Briefs for print
W&J advances
to Empire 8 final
Rachel Buyan scored a pair of goals and Karlie Baran recorded her eighth shutout of the season as Washington & Jefferson advanced to the Empire 8 field hockey championship game with a 3-0 victory over Houghton in the semifinals Friday at Cameron Stadium.
The top-seeded Presidents (12-4) will play third-seeded Utica (9-9) in the championship game at 1 p.m. today. Utica advanced by defeating St. John Fisher 2-0.
Buyan scored the first two goals of the game, in the 23rd and 40th minutes.
The Presidents added their third in the 68th minute when Buyan stole the ball from a defender and found Michelle Yamamori on a through ball in the center of the circle. Yamamori tapped the ball past the goalie to make it 3-0.
Baran notched four saves in recording the 16th shutout of her career to get the Presidents to their second consecutive E8 final.
Cal women’s basketball No. 10
After advancing to the regional final last season for the fifth time in a decade, the Vulcans were recently tabbed No. 10 in the preseason Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Division II Top 25 poll.
Ashland (Ohio) was nearly the unanimous preseason favorite with 23 first-place votes after winning its second national championship in five years. Virginia Union received the remaining first-place votes after advancing to the national championship game last season.
The Vulcans had 379 points and were one of three teams from the Atlantic Region featured in the poll. Virginia Union opens the year as the two-time, defending-regional champion. In addition, Indiana sits No. 20 in the poll after returning all five starters from a team that won the PSAC championship.
The Vulcans start the year next weekend at the Mountain East Conference/PSAC Conference Challenge when they play West Liberty and Notre Dame (Ohio) in South Euclid, Ohio.