Pioneer Weekly Update: February 26th Edition
Weekly Schedule
Wednesday 2/28: Lacrosse at Wells: 6 p.m.
Friday 3/2: Indoor Track & Field at ECAC Championships (The Armory - New York, NY): 1 p.m.
Saturday 3/3: Indoor Track & Field at ECAC Championships (The Armory - New York, NY): 10 a.m.
Saturday 3/3: Lacrosse vs. Hiram: 2 p.m. * Live Stats * Live Video
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Team Updates
Baseball: 0-4
The baseball team traveled to Virginia this weekend to open up the 2018 season. The Pioneers were unable to pick up a victory as they fell 16-2 to Brockport, 10-7 to Virginia Wesleyan, 9-3 to Brockport, and 6-2 to Ithaca.
David Zuber (Honeoye Falls Lima) led the team with a 7 for 16 weekend with two doubles and 3 RBI. Lucas Cornell (Alfred Almond) collected four hits (all for extra bases) and had 3 RBI. Cornell, Colin Johnson (Alfred Almond) and Danny Doran (Irondequoit) all connected on home runs.
Men's Basketball: 16-10
The men's basketball team could never get the offense going as they were defeated 60-44 by Pine Manor in the semifinals of the ACAA Tournament in Chestnut Hill, MA.
Neither team got much going offensively in the 1st half. The Gators took a 12-5 lead in the first eight minutes and led 20-10 with just over eight minutes left in the half before the Pioneers cut the lead to 26-20 at the half. In the 2nd half, Alfred State trailed 34-32 with 11 minutes left but Pine Manor stretched the lead to 41-32 following a 7-0 run. With 6:55 remaining, the Gators led 41-38 but went on a 19 to 4 run to close the game to advance to the ACAA Championship game vs. Maine Presque Isle.
Dante Jordan (New York/Law & Public) recorded a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds to lead Alfred State (16-10). Owen Spencer (Perry) came off the bench and had seven points and six boards while Juwan Toliver (Buffalo/McKinley) finished with six points, six assists, and five rebounds.
Lacrosse: 0-1
Keuka outscored Alfred State 11 to 3 in the 2nd half to rally from a 7-4 halftime deficit and earn a 15-10 victory in the lacrosse season opener for both teams.
Alfred State led 3-2 after the 1st and 7-4 at halftime. Keuka fought back and trailed by one, 9-8, after three quarters and then scored the first five goals of the final quarter to take control of the game.
Teddy Alvarado (Hilton) finished with four goals to lead the Pioneer offense while AJ Soto (Churchville Chili) and Cole Reuben (Basom/Akron) both finished with two goals and an assist. Joe Johnson (Churchville Chili) scored twice while Ian Grana (Greece Odyssey), Eric Passeck (Thomaston, CT) each had an assist. Chris Williams (Watertown/South Jefferson) led the team with eight ground balls and Matt Cobb (Churchville Chili) made 12 saves in net.
Wrestling: 7-8, 2nd at North East Conference Tournament
The wrestling team finished 2nd overall out of 14 teams at the NCWA North East Conference Championships at the University of New Hampshire on Saturday afternoon. George Van Valen (Ithaca) and Mike Galton (Warsaw) took home individual weight class titles. Seven Pioneers finished in the top three of their weight class and qualified for the NCWA Nationals.
- Van Valen won the title at 184 lbs. and was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Tournament. He pinned Hunter D'Antonio (Rhode Island) in 36 seconds and beat Rusty Wilson 16-1 in the semifinals to reach the championship bout. In the finals he defeated George Andrews (UCONN) 4-0 to claim the title.
- Galton was 3-0 as he claimed the title at 157 lbs. He pinned Andrew Gomez (Rhode Island) in 41 seconds, defeated Jacob Cincotta (UMASS) 10-2 in the semis, and earned a 9-5 victory over Josh Fontanez (Springfield Tech) in the finals.
Brandyn Whitacre (Jamestown) was 2nd at 235 finishing with a 2-1 record while Ryan Mattison (Brockport) and Ryan Thierman (Portville) both split a pair of matches to earn 2nd place in their weight classes. Casey Connor (Barnstable, MA) bounced back from an opening defeat with four wins, including three pins, to earn 3rd place at 141 and Patrick Lehman (Marathon) was 3rd at 125 lbs.
The Pioneers scored 152 points on the day and only trailed Springfield Tech's 180. Maine was 3rd (113), UCONN 4th (109.5), and RPI 5th (69).
Indoor Track & Field:
The Pioneers had the week off as members of the team prepared to compete in this week's ECAC Championships.
Western Equestrian:
The Western Equestrian team rode to Reserve Hi-point honors at the IHSA Zone 2 Region I Championships held at the Bromeley-Daggett Equestrian Center at Maris Cuneo Equine Park on Sunday. The Pioneers had a pair of Hi-Point riders and had three riders qualify for the Western Semi-Final Championships.
Rachel von Hagn (Bath) was the Hi-point rider for novice horsemanship while Meagan Castoro (Syosset) was the Hi-point rider for beginner horsemanship. Alyssa Beardsley (Letchworth) was the reserve Hi-point rider for advanced horsemanship. The trio will travel to the IHSA Western Semi-Finals on March 17-18 at the Showplex at the Hamburg Fairgrounds.
Rachel McNeal (Waverly) was 3rd in Open Horsemanship while the Sarah Czelusta (Pioneer) was 4th, Jamie Fredenburg (Fabius Pompey) was 5th, and Kirstin Reynolds (Portville) was 7th in Intermediate Horsemanship.
