It was an action-packed week for the Lions these past seven days, with the men’s golf, women’s volleyball, men & women’s soccer and men and women’s cross country teams all competing at least once. Unfortunately, our Lions lost more than they won this time around. Let’s take a closer look at who turned in the best performances for each team over the last several days, and what we can look forward to this coming week.
On Monday and Tuesday, the men’s golf team attended the Griffin Invitational in Lutz. They entered the tournament ranked at No. 9 in the national Division II circuit, and one of the notable teams they faced off against was No. 6 ranked Nova Southeastern, another team in the Sunshine State Conference. Saint Leo sophomore Alberto Castagnara led the entire field after the first round and finished third overall. The Lions would come from behind to win the tournament after the second day. It is their first title since their championship run and triumph in 2016. The next tournament for the team will take place next Monday and Tuesday at the Golfrank Invitational in Palm Beach, where they will seek to continue building up this momentum.
On Wednesday night, the men’s soccer team took their home field against Trinity Baptist. Saint Leo entered the game with just two regular season wins so far, and Trinity College with only one. However, despite competitive play and great hustle, it just wasn’t the Lions’ night. Although the home team got off more than twice the shots of their opponent and two more shots on goal, they failed to overcome a first-half deficit of 2-0 and ended up losing a 2-1 decision. It was Saint Leo’s sophomore Hermon Constant who put the ball in the back of the net in the second half and kept the hopes of a comeback alive. Sophomore goalkeeper Wessel Berenschot played the whole game for the Lions in the net, and his four saves bring his season amount to 18. The men’s team returned to the Sunshine State Conference Sunday against the Florida Tech Panthers. They would turn in another competitive performance but would fail to come away with the win, giving up another 2-1 loss. With all three goals being scored in the first half, it seemed as though there was a chance for the Lions to steal a conference win, but junior midfielder Mathis Hardy would be the only one to score the ball. Saint Leo’s next game will be another inter-conference contest against Eckerd; the game will take place this Wednesday in St. Petersburg.
On Friday evening, the women’s volleyball team faced off against conference opponent Nova Southeastern. The Lions came out of the gate explosive and won the first set with a decisive 25-20 score. However, the Sharks would rally to win the match in three straight sets, a shocking end to a game that the Lions, who had more than double the win percentage of Nova going into the contest, were expected to win easily. Juniors Victoria Omoregie and Annabella Arcari led the team in kills with 13 apiece, and Omoregie also led the team in blocks with three. Former SSC player of the week, freshman setter Cassandra Kamien, led the Lions in both assists (40) and digs (15). The team would have a tremendous rebound against SSC rival Palm Beach Atlantic. PBA’s girls’ team was 14-2 going into the match and ranked an impressive No. 9 in the nation, but the Lions would shock both sides and win in four sets decisively. Junior Nina Vattovaz led the team with 13 kills and four blocks, and Kamien finished with 39 more assists. The Lions take the court again tomorrow evening at Florida Southern, a formidable SSC team with a record of 10-6.
The women’s soccer team also played against the Florida Tech Panthers Sunday evening, and despite a very competitive first half, gave up three goals in the second half to lose with a final score of 3-0. The Lions finished the game with an impressive 16 shot attempts, with half of them being on goal. Junior goalkeeper Julia Ortiz played the entirety of the 90 minutes in the net, and had two impressive saves, despite having a very tough second half.
Finally, both of the Saint Leo cross country teams took to the course Sunday at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. This race, known as the Paul Short Run, is the largest college cross country race in the country, and this was the 45th year in a row that the race took place. Needless to say, the competition was exceptional, and the Lions performed well. The men’s team placed 17th overall out of the 44 schools, and the women’s team placed 29th. Freshman Clement Goujon from France led the men’s team with a time of 26:28 and a 77th place finish out of 362. The women were led by Irish senior Laura Tobin, who ran a 22:49 and placed 42nd overall. The next meet will be in Disney this Saturday, October 6.
Congratulations to the individual and team performances of our coaches, players and teams this past week. Check in next week to see how Saint Leo’s teams compete over the next several days.
