Sophomore Anna Zambricki recorded the third hat trick of her career to lead the No. 5 women’s soccer team to a 3-0 victory at Case Western Reserve University Oct. 28 in Cleveland, Ohio. With the win, WUSTL claimed the UAA’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament and at least a share of its eighth conference championship.
The Bears also posted wins last week over Millikin University (5-0) Oct. 23 and University of Rochester (2-1, OT) Oct. 26. Sophomore Lillie Toapsern scored both goals for the Bears in the come-from-behind win at Rochester Friday.
WUSTL (15-1-1, 5-0-1 UAA) closes out regular-season play Saturday, Nov. 3, against University of Chicago at home. Game time is set for noon at Francis Field. Prior to the contest, WUSTL will honor its nine senior members who will play their final regular-season home game.
Men’s cross country wins UAA title, women finish fourth
The men’s cross country team won its third-consecutive conference championship, while the women’s team finished fourth overall at the University Athletic Association (UAA) Cross Country Championships Saturday in Rochester, N.Y.
Junior Kevin Sparks won the men’s individual title to lead the WUSTL men to the team championship. The Bears scored 52 points to finish ahead of runner-up New York University (60). On the women’s side, sophomore Lucy Cheadle claimed the individual championship, helping the Bears to a fourth-place finish. Head coach Jeff Stiles, along with assistant coaches Lane Lohr, Zach Griffen, John Laughlin, David Baker and Amy Wilfert, were named the UAA Men’s Coaching Staff of the Year for the fifth time overall and the third year in a row.
Sparks led a group of five top-20 finishers for the WUSTL men, winning the 8K race in a time of 25:02.5. He became just the third runner in school history to win the UAA men’s cross country title, joining Tim Julien (1998-99) and Michael Burnstein (2010-11), who each won back-to-back titles for the Bears.
Cheadle won the women’s race by more than 30 seconds, clocking a winning time of 21:26.8 on the 6K course. She is the seventh runner in WUSTL women’s cross country history to win the UAA individual title.
Sparks and Cheadle were named the UAA Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Runners of the Year, while also receiving first-team all-UAA honors. Senior David Hamm also earned first-team all-UAA honors for the WUSTL men with a sixth-place finish, after being a second-team honoree the past two seasons. Sophomore Andrew Padgett, who finished 12th for the WUSTL men, picked up second-team all-UAA recognition.
The Washington University cross country teams have a week off before competing in the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 10, in Oshkosh, Wis.
Football celebrates senior day with 15-3 win over Carnegie Mellon
Freshman Alex Hallwachs tied a school record with three field goals to lead the football team to a 15-3 win over Carnegie Mellon University in the University Athletic Association (UAA) opener for both teams Saturday at Francis Field in St. Louis.
Prior to the contest, WUSTL honored its 13 seniors who played their final game at Francis Field. The Class of 2013 has an overall record of 20-18 (.526), including a 7-3 mark in 2010.
After being shutout in the first half, Hallwachs was the story for the Bears in the third quarter. He attempted all four of his field goals in the quarter – connecting on kicks of 33, 46 and 41 yards. Hallwachs is the fourth player in school history to make three field goals in a game.
WUSTL sealed the victory with a long touchdown midway through the fourth quarter. On third-and-8, junior Eric Daginella connected with sophomore Ryan Lubatkin on a bubble screen and Lubatkin did the rest of the work going 43 yards to extend the lead to 15-3.
Washington University’s defense shut down the high-powered offense of Carnegie Mellon for the game and limited the Tartans to a season-low 226 yards of total offense. The Tartans entered conference play leading the league in total offense (443.9) and scoring (34.4). Carnegie Mellon was limited to 82 yards of offense in the second half. Junior linebacker Peter Lowery led the defensive unit with eight tackles, while sophomore defensive back Chris Seager added six tackles and junior defensive lineman Nelson Nwumeh had six tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and one sack. Junior defensive lineman Seth Wight added five tackles, two tackles for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble. As a team, WUSTL had nine tackles for loss, five break-ups, four sacks, two forced fumbles and one interception.
Daginella connected on 12-of-26 passes for 171 yards and a TD in his fourth-career start. Senior Drew Sexton (three catches, 48 yards), senior Trevor LaBarge (two catches, 53 yards) and Lubatkin (two catches, 50 yards) led the receiving core for WUSTL. The Bears also had great success running the football, picking up 157 yards on 39 carries: senior Chris Castelluccio (17 carries, 58 yards), Daginella (nine carries, 52 yards) and sophomore Zach Lonneman (nine carries, 47 yards).
Washington University (3-5, 1-0 UAA) continues conference play with a road game at Case Western University Saturday, Nov. 3. Kickoff is set for noon (ET) in Cleveland, Ohio.
Volleyball closes season with three wins at Halloween Invitational
The No. 1 volleyball team improved to 27-2 overall and 17-0 at home this season with three wins at the Halloween Invitational held Friday and Saturday at the WUSTL Field House.
The Bears swept Alverno College, before celebrating senior night with a four-set win over No. 24 Juniata College Friday. WUSTL closed its regular-season schedule with a four-set win over St. Ambrose University Saturday. Junior right-side hitter Tessa Blood, senior outside hitter Drew Hargrave, and senior libero Kelly Pang were named to the all-tournament team for the Bears.
Hargrave led WUSTL’s offensive attack, averaging 4.78 kills per set, while hitting better than .350 in the three wins. Blood was a key for the Bears in the win over Juniata, posting a double-double of 10 kills and 11 digs, while hitting .391 with just one error on 23 swings in the match. Pang topped the 30-dig match against Juniata and St. Ambrose, recording 30 and 33 digs, respectively. She brought her season total to 581, which ranks fifth on the WUSTL all-time single-season leaders list, and gives her four of the top-eight single-season marks in school history.
The Bears honored defensive specialist Meg Buker, setter Marilee Fisher, Hargrave, Pang and student assistant coach Emmy Luenemann during senior night prior to Friday’s match against Juniata. This year’s seniors have helped the Bears compile a 130-12 (.915 winning percentage) in their four seasons on the Danforth Campus.
Washington University returns to action at the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship tournament Friday and Saturday, Nov. 2-3, in Atlanta. The Bears are the No. 3 seed in the tournament and will face sixth-seeded University of Rochester at 2 p.m. (ET) in the quarterfinals of the tournament. WUSTL earned a sweep of the Yellowjackets when the teams played at the first UAA Round Robin Sept. 29 in Chicago.
Men’s soccer stuns No. 15 Rochester, tops Case in double overtime
The men’s soccer team kept its University Athletic Association (UAA) title hopes alive with a pair of exciting road wins over the weekend.
Junior Michael Flowers scored the lone goal of the match as WUSTL upset No. 15 University of Rochester Friday night in Rochester, N.Y. It marked the Bears’ first win over the Yellowjackets since 2002 and first in Rochester since 1999.
Sunday afternoon, senior Zachary Query scored the game-winning goal in the 102nd minute to give WUSTL a 3-2 win in double overtime in rainy and windy conditions at Case Western Reserve University. Query took a cross from Flowers in the box and tapped it into the net for his four-career game-winning goal.
The Spartans took a 1-0 lead early, but junior Jeremy Kirkwood scored off an assist from Query in the 42nd minute to tie the score. With five seconds left in the first half, Query scored his first goal of the season on a rebound in the box after junior Nik Patel’s shot was saved and deflected out by the Case goalkeeper. The Spartans scored in the 83rd minute to knot the score at 2-2, sending the match to overtime, before Query’s goal in the second overtime won it for the Bears.
WUSTL improved to 10-4-1 overall and 4-2 in the UAA, moving the Bears into second place in the conference standings and just one point behind Carnegie Mellon University with one match remaining in the regular season.
The Bears host University of Chicago (8-4-4, 2-3-1 UAA) for senior day at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3, at Francis Field. Prior to the contest, WUSTL will honor its five seniors who will be playing their final regular-season match for the Bears.
Women’s swimming & diving defeats DePauw, men fall to Tigers
The women’s swimming & diving team won nine of 16 events to earn a 171-125 dual-meet win over DePauw University Saturday afternoon in Greencastle, Ind. On the men’s side, DePauw earned a 193.5-86.5 win over the Bears.
Freshman Amanda Stadermann had a big day for the WUSTL women, winning three individual events and claiming a fourth first-place finish as a member of the Bears’ winning 200-medley relay team. Freshman Katie Anderson (200 backstroke), junior Chi Pham (100 backstroke), freshman Kristalyn McAfee (500 freestyle), sophomore Sara Taege (200 freestyle), and the 400-freestyle relay team also won their events for the WUSTL women.
Junior Brian Carpenter posted the only two event wins for the WUSTL men. He raced to season-best times to win the 100 and 200 breaststroke events. Overall, the men’s and women’s teams combined to post 17 season-best times at the meet.
The Washington University swimming & diving teams host their second home meet of the season Saturday, Nov. 3, at the Millstone Pool. The Bears will face fellow University Athletic Association (UAA) school University of Chicago in a dual scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
Women’s basketball ranked No. 9 in preseason top-25 poll
The women’s basketball team is ranked ninth in the 2012 D3Hoops.com preseason top-25 poll. The Bears also begin the season as the No. 16 team in the DIII News preseason poll.
WUSTL returns four players with starting experience from last year’s team that finished 21-6 overall and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 23rd-consecutive season. In addition, head coach Nancy Fahey, who became the first NCAA Division III player or coach to be inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in June, begins her 27th season at Washington University with a 617-112 record.
The Bears open the 2012-13 season by hosting the 12th Annual McWilliams Classic Friday and Saturday, Nov. 16-17, at the Field House. The Bears will take on Buena Vista University in the season opener for both teams. Lake Forest College and Ohio Northern University also will compete in the McWilliams Classic.
Softball honored by NFCA with third-highest GPA in Division III
In addition to having success on the field in 2012, the softball team also scored well off the field with the third-highest team GPA in Division III, according to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Academic Team Rankings.
The Bears posted a team cumulative GPA of 3.57 for the 2011-12 academic year, which was also tops in the University Athletic Association (UAA). This past spring, Washington University had four student-athletes earn 2012 Capital One First-Team Academic All-District honors in Ashley Janssen, Maggie Mullen, Kelsey Neal and Sondra Polonsky. In addition, Neal earned third-team Capital One Academic All-America accolades, becoming the fifth player in school history to achieve the honor.
Additionally, WUSTL had 10 student-athletes earn UAA All-Academic honors: Alyssa Abramoski, Olivia Cook, Claire Downs, Janssen, Mullen, Neal, Kathy Peter, Polonsky, Rebecca Salisbury and Hilary Stepansky.
WUSTL recorded a 28-12 overall record a year ago, its 10th-straight season with 25 or more wins. The Bears also tied for second in the UAA Conference Tournament with a 4-4 mark.