POTSDAM - The volleyball, cross-country and both soccer teams kicked off their seasons last week.

CROSS COUNTRY

The cross-country teams competed at the SUNYIT Invitational on Sept. 1.

The women’s team ran to a fifth place finish led by senior Hollie Heimer (Chesapeake, Va.) and the men finished 13th. Heimer placed second in the women’s 5K with a time of 20:01.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

The Bears traveled to the Oneonta Invitational on Friday and Saturday to open the season with a 2-2 split. On Friday, Potsdam fell to Union 3-1 and then later swept SUNYIT in three sets. On Saturday, the Bears dropped three sets to Houghton before recovering for a 3-0 victory in their last match against Emmanuel. Senior middle hitter Kayla Howard (Marcellus, N.Y.) recorded 28 kills, while senior libero Jill Dye (Middletown, N.Y.) contributed 37 digs.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

The women’s soccer team hosted the SUNY Potsdam Women’s College Cup this past weekend. The Bears claimed the title defeating Hilbert by a score of

4-0 and Cazenovia 6-0. Four Bears were named to the All-Tournament team.

Sophomore midfielder Kate Clauss (Bloomfield, N.Y.) was named the tournament’s most valuable player. Freshmen Shannon Weader (Palmyra, N.Y. ) and Jaime Durant (Loudonville, N.Y.) were named the top goalkeepers of the tournament and senior forward Heather Johnson (Heuvelton, N.Y. was the tourney’s top scorer.

MEN’S SOCCER

The Potsdam men’s soccer team hosted the Men’s College Cup Saturday and Sunday. The Bears defeated Morrisville in the first round of the tournament by a score of 3-2. Potsdam then dropped a double-overtime heartbreaker in the championship game to Castleton State, 2-1. Three Bears were named to the all-tournament team. Freshman Chris Chiarella (Rochester, N.Y.), sophomore Eduardo Figueroa (Rochester, N.Y. ), and freshman forward Dylan Krueger (Lewistown, N.Y.) received all-tournament honors.

PERFORMERS OF THE WEEK

Freshman soccer player Chris Chiarella is the Bears’ male performer of the week. Chiarella had the game winning assist in his first collegiate game against Morrisville. He then scored his first career first goal to send the championship game into overtime. Chiarella currently leads the Bears in scoring.

Sophomore soccer player Kate Clauss receives the female performer of the week honor. Clauss won the College Cup tournament MVP honor with her four-point performance. She generated two goal-scoring opportunities for her teammates in the first game and buried a goal in the second game to help the Bears to the title.

UPCOMING GAMES

The golf team begins their season today in the Bears Fall Invitational at Potsdam Country Club.

Cross Country competes on Wednesday at the Paul Smith’s Quad Meet.

The Bears volleyball team travels across town to face Clarkson University this evening and will host the Victory Promotions Invitational on Friday and Saturday. Potsdam plays at 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Friday and 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.

The men’s soccer team will be on the road this week. The Bears will travel to SUNY Old Westbury for a noon match-up on Saturday. Potsdam then heads over to Farmingdale, N.Y. to take on Farmingdale State at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

The women’s soccer team will head to Massachusetts to play in the Wellesley Invitational this weekend. The Bears will face Babson College at 1 p.m. on Saturday and will play host Wellesley on Sunday at 1 p.m.

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