Sports

Men’s hockey celebrates two victories

By Sydney Dietz

Sports editor

It was an exciting weekend at the Mercyhurst Ice Center as fans gathered in the stands both Friday night and Saturday afternoon to watch the Lakers battle against the Air Force Falcons.

The Lakers won both games leaving Mercyhurst fans and players elated. The Mercyhurst men’s hockey team is on a winning streak after defeating two games against Holy Cross on Nov. 18 and Nov. 19.

The first game against the Air Force was on Friday, Nov. 25 at 7:05 p.m. and ended with a score of 5-3.

The Lakers started the scoring early in the first period with junior center Carson Briere skating down the ice and assisting the puck to senior forward Rylee St. Onge who shot the puck in the net resulting in the first goal of the game.

Shortly after, sophomore forward Garrett Dahm scored another goal that was assisted by St. Onge and senior defenseman Cade Townend. Although the Lakers dominated the first half of the period, the Falcons were able to get the puck in the net and score at 6:56 changing the score to 2-1.

However, with 4:54 left in the first period, junior forward Keanan Stewart scored the third goal for the Lakers. Dahm got the assist and his second point of the night.

There was not much scoring during the second period, however after 16:48 in the period, Mercyhurst scored another goal. The goal was scored by junior forward Kyler Head and assisted by sophomore defenseman Dustin Geregach, which was Geregach’s second assist of the season.

During the third period, the Falcons obtained their second goal of the game making the score 4-2. The Lakers followed the Falcons goal by getting an empty net goal that was scored by junior forward Steven Agrogianis which was assisted by senior defenseman Adrian Bisson.

The Falcons scored another goal at the time of 19:12 resulting in a final score of 5-3 in favor of the Lakers. Freshman goaltender Owen Say was in net and made 35 saves.

The second game of the weekend series was Saturday, Nov. 26 at 4:05 p.m.

The Lakers won once again with a final score of 4-2. The first period was quiet until the Lakers got their first goal late in the period. This goal was scored by senior forward Gueorgui Feduolov and was assisted by junior center Marko Reifenberger.

After the players got a break in the locker room during the first intermission, they got back on the ice and continued to score. Just one minute and 49 seconds into the second period, Agrogianis skated and found the back of the net resulting in the second goal of the game.

Agrogianis’s goal was assisted by Head and forward grad student Eric Esposito. Soon after, Air Force scored leaving the score 2-1 with the Lakers in the lead. Although Air Force tried to make a winning comeback, the Lakers did not allow that to happen.

At 16:57, Reifenberger got his second point after scoring a third goal for the Lakers. This goal was assisted by sophomore defenceman Jake Beaune and senior forward Jonathan Bendorf.

During the first half of the third period Dahm got the puck in the net allowing the Lakers to have four goals. Joseph Maziarz earned the assist.

Before the final minutes of the game, the Falcons scored another goal, however, despite this goal, the Lakers still brought home a victory.

The Mercyhurst hockey team will play against Army next on Friday, Dec. 9 and Saturday, Dec. 10.

Hurst Athletics photo

Senior forward Keanan Stewart celebrates with teammates senior Adrien Bisson and sophomore Garrett Dahm after the Lakers score a goal during a game on Saturday Nov. 29 against the Air Force Falcons.

Michigan St. keeps undefeated record

By Vydalia Weatherly

Staff writer

Thousands tuned in Saturday, Nov. 27 to watch No. 2 Ohio State play against their rival No. 3 Michigan State. Both teams were undefeated at the beginning of the game.

After a long game, the Michigan Wolverines defeated the Ohio Buckeyes 45 to 23. This is the second year in a row Michigan has won against Ohio.

Michigan beat Ohio 42-27 last year after an eight-year losing streak. This is the first time in twenty-two years that Michigan has won consecutive games against Ohio. This is also the first time Ohio lost to Michigan on their home field since 2000.

Michigan won the coin toss but decided to defer to the second half, resulting in Ohio starting with the ball. Ohio State’s offense got the best of Michigan State at the beginning of the game.

During the Buckeyes second drive, the Wolverine’s defense came through with a stop, attaining the upper hand for the rest of the game.

Ohio State had a narrow lead entering the half 20-17. Michigan scored 14 points in the second quarter alone. That lead did not last long. Despite being led by star quarterback C.J. Stroud, Ohio State’s offense was unable to hold back against Michigan’s defense in the second half.

Michigan scored seven points in the third quarter, while Ohio did not score at all. In the last quarter, Michigan managed to attain 21 points, while Ohio only got three.

Leading up to the game, many speculated that Michigan would not be able to defeat Ohio without their star running back Blake Corum who had to sit the game out due to a knee injury he attained during a failed rushing attempt while playing against Illinois State the previous week. Entering the game wearing a knee brace, Corum only rushed twice during the first three passes before sitting out the rest of the game. Despite their star running back stuck on the sidelines, second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy shined during the game throwing three touchdown passes of at least 45 yards. This is the most scoring passes of 45 or more in the 105-year history.

Prior to the Ohio State game, McCarthy’s longest pass completion was only 42 yards.

“He was just on fire in every way – throwing the ball, running the ball,” said Coach Jim Harbaugh.

Michigan won the Big Ten East and claimed a spot in next weekend’s Big Ten Championship Game against Purdue University.

When asked about the historic win, Wolverine’s Harbaugh said he “could not be more proud,” and he “knew the team was focused and determined as they have been all season. This is a locker room of heroes.”

“This is not the outcome we all envisioned,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said after the game.

“I thought we had good preparation. I thought we were building toward playing well,” Day said.

The Buckeyes will now have to wait to see how Texas Christian University, University of Southern California and Louisiana State play next weekend in hopes they can sneak into the championship.

The fate of the Buckeyes now rests in the hands of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee to see if they will send Ohio to the Championship this year or to the Rose Bowl for the second year in a row.

Hurst bowling off to an exciting start

By Megan McKay

Staff writer

The Mercyhurst women’s bowling team’s season is underway and has gone very well. The team is made up of 11 bowlers coached by Michael Machuga.

The bowlers have had a strong start to their season after winning the Mercyhurst Invitational. The team secured the home victory by beating Duquesne, who is a top ranked team, with a final match score of 4-2. Following their home event, the team placed fifth in the Penguin Classic in Ohio. The team also participated in two other tournaments where they finished runner up in both. Freshman Jenna Stretch shared her thoughts and said, “Despite not being able to finish out the championship matches we have been making ourselves known and even increased our national rankings.”

Stretch has also built up her own individual accolades too. She was named Mercyhurst’s Athlete of the Week and ECC Bowler of the week after her performance in the Brunswick Invite where she claimed second place at the tournament.

As just a Freshman, Stretch has become a top bowler on the team with an overall fill percentage of 82.4%, which is tied for the sec-

Hurst athletics photo

Sophomore Sarah Kelly celebrates with teammates after bowling during one of the UMES Hawks Invitational.

ond-highest on the team alongside Samantha Strebel.

The team recently participated on Friday, Nov. 18 in the Hawk Invitational in Delaware.

Stretch described how it was a major learning experience for all the teams after the Lakers got off to a slow start. Despite the difficult lane conditions, the team overcame the bump from the first day after going 1-3.

The second day the team went 2-3 and on the final day the team went 3-0 in matches. Senior Haley Youker and Freshman Nikki Lemponen led the charge for the Lakers in the tournament.

The Invitational was a great opportunity for the Lakers to face talented teams and grow as a team. The bowlers have proven their abilities to dominate in the future by ending the invitational strong.

Stretch shared the team’s goals for the remainder of the season. “Our goal as a team is to keep growing and increase our position in the rankings to hopefully reach the NCAA championship. We look forward to finishing out our last few tournaments to hopefully take home some wins,” said Stretch.

The Lakers have some time off from tournaments to hone in on their skills in practice.

Their next Invitational is Saturday, Feb. 4 and Friday, Feb.17 back in Delaware in the Griffin Baker Classic and at Wilmington University.

The bowling season has been nothing short of a marathon as the team will finish the remainder of their season in the spring.

The NCAA Regional bowling finals begin April 8 and if qualified the team will travel to Las Vegas, Nevada for the NCAA Championships.

World Cup returns after four years in Qatar

By Bella Lee

Staff writer

Every four years the World Cup occurs and gets fans excited on all sorts of levels. Aside from the Summer Olympics, there are not many events that soccer fans have, so the World Cup is a big deal.

Since the beginning on Nov. 20 in Qatar, there has already been a lot of excitement and upsets. For the first time since its first tournament in 1930, the host country was eliminated after the first two rounds when Qatar lost 2-0 against Ecuador and then 3-1 against Senegal.

Many soccer fans made fun of Qatar over their defeat, especially in the wake of situations such as making a deal with Budweiser like all host countries do, then backing out of the deal just 48 hours before the games began and not allowing vendors to sell beer in or around the stadium.

During Qatar’s match against Ecuador, Ecuadorian fans were chanting “we want beer” in Spanish in protest.

There has already been a variety of upsets that have occurred since the games began last week.

On Tuesday, Nov. 22, Saudi Arabia delivered a shock upset to Argentina by winning 2-1. Additionally, on Nov. 23, Japan upset Germany 2-1.

However, the Japanese team and fans alike stole the hearts of

The Wall Street Journal photo

Soccer match between USA and England that ended in a draw.

fans by staying behind and cleaning the stadium following the match. The Japanese team additionally left the locker room spotless, leaving behind 11 origami cranes (a symbol of honor) and a note saying thank you in Japanese and Arabic.

Besides Qatar, Canada has now been officially eliminated from contention as well, having lost to Belgium 1-0 on Nov. 23 followed by a loss to Croatia 4-1 on Nov. 27. They still have one last game, against Morocco on Dec. 1, but it will not be enough to get them to qualify for the next round.

The biggest deficit in a score so far came from the Spain-Costa Rica matchup on Nov. 23, when Spain ran Costa Rica into the ground with a final score of 7-0.

The United States maintained a streak of never losing to England when their matchup ended in a draw on Nov. 25.

This also made England the laughingstock of soccer fans, especially those in the United States, since out of their three matchups (the other two being in 1950 and 2010), the United States has won once and there have been two draws.

This has led to jokes among soccer fans that since England could not defeat the United States, it should now be called soccer since that is what the United States refers to the sport as, instead of football.

Overall, the World Cup has been a blast for everyone involved and for everyone watching. Fortunately, it is not going away anytime soon, since the final match is not scheduled until Dec. 18.

It is going to be a lot of fun wondering who will win the FIFA World Cup Trophy this time around!