College notebook: Evans’ passing puts WVW on winning track
When former Canon-McMillan High School quarterback Mike Evans decided to transfer from Penn West California to West Virginia Wesleyan, it was a leap of faith.
California is a perennial NCAA Division II playoff contender in the PSAC while West Virginia Wesleyan was mired in a 35-game losing streak overall and playing in the Mountain East Conference.
Evans, however, was joining forces with new Bobcats head coach Mike Kellar, who is a former head coach at California. The union paid immediate dividends for West Virginia Wesleyan.
In the season opener against Post University, Evans came off the bench early in the game and completed 14 of 22 passes for 303 yards and four touchdowns as the Bobcats rolled to a 31-13 victory. It was West Virginia Wesleyan’s first win since a 31-30 victory over Alderson-Broaddus, a school that is now closed, back on Oct. 22, 2022.
Evans threw TD passes of 18 and 52 yards in the first half, and 32 and 26 yards in the second half.
WVW followed the win with losses to a pair of PSAC schools, Clarion and Shippensburg.
On the season, Evans has completed 30 of 65 passes for 555 yards and six touchdowns.
WVW plays its conference opener Saturday against West Virginia State.
Tennis
The Waynesburg women’s team went 3-0 last week against non-Presidents’ Athletic Conference competition and junior Julia Umshares, a Trinity graduate, was one of several Yellow Jackets to put together outstanding performances on the court. For her efforts, Umshares was named PAC Women’s Tennis Player of the Week on Monday.
The third-year standout went a combined 6-0 at fourth singles and third doubles. In a 5-2 win over Pitt-Greensburg, Umshares didn’t lose a game in a 6-0, 6-0 singles victory and teamed with Gabby Peiritsh for a 6-2 decision in doubles. Umshares also scored straight-set wins against Carlow (6-0, 6-3) and Mount Aloysius (6-2, 6-3) while also winning in doubles in both matches to help Waynesburg post its first three-match winning streak since 2014.
Football
Washington & Jefferson sophomore lineman Alex Boyce was named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Monday and he needed only half of a game to gain that status.
A McDonald native and South Fayette graduate, Boyce was a force in the middle of the W&J defense during the Presidents’ 42-0 thumping of Keystone on Saturday. The game was called at halftime because of lightning and a flash flood at Cameron Stadium.
In his one half of action, Boyce had 2.5 sacks, four tackles for loss, two quarterback hurries and five totals as W&J limited Keystone to one first down and minus-21 rushing yards.
• Junior inside linebacker Geno Calgaro of Canonsburg is the second-leading tackler for Stony Brook.
A transfer from St. Francis (Pa.), Calgaro has made 26 tackles through three games. In a loss last Saturday to Ball State, Calgaro made 13 tackles (five solo) and was credited with a half-sack.
• Carnegie Mellon’s Nick McCullough, a sophomore wide receiver from Venetia, had about as productive a game as a player can have at his position.
In a 38-35 win over Catholic last Saturday, the former Peters Township standout caught a school single-record 12 passes that he turned into 172 yards and three touchdowns.
McCullough caught a 35-yard touchdown in the second quarter, and less than three minutes later hauled in a 29-yard TD pass that gave CMU a 21-14 lead at halftime.
Early in the fourth quarter, McCullough struck again with a 57-yard touchdown catch that put the Tartans back on top at 31-28.
McCullough also returned three punts for 48 yards. He was named the Centennial Conference Offensive Player of the Week on Monday.
Soccer
It didn’t take long for Ryan Moessner to make an impact at Penn West California.
The freshman, who helped lead Bentworth to WPIAL and PIAA championships last year, scored a goal in his first collegiate game.
Moessner scored in the 59th minute of the Vulcans’ season opener Aug. 27 against Wheeling. It helped Cal to a 2-1 victory.
In five games this season, Moessner has one assist and five shots.
• Eben McIntyre, a redshirt senior forward from Charleroi, has helped Memphis to a strong start to the season.
A transfer from Pitt, McIntyre has two goals and one assist for the Tigers, who are 4-1-1 overall.
McIntyre scored a goal and added an assist in Memphis’ 3-2 victory over North Carolina. He scored his second goal of the season in a 5-1 rout of Butler.
• Freshman Amelia Brose, a Chartiers-Houston graduate, scored the game-winning goal in the 69th minute as Westminster defeated Thiel 1-0 in a Presidents’ Athletic Conference women’s soccer opener Tuesday night.
Brose scored off freshman Quinn Arnold’s assist with 21 minutes remaining. Brose finished with a season-high eight shots and registered a season-high of four shots on goal. Tuesday’s goal was her second this season and her second game-winner. She netted the game-winner in a 2-1 victory over Lycoming on Sept. 5.
Softball
Bella Hess, a graduate of Chartiers-Houston High School, completed her collegiate career at Fairmont State in June and during her senior season was named the Mountain East Conference Player of the Year.
An outfielder, Hess batted .405 with four triples, 32 walks and 35 stolen bases. Her 35 steals led all of NCAA Division II.
Hess is enrolled at Carlow University, working to earn a master’s degree in Occupational Therapy.