Special to the OBSERVER
GENEVA - The Fredonia State women's soccer team scored in the 30th minute and held off No. 1 ranked William Smith for a 1-0 win in a non-league match on Saturday afternoon. The Blue Devils improve to 4-1-0, while the Herons are now 4-1-1.
"We're extremely excited," an elated Fredonia State coach Chris Case said. "I think some of the girls had doubts that we could beat them, but we tried to erase those doubts in practice as the week went on."
Fredonia State's Catie Hale pushed a pass ahead to Katie Kleine who beat her defender and placed a shot just inside the left post and out of the reach of the diving Heron goalie, junior Chelsea Dunay. The goal that came 29:33 into the match was all the Blue Devils would need to secure the win.
"I thought Katie Kleine had a tremendous game for us today," Case added. "Not just because she scored the goal. She just did so much for us. She was able to create some dangerous situations for our team."
William Smith came close to scoring on a few occasions to open the second frame.
"They came out in the second half ... and much of our time was spent defending our own end early on," Case commented. "We defended well and were able to offset their edge in shots."
One of the William Smith's best scoring chances came in the 55th minute. Sophomore Madeline Buckley banged a shot off the crossbar. Senior Whitney Frary collected the rebound, but fired wide of the net. With 5:52 remaining in the match, senior Renee Jensen sent a pass to sophomore MaryClaire Pelletier who was right out in front of the goal. Her header went just inches wide of the right post.
The Herons outshot the Blue Devils 18-4 and earned seven corners in the second half. Overall, the Herons finished with a 22-7 lead in shots and a 9-1 edge in corners.
"I can't tell you how many times we blocked shots or prevented a shot from even happening," Case continued. "We've proven we've been tough to score on."
The Devils also had a near miss. With about eight minutes to go, there was a flurry of action in front of the William Smith net. The Devils' first shot beat the Heron goaltender, but was blocked by a defender. "We had about three shots inside of 12 yards and almost made it 2-0" said Case.
Meaghan Meszaros made six saves in net for Fredonia State. Dunay finished with two saves in all 90 minutes in goal for William Smith.
Fredonia State hosts St. John Fisher Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
Men's Soccer
Devils down Otterbein
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO - The Fredonia State men's soccer team defeated Otterbein, 2-0, for its first win of the season on Saturday.
"It's kind of too bad we had to come this far west to get our first win," Fredonia State head coach P.J. Gondek said. "I think this trip has been good for us. I don't think we're a 1-7 team. I think it's been a combination of a few different things. We've had some injuries, we're fatigued and we've struggled a little bit with our system."
Senior midfielder Ryan Smith scored his first goal of the season shooting it to the far post from a pass by freshman midfielder Patrick Schuber in the 29th minute.
Junior midfielder Josh Best put the Blue Devils up 2-0 by scoring his first goal of the year off a loose ball from a free kick in the 71st minute. Tyler Williams and Jake Persons were credited with assists.
"We've basically changed to a more aggressive system," Gondek said. "And it seems to be working and we're hoping we made the change just in time and it will carry us into SUNYAC play."
Sophomore goalkeeper Mike Schreiner recorded five saves for his first shutout of the season.
The Blue Devils had a huge scoring chance in the 23rd minute when freshman defender Mike Biggane drilled a shot on net, but it bounced off the crossbar and ended the opportunity.
The Devils are now 1-7 and open up SUNYAC play at University Stadium on September 21st vs. Geneseo at 4 p.m.
Women's Cross Country
Women finish 15th at Yellowjacket Invite
ROCHESTER - The Fredonia State women's cross country team finished 15th out of 23 teams at the Yellowjacket Invitational Saturday. Six runners turned in personal-best times.
"It was a perfect day to run - it was dry and cool," said head coach Tom Wilson. "Just about everybody turned in personal bests for the women."
Leslie Beaton was Fredonia State's highest finisher. Beaton finished 54th overall and put up a time of 23:25. A total of 360 runners took part.
Katie Tresino came in at 113th overall and finished in 24:12. Anna Hourihan was 117th in a time of 24:16. Kim Foltz was 130th in 24:25. Rounding out the scoring for the Blue Devils was Alissa Conti (Fredonia) in 24:31. All the aforementioned set personal bests. The displacers were Kateri Walsh and Becca List. Walsh's time of 24:46 was her personal best.
Overall winner was Cornell's Rachel Sorna in 20:47.
The Blue Devils next meet will be the Highlander Invitational in Houghton, N.Y.
Men's Cross Country
Devils 10th at Yellowjacket Invitational
ROCHESTER - The Fredonia State men's cross country team finished 10th in the 24-team Yellowjacket Invitational at the University of Rochester on Saturday.
The Devils went into the race - held at Genesee Valley Park - with a ranking of No. 8 in the region.
Sophomore runner Zakk Hess led the way for the Blue Devils, with a 49th-place finish. Hess posted a time of 26:26. "Zakk ran an amazing race and was a real leader for us," said head coach Tom Wilson. Hess shave about a half-minute off his previous personal best race.
Senior co-captain Jack Bennett finished second for Fredonia State and 60th overall with a time of 26:35. Steve Whittemore followed with a time of 26:39 and overall finish of 71st. Whittemore improved his personal best by 19 seconds. Freshmen Collin Mulcahy was 107th with a time of 27:04, also a personal best.
The scoring was rounded out by senior co-captain Pete Francia (120th in a time of 27:18). Displacers were freshmen Kyle Collins, and junior Jake Krautwurst.
"We can see where we stand with this early race," said Wilson. "It is a good race that is about half the size of the Regional Meet."
Cornell's Ben Potts was the overall winner in 25:08.6.
The Blue Devils next race will be the Highlander Invitational in Houghton.
Women's Volleyball
Blue Devils push
winning streak to five
HAMBURG - The Fredonia State women's volleyball team pushed its win streak to five with a clean sweep of weekend opponents at the Hilbert College Invitational.
In the final match, Kaitlin Orcutt set a new school mark with 12 service aces in a 3-0 win over Keystone.
Orcutt also had a match-high seven kills. Lindsay Olson also added seven kills. Kelly Edinger had 20 assists. Defensively, Lauren Hokaj had 10 digs and Hannah Manning added four solo blocks. The Devils won by scores of 25-10, 25-10 and 25-8.
The Devils opened Saturday's action with a 3-1 win over SUNYIT by scores of 25-19, 24-26, 25-12 and 25-15.
Orcutt paced the Devils with nine kills. Manning had eight and Olson and Meredith Smietana had seven apiece. Edinger added 32 assists.
On the defensive end, Paulina Rein had 17 digs and Hokaj added 15. Manning had three blocks.
The Devils (6-7) have reeled off five straight victories. They are slated to take for SUNYAC Pool Play next weekend.
Women's Tennis
Devils make racket - tennis moves to 3-0
The Fredonia State women's tennis team moved to 3-0 with an 8-1 victory over visiting Oswego on Saturday. The Devils' only loss occurred in a tie-breaker.
"We're off to a great start," Fredonia State head coach Joe Calarco said. "I don't remember ever being 3-0 and the girls, even when they were down, they came back to win. They're showing a lot of character."
Fredonia State swept all three doubles matches, with the only loss coming in No. 2 singles. Sarah DiFulvio fell 7-5, 3-6 (8-10). DiFulvio did claim a win in No. 1 doubles.
