 season, the ’99 downturn must have coach Trevor Adair from Belfast reaching for the antacid. The Tigers worked out a scoreless tie with fourth-ranked Duke recently. Clemson is 1-3-1.
Brian Ainscough saw his Providence Friars endure their first defeat of the season. Rutgers did the deed, 3-1. The Friars are 2-1-1 overall and 1-1 in the Big East. Ainscough is a Dubliner.
Old Dominion has had its share of close ones thus far. The Monarchs, coached by Belfast native Alan Dawson, lost to California in overtime, 2-1. They followed with wins over Virginia Tech, 2-0, and Radford, 1-0, before suffering a 1-0 loss to Loyola (Md.). Dawson’s team is 3-2.
Joe Behan’s New York University crew were edged by Staten Island, 1-0. NYU, whose coach hails from Dublin, is now 2-2-1.
Fairleigh Dickinson-Madison punched its record up to 2-3 with a 4-2 triumph over Wilkes. Tom McLoughlin, formerly of Belfast, runs the FDU operation.
Women’s soccer
Keene State lost in overtime to Wheaton, 2-1, to even its record at 2-2. Denise Lyons, a native of Newcastle West, Co. Limerick, coaches Keene.
South Carolina upped its record to 4-2 by running roughshod over Virginia Commonwealth, 6-0. Corkwoman Sue Kelly coaches the Carolinians.
Cross-country
Keith Kelly led the field across the finish line and helped the Providence
College "B" team to a third-place finish in the Fordham Invitational at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. The Drogheda senior hit the tape in 25:00 after 8,000 meters. Connecticut’s Dan Wilson was next to show in 25:51. Oklahoma State won the team scoring.
The finish at the Boston College Invitational at Franklin Park was more competitive with 15 seconds separating the first and seventh finishers. Iona’s Gr’me Reid won the race in 25:13, with Irish teammate Vinny Mulvey second in 25:15. The Gaels’ Barry Egan placed eighth in 25:42. Mulvey is a junior from Ashbourne, Co. Meath, while Egan, a sophomore, hails from Cahir,
Co. Tipperary. Mick Byrne’s Gaels won the team trophy over the host school.
Providence’s women dominated the Rhode Island Invitational, taking the top five positions. The Friars’ Heather Cappello won the 5,000 meters race in 17:47. Galway sophomore Kathryn Casserly was fifth in 18:36. Also competing for Providence, but not scoring, were Roisín McGettigan, a freshman from Wicklow, who was ninth in 19:04, and Stephanie O’Reilly, a junior from Wicklow, who was 14th in 19:21. University College-Dublin’s Orla O’Mamony took eighth place with a time of 18:59.
Golf
After an opening-round 78, Campbell University’s David Carroll settled down to shoot 71 and 70, tying for 34th place at nine-over-par 219 in the Rocky Mountain Men’s Intercollegiate at the Jacoby Golf Club in Laramie, Wyo.
Carroll is a sophomore from Dublin. Campbell finished third in the 14-team field, seven strokes behind Wyoming. David Hearn of Wyoming was low man at 204.
Clemson’s Michael Hoey and Alabama-Birmingham’s Chris Devlin finished a stroke apart in The Ridges Intercollegiate at The Ridges Golf and Country Club in Jonesborough, Tenn. Hoey, a sophomore from Belfast, fell apart in the last round after contending for the lead through 36 holes. Hoey came in
with a 79 after rounds of 71 and 72 for a total of six-over 222. That tied him for 23rd place, 11 shots behind the medalist, North Carolina’s Max Harris. Devlin occupied 25th place with five others who finished at 223. Devlin fired rounds of 75, 73 and 75. Oklahoma was the low team at 870, while Clemson tied for sixth with Auburn at 890. UAB took 12th place in the 15-team field with a score of 904.