SEPTEMBER 30, 2011 SPORTS B7 SOCCER FOOTBALL Club strives for Conference USA Roundup varsity BY SAMUEL PETERSON BY MAX RESNIK CONTRIBUTING WRITER ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR The women's club soccer No. 13 Virginia Tech 30, team is hoping to reinstate a Marshall IO women's varsity soccer team at Tulane. When the Virginia Tech The Tulane women's varsi- Hokies and the Marshall ty team was one of eight var- Thundering Herd met up, sity sports that the universi- they played as if neither side ty cut following Hurricane wanted to \\in. Though the Katrina. Hokies dominated the trench- Led by sophomore cap- es during their 30-10 victory, tains Bianca Bonfim, Sarah mistakes kept the game closer Mathiesen and Leila Nashed, than it could have been. The the team is scheduled to play Hokies truly dominated the five games this semester. Thundering Herd, rushing As with any club team for 215 yards, while allowing at Tulane, funding is a ma- jor ob tacle for the program only six. Virginia Tech also gaining supplies and support. sacked Marshall quarterback With women's bowling set to Rakeem Cato five times. De- return later this school year, spite these accomplishments, though, there may be hope Virginia Tech was inconsis- that a another team cut post- tent. In the first quarter, Mar- Katrina, women's soccer, will shall blocked an extra-point be reinstated. attempt. These lapses con- The team dropped its sea- tinued all night, including a son opener at home Sunday, missed field goal. a fumble 3-0 ,at the hands of Lousiana and a late interception that State University. It has one kept the Thundering Herd remaining home game Oct. alive. Marshall had more 8 versus Rice. Additionally, than enough blunders of its the club team will attend and own - at one point, punt- participate in the Clemson er Kase Whitehead shanked Soccer Tournament in mid- consecutive punts into the October. It has two more sideline. Head coach Frank contests in October, and the Beamer needs to improve the season finale in November. Sophomore Jackie Gram- Hokies' play, because their COURTESY OF MCT CAMPUS bush, from just outside Se- next two opponents are na- Tulsa running back Willie Carter (34) and the Golden Hurricane couldn't get by Boise State, losing 41-21 last week. attle, has been played with tionally-ranked Clemson and Miami (Fla.). the club team since arriving a 93-yard kickoff return from two consecutive losses. The Hurricane serves as a great forms, on the backdrop of last fall. The team has quite a wide receiver Cody Hoff- next few weeks of conference example of a game that was the blue field, only enhanced \\ish list, which includes an BYU 24, UCF 17 man. Brigham Young need- play against the likes of Mar- not as close as the score the eerie feeling of this blow- actual _occer field, uniforms ed all the help it could get, shall and Southern Methodist would suggest. Though the out. This game was one of and more games. As the team When Brigham Young as the Golden Knights' top will determine whether the Hurricane did manage 21 the two times this season is student-run, however, the met up with Central Flori- ranked passing defense al- Knights will be able to defend points - all of which came Boise St. will be permitted number of games scheduled da, most observers expect- lowed just 133 yards pass- their Conference USA crown. in the second half - many of wear blue helmets, jerseys is not entirely in the hands ed the Cougars to come out ing. UCF quarterback Jeff the Broncos starters had al- and cleats. Tulsa had sever- of the team, but to other motivated, aiming to redeem Godfrey threw for 272 yards :'Jo. 4 Boise State 41, Tul- schools' programs as well. ready left the game. In two- al bright spots as its offense themselves after having lost along with two rushing The Conterence USA Wom- sa 21 and-a-half quarters of play, gained 291 yards. In a bru- to instate rival Utah. BYU did touchdowns in the losing ef- Boise State quarterback Kel- tal scheduling quirk, Tulsa is en's soccer program consists not disappoint, forcing four of 12 teams, and the univer- fort. The Cougars dominated The meeting between the len Moore put up four touch- only one of two teams in the fumbles. It also produced the the second half 21-7 and ex- Broncos and the Golden downs on 23 of 29 passing. nation to have played three sity of Central Florida is the most exiting play of the week, 2010 reigning conference tended the Knights' slide to The Bronco's all-blue uni- top-10 teams this season. champion. "I'm really hoping to see a varsity team here before I leave," Grambush said. "In the meantime, given our re- ｾ ｯ ｵ ｲ ｣ ･ Ｆ Ｌ l am happy to be a. part of this team and encour- age students to come support Saints second-half rally overcomes Texans us this semester." According to Grambush, In the most recent per- Mark Ingram have proven the tough schedule. and former teammates who nearly 200 girls showed up BY LYNNE FIRMIN STAFF WRITER formance - featuring the themselves as weapons for a The victory against the honored Gleason's contribu- to tryouts - though there Saints' black and gold throw- strong running game. Texans Sept. 25 was not the tion to the 2009 champion- were no formal cuts - but If anyone truly thought back uniforms and a weak Unfortunately, offen- last memorable moment of ship team. just 22 showed up to play that this year's preseason first-half performance that sive tackle Zack Strief took the week for the New Or- New Orleans travels to Sept. 18. Players face a bit ofa would foreshadow the reg- haunted fans with memo- Moore's place on the inju- leans Saints. Monday night, Jacksonville, Fla. this week- catch-22 "'ith the program. If ular season, they certainly ries of the '.Aints - the sec- ry report, keeping this list head coach Sean Payton and end to take on the Jaguars there were more to offer than have been hushed. ond-half comeback proved alarming deep. In addition to the team presented former and will be on the road for a few games and practices, Two weeks ago the Saints that this team is no joke. Re- Strief and Colston, the Saints player Steve Gleason with a the next three games. The perhaps more players would defense silenced all crit- cently-injured wide receiv- are currently playing without Super Bowl ring, while May- latter two games are against show up. ics when they dominated er Lance Moore did a great kicker Garrett Hartley, line- or Mitch Landrieu award- division rivals. The Jaguars The current group is still a strong Chicago Bears of- job stepping in for Marques backer Jonathan Vilma, and ed him a proclamation and a are coming off a loss to Car- getting to know each oth- fense. Last weekend, the Colston, who was out with a defensive backs Tracy Porter key to the city. olina and should be an easy er and are establishing a Black and Gold beat a team broken collar bone. Moore and Roman Harper, among Gleason, who retired in win for the explosive Saints. rhythm. Members have a that shut them out in the pre- had one touchdown and two others. The team seems to 2008, recently announced This matchup features one very positive attitude and try season. In a nerve-wracking identical receptions for suc- be functioning and remains his diagnosis with amytro- team looking to avoid a to maintain a positive out- shootout between the Hous- cessful 2-point conversions confident in backups like phic lateral sclerosis, also three-game losing streak look. Grambush said that ton Texans and the Saints, to compile nine catches for veteran kicker John Kasay - known as Lou Gehrig's dis- and the other looking to ex- this group can improve very two Brees interceptions did 88 yards. who has been flawless in his ease. Monday night was a tend to a three-game win- quickly with the proper com- not stop him from racking Running back Pierre recent performances - but private, emotional surprise ning streak. Kickoff is set for mitment level and experi- up 370 yards, three touch- Thomas remains consis- these replacements remain a that included a small group 12 p.m. Sunday at EverBank ence as the season and the downs and a victory. tent, and Darren Sproles and concern for the remainder of of Gleason's family members Field. team members' time at Tu- lane progresses. 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