CMU sports roundup: cross country, football, soccer

Men’s Cross Country

The men’s cross country team opened their season this year with the Panther Opener at Schenley Park on Friday, Sept. 2. Sophomore Colin McLauglin finished second overall with a time of 14:47.3; sophomore Eamon Brady placed eighth with a time of 15:01.9; senior Elijah Sech finished with a time of 15:10.3, earning him tenth. The combined efforts of the Tartans earned them 45 points, placing them second overall. They will compete at the Robert Morris Invitational on Friday, Sept. 16 next.

Women’s Cross Country

The women’s cross country team also opened their season with the Panther Opener on Friday, Sept. 2. Junior Zalewski led the Tartans with a 10th place finish with a time of 19:09.2; not far behind was senior Mona Yuan with a time of 19:13.9, which earned her 11th. The Tartans overall scored 67 points, placing them third overall. They will compete at the Robert Morris Invitational on Friday, Sept. 16 next.

Football

The Tartan football team opened its 2022 season at home this year, facing off against Whitworth University on Friday, Sept. 2. This game also marked the debut of Carnegie Mellon’s new head coach, Ryan Larsen.

Following a scoreless first quarter, the Tartans made their first strike early in the second quarter with a touchdown pass from quarterback Ben Mills, making the score 7-0. Not long after, another touchdown pass from Mills to wide receiver Kris Huges resulted in a 99-yard catch and run touchdown, furthering the Tartan’s lead to 14-0. However, the Pirates would be close to catching up by the end of the half, making the score 14-10.

Early on in the second half, Carnegie Mellon upped their score again with a 12-yard run from running back Tre Vasiliadis, making it 21-10 Tartans. Toward the end of the third quarter, the Pirates snuck in another touchdown to make it 21-17 Tartans, though it would be their last score of the game. In the fourth quarter, the Tartans scored two more touchdowns, including a 43-yard pick 6 from inside linebacker Kevin Cooke. As the clock ran out, the scoreboard recorded the Tartan’s first win of the season, 35-17.

This past Saturday, Sept. 10, the football team traveled to Troy, New York to take on #22 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). Early in the first quarter, kicker Hayden Hairston put the Tartans up 3-0 with a 23-yard field goal; that would remain the score for the rest of the half.

In the second half of play, the Tartans blocked an Engineers field goal. Following an interception from outside linebacker Logan Young that put the ball on the RPI one-yard line, Mills completed a pass to give the Tartans a 10-0 lead. With only 1:46 left in the fourth quarter, the Engineers finally made an appearance on the scoreboard with a touchdown, but it was too late to make a comeback. As the clock wound down, the Tartans secured their second victory of the season, 10-7.

The Tartans will return home this Saturday, Sept. 17 when they take on Grove City at 1:00 p.m. EDT.

Men’s Soccer

The men’s soccer team has had a very strong start to the season, earning themselves an undefeated record of 4-0 so far. This past Thursday, the team played their home opener against Westminster. Though the Tartans conceded their first goal of the season, two early goals in the 13th and 22nd minutes of the game from Junior Ethan Vertal meant that the Tartans were able to keep their undefeated record by a scoreline of 2-1.

The team was back on the road again on Saturday to take on #16 John Carroll University. For most of the game, the scoreboard read 0-0. That is, until first-year Brendan Schonwetter knocked one in during the 89th minute following a corner kick from senior Josh Baugh and an assist from senior Mason Shockley. This lone goal of the game gave the Tartans the victory, 1-0, and placed them at 4-0 for the season.

The team will be returning home on Tuesday, Sept. 13 to take on Washington and Jefferson at 7:00 p.m. EDT.

Women’s Soccer

This past week, the women’s soccer team — who are currently ranked #15 — rebounded from their loss in the first game of the season, winning both their games. The team traveled to Franciscian University on Wednesday, Sept. 7 and had an impressive showing. Two early goals in the third and seventh minutes of the game were all the Tartans needed to win, but they didn’t stop there. Despite a goal in the 31st minute from Franciscan, the Tartans continued to strike, making it 6-1 by the end of the game. This allowed the Tartans to improve their record to 1-1 for the season.

The women’s team kept up the momentum in their next game when they returned home to play Whittenberg in their home opener. The Tartans were all over the Tigers during the game, keeping them shotless and scoreless. The first goal of the game was scored by first-year Jenna Hallbeck in the 16th minute, and that was all Carnegie Mellon needed to secure victory. This advanced the team to 2-1 on the season.

On Sunday, Sept. 11, the Tartans continued their home campaign when they took on #9 Johns Hopkins University. While the Tartans opened the scoring during the 18th minute, Johns Hopkins would not let up, answering less than two minutes later and making it a 1-1 game. Though the Tartans once again took the lead in the 51st minute, the Blue Jays answered in the 57th minute, making it a tie game once more. Neither team was able to get one over on the other for the rest of the game, ending in a 2-2 tie. The women’s soccer team record is now 2-1-1.

The team will continue their campaign at home this week when they take on Grove City on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. EDT.