The Pioneer Trail: Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015

1/16/2015 11:18:00 AM

Indoor Track and Field at St. Joseph's Winter Invitational - 10 a.m.
Both the LIU Post men's and women's indoor track and field squads will head east to South Huntington to compete in the inaugural St. Joseph's Winter Invitational. The event will take place at the track facility of St. Anthony's High School.

The Pioneers recently competed at the Yale Invitational, held at the prestigious Ivy League institution in New Haven, Conn. Graduate sprinter Dale McDonald (Roosevelt, N.Y.) completed the 400-meter dash in a blistering 51.86 seconds, good for seventh place. Freshman middle-distance runner Talya Williams (Schenectady, N.Y.) crossed the finish line in ninth place in the 800-meter race (2:22.29). Not to be outdone, junior distance runner Elizabeth Stirling (Wantagh, N.Y.) clocked a 10:53.87 in finishing 14th during the 3,000-meter run.

Women's Swimming at Siena - 1 p.m.
It has been over a month since the LIU Post women's swimming team competed in a dual meet, but the No. 5 team in the country according to the latest CSCAA rankings will look to start 2015 with a bang as they battle Siena in Loudonville, N.Y.

The Pioneers (4-2) last competed on Dec. 6 at the Pratt Natatorium, defeating Sacred Heart by a 117-102 margin. The green and gold took the first nine events of the 14-race dual meet to preserve the victory. The triumph was the fourth win for LIU Post in four home meets.

Starting things off with a bang, the team of junior Seren Jones (Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom), senior Carolin Rademacher (Isernhagen, Germany) and juniors Joyce Kwok (Middle Village, N.Y.) and Meghan Brazier (West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) cruised to a four-second victory in the 200-yard medley relay, clocking a time of 1:49.07. Following that performance, sophomore distance swimmer Poppy Hill (London, England, United Kingdom) would turn in a sub-30 second final leg (29.43) to win the 1000-yard freestyle race by almost four seconds. Senior Johanna Pettersson (Kungalv, Sweden) and junior Marthe Soerensen (Stavanger, Norway) would each win two events, with Pettersson taking the 200-yard freestyle and 200-yard backstroke disciplines and Soerensen touching the wall first in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events. Brazier was victorious in the 100-yard backstroke and joining her in the winner' circle were freshman Erika Hultman (Bara, Sweden) (200-yard butterfly) and senior Courtney Delehanty (Oceanport, N.J.) (100-yard breaststroke).

Siena (2-3) is coming off of a third-place finish at the ECAC Championships on Dec. 7 in East Meadow, N.Y. The Saints were bolstered by third-place finishes in the 200-yard and 400-yard medley relays. Individually, Siena was led by a second-place finish from freshman Fiona Dretzka (Northglenn, Colo.) in the 200-yard backstroke.

Wrestling at American International - 1 p.m.; vs. Gannon - 3 p.m.
Following a successful showing at the Long Island Open to begin the 2015 calendar year, the LIU Post wrestling team ships up to Springfield, Mass. for a tri-match with AIC and Gannon. The Pioneers, ranked No. 15 in Super Region One by the Basford/D2Wrestle.com polls, will look for upsets against the Yellow Jackets (No. 11) and the Golden Knights (No. 5).

Eight wrestlers placed in the top-4 in their respective weight classes at the Long Island Open on Jan. 3 held at the campus of Nassau Community College. Leading the green and gold were two freshmen that rose to the top of the podium in their disciplines. Joe Calderone (Huntington Station, N.Y.) took first place at the 133-lb. discipline, while Matt Langan (Wantagh, N.Y.) was victorious in the 149-lb. bracket. Senior Chris DiIorio (Holtsville, N.Y.) was a second-place finisher at 197 pounds, while red-shirt freshman Jackson Mordente (Farmingville, N.Y.) took second in the 157-lb. discipline. Freshman James Louison (Hauppauge, N.Y.) won all his wrestleback bouts to place in the heavyweight class and junior Jesse Meaney (Toms River, N.J.) would win third at the 141-pound division, defeating fellow Pioneer Vinny Turano (Wantagh, N.Y.) in the final wrestleback dual. Turano would place fourth as did freshman Ed Ramirez, Jr. (Massapequa, N.Y.), who wrestled to a fourth-place finish at the 165-lb. class.

AIC placed fourth out of 10 squads competing at the Scott Viera Invitational last Saturday (Jan. 10) in Bristol, R.I. Six Yellow Jackets placed inside the top-4 at the meet, led by red-shirt junior Iarik Loshchinin's (Kyiv, Ukraine) second-place performance in the heavyweight division.  Junior Brandon Walsh (Griswold, Conn.) placed third at the 149-lb. discipline for the Yellow Jackets in the meet. Walsh defeated teammate Anthony Milano (East Haven, Conn.) in the third-place dual, while sophomore Zac Ziobrio (Warren, R.I.) (133-lb.) and juniors P.J. Baker (Wilbraham, Mass.) (165-lb.) and Sheldon Rhoden (Hartford, Conn.) (197-lb.) also took fourth place.

Gannon will look to rebound after a 23-13 dual meet loss on Wednesday (Jan. 14) to the eighteenth-best wrestling squad in the nation out of Pitt-Johnstown. The Golden Knights won four of the ten contests in the meet, including a 12-3 major decision victory at the 125-lb. weight class for red-shirt senior Matt Turek (Madison, Ohio). Gannon won their other three bouts by three-point decisions, including an 8-1 victory at 149 pounds for sophomore Eric Lewandowski (Depew, N.Y.).

Gannon has five wrestlers ranked in their respective weight classes by the Basford/D2Wrestle.com ballots. Turek, the top-ranked wrestler in Super Region One at 125 pounds, is also the No. 2 wrestler in the country at that discipline according to Intermat Wrestling. Lewandoski is ranked fifth in the region at the 149-lb. class while red-shirt senior Zack Zelcs (Ridgway, Pa.) is the second-best wrestler in Super Region One at the 184-lb. discipline.

Men's Basketball at Queens - 1:30 p.m.
On the heels of a heartbreaking loss, the LIU Post men's basketball team will look to bounce back as they face Queens at Fitzgerald Gymnasium on Saturday.

The Pioneers (6-8, 1-5 ECC) dropped a 61-59 decision to Molloy on Wednesday (Jan. 14) thanks to a last-second runner from Jaylen Morris (Amherst, N.Y.). Senior forward Tyuan Williams (Newark, N.J.) managed a double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds) in the effort, while sophomore forward Greg Dotson (Abington, Pa.) poured in 11 to help his team's cause. The green and gold dominated the rebounding category (48-34) yet struggled to hit their three-point shots (3-13, 23%) and foul shots (16-23, 70%), leading to the loss.

Four Pioneers are averaging double-digit point totals per contest, led by senior guard P.J. Torres (New Rochelle, N.Y.) who has 13.5 points per contest. Williams has 13.4 points per game, Dotson is averaging 10.6 points and junior guard Akosa Maduegbunam (Hyde Park, Mass.) is scoring an even 10 points per contest. As a team, the Pioneers are the class of the ECC when it comes to rebounding, averaging 44.1 boards per game. However, the team's foul shooting leaves a lot to be desired, as the green and gold are second-worst (66.1%) in free-throw shooting.

Despite starting the year with 10 straight losses, Queens (2-10, 2-3 ECC) is winners of their last two contests, including a 76-68 triumph over NYIT on Wednesday (Jan. 14). The Knights were buoyed by a 19-point outing from red-shirt senior guard Jeremiah Mordi (Valley Stream, N.Y.). Senior guard Anthony Hodges (Queens, N.Y.) dished out 10 assists for the second straight game and the Knights were victorious despite being outrebounded by NYIT by a 44-35 margin.

Mordi's 19.3 points per game average is tops among his teammates and ranks fourth in the ECC. He is also one of the top foul shooters in the conference, hitting his freebies at an 86% clip. Mordi leads the Knights with 6.3 rebounds per game while Hodges is averaging 14.5 points per contest. Despite the numbers, Queens is failing to produce on the offensive side of the ball, managing a conference-worst 68.5 points per game. Additionally, the Knights are committing the most personal fouls per game (22.4) among the rest of the ECC.

Women's Basketball at Queens - 3 p.m.
The LIU Post women's basketball team is hitting their stride at the exact right moment as they enter a dangerous two-game stretch, beginning with a date in Flushing, N.Y. against Queens on Saturday. Though still early in the conference slate, both the Pioneers and Knights are looking for this win to keep their momentum as two of the top-3 teams in the East Coast Conference.

The Pioneers (9-5, 5-1 ECC) have not dropped a contest in 2015, winning their last four games by a combined total of 39 points. This includes a 65-60 win over Molloy on Wednesday (Jan. 14), a game that saw a total of nine lead changes and a dazzling performance from senior guard Ashley Castle (Brooklyn, N.Y.).

Castle came off the bench for the green and gold to score a game-high and personal-best 24 points. The senior was accurate from three-point range, hitting five of seven attempts from long range. Senior guard Chelsea Williams (Copiague, N.Y.) had 14 points for the Pioneers and junior center Nyasia Davis (Rahway, N.J.) collected ten points and eight rebounds in the win. LIU Post outrebounded their opponents by a 36-31 margin, thanks in large part to junior forward Kalinka DeRoche (New Haven, Conn.). DeRoche pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds, including a whopping seven boards on the offensive glass.

Williams is still the team leader with an average of 20.7 points per game, which is second-best in the ECC. Davis ranks inside the top-5 in the conference with an average of 10.1 rebounds per game and a near-50% field goal percentage. Castle, thanks to her sharpshooting performance against Molloy, is second in the ECC in three-point field goal percentage (48.9%). As a team, however, the Pioneers are struggling to defend the perimeter, yielding a field goal shooting percentage (42.4%) that is second-worst in the conference. LIU Post is averaging 39.7 rebounds per game, with a rebounding margin of plus-5.7, one of the best in the ECC.

The Knights (10-3, 5-1 ECC) suffered their first conference setback on Wednesday (Jan. 14) as they fell to NYIT by a final score of 84-68 in Old Westbury, N.Y. In the loss, sophomore forward Madison Rowland (Albany, N.Y.) led her team with 23 points and a game-high 18 rebounds. Twin sister Mackenzie Rowland (Albany, N.Y.) also had a double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds), but the Knights were done in by poor shooting from the free-throw line (14-22, 64%) and from behind the three-point arc (2-14, 14%).

Madison Rowland is the standardbearer for scoring in the ECC, averaging 22.5 points per game. Rowland is also averaging 10.8 rebounds per game and is shooting well from the field, making field goals at a 49.6% clip. Meanwhile, junior forward Kristen Korzevinski (New Hyde Park, N.Y.) is averaging 8.9 points per game and a 48% field goal percentage. Queens is the best team in the conference at limiting their opponents offensively, as the Knights rank first in defensive field goal percentage (34.3%) and points allowed per game (60.8). The Knights are also aggressive in their defensive schemes, leading the ECC with a team average of 12 steals per game, and forcing 21 turnovers per contest.