Matt Mathias 

Sports Editor

mcm5909@psu.edu

The winter sports season has officially arrived with Men’s and Women’s Basketball kicking off last week. Wrestling is also in action once again as the Lions in all sports look to have successful seasons.

Before heading into the winter sports season, we should recap how the fall sports playoff teams concluded their seasons. Behrend’s women’s soccer fell versus the fifteenth ranked Wesleyan women’s soccer team by a score of 1-0. In the tightly contested match, Wesleyan outshot the Lions 21-8. The only score of the game came just after halftime. On a brighter note, Behrend finished the season with a program record for wins and losses, being 19-2.

Women’s Volleyball fell in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament to the number five seed Calvin by a score of three sets to zero (25-10, 25-22, 25-10). The Lions fought an uphill battle in this matchup as Calvin boasted a 41-22 kill advantage along with hitting for .500 in the first set. Maddie Clapper for Behrend had 15 digs, Keely Hering finished with eight kills on 21 tries, and Dani Kosslow had 17 assists. The Lions finished the season with an overall record of 22-6

Both teams that competed in the NCAA tournament have a lot to be proud of and should be applauded for great seasons.

Behrend’s men’s basketball team kicked off their season on November 10 as they faced Thiel College of Greenville, PA. The Lions secured a victory here with the score being 74-51. PJ Gourley scored a career high of 25 points in the contest also adding eight boards and four assists to his statline. Kenny Fukon was nominated as the AMCC Preseason Player of the Year going into the season. He finished the game just shy of a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds. They went on to play against Waynesburg on November 13. Behrend fell short of victory as they forced overtime and lost by a score 60-57. The Lions struggled from the field as they only went 18-55 and shot a 32.7 field goal percentage. Fukon led the Lions in scoring with 11 points with all of those points coming in the fourth quarter. Almost all of the points from the match came from their starting five. The next matchup for the men’s team will be Wednesday, November 17 versus Allegheny.

The women’s basketball team kicked off it’s season with a loss against Chatham University in Pittsburgh on November 10. The score was a tightly contested 68-60. The largest difference in the matchup came from beyond the three point arc, as Chatham flushed eight three-point shots to Behrend’s one. Alanna Dibble led the Lions in scoring with 14 points on the day. Behrend would move on to play in their season Tip-Off tournament where they were successful in winning the tournament championship. 

They defeated SUNY Canton by a score of 91-60. The Lions turned it around as they shot 44.4 percent from the field as a team. Kara Haslett turned up the heat for the Lions as she contributed 23 points to the victory. The real deficit in this game came from turnovers. SUNY Canton had an astounding 35 total turnovers compared to Behrend’s seven turnovers. 

Behrend would go on to play Grove City College for the Tip-Off tournament title where they would win 85-65. Haslett was named Tournament MVP thanks to the 36 points, 13 boards, and five assists that she contributed over two games. Haslett also adds four steals. Caitlin Carnuche scored 25 points in the championship game and was also selected to the All-Tournament team thanks to her efforts. The main difference in this matchup was also along the line of turnovers. Behrend had 23 while Grove City had 19 on the day. However, the Lions were able to capitalize on it more as they scored 25 points off of their turnovers while Grove City only scored 14 points off of Behrend’s mistakes. Good defense after turning the ball over is what helped the Lions the most. The Lions will next take on Fredonia this Wednesday at 5 P.M.