Sep 10, 2006 By The 6 min read

Palya third in Red, White and Blue Invitational Laurel Highlands senior Jeff Palya finished third Saturday, leading the Mustangs home in 16:13 at the Red, White & Blue Invitational held at Schenley Park.

Palya trailed only Central Catholic’s Scott Van Kooten (15:14) and Gateway’s Ed Macmurchy (16:12) in the 5K invitational. Ryan Thorn (63, 17:35), Chris Felix (154, 20:32), Tyler Ruda (156, 20:42), William Boger (158, 20:59) and Chris Hunchuck (164, 24:19) also ran for the Mustangs, who finished 20th out of the 24 big schools.

The area had a second runner in the top 10 with Connellsville’s Joe Villaneuva finishing ninth in a time of 16:35. The Falcons finished 14th in the team scoring, with Arlo Helms (36, 17:09), Jeremy Molinaro (84, 18:00), Alan Nedley (113, 18:24), Dennis Curry (131, 19:11), Nathan Richter (141, 19:29) and Nick Zurawski (145, 19:43) completing the early morning race.

The Connellsville girls slipped past the Fillies in the team standings with the Lady Falcons placing 20th out of 23 schools with 488 points, 20 points ahead of Laurel Highlands.

Mary Beth Giles led the Connellsville contingent to the finish line in 36th place with a time of 20:44. Gabby Carbonara (80, 22:00), April Shultz (111, 22:35), Heidi Halfhill (127, 23:03), Kayla Booher (23:41), Erica Brooks (135, 23:42) and Leah Williams (154, 25:12).

Cassie Wallace was the first Laurel Highlands girl to cross the finish line, placing 56th in 21:14. The rest of the Laurel Highlands lineup included Hanna Yauger (78, 21:51), Jordyn Hartsek (86, 22:05), Anna Howard (137, 23:46), Lauren Molchan (151, 24:45), Denise Martin (152, 25:04) and Demi Frankhouser (153, 25:05).

College football

Bloomsburg 24, California (Pa.) 19 – The Vulcans couldn’t hold a 13-3 lead in the fourth quarter as 13th-ranked Bloomsburg scored 21 unanswered points to start the fourth quarter for the win.

Jon Koening spotted the home team a 3-0 lead with his 23-yard field goal in the second quarter, but California responded with a pair of Brandon Lombardy touchdown runs. He scored from 15 yards with 10:34 remaining in the third quarter and he found the end zone again about six minutes later from 20 yards.

Jamar Brittingham’s touchdown early in the fourth quarter drew Bloomsburg closer and tehn Marcus Waddy recovered a fumble in the end zone to give the Huskies a 17-13 lead. Brahin Bilal scored the winning touchdown with 4:03 remaining on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Dan Latorre.

California didn’t give up though, scoring 48 seconds later when Joe Ruggiero found Marc Huddleston open for a 22-yard touchdown pass.

Lombardy finished with 105 yards rushing on 14 carries. Steffan Brinson added 80 on 15 carries. Ruggiero went 20-for-31 for 176 yards with an interception. Huddleston was his favorite receiver with seven receptions for 69 yards. Laurel Highlands grad Nate Forse caught four passes for 35 yards.

Boys soccer

Brownsville 4, Uniontown 4 – Uniontown scored three consecutive goals in the second half to force overtime, and neither team was able to find the net in the two overtime periods to play to a non-section tie.

Jordan Sealy (Greg Arnold), Christian Sally (Dan Polvinale) and Marc Mammarella (Arnold) scored in the first half for the Falcons while Olksandr Lambrino countered for the Red Raiders.

Mammarella’s second goal of the game spotted Brownsville to a 4-1 lead early in the second half, but goals by Brandon Johnston, Jim Bendishaw and Jon Phalen, with 3:26 remaining, forced the game into overtime.

Josh Roberts made 11 saves for Brownsville (1-2-2) with Garret Free made 15 saves for Uniontown (0-4-1).

Laurel Highlands 3, Monessen 2 – Ben Kooser scored the game-winning goal off a Cody Whoolery assist with four minutes left in the game to lift the Mustangs to a non-section road victory.

Brent Lenhart’s first goal spotted the Greyhounds to a 1-0 lead, but Jerrett Pickens tied the game 14 minutes later. Lenhart again gave Monessen the lead only to have the Mustangs’ Brett Workman tie the game.

Jordan Merchbaker made six saves for the Mustangs (1-1, 4-1).

Girls soccer

Laurel Highlands 3, Albert Gallatin 3 – The Fillies had leads of 1-0 and 3-1, but the Lady Colonials battled back for an overtime tie in Section 6-AAA action.

Shaina Kubizna scored first for Laurel Highlands (0-1-1, 1-3-1) from an Alex Frankhouser pass, but Sarah Fyock’s first of two goals tied the game at 4:27 of the first half.

Frankhouser converted a Becca Russell pass into a 2-1 lead at 37:05 of the second half, and Morgan Palya’s goal from Alex DelPinto made it 3-1 at 27:10. Jen Lewellen drew the Lady Colonials (0-1-1, 1-2-2) to within a goal just seconds after Palya’s goal with Fyock tying the game with only 3:15 left.

Jackie Gaddis made seven saves for the Fillies while Alyssa Clark stopped 14 shots for Albert Gallatin.

Men’s soccer

California (Pa.) 5, Pitt-Johnstown 1 – Senior John Pazehoski scored a pair of goals while the Vulcans put up four tallies in less than 24 minutes to break a 3-game scoreless streak for a non-conference victory at home.

Pedro Palladino opened the scoring on assists by Sheldon Graham and Bryan Huggins, and then Evan Picard found the back of the net about two minutes later.

Pazehoski scored his two goals next to give the Vulcans (3-3-1) a 4-0 halftime lead. Mike Luecke headed in the final goal late in the second half.

Women’s soccer

Slippery Rock 4, California (Pa.) 1 – Danielle Cooper scored the winning goal in the 24th minute to hand the Vulcans a road loss in PSAC-West action.

California (1-3, 3-3) tied the game at 1-1 when Tessa Babik converted an Amanda Heister pass into a goal in the 14th minute for the Vulcans lone goal. California goalkeeper Erin Cook made five saves while Jennifer Ream turned aside three.

College volleyball

Wooster College Tournament – The Yellow Jackets had a rough weekend in Ohio, dropping two decisions on Friday and three more on Saturday.

Waynesburg lost to Mt. Union (30-28, 30-20, 20-19), Robert Wesleyan (30-19, 30-28, 25-30, 30-27) and Bluffton (30-26, 24-30, 25-30, 31-29, 15-9) on the second day of the tournament, dropping decisions to Urbana (30-15, 30-20, 20-24) and Saint Vincent (30-22, 30-12, 30-14) on Friday.

Several Yellow Jackets had strong individual efforts in the five matches. Laurie Lindner finished with 45 digs and 26 kills. Ashley Kreinbrook had a strong defensive day with 45 digs and 16 kills. Amanda Staudt contributed 12 digs and 14 kills. Kaci Hlad had 11 kills in the Bluffton match with Mary Beth Crouch strong against Robert Wesleyan with 15 kills. Amanda Jo Morgan had eight blocks.