FOOTBALL
INDIANA – Redshirt freshman wide receiver Jesse Hoover of Curwensville caught two long touchdown passes and one PAT pass in Lock Haven’s biggest offensive show of the season Saturday, but the winless Bald Eagles couldn’t slow down Indiana’s Crimson Hawks and wound up on the short end of a 63-31 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division game.
Hoover hauled in a Jarrett Kratzer (Indian Valley) bomb for a 50-yard score that got Lock Haven (0-10) even, 7-7, midway through the first quarter and turned another Kratzer aerial into a 65-yard TD to set the score at 49-31 with 8:16 to play.
The latter is Lock Haven’s longest scoring play of the season.
Hoover wound up with three catches for 128 yards in the conference finale that attracted a crowd of 1,475 to Miller Stadium.
The loss was the 31st in a row for the Bald Eagles and the 29th in a row to IUP.
In nine games, Hoover is second on the team with 25 receptions for 487 yards and four TDs.
He leads in yards per catch, 19.5, and receiving yards per game, 54.1.
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ERIE – For the ninth time in 10 games, senior strong safety Nick Sipes of Curwensville was the leading tackler for Clarion with 10 total stops in a 38-14 loss to host Mercyhurst in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division action Saturday.
Urged on by most of the 1,243 fans at Tullio Field, the Lakers erased a 14-0 second quarter deficit to match the school record with their eighth win, share the West title with California and earn a berth against Bloomsburg in the PSAC championship game.
Sipes had one tackle for a loss of two yards.
He ranks third in the PSAC with 97 tackles, is tied for second in assists with 52 and is fifth in solo stops with 45.
He has been involved in 10 tackles for losses of 18 yards and also has one sack, one fumble recovery, one interception and two forced fumbles.
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OBERLIN, Ohio – Sophomore right cornerback David Kalgren of Curwensville made four tackles on pass plays, limiting Ohio Wesleyan receivers to gains of five yards or less on three of them, as Oberlin (4-5) won its North Coast Athletic Conference finale 16-12 Saturday afternoon.
Only 343 fans were on hand at Savage Stadium to see the Yeomen make it back-to-back wins for the first time since 2007 to even their NCAC record at 3-3.
Kalgren also returned one kickoff for 22 yards and one punt for 10 yards.
The 5-11, 180-pounder is Oberlin’s No. 1 tackler with 67 tackles, 55 of them solo efforts. He is tied for the team lead in interceptions with four and passes broken up with nine.
Kalgren has averaged 21.4 yards for 12 kickoff returns and 6.9 yards for 13 punt returns. He is third in all-purpose yards with 416, a 46.2 average.
In addition, he has blocked one kick.
NCAC stats show him tied for first in interceptions, third in passes defended with nine and ninth in tackles with a 7.4 average.
He tops all conference defensive backs in solo and total tackles.
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GROVE CITY – Senior wingback and special teamer Tyler Kirkwood of Frenchville played for Grove City (4-5) Saturday as the Wolverines kept alive their hopes for a .500 season with a 21-7 come-from-behind win over visiting Bethany (W.Va.) in front of 1,900 fans at Robert E. Thorn Field.
The Clearfield Area High School graduate has appeared in eight games, four as a starter on offense, for the Wolverines, now 2-4 in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference.
Kirkwood has caught one pass for nine yards and assisted on one tackle.
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WILLIAMSPORT – Sophomore wide receiver Jarrin Campman of Clearfield made his sixth appearance for Lycoming in a 28-14 loss to Middle Atlantic Conference rival Lebanon Valley at David Person Field Saturday afternoon.
A crowd of 1,145 saw the Warriors fall to 3-3 in the MAC and 5-4 overall.
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VALLEY FORGE – Sophomore Robert Foust of Clearfield saw limited action at offensive guard this season for Seaboard Conference champion Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, which closed with a 28-14 win over Valley Forge Academy Saturday.
The Battling Bulldogs, who finished 9-1, copped their seventh conference title since 2000 with a 4-0 record.
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WOMEN’S SOCCER
NEW WILMINGTON – Converting a penalty kick in a Presidents’ Athletic Conference Tournament upset victory and receiving recognition on the 2010 ESPN The Magazine Academic NCAA College Division All-District II Third Team highlighted the final week of Danielle Struble’s career for Westminster (10-10-2).
The former Curwensville Area High School standout made the third of four penalty kicks that enabled the fourth-seeded Lady Titans to advance to the PAC tourney title game by shocking regular season champion Thomas Moore at Crestview Hills, Ky., Nov. 3.
Struble just missed snapping a 1-1 tie in the first overtime when her lone shot of the game hit a post. She came through in the penalty kick shootout the Lady Titans won 4-2.
In the finals Saturday, No. 2 seed Washington & Jefferson shut out Westminster 3-0, with Struble accounting for two of the Lady Titans’ eight shots.
Her academic all-district selection was made by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) for ESPN The Magazine. To be considered for the honor, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum 3.30 cumulative grade-point average throughout her career.
Last year, Struble received Scholar All-Region third-team honors from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
The 5-7 senior led the Lady Titans in shots with 89, including 38 on goal, was tied for first in game-winning goals with four and second in scoring with 24 points on 10 goals and four assists.
In the PAC, Struble was second in shots and shots per game (4.05), tied for second in game-winning goals, sixth in points, tied for eighth in goals and tied for 10th in assists.
Her three-season totals at Westminster show 62 starts in 65 games, 19 goals and 10 assists for 48 points, seven game-winning goals and 182 shots, with 74 on goal.
As a freshman, Struble starred at Pitt-Greensburg, topping the Lady Bobcats with 18 points on five goals and eight assists and 44 shots, 24 on goal, in 20 games. She had one game-winning goal.
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WEST CHESTER – Juliana Howell of Clearfield will end her Slippery Rock (13-3-4) career in the NCAA Division II National Championships after The Rock was knocked out of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Playoffs by nationally-ranked and No. 1 seed West Chester in the semifinals Friday.
Slippery Rock, riding a school-record 13-game unbeaten record, earned an Atlantic Region berth as the No. 3 seed and will meet No. 6 seed West Virginia Wesleyan (12-3-2) Friday at California, with the winner squaring off against the No. 2 seed Lady Vulcans Sunday.
Howell did not play against West Chester (17-1-2), which advanced with a 4-3 edge in penalty kicks after the two teams deadlocked 2-2 in double overtime and then beat California (18-1-2) in similar fashion for the championship Sunday.
The senior forward subbed in the No. 3 seed Rock’s 2-1 quarterfinal road win over No. 4 seed Bloomsburg last Tuesday.
In 16 games, including seven starts, Howell has registered one game-winning goal, three assists and eight shots, five on goal.
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TEANECK, N.J. – The rookie season at St. Francis (15-4-2) for freshman midfielder/forward Brooke Mohney of Clearfield now includes a championship celebration and a NCAA Division I Tournament invitation.
The second-seeded Red Flash, which had never won a playoff game, earned the first Northeast Conference title in the 25-year history of the program by beating No. 3 seed Quinnipiac 2-2 (3-1 in penalty kick shootout) Friday and regular season champion and No. 1 seed Long Island 1-0 Saturday at Fairleigh Dickinson University Stadium.
St. Francis will make its first NCAA appearance Friday at Big 10 champion Ohio State (14-4-1), a third seed in one of the four regional tourneys.
Mohney has played in six games for the Red Flash. She has one shot on goal.
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MEN’S SOCCER
WASHINGTON – Senior midfielder John Lhota of Clearfield assisted on a late goal by Washington & Jefferson (12-3-3) that forced overtime in its Presidents’ Athletic Conference Tournament opener with Thomas More (Ky.) at Alexandre Stadium on Nov. 2, but the regular season champions were outshot 5-3 in penalty kicks after the 1-1 tie and were denied their eighth title game appearance in the last nine years.
Lhota headed Chris Whitman’s throw-in backwards toward the net, and freshman Tad Piscatelli redirected it with a header for the W & J goal at the 82:15 mark.
After avenging a 2-1 home field loss to the top-seeded Presidents on Oct. 23, No. 4 seed Thomas More went on to repeat as PAC champion with a 2-1 victory over No. 3 seed Bethany Saturday.
W & J’s season has been extended with an invite to the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Division III South Tournament.
The Presidents, seeded second behind Penn State Behrend, will host PAC runner-up Grove City (13-5-2) in a 6 p.m. quarterfinal Wednesday, with the winner advancing to Saturday’s semifinals.
Lhota is fifth on the team in points with eight on two goals and four assists. He’s also fifth in shots with 22, all but six of them on goal.
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BUFFALO, N.Y. – Host and No. 2 seed Medaille ended the season for freshman midfielder Kurtis Graham of Clearfield and his Penn State Altoona teammates with a 2-0 shutout in an Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Tournament semifinal at All High Stadium Nov. 3.
Graham saw more than 25 minutes of action for the No. 3 seed Lions, who were limited to just three shots and finished with an 11-10 record.
Graham played in 20 games with three assists and 15 shots, eight on goal.
Medaille claimed its fifth title in six years by squeezing past regular season champion and top seed Penn State Behrend at Erie Saturday. The Mavericks held the Lions to five shots, none on goal, in the double-overtime scoreless tie and then won with a 5-4 edge in penalty kicks.
