Pioneer Weekly Update: September 2nd

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Men's Cross Country: 7th at St. John Fisher

The men's cross country team opened up the 2019 season at the St. John Fisher Terry Rodenbeck Invitational. The Pioneers finished 7th out of nine teams.

Gavin Bathgate (East Rochester) was the top Alfred State finisher in his first collegiate race. He crossed the finish line of the 6k course in 25th place in 21:08.4 (5:41 per mile). Matt Connolly (Elmira Notre Dame) was 63rd (23:22.0), Jacob Drew (Corning Painted Post) was 65th (23:29.0), Austin Miller (Hornell) was 72nd (23:48.1), and Cooper Buckley(Wellsville) was 75th (24:01.1).

Geneseo scored 27 points to win the team title. The Pioneers scored 222 points in the event. 98 athletes competed in the event.

Women's Cross Country: 7th at St. John Fisher

Caitlin Caltagirone (Holland) led the women's cross country team as they opened up the 2019 season at St. John Fisher. The Pioneers ran to a 7th place finish out of ten teams at the Terry Rodenbeck Invitational.

Caltagirone finished the 4k course in 45th place in 17:32.9 (7:04 per mile). Katie Watkins (Addison) finished in 73rd (18:34.0), Molly Heaphy (West Hempstead/Long Island Lutheran) was 83rd (18:54.3), Sarah Rivet (Waterford/Shenendehowa) was 96th (19:53.5), and Betsy Butlak (Angola/Lake Shore) was 104th (21:09.4).

The race featured 124 total finishers. Geneseo took the team title with 28 points. Alfred State finished with 246 points.

Football: 

The Pioneers finished their preseason with a scrimmage vs. Morrisville this past weekend. They open up their 10-game slate this weekend at UMass Dartmouth.

Men's Soccer: 0-2

The Pioneers opened up the season with a pair of matches. They fell 2-0 at Elmira and lost a tightly contested 1-0 decision at home to Wells.

Nate Moulton (Madrid Waddington) made four saves in his first collegiate action vs. Elmira while Nico Coria (Honeoye Falls Lima) made four saves in net vs. Wells.

Women's Soccer: 0-0-1

The women's soccer team battled to a 2-2 tie with SUNY Delhi on Friday evening to open up their 2019 campaign.

Maggie Meyer (Red Creek) got Alfred State on the board in the 14th minute when she was able to find the back of the net after getting a long pass from Morgan Plymel (Jamestown/Maple Grove). Early in the 2nd half, Riley Mucher (Warsaw) sent a corner kick to the center of the box and Angela Martone (Candor) was able to put her head on it and send it into the back of the net.

Delhi answered right back with a goal three minutes later and scored with 4:59 remaining to tie the game up and send it into overtime. Neither team could get the game winner and the team's settled for a tie. 

Laura Mecca (Hamburg) made six saves in net in her collegiate debut.

Volleyball: 2-1

The Pioneers won two of their three matches this weekend at the Cazenovia Invitational. They defeated Elmira 3-1 and Cazenovia 3-1 but fell 3-1 in their finale vs. Mt. St. Mary.

Versus Elmira (15-25, 25-17, 25-17, 25-21), Kiara Perkins (Coudersport, PA) led the Pioneers with nine kills while Mya VanDuyne (Newark) finished with seven. Perkins also chipped in four aces while Van Duyne and Alyssa Fox (Letchworth) each had three. Jordan McCooey (Horseheads) passed out 23 assists.

Perkins had a monster game as she led the team with 21 kills and 29 digs in the win over Cazenovia (25-20, 25-18, 24-26, 25-22). Fox chipped in nine kills and 26 digs. Alyssa Martin (Portville) finished with 12 kills, Megan Gridley (Corning Painted Post) recorded 30 digs, and McCooey passed out 45 assists. 

Fox collected 33 digs and three kills in the match vs. Mt. St. Mary (25-22, 25-27, 20-25, 17-25). Perkins added nine kills and 30 digs, McCooey passed out 24 assists, and Gridley recorded 32 digs.