Oneonta State opened its men's lacrosse season Wednesday with a 17-4 non-conference home loss to sixth-ranked Ithaca College.
The Bombers (3-0) spoiled the O-State debut of coach Dan Mahar, a former Red Dragons assistant who took over when Stewart Moan stepped down last year.
Ithaca held a 2-0 lead after one quarter and a 6-3 advantage at halftime. Junior Dennis Headrick scored O-State's first goal of the season, on a man-up opportunity 16 seconds into the second quarter. Senior Tyler Dunne and classmate Tony Delia also scored in the second period.
Sophomore Matt Harvey scored 38 seconds into the third quarter to pull O-State within 6-4, but the Bombers scored the last 11 goals.
Midfielder Harvey and senior Peter Glass returned to the field Wednesday for the first time since 2006. O-State sports information director Geoff Hassard said Wednesday that Harvey's absence last season was related to academics and that Glass missed last year because of an injury.
The two finished 1-2, respectively, in scoring for the 2006 team, which earned an Eastern College Athletic Conference berth. Harvey had 21 goals and six assists in 2006 en route to SUNYAC Rookie of the Year honors.
Senior co-captains Kevin Gregory and Chris Duffy also return, along with junior Adam Johnson. The defensive trio will front goalies Kyle Reich and Nick Murray. Reich had 10 saves Wednesday. Murray, who made no saves, went 6-5 last season, when he had a 9.56 goals against average and a .580 save percentage in 12 appearances (10 starts).
Sophomore Scott Weiner, who had an assist Wednesday, finished second in team scoring last season with 18 goals and nine assists. He's back, along with senior Gordon Bopp (14 goals, 4 assists in 2007).
Senior midfielder Dunne also returns after leading the Red Dragons with 34 points last season (27 goals, 7 assists), when he earned first-team All-SUNYAC honors.
Senior Tim Burns, junior John Carberry and sophomore John Campbell are also back at midfield, which should get a boost from Headrick, who transferred from Division I Albany. Freshmen Scott Kellman, Tom Kelly and Tyler Gore are also expected to be in Oneonta's regular rotation this season.
O-State, which went 12-5 last season, plays Clarkson at SUNY Potsdam at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Ithaca 17, O-State 4
Ithaca2 4 6 5 _ 17
Oneonta State0 3 1 0 _ 4
Ithaca (3-0): Matt Nelligan 3-0, Logan Bobzien 2-4, Alec Seifert 2-1, Nic Heckman 2-1, Tim Pfeffer 2-1, Kevin Bush 2-0, Craig Lepiane 1-1, Mike Giunta 1-0, Neth Wiedermann 1-0, Chris Carman 1-0, Mike Nowak 0-1.
Oneonta State (0-1): Dennis Headrick 1-0, Tyler Dunne 1-0, Tony Delia 1-0, Matt Harvey 1-1, Scott Weiner 0-1.
Shots: I, 41-36. Ground balls: I, 40-33.
Man-up opportunities I 4-for-6; O 1-for-4.
Penalties: I 4-for-3:30; O 7-for-6:00.
Goalies: Ben Connery (I) 16, David Gal (I) 4, Collin Meadow (I) 0; Kyle Reich (O) 10, Nick Murray (O) 0.
Baseball
Cobleskill starts Sunday
SUNY Cobleskill looks to improve on an 11-25 season with six returning players this spring. Third-year coach Bill Makarowski will lead the Fighting Tigers into their season opener at 1 p.m. Sunday against Itasca Community College. The opener will be played in Port Charlotte, Fla.
Cobleskill, which lost five pitchers from last season's team, will rely heavily on freshmen Matt Greene and Tom Wiener as the top two in its rotation. Senior Matt Hansen, a standout at third base last season, will pitch and play first base this spring. Tim Capitummino, Dan Beck, Joe Staunch and Cobleskill-Richmondville product Sebastian LaMountain round out the Fighting Tigers' pitching staff.
Walton graduate Nate Shelton will start at catcher and will be backed up by Ray Newbauer (Bainbridge-Guilford) and Matt Guerrido.
Senior Tristan Massalay-Ellis is the sole returner in the outfield. He batted .301 and drove in 28 runs last season. Capitummino will play center when he is not pitching.
Chris Pietrowski, another C-R graduate, will play third. Staunch and LaMountain will split time at shortstop, and Matt Rutherford will play second.
Nick Poleto is slated as the designated hitter. He had nine extra-base hits and 24 RBIs last season.
Men's Basketball
Empire 8 All-Conference
Hartwick junior Jan Cocozziello received second-team All-Empire 8 Conference honors for the second straight season. Cocozziello averaged 22.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists for the Hawks, who went 10-15.
Cocozziello finished the regular season as the Empire 8 scoring leader. He holds a 0.4-points per game margin over Joe Canori, whose season with Nazareth is still going with playoffs.
Cocozziello also is tied for 10th in E8 rebounds and is 10th in free throw percentage (.730). Cocozziello will enter his final year ranked seventh among Hartwick scorers with 1,374 points _ 10 behind Jerry Fulmer for sixth.
Greg Bankowski earned Hartwick's sportsman of the year for men's basketball.
NJCAA All-Region
SUNY Cobleskill senior forward Stanley Francois earned first-team honors on the All-NJCAA Region III Division III Team, the college announced last week.
Senior forward Anthony Armstead made the second team and senior Harley Fuller earned a spot on the third team. The Fighting Tigers qualified for NJCAA Division III Championship Tournament, which runs March 13-15 at SUNY Delhi.
Cobleskill named senior guard Darryl Burns Jr. its athlete of the week.
Burns earned MVP honors during the NJCAA Region III Division III Tournament at Herkimer Community College last weekend. He averaged 11.7 points and 3.0 assists during the tournament to help the Fighting Tigers (25-6) to their third regional title.
SUNY Delhi's Monte Cumberbatch received third-team All-Region III and second-team All-Mountain Valley Conference honors. He finished with a team-best 20.1 points per game, which ranks 16th among NJCAA Division III players.
All-SUNYAC
Oneonta State senior Bobby Fisk received third-team honors from the SUNY Athletic Conference after averaging a team-best 15.1 points for the Red Dragons (12-14). Fisk also hit a team-best 83 three-point shots.
Women's Basketball
Empire 8 All-Conference
Hartwick's Samantha Galm received an honorable mention from the Empire 8 Conference.
Galm averaged a team-best 10 points and grabbed 6.7 rebounds per game. She also connected on 37 of 98 three-point attempts, which ranked third in league accuracy. Galm is 17th in the E8 in scoring and tied for 10th in rebounding.
Katie Caddell earned Hartwick's sportswoman of the year for women's basketball.
MVC All-Conference
SUNY Delhi's Nicole Beauregard received Coach of the Year from the Mountain Valley Conference, which also honored All-Region III picks Shataya McComb and Kassie Tiller (South Kortright).
McComb led the Broncos (16-10) in rebounds (8 per game) and assists (5 pg). She also finished second in team scoring, at 11 per game, en route to third-team all-region and second-team all-MVC.
Tiller earned a regional honorable mention and was a third-team all-conference pick.
NJCAA All-Region
SUNY Cobleskill freshman center Shelley Pierson and senior forward April Ackermann earned spots on the NJCAA All-Region III Division III Team, the college announced last week.
The duo helped the Fighting Tigers to a 24-4 overall record and an appearance in the NJCAA Region III Division III championship game this winter.
All-SUNYAC
Oneonta State sophomore guard Sara Chrystie (Oxford) earned second-team honors from the SUNY Athletic Conference after leading the Red Dragons in scoring at 10.8 points per game.
She'll look to increase her team-best totals of 126 assists and 50 steals when O-State (19-8) hosts the Eastern College Athletic Conference Upstate New York Tournament this weekend.
Swimming
Empire 8 All-Conference
Two Hartwick College swimmers earned first-team All-Empire 8 Conference accolades for winning their respective events at the conference championships last weekend.
Kevin Milkovich, the 400-yard individual medley champion and Hartwick's sportsman of the year in men's swimming, and 100 butterfly winner Steve VanDuzer made the first team.
Hartwick also had second-team selections in Eric Goble (200 breaststroke) and its 200 free relay team of VanDuzer, Paul Layton, Ian Kimball and Craig Leaness.
Indoor Track
SUNYAC All-Conference
Four Oneonta State men earned All-SUNY Athletic Conference honors for their performance last weekend at the SUNYAC Championships. SUNYAC winners earned first-team accolades while runner-ups made the second team.
Junior Eric Theiss made the first team as the 400-meter champion.
Senior Alex Grout (mile), junior Joe Reed (200) and sophomore Fred Romer (800) received second-team accolades.
Theiss, Reed and Romer are all members of Oneonta's 1,600 relay team, which includes Frank Pfaffenberger. O-State is ranked fourth among relay squads that have provisionally qualified for the March 14-15 NCAA Division III Championships at Ohio Northern University.
Grout was among 150 men to earn Division III All-Academic honors for cross country from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The award honors student-athletes who carried a minimum 3.5 cumulative grade point average and finished in the top 25 percent of the field at their respective NCAA regional meet this past fall.
Grout also helped O-State's men earn an All-Academic Team award from the same organization, for holding a team GPA of 3.10 and scoring in the regional meet.
Oneonta freshman Celia Alterio was among the 203 Division III females honored.
O-State named Romer and fellow sophomore Amberlyn Mattice its athletes of the week.
Romer hit the ECAC qualifying mark in the 800 meters at the NYU Fastrack Invitational on Friday with an 11th-place time of 1:55.35. He also ran a personal-best 800 split of 1:54.0 on the winning distance medley relay team (10:02.88).
Mattice ran a personal-best 2:19.13 in the 800 at the Fastrack Invitational to qualify for ECACs. She also teamed with Connie Belkevich, Kristen Stein and Jeanine Sacca to improve their 1,600 relay time by more than four seconds, at 4:06.44.
Wrestling
NCAA D-III Championships
O-State senior Trevor Hiffa will enter the NCAA Division III Championships as the top seed at 285 pounds. The tournament runs Friday and Saturday at Cornell College in Grand Rapids, Iowa.
An All-American as a fourth-place finisher last season, Hiffa is looking to become O-State's first national champion. Hiffa is 26-1 overall this season, including 26-0 against D-III opponents. His loss came against a D-I wrestler from Cornell during the New York State Collegiate Tournament.
Hiffa has 135 victories in four seasons, including his first as a freshman at Rochester Institute of Technology.
Hiffa will open against unseeded Luke Panizzi of York College (Pa.). Hiffa earned a 4-1 decision over Panizzi in the semifinals of Oneonta's season-opening tournament at King's College.
Should Hiffa advance to the quarterfinals, he will face eighth-seeded Dan Laurent of Wisconsin La Crosse. Laurent drew a first-round bye at 285 pounds, which features 13 wrestlers.
The national semifinals of the double-elimination tournament are set for Saturday morning and will be followed by the championships at 6 p.m. Saturday. The top eight wrestlers in each weight class will earn All-American honors.
For more information and tournament results, visit the website www.coe.edu/ncaawrestling.
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