It has been an eventful week for Mustang athletics, with a multitude of opening games and hard-fought wins.
Field hockey started their season off strong with two home wins and a road win to make their record 3-0. Men’s soccer, under new head coach Charlie Johnson, started their season 1-1 with a home win against Allegheny College and a road loss against Salisbury University. Women’s soccer and women’s volleyball also saw similar success, starting their seasons 1-0-1 and 4-2 respectively. Men’s and women’s cross country each competed in two meets to kick off their season, the Baltimore Metro meet and Cantello Invitational. Finally, men’s golf started their season at the Blazer invitational where they finished third.
Field hockey dominated their first two games of the season with a 3-1 win over Washington College and a 3-0 win over Sewanee. Captains Emma Gladstein and Hailey Palmer each contributed two goals between the two games to lead the Mustang offense. Gladstein also added two assists, each to Palmer. Gladstein scored the lone SU goal in their road game against Elizabethtown. To no one’s surprise, the graduate student and senior duo earned MAC player of the week honors, with Gladstein earning offensive player of the week and Palmer earning defensive player of the week.
Men’s soccer dominated against Allegheny College in their home opening game to end with a 1-0 final score. Senior forward Joey Brauer scored the lone goal and was assisted by graduate student forward Jack Accorsi. Scoring in the hard-fought 4-2 loss against Salisbury were senior Bryant Seivers, assisted by Brauer and junior Gianfranco Vitella.
Women’s soccer started their season with a 1-1 tie on the road against Kings College then found momentum and put up an impressive 3-1 win in their home opener against Delaware Valley University. Scoring the lone goal in the tie against Kings was sophomore Madison Rytina, assisted by sophomore Brooke Knabe. The scoring contributors came from all different ages against Del Val, with goals from first year Lea Ayers, graduate student Kelly Schultz and senior Ericka Kitzinger.
Women’s volleyball came out strong, starting their season with three straight wins in DeSales University’s quad tournament. After falling to Gettysburg on the road, SU began hosting a quad tournament of their own, starting the weekend with one win and one loss. First-year outside hitter Rachel Lenz currently leads the team in kills with 49. Other stat leaders include Kylie DesLauriers with 14 aces, Zakara Masibo with 20 blocks and Nicolette Fuglestad with 80 digs.
Fifth-year Hayden Schindler started his season with a dominating race at the Baltimore Metro meet, placing second in the men’s 5k and leading the team to third place overall. For the women, first year Lyla Goffena made her college debut at the Baltimore Metro meet, finishing ninth overall and fifth against other Division III athletes in the women’s 5k. The women went on to finish fifth at the meet.
Men’s golf placed third at the Blazer invitational with a team score of 317, 29 over par, to start their season. Junior Ryan Thomas led the Mustangs, placing fourth at three over par. Zach Wilson finished just behind him in 10th place at seven over par.
