UMPI squads remain busy
UMPI golfers finish well at USCAA Nationals
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — A record 25 teams and 130 golfers travelled to Pennsylvania for the 2014 USCAA Golf National Championships. After two days and 36 holes, the Daemen College Wildcats secured their third straight championship, defeating second-place finisher Rochester College by seven strokes.
Owl golfers Reynold Brown and Noah Bernard, a Fort Fairfield native, fared well in the two-day affair, finishing 23rd and 57th, respectively.
Brown, a highly decorated four-year member of the Owl program, started the day jumbled with several golfers who were tied for 27th, but just four strokes back of top-five finish after his first round of 81. Brown was amazingly consistent on day two, but with eight putts finishing just millimeters of dropping in the freshly-cut holes, he saw his goal of a top-five finish fall to the unkind golf gods.
Finishing tied for 23rd place with a combined 161, Brown completed a tremendous career that places him among the very best UMPI golfers, winning 10 individual tournament titles and anchoring a golf program that has won 11 team tournament titles in the 31 events he has participated in. Brown finished the 2012 season as a USCAA All-American, finishing seventh at the national tourney.
Freshman Bernard showed signs of great potential after putting an 82 up on the scoreboard after a first round where his short game was outstanding. Day two would humble the rookie a bit, but it was his work off the tees that shined and kept him competitive on the long and challenging Penn State Blue course. Twice Bernard parred the incredibly long 602-yard, par-5 12th hole.
The rookie registered an 88 on day two to finish at 170 for the match.
Women’s volleyball splits matches against Pine Manor
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Pine Manor took a 3-0 (25-11, 25-19, 25-20) sweep in the first match of Saturday’s doubleheader against UM-Presque Isle before the Owls came back to win the second match, 3-2 (16-25, 25-19, 25-27, 25-22, 15-11).
After Pine Manor won the opening match, the second match of the day turned into a five-set battle. Match two started much like the first as Pine Manor won the first six points of the first set. With the score 9-5 in favor of Pine Manor, the Gators went on another five-point rally to extend their lead to nine. Owen had three of her aces in that series. Pine Manor never trailed in the set and went on to win 25-16.
The Owls got their first multi-point lead of the day in the second set. With the score tied at six, UMPI won the next five points, helped along by a pair of kills by Owl Shannon Brown. They would not trail again in the set and went on to win, 25-19.
Set three of match two was the tightest of the day, with both teams going on extensive rallies. With the score tied at 14, the teams traded five-point runs to tie the score at 19. They then traded four-point rallies to tie the score at 23. Pine Manor was the next team to win two successive points and eventually took the set, 27-25.
The Owls would take the fourth set, 25-22, thanks in part to a run when they won 12 of 14 points to go from down four to up five. They held on for the rest of the fourth to force a fifth and decisive set.
The Owls never trailed in set number five as they opened up an 8-3 lead before the changeover. Pine Manor got within two, but couldn’t overcome the early deficit as the Owls earned the split with the 15-11 victory.
UMPI, now 2-21, will close out its regular season today when it visits Maine Maritime Academy for a doubleheader starting at 5 p.m.
The Owls and Pine Manor (9-17) could see each other again this season, as both squads will soon play for the Great South Athletic Conference Championship. The GSAC tourney will be hosted by Salem College and starts Nov. 7.
Owl harriers compete in state championship meet
FARMINGTON — A bit of additional rest showed benefits as four members of the men’s cross country contingent set personal bests over an improved but still very hilly five-mile course at Mount Blue High School Saturday during the Maine State Championships.
Sub six-minute opening miles by front runners Saul Nunez (5:46) and Trevor Levesque (5:47), both of Presque Isle, set the pace for the Owl five. Close behind were Ron Lund of Caribou and Andrew Nesbitt of Williamstown, Mass., through in 5:55 and 6:32, respectively.
Christian Lunn of Presque Isle crossed this point at 7:42 en route to his all-time best time of 41:50, an improvement of 2:14 relative to the typically 8K run.
Lund crossed the line at 31:49 in 99th position.
Levesque’s extensive summer training volume showed as his efforts over the final mile brought him to within two seconds of Nunez at the line. Nunez was 78th in 30:32 and Levesque 80th in 30:34. Nunez dropped 1:15 off his previous best while Levesque bettered his by 15 seconds.
The Owls have an off week now as they prepare for the USCAA National Championships coming up in Syracuse, N.Y.
Some members of the Owl women’s squad continued improving, while others battled through nagging injuries as they took on all colleges and universities in the state except for NCAA Div. I power University of Maine.
Newcomer Becky Bowers, a freshman from Burlington, was the early pace setter for the Owls as she ran a very controlled first two miles in cruising the first at 8:16. Holly Bouvier followed closely behind at 8:51, running with a hip flexor strain but looking her typically intense self in her efforts.
The Owls’ finishing order after Bowers was Katrina McPherson (134th, 30:07), Bouvier (135th, 30:10), Misty Steward (138th, 31:41), Sara Sullivan (139th, 31:45) and Shawna McDonough (143rd, 32:32).
Men’s soccer team loses 3
Pine Manor midfielder Mahamadou Coulibaly played a role in both goals as his team closed out its inaugural season with a 2-1 win over UM-Presque Isle Oct. 17 at Hedley Field in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Sophomore back Erik Gumaer led the Owls with five shots, including three put on frame. Goalkeeper Caleb Bragg-Grady made five saves for the visitors.
Pine Manor grabbed the early 2-0 lead, but the Owls cut the Gator advantage in half as senior midfielder RJ Jones headed in a cross from junior Seth Cote to make the score.
UMPI had a great chance to tie the game in the 86th minute as Joshua Allen was able to put his shot on target, but the Gators keeper stabbed the kick to preserve the 2-1 victory.
In Boston Oct. 18, Sophomore Tyler Gahara converted an UMPI mistake in the second minute of action to give the Falcons the lead and they never looked back on their way to 5-1 victory.
Owl back Dan Swallow scored his team’s only goal, taking a pass from sophomore Gumaer and putting home the goal at the 30-minute mark of the first half.
On Saturday, Justin Soontiens scored twice to lead USCAA’s top-ranked UMFK Bengals to a one-sided 9-0 victory over the Owls. Stuart Conway added three assists for the Bengals.
UMPI was outshot 35-1 in the match.
Women’s soccer squad drops three matches
For the first time in school history, the Fisher College Falcons defeated the UMPI Owls, winning 4-2 Oct. 18 at Hormel Stadium in Boston.
Trailing only 1-0 at halftime, the Owls allowed two more Falcon goals before senior Jasmine Cote, from Limestone, tallied her first career goal at the 64:03 mark.
Owl keeper Allison Lopez made 12 saves on the day.
Senior Avalon Amador scored two goals and two assists in UMaine-Farmington’s 4-0 victory over UMPI.
Allison Lopez saved 15 shots for the Owls, who were outshot 40-3 in the match. The Beavers also held a 12-1 edge in corner kicks.
At UMPI Saturday, freshman Catherine Bruno had a hat trick to lead UMFK over UMPI 8-0.
