This Week in Frostburg Sports

The first two weeks back to school have been eventful for our Frostburg sports teams. With every fall sport having a competition, and some having more than one, these student-athletes have been hard at work on and off the field.

Football:

The Frostburg football team travelled to Stevenson University on Thursday, Aug. 30 for their season opener. The final score of the game was 34-7, with the Bobcats dominating. There was a combined total of 430 yards offensively, with an average of over seven yards per play. Frostburg’s defense kept Stevenson to just 268 yards. Senior Jamaal Morant scored two touchdowns for the Bobcats, while senior Grayson Boyce and sophomore Malcolm Facey each scored one. The Frostburg football team returned to play for an away NJAC conference game on Saturday, Sept. 8 at 1 p.m. at the College of New Jersey in Ewing, N.J. The Bobcats returned home with a 2-0 record, beating TCNJ 47-7. The Bobcats held their opponents to zero touchdowns until the final five minutes of the game. The first home game of the season will take place at Bobcat Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. against Christopher Newport.

Men’s Cross Country:

The men’s cross-country team headed to Shippensburg University to take part in the Ninth Annual Galen Piper/XC Challenge. The Bobcats finished in eighth place, out of nine participating teams. Frostburg totaled 199 points, just nine points behind seventh place finisher and Capital Athletic Conference opponent, York College. Senior Robbie Romano finished first for the Bobcats, coming in eighth place among all the participants and sixth place among the collegiate runners. Romano covered the 6K, or 3.7-mile, course in 20:15.8. The second Bobcat runner to cross the finish line was sophomore Braxton Clark, finishing in 21:09.3, coming in 36^th place overall. The other members of Frostburg’s cross-country team all finished with respectable times. Seniors Matt Whitley, Brad Dumonchelle, Dominic Mandile, Zach Talbert, and Phil Hogan finished with (Whitley) 22:42.6, (Dumonchelle) 23:16, (Mandile) 23:24.4, (Talbert) 24:02.2, (Hogan) 25:11.5. For the junior class, Jacob Rickards finished with 22:19.1, Lorenzo Wilson with 23:37, and Tim Wolodkin with 23:40.7. For the sophomore class, Colin Flynn finished with 21:54.2, Tanner Jacobs with 23:12.4, Jack Bullen with 24:40.1, and Andrew Kastner with 25:10.5. The first-years finished the race with 22:37.4 (Wheeler Fisher) and 25:07.6 (William Wanovich).

The Bobcats ran again at the Westmoreland County Community College Wolfpack Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 8, and for the third year in a row, they took home first place. The first six runners to cross the finish line were all wearing Frostburg jerseys. Romano finished in first place for the third time in his career, with a time of 16:31.7. Clark finished second with a time of 17:25.1, and Flynn placed third with 17:37.8.

Women’s Cross Country:

The women’s cross-country team attended the same meet at Shippensburg University. Unfortunately, the women were unable to receive a team score, as they did not have enough runners participating in the meet. The women completed 4K, or 2.5 miles. Junior Sarah McCurry was the first Frostburg runner to cross the finish line, finishing with a time of 17:29.9. Junior Lauren Halvorson was second to cross for Frostburg with 19:33.3. Senior Jayla Jones finished with 20:37.9. Rounding out the women’s team was junior Sidonie Brown, finishing with 20:52.3.

The women were able to run with enough players at Westmoreland CCC to come in first place. McCurry earned her first collegiate victory, crossing the finish line first with a time of 21:58.9. Junior Keileen Estrada also made her cross-country debut at this race, finishing 18^th overall. Both the men’s and women’s teams will race again at the Messiah College Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 15.

Volleyball:

Frostburg’s women’s volleyball team travelled to St. Vincent College to participate in the Bearcat Challenge over the weekend. The Bobcats dropped their season opener against St. Vincent in three sets. The Bobcats also dropped their second match against Westminster College in three sets (25-21, 25-13, 25-21). On the second day of the Bearcat Challenge, the Bobcats posted a pair of shut outs against Allegheny College (of PA) (25-17, 25-17, 26-24) and Waynesburg University (25-10, 25-14, 25-12). On day one, junior Biamba Tshitenge led the attack with eight kills and a .238 hitting percentage, while sophomore Rachel Snead registered six kills. Frostburg was recorded to have two team blocks. Junior Katie Onyundo registered 24 assists, two kills and two aces and junior Hannah Brown earned 10 digs. Junior Cori Smothers also registered 13 digs on day one. After day two, first-year Haley Altemus had 11 kills, a .588 hitting percentage, and two aces. Onyundo was named as an all-tournament selection.

The Bobcats returned to play on Wednesday, Sept. 5 against Penn State Altoona in their home opener. The Bobcats swept all three matches to earn a 3-0 win (25-17, 25-6, 25-12). Tshitenge totaled 10 kills and four blocks, junior Bailey Godlove had 10 kills and one ace, Altemus had six kills and two blocks, and junior Ashante Corey-Bey had six kills and one block. Onyundo led the Bobcats with 28 assists. Juniors Kathryn Lough and Cori Smothers each had one assist. Smothers led the Bobcats with 11 digs, Lough followed with 10, Onyundo had 8, and Godlove had 6.

The Bobcats took the court again this weekend to play at the Golden Eagle Invitational at Brockport to play against Thiel, Brockport, Baldwin Wallace, and SUNY Potsdam. The Bobcats earned two wins over the weekend, one on Friday night against Thiel College (18-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-17) and one on Saturday afternoon against SUNY Potsdam (25-17, 20-25, 25-11, 25-21). The other two matches resulted in a good fight from the Bobcats, but the opponents took home the wins. The Friday night match versus Brockport was a 1-3 loss for the Bobcats (25-23, 21-25, 19-25, 18-25) and the Saturday afternoon match versus Baldwin Wallace was a 0-3 loss for the Bobcats (12-25, 14-25, 21-25). The Bobcats will return to play at home on Wednesday, Sept. 12 at 7:30 p.m. against Gettysburg.

Field Hockey:

The Frostburg field hockey team faced Elizabethtown in their home opener at Bobcat Stadium on Friday, Aug. 31. The score did not reflect the amount of effort put into the game by the players. The Bobcats were able to take three shots, all on goal, but were unable to get the ball past Elizabethtown goalkeeper, Margo Donlin. Sophomore Gabby Rachuba took two shots, while fellow classmate Sam Coffey took one. First-year Emy Nelson registered two defensive saves for the game, one in each half. Junior goalkeeper Sierra Smizer finished the game with four saves.

The Bobcats had two opportunities to play again over the next week. They traveled to University of Lynchburg on Monday, Sept. 3. Offensively, first-year Taylor Hackett had one shot on goal and Rachuba had two shots on goal. Defensively, Sierra Smizer made six saves during the game and first-year goalkeeper Maggie Haupt registered four saves in her collegiate debut. Nelson also added another defensive save onto her statistics. The Bobcats returned to play on Sunday, Sept. 9 when they traveled to Randolph-Macon College for a 4 p.m. matchup. The game did not favor the Bobcats, with them coming home with a 1-2 loss. Their next game is on Wednesday, Sept. 12 at 7 p.m. as they travel to Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Women’s Soccer:

The contest scheduled on Friday, Aug. 31 between Frostburg’s women’s soccer team and Hood College was cancelled due to weather. On Wednesday, Sept. 5, the Bobcats traveled to Washington & Jefferson College for a 7 p.m. game. The Bobcats took home a win for their season opener, with junior Jesse Dunagan scoring the only goal of the game. In her first game back from an injury last season, senior goalkeeper Rhianna Lapen posted a shutout, making three saves. The Bobcats played again over the weekend on Saturday, Sept. 8 at Rutgers-Newark and Sunday, Sept. 9 at Montclair State. On Saturday, the Bobcats had several different players taking shots on goal, but unfortunately were unsuccessful in getting the ball past their opponents’ goalkeeper. Junior Brooke Shehade had three shots on goal, senior Danielle Ferris and first-year Audra Curtin each had two, and sophomore Emily Lehman had one. On Sunday, the Bobcats lost to Montclair State. Offensively, Frostburg had a total of six shots on goal. Defensively, Lapen made three saves in the loss, facing 14 shots. The next game for the women’s soccer team will be on Wednesday, Sept. 12 at 5 p.m. against McDaniel College at Bobcat Stadium.

Men’s Soccer:

Frostburg hosted the “FSU Kickoff Tournament” over the weekend, including DeSales University, Randolph College, and St. Vincent College. The first game of the tournament (Frostburg vs. St. Vincent) was a shut out by the Bobcats, winning the game 3-0. Two goals were scored by senior Haven Mackie, one goal being assisted by sophomore Randy Putnam. The third goal was scored by senior Christian Deynes. The second game on Saturday was Desales vs. Randolph (DaSales won, 3-2). The third game of the tournament, first on Sunday, was DeSales vs. St. Vincent (DeSales won, 4-1). The final game of the tournament featured Frostburg vs. Randolph, where the game went into double overtime. Frostburg finished the tournament 1-1.

The Bobcats played on Wednesday, Sept. 6 at Johns Hopkins University. The Bobcats were outshot 6-20, with a final score of 0-2. Senior Brett Basham and first-year Trevor Namie each had one shot on goal. First-year goalkeeper Joel Assal played the full game, making three saves. The Bobcats traveled to Fayetteville, North Carolina to compete in the Methodist Tournament against Pfeiffer University and Methodist University on Saturday, Sept. 8 and Sunday, Sept. 9. In Saturday’s game against Pfeiffer, the Bobcats were outscored 1-5, with the Bobcats only having three shots on goal. The only goal for the Bobcats was scored by sophomore Mo Odolla, while defensively, Assal faced 11 shots and made six saves.  On Sunday, the Bobcats lost 0-1 in overtime against Methodist University. Their next game will be at Bobcat Stadium on Wednesday, Sept. 12 at 7 p.m. against Penn State Altoona.