Broadside Sports Recap - Week of September 29

Compiled by Broadside Assistant Sports Editor Brian Chan

MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

In the first meet of the 2008 season, the men’s cross country team finished in fourth place out of five schools with a total time of 2:13:38.39 at the Lou Onesty in Earlysville, Virginia. James Snyder and James Burns took the 18th and 29th spots for Mason, respectively.

Snyder finished with a time of 25:50.12 and Burns crossed the line at 26:09.26. Mason would improve in their next meet in the James Madison Invitational as the team ranked second out of nine teams with a total time of 2:11:59.20.
With six of the top seven finishers representing Georgetown, Mason’s Scott Tekevsky and Everett Hackett took slots 8 and 10 with times of 25:43.40 and 25:51.90, respectively.

Mason also finished with four runners in slots 13-17. Anthony LaMastro crossed the finish line at the 26:40.50 mark (just 0.4 seconds behind for 12th place), and Matt Bailey and Bobby Krause took 14th and 15th with times of 26:48.30 and 26:51.40. Mike Pachella finished with a time of 27:07.10 for 17th.

This past weekend, Mason hosted the Mason Invitational at Bull Run Park with the team finishing in 4th place out of 16 schools. Hackett led all Mason runners with an 18th place finish and a time of 25:36.

Out of 140 total runners on Saturday’s meet, Hackett and seven others represented Mason in the top 50. Tekesky and Snyder finished 26th and 29th with times of 25:52 and 26:00, respectively. Before the CAA Championships on November 1, the men’s team will compete in the Penn State National on October 17.

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

At the Lou Onesty, the women’s cross country team of Karlyn Lockie, Sam Fickel, Kailyn Lockie, Elizabeth Smith, Monique McKenzie, and Katherine Griffith finished in spots 21-26 respectively.

Karlyn Lockie led the team with a time of 21:36.82 with Fickel, Kailyn Lockie, and Smith following her with time finishes in the 22nd-minute frame. The team finished in third place against their competitors, Virginia and William & Mary.

As the Mason men’s team improved, the women’s team saw similar success with a third place finish among six teams at the James Madison Invitational in the New Market Battlefield. Fickel was Mason’s top finisher with a 12th place overall finish in 22:03.20. Karlyn Lockie took 17th for Mason with a time of 22:31.60 and McKenzie finished 25th overall with a time of 23:02.90.

Other competitors for Mason included Smith and Griffith with 33rd and 44th place finishes, respectively. Mason team totals included a 1:56:52.30 time with a 23:22.46 average. At the Mason Invitational, the women finished in 14th place. Fickel was the first Mason runner to cross the finish line, 60th overall with a time of 24:27.

Karlyn Lockie finished in 75th place, and top 100 finishers Smith and McKenzie took 97th and 99th place, respectively. The women’s team have one more meet at the Blue Hen Classic on October 18 before the CAA Championships.

GOLF

In the 2008 season opener for the men’s golf team, Mason finished in eighth place out of 18 teams at the McLaughlin in Farmingdale, New York. In the three-day tournament, Mason minimized the number of strokes from 294 to 288 to 287.

On the first day, Marshall Tinsley led the team at par 70, but it was freshman Josh Apple who shot a four-under par 66 on the second day. Tinsley, a junior, and Apple would finish tied for tenth place at two-over par 212.

Freshman Adam Van Houten shot 11-over par 221 with a score of (73-76-72) for a tie in 44th place in the three days. Juniors Branson Real and Andrew Maryan would take 66th and 69th spots with totals of 15-over par 225 and 16-over par 226, respectively.

In the Cardinal Classic in Simpsonville, Kentucky, the team struggled to get out of the 13th place sand trap. Mason shot 901, including a 13-over par 301 on the final day. Tinsley led the team with a six-over par 222 for 44th place and Apple followed him with a seven-over par 223 for 48th place.

After a horrendous first round at 23-over par 311, Mason was able to shave off a team total of 22 strokes. Maryan shaved ten and Apple shot a respectable two-under par 70 in the second round, compared to his six-over par 78 in the first round.

Real led Mason on the final day with a par 72, but finished fourth among his teammates. The team’s next tournament will take place at the Duke Coca Cola Classic in Durham, North Carolina.

MEN’S SOCCER

In addition to the injury problems last season, the men’s soccer team failed to score a goal half the time (nine out of 18 total contests), especially getting blanked in the last three games of the season.

This season, the tide has shifted with Mason (5-3-1, 1-1-0) getting shut out only twice. The team has already matched last season’s overall win total as the season has just reached the midway point.

Mason has been in several close encounters this season—on one hand, forward Parker Walton scored the game-winning goal in the 94th minute of overtime to give the team a 1-0 defeat over American in the DC College Cup, but a Virginia rally and game-winning kick in the second overtime spoiled Mason’s home opener.

In the Prego's Express Italian Men's Soccer Invitational, Mason defeated No.15 Tulsa 1-0 as forward Irvin Martinez scored the lone goal. Going into the game against VCU, goalkeeper Sean Kelley recorded three consecutive shutouts.
This season has been the story of the freshmen. Coming into 2008, Mason had the 31st best recruiting class in the nation. Among them was forward Draymond Washington, who currently leads the team with seven points, and midfielder Ryan Gracia with his two goals.

There is also the senior experience from midfielder Jonathan Borrajo and defenseman Hugh Fike contributing to Mason’s early success. With a major turnaround from last season, the team has high expectations in the latter part of their schedule.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

The leading goal scorer is the starting goalkeeper, a defenseman’s two goals are both game-winners, and a 9-1 rout over Howard—the women’s soccer team have had their highs and lows this season. Starting off 0-3, the team rebounded to win their two games in the Mason Tournament.
From there, Mason (4-7-0, 1-2-0) has won and lost in an alternate pattern. In the nine-goal shootout, Mason’s regular goalkeeper Kelly Keelan, also the team’s forward, recorded a hat trick, and forward Annie Lebherz scored two goals.

Four other different players scored a goal as well. In the second half, Mason’s defense did not allow a single shot from Howard as the offense shot 23 times. One of Mason’s more surprising wins came in the CAA opener against JMU with defenseman Kimmy Moss scored her second game-winning goal of the season (the first came against Hartford).

The 2-1 win also marked JMU’s first home loss in 19 games. Moss and Lebherz currently have two goals, two assists apiece. Defenseman Jessica Paris leads the team with six assists. Keelan leads the team with six goals and 12 points.
When in goal, Keelan allows an average of 1.21 goals per game and a .825 save percentage along with two shutouts. The team is 3-3 when she is the goalkeeper.

In order to keep in range with the CAA competitors, Mason will have to prevent second half goals from being scored on their defense. Opponents have outscored Mason 15-8 despite the fact that Mason is heavily favored in second half shots 93-68.

MEN/WOMEN’S TENNIS

Top player Brian Fitzgerald was the lone Mason winner on the first day of the Mary Washington Kick-off as the reigning Third Team All-CAA player defeated his opponent 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

Other notable first day singles matches included Jordan Lipstock’s forcing a tiebreak in the first set before falling 6-7, 2-6, and Arjun Sanghvi kept the match close with a 3-6, 4-6 loss.

The doubles team of Daniel Schneider/Lee Wexler proved to be a nail-biter as Mary Washington’s doubles team inched themselves to a 9-8 victory.

The second day was a much better showing from the team as Fitzgerald led off with a dominating 6-2, 6-4 win, and freshman Jorge Osuna won his first ever collegiate match 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. On the women’s side, the team looks for its experience from last season as the freshman-packed roster posted an 11-12 overall record.

Sophomore Lindsay Gray, 10-10 at the No.1 singles position last season, went 2-0 in singles in the Tiger 4-1 Tennis Classic, but nearly pulled off a doubles win with teammate Meredith Cutchin, losing 3-6, 6-1, 9-11. Sarah Dieffenbach and Aryn Christman went 1-1 apiece in singles play.

In doubles, Alex Lacoste and Cat Crisostomo defeated their Johns Hopkins opponents 6-1, 7-6. Last weekend, the Mason Invitational was rained out. In their previous match, Mason cruised to a 7-0 win over Shepherd. Gray won 6-2, 6-1 at the No.1 position, freshman Brooke Blackwell won at ease at No.2, 6-0, 6-1, and Cutchin and Christman each won their singles matches 6-1, 6-1.

Next weekend, the men’s and women’s tennis teams will travel to Norfolk for the Hampton Roads Invitational.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

In the first 16 games last season, the women’s volleyball team went 9-7. Mason (4-12, 0-3), currently tied for last in the CAA, has struggled this season despite Coach Pat Kendrick earning her 400th win against Davidson (25-18, 25-14, 15-25, 25-23).

After a rough 0-3 start, the team finally got its first win of the 2008 campaign with a 3-0 sweep over St. Francis (25-16, 25-13, 25-21) in the Patriot Invitational.

Outside hitter Rebecca Walter, 20 kills and 10 digs in two matches, and setter Fernanda Bartels, 83 assists and eight blocks, were named to the Patriot Invitational All-Tournament Team.

After losing the final two matches in the Patriot Invitational, Mason went on to win three straight against Howard, Rutgers, and Davidson. Mason nearly went undefeated at the Davidson Invitational with wins over Rutgers and Davidson, but fell short in a five-set thriller against Charlotte (25-20, 23-25, 21-25, 25-19, 13-15).

The match against Charlotte marked freshman outside hitter Noelle Fanella’s first ever double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs. Since the Charlotte loss, Mason has lost seven consecutive matches.

In the CAA opener, the Patriots lost a heartbreaking five-set match to James Madison (22-25, 25-19, 23-25, 25-18, 10-15). Mason had a very good showing from Walter’s 21 kills, 15 digs and middle blocker Jourdan Dozier’s nine total blocks out of the team’s season-high total 15 blocks.

Mason held the advantage in hitting percentage throughout the match, .258-.169, but the score of the match favored Madison. Mason’s road-trip during the week will be crucial for the team as they look to get out of the funk.