Westmoreland campus clippings: Pitt-Greensburg women's soccer sweeps conference honors

The women’s soccer team at Pitt-Greensburg made some more room for postseason awards as it played in the NCAA Division III Tournament.

UPG, which fell 6-1 to Case Western Reserve over the weekend in the first round, swept the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference hardware.

Senior forward Ashley Lucas was the offensive player of the year, junior Mylah Pannebaker the defensive player of the year, freshman Megan Hickey the newcomer of the year, and Chuck Wigle the coach of the year.

All three players also made first-team all-conference, along with teammates Maya Wertelet, a freshman midfielder, and freshman goalkeeper Hailey Kepner.

Lucas also won the top offensive award in 2019 when she also was the top newcomer.

Lucas and Hickey tied for the conference lead in goals with 18, and Lucas led the AMCC in assists (10) and points (46).

Pannebaker led a back line that allowed only two goals in conference play.

Wigle picked up the 100th win over his coaching career this season.

Lucas had the lone goal in the NCAA Tournament loss. UPG finished 16-4-1.

Football

Grove City: Freshman Ian Demeri (Penn-Trafford) ran for 51 yards and scored a touchdown, and also tied junior Cole DeFillippo (Penn-Trafford) with four tackles, while freshman Nathan Kadosh-Harris (Norwin) had an interception as the Wolverines (7-3, 5-3 PAC) handled Thiel, 66-6.

Old Dominion: Redshirt junior Robert Kennedy (Jeannette) had eight tackles in a 37-3 loss to James Madison.

Saint Vincent: Senior Brady Walker threw for 322 yards and three touchdowns, junior Molayo Irefin had five receptions for 146 yards and two touchdowns, and sophomore running back D.J. Gray ran for a career-high 140 yards as the Bearcats powered past Bethany, 36-7, to improve to 5-5 overall and 5-3 in the PAC.

Irefin, who had a 90-yard TD catch, was named the PAC Offensive Player of the Week.

Senior Ahmad Shaw and junior Nathan Ault had interceptions on the defensive side of the ball for the Bearcats.

Seton Hill: Redshirt senior linebacker Jaylen McDuffie continued to push through opposing offensive lines, recorded 11 tackles, and senior defensive back Alton Jones had 10 tackles and two interceptions, but the Griffins dropped a 14-10 decision to Millersville. Junior Mark Bails had six receptions for 108 yards and a touchdown for Seton Hill (2-9).

McDuffie was named the DC Touchdown Club Washington Metro College Player of the Week after his performance Nov. 5.

McDuffie made 13 tackles and recorded 4.5 sacks in the Griffins’ 7-0 win over Mercyhurst.

McDuffie, a fourth-year starter, is the Griffins’ all-time leader in tackles with 348.

Washington & Jefferson: Junior linebacker Justin Johns (Franklin Regional) had nine tackles in a 56-0 win over Waynesburg.

Men’s soccer

Indiana: Junior forward Nate Ward (Greensburg Central Catholic) and the Hoosiers advanced to the Big Ten championship for the sixth straight year. Ward had appeared in 17 games and scored a goal for the Hoosiers (10-3-6).

Penn State Behrend: Senior defender Justin LeDonne (Franklin Regional) and sophomore forward Blake Cooper (Franklin Regional) were named to the All-AMCC First Team.

Pitt-Greensburg: Freshman Caleb Yuricha (Norwin) was named the AMCC Newcomer of the Year.

Yuricha netted 13 goals and added four assists, and led the conference with 30 points.

Fourth-year coach Marc Bucci was tabbed the conference coach of the year.

The Bobcats fell to Penn State Behrend, 1-0, in the second round of the ECAC Tournament in Erie to close the season at 9-7-4.

They defeated Penn State Altoona, 2-0, in the opener as Yuricha and junior Jason Argueta scored and junior goalkeeper Danny Rodgers earned the shutout.

Westminster: Grad student Tyler Caterino (Monessen) was named to the All-PAC First Team. The forward led the Titans with 12 goals and nine assists for 33 points.

The goals and points totals ranked second in the conference.

Women’s volleyball

Saint Vincent: Senior setter Carly Augustine (Latrobe) was named to the All-PAC First Team. Augustine averaged 2.3 kills, 4.4 assists and 3.4 digs per set for the Bearcats. She had six triple-doubles.

Augustine is a three-time all-conference selection.

Women’s cross country

Point Park: Junior Allison Plassio (Norwin) finished 17th in 20 minutes, 56 seconds, and senior Natalia Zucco (Greensburg Salem) was 25th (21:22) as the Pioneers won the River States Conference Championship.

Point Park has seven runners place inside the top 25 and competed in 25 MPH winds in Kokomo, Ind.

Women’s swimming

Grove City: Freshman Annika Albright (Franklin Regional) won the 200-yard freestyle in 2 minutes, 4.33 seconds as the Wolverines moved to 3-0 with a 158-122 win over Saint Vincent.

Albright was named the PAC Rookie of the Week.