Westmoreland campus clippings: Saint Vincent, Seton Hill end skids

The Saint Vincent and Seton Hill football teams have more than a few things in common.

Both broke losing streaks and gave their rookie coaches — and proud alums of their respective schools — their first wins Saturday.

Saint Vincent broke a nine-game skid with a 41-18 victory at Thiel as the team — and Bearcats alum Aaron Smetanka — moved to 1-4 overall and 1-3 in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. Seton Hill (1-4, 1-3 PSAC), meanwhile, snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 25-21 homecoming win over Gannon at Greensburg’s Offutt Field.

Junior running back Mike Stasko ran for a game-high 128 yards and a touchdown, and the Saint Vincent defense recorded six sacks and two interceptions — one a 55-yard pick-6 by junior safety Jeremy Wodarek.

Stasko added a safety for the Bearcats.

Junior quarterback Lorenzo Cota, making his first start, ran for two touchdowns and threw for another, and Sam Nowicki (Greensburg Central Catholic) had four catches for 83 yards.

Seton Hill, led by a number of redshirts, rallied for eight points inside the final minute, including a 17-yard touchdown pass from redshirt senior Ryan Barabe to redshirt senior Michael Williams with 17 seconds to play.

Barabe completed 20 of 25 passes for 250 yards and three touchdowns, and redshirt senior Kinan Humphrey had 10 receptions for 100 yards to pace Seton Hill.

Barabe was named the PSAC West Offensive Player of the Week.

Senior Michael Elardo added five catches for 98 yards and a touchdown for the Griffins, who also got 13 tackles from redshirt junior Jayden Emberton-Gai.

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Football

IUP: Senior linebacker Nick Amendola (Norwin) made eight tackles and intercepted a pass in a wild 45-42 loss to Slippery Rock.

Mercyhurst: Sophomore fullback Jason Armstrong (Latrobe) had five receptions for 68 yards and a touchdown for the Lakers in a 44-23 win over Edinboro. Freshman Dustin Shoaf (Yough) added two receptions for 21 yards in the victory.

Robert Morris: Senior wide receiver Tim Vecchio (Penn-Trafford) had six catches for 94 yards and a touchdown as the Colonials edged St. Francis (Pa.), 20-17, in two overtimes. It was RMU’s first Northeast Conference win since 2016.

West Liberty: Senior defensive back Logan Deri (Norwin) had 10 tackles, forced a fumble and blocked a punt in a 47-6 win over Concord.

Deri leads the Hilltoppers with 40¹⁄₂ tackles and has two sacks and an interception. He is a three-time All-MEC selection and was the MEC Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2016.

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Women’s soccer

Lafayette: Sophomore midfielder Sophia Hudson (Franklin Regional) scored her second college goal, and it was one for the highlight reel. It came in the 83rd minute of a 1-1 tie with American. She took a cross in front of the net, kicked the ball upward and then headed it into the net.

Pitt-Greensburg: UPG posted its 11th shutout of the season and moved to 13-0 (5-0 AMCC) with a 4-0 victory over Medaille.

The Bobcats are 7-0 at home.

Goals were scored by freshman Ashley Lucas — her 17th of the season — junior Allie Grimm, sophomore Tiffany Michalek and sophomore Megan Downey (Derry).

UPG outshot Medaille, 40-6.

Sophomore keeper Lauren Yoder made four saves in the win. Michalek added an assist.

Lucas and Yoder moved up in the program record books with single-season marks. Lucas broke the school record for game-winning goals (9) held by Melissa Wiggins since 2002.

Yoder’s 10th shutout moved her ahead of Torey Auld, who had nine in 2003.

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Men’s cross country

Duquesne: Freshman Mark Brown (Greensburg Salem) led the Dukes with a sixth-place finish, and freshman Matt O’Neill (Norwin) came in 18th at the Carnegie Mellon Invitational.

Brown’s time was 26 minutes, 27.56 seconds, and O’Neill finished in 26:54.69.

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Women’s volleyball

Saint Vincent: Senior Sarah Wozniak had 23 kills, sophomore Caitlyn Figuly added 20 kills and freshman Carly Augustine (Latrobe) had 12 kills, 28 assists and 12 digs as the Bearcats swept a tri-match.

Another freshman, Sierra Widmar, collected 37 assists and 20 digs for SVC (8-15, 3-5).