College Roundup Patton’s troops cut O’Leary’s Big Green down to size

By John Manley

Vermont prevailed over Dartmouth, 3-2, in a meeting of Irish coaches. Belfast native Roy Patton is the mastermind behind the Catamounts, which are now 5-3. Freshman Jason Allen from Belfast had a goal for Vermont, while sophomore teammate and Derryman John O’Connor contributed an assist. The 15th-ranked Big Green, coached by Dubliner Fran O’Leary, recovered from its first defeat of the season to down Hartwick, 2-1. Dartmouth is now 4-1.

Paul Cleary was named to the New England Collegiate Conference Honor Roll for heading up New Hampshire College’s defense, which allowed just seven shots on goal in victories over Franklin Pierce, 4-2, and Binghamton, 3-1. Cleary had an assist in the latter contest. He is a junior from Waterford. NHC’s defense ranks as the stingiest in the NECC, allowing 0.70 goals per match.

Hofstra tied Columbia, 3-3, with John O’Hagan, a senior from Dundalk, and Patrick Geraghty, a Dublin freshman, each earning an assist. Geraghty also set up Hofstra’s lone goal in a 3-1 loss to Towson State, while Declan Condron, a junior from Dublin, assisted on their only score in a 4-1 loss to UNC-Greensboro. Hofstra is 4-4-2.

Chris McGuinness scored the first of New York Tech’s two goals, then assisted on the gamewinner as Tech defeated American International, 3-2. McGuinness is a junior from Adare, Co. Limerick. Aiden Lyons, a junior from Dublin, stopped four shots in the net for Tech.

John Melody’s Mercyhurst team (5-1-1) knocked Charleston, fourth-ranked in Div. II, down a few pegs with a 4-1 win. Freshman forward Rory Hussey, from Dublin, had two goals, while Kerryman Mark Fitzgerald, a sophomore, had one of the Lakers’ two other goals. Melody hails from Dungarvan, Co. Waterford.

Christian Brothers University split a pair of contests last week, first prevailing over Central Arkansas, 4-1. Barry Gibney, a freshman from Swords, Co. Dublin, booted home his 10th goal of the season and helped set up another one. Gibney also assisted on one of CBU’s scores in a 3-2 loss to Belmont. Coach Gareth O’Sullivan, a native of Ballina, Co. Mayo, has CBU at 7-4 so far. The offense is ranked second nationally in Div. II.

Boston College’s Danny Horan, a senior from Dublin, had a goal in the Eagles 3-2 overtime loss to Connecticut, the top-ranked team in Div. I. The Eagles then came back to defeat Pittsburgh, 3-0, with Horan assisting on a goal. Boston College, coached by Dubliner Ed Kelly, is 4-5-1 overall and 1-4 in the Big East.

Fourth-ranked Clemson didn’t let coach Trevor Adair down as they posted two impressive wins to take the title in the Clemson/Adidas Soccer Invitational. The Tigers trampled Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, 7-0, then shut out New Hampshire, 3-0. Adair is from Belfast.

Providence extended its winning streak to four games with a 4-0 pasting of in-state rival Rhode Island. Brian Ainscough’s lads then saw the string snapped by West Virginia, 2-0. The Friars are 4-6 overall and 2-3 in the Big East. Ainscough is from Dublin.

New York University beat up on Staten Island, 5-0, but found the going tougher within the University Athletic Association. Carnegie-Mellon and Case Western Reserve each defeated the Violets by 2-0. Joe Behan, a Dubliner, coaches NYU (4-6 overall, 1-3 UAA).

Gary Hamill has Wingate University in a groove. The Belfast native’s charges reeled off four straight wins to improve to 7-4. Recent victims were St. Andrews, 9-0, Lander, 4-2, Queens (N.C.), 7-0, and Lenoir-Rhyne, 6-2.

A less fortunate son of Belfast was Barry Gorman. His Penn State squad fought valiantly but lost to second-ranked Indiana, 1-0, in overtime. The Nittany Lions, ranked 20th in Div. I, are 5-3-2.

Another Belfast native, Alan Dawson, saw his Old Dominion squad battle Campbell to a 1-1 tie. ODU is 3-1-2.

Women’s soccer

South Carolina enjoyed an easy week. The Gamecocks defeated Georgia Southern, 5-1, then feasted on UNC-Asheville, 6-1. Cork native Sue Kelly coaches South Carolina (7-3-1).

Christian Brothers enjoyed a 3-0 victory over Central Arkansas to improve to 5-3-1 under coach Gareth O’Sullivan.

Field hockey

Sixty-nine minutes of outstanding play went down the drain when fourth-ranked Princeton broke a scoreless tie with 39 seconds remaining to down Maryland, 1-0. Terrapin goalie Angela Platt, a sophomore from Coleraine, Co. Derry, stopped 10 Princeton shots on goal before Princeton’s Molly O’Malley put one past her. By contrast, Maryland’s offense only got off three shots at the Princeton net.

"[Platt] deflected the ball to where I was and I had a little time to get off a good shot," said O’Malley. Missy Meharg, coach of the eighth-ranked Terps, termed Platt’s performance "outstanding." Maryland is now 7-3.

Syracuse had fallen behind West Chester, 1-0, when Gemma Ormonde set up the tying goal in what turned out to be a 3-1 victory for the Orangewomen. Ormonde is a senior from Bray, Co. Wicklow. Syracuse is 7-4.

Cross country

Boise State’s Tom Carey, a junior from Castleconnell, Co. Limerick, finished eighth in the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Cal. Carey ran the 8,000-meter course in 24 minutes, 57 seconds. The winning time was 24:30.

Boise finished third in the team standings behind Stanford and Brigham Young, in that order.

Golf

The University of Toledo finished in sixth place at the Northern Intercollegiate at the Les Bostad Country Club in St. Paul. Junior Tim Rice from Rosbrien, Co. Limerick, tied for seventh place in a 66-man field, shooting 208 (74-70-64) for 54 holes. Freshman Alan Madden, from Dublin, finished 36th at 219 (71-73-75) in his first collegiate tilt, while junior Ricky Elliott, from Portrush, Co. Antrim, was 39th at 220 (73-72-75).

Minnesota’s Bill Thompson was the medalist with a score of 201. Minnesota was the lowest of 12 teams.

California finished fifth in the Pacific Invitational at the Saddle Creek Golf Course in Copperopolis, Calif. Senior Dan Coyle from Dundalk tied for 34th place at 2-over-par 218 (75-70-73). Pacific’s Jason Preeo was the medalist with a final score of 205.