Ally Runyon: Junior Attacks Women's Lax Records

When junior attacker Ally Runyon receives a pass from her teammate, she knows she can score. When she’s slicing through defenses on the field, it looks second nature by now, as she tucks the ball into the net with pinpoint accuracy. The statistics do not convey the extent of how she can take over a game.

The women’s lacrosse team’s leading scorer has had an impressive campaign once again for the South Hill squad this season.

As a freshman, Runyon tallied 31 goals, which was second-most on the team, en route to being named the Empire 8 Rookie of the Year in 2013.

She surpassed that number of goals in her second season, scoring 56 on her way to being named to both the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association’s All-Empire Region Team and the Empire 8 All-Conference First Team.

So far in 2015, Runyon has netted 35 goals in only 10 games and is on pace to score 60 for the season. Should Runyon reach that number, she would be close to breaking the school’s single season goal-scoring record of 61 set in 1998 by then-senior Allison Doyle.

Despite the numbers, Runyon said her transition to the college game was not as easy as it seemed coming out of Fairport High School in Fairport, New York.

“The adjustment from high school to college was very difficult,” Runyon said. “The speed of play and the talent level of the team were so much higher than anything that I had been exposed to, so it took some time to adjust to.”

She said she did not necessarily feel unprepared when it came time to make the transition, but she had to get comfortable and build a rapport with her new teammates.

“I did have to work really hard and get used to being a part of a new team, but my teammates were amazing at building our confidence and making each other better players,” Runyon said.

After clearing those initial speed bumps, Runyon was on the fast lane to becoming a true offensive threat, and she said she attributes her goal-scoring prowess to a lack of fear in the field due to an increased trust in her teammates abilities.

“I think that the reason I have become more of a goal scoring threat is that I am not afraid to take as many risks as I have in the past,” she said.

Head coach Shannon McHale said Runyon’s work ethic and athletic ability are also key components to her offensive skills.

“[She is a] superior athlete who is very humble and always works to be better every day,” McHale said.

Runyon’s teammate, junior midfielder Riley Marion, echoed McHale’s sentiments when she said she believes Runyon has the skills of a high-caliber athlete.

“She’s really strong, so not many defenders can stop her,” Marion said. “Al has a really quick first step and is comfortable driving left or right, so that makes her very hard to defend.”

Runyon said she has noticed opponents utilize a defensive tactic called face guarding in order to try and stop her from scoring. Face guarding is described as when a designated defensive player will face a chosen offensive player for the entirety of the attack and not let them out of their sight. This makes it harder for offensively dangerous players, such as Runyon, to impact the game by giving them limited opportunities to have the ball.

Runyon said while the tactic can be successful every so often, it has not affected the team’s ability to score as a whole.

“It can work to get me out of the play, but fortunately we have enough talent on our team so this doesn’t affect our offense too much,” she said. “I have to work harder to get the ball, but we all work together to do whatever our offense needs to do to score goals.”

McHale said she shared Runyon’s feelings about having a talented offense that defenders cannot ignore to focus on the goal-scoring junior.

“You can’t shut Ally Runyon down,” McHale said. “She’s too smart, too athletic and too competitive. She has talented teammates who the defense has to mark as well or they will score as well.”

Marion said the dynamic between Runyon and her is more than just teammates is but one of friendship that translates on the field.

“We’re best friends, and I think that shows sometimes on the field,” Marion said. “One of the strongest parts of our attack is our fast break, and that is a time where we really work together and create opportunities for each other. Ally has a really good game sense and I can rely on her to give me a great feed if I am cutting, or I know she will be able to handle and finish any feed I give her.”

Bomber basketball finding their stride

(Another feature in The Ithacan)

Heading into winter break, the men’s basketball team was looking for answers. With only a 2–5 record to show for the beginning of the season and Empire 8 action on the horizon, the team needed to find its groove.

After a loss to Hamilton College five days after Christmas and another a week later to Elmira College to open conference play, the Bombers were 2–7 and faced with a Utica College squad that had won two of its last three games. The Bombers won that game 97–90, and would go on to win eight of the next 11, including a five-game win streak.

The South Hill squad had seemingly swung its season around. It went from embarrassing losses, such as a 74–48 drubbing at the hands of Trinity College, to dominating wins over its opponents, showcased in its 15-point win over Houghton College.

There was plenty missing in the season’s early stages. One could point to the team’s youth, with seven freshmen and eight new players overall. There was not much familiarity among the team members, and chemistry on the court is vital in smooth team play.

Head coach Jim Mullins said knowing your teammates’ tendencies and preferences could make the difference between an assist on the game tying 3-pointer and throwing the ball out of bounds while thinking your teammate will be there.

Mullins said his goal was to have the team find its identity by the time conference play began.

“With eight new faces on this year’s team and a very tough early schedule, we knew it would take some ‘gelling’ for this team to hit its stride,” he said. “Our hope was that this would occur by the time we got into Empire 8 play, and that’s pretty much what happened.”

Building chemistry was not as hard as originally thought. In fact, it was practically enforced for the team. Members of the athletic teams are, for the most part, the only students who remain on campus over breaks. After a few days at home for holiday celebrations, the basketball team was back on South Hill and among the only people on campus.

Being seemingly isolated on campus and, as coach Mullins said, often living together in any of the dorm options, players grow closer than ever and sometimes all it takes to find cohesion on the court is finding cohesion off of it.

Co-captains Keefe Gitto and Max Masucci are the only seniors on the team, and Gitto said they took it upon themselves to do what it took to right the ship and get the season back on course.

Gitto has averaged 15.7 points per game since returning from break, while Masucci has pitched in with 23 assists in 15 games.

Gitto said the lack of classes or other campus activities meant there was a relaxed environment for players, and some teammates even temporarily moved in together.

“During break there is a lot of downtime that allows the team to get together in a less high-intensity setting,” Gitto said. “A lot of the underclassmen move in with the upperclassmen for the break, and this is where a lot of the off-court relationships are formed.”

Gitto said with practices and games being the only concrete items on their daily schedules, the players had opportunities to come together and partake in activities that would help them increase their chemistry.

“As a team we tried to get together to do something almost every night,” he said. “We went bowling and took trips to the mall, but we would mostly just hang out at someone’s house. Being together without any distractions really helped us all learn more about each other, which in turn translated to building cohesiveness on the court.”

Masucci said chemistry played a role in the team’s play, and that it was the job of upperclassmen to help players that were new to the college game make a smooth transition.

“I think it definitely had something to do with building chemistry,” he said. “I wouldn’t blame it on the younger players though. It’s our duty as upperclassmen to ease them into the college game. We played a very tough out of conference schedule so we could be ready for conference games later in the year.”

Mullins said he seems to have found a preferable starting lineup and bench rotation, but even so, he believes the chemistry aspect of the game is the main cause for the team’s good play as of late.

“While we have settled into a rotation, I still believe that the primary reason we are playing better is that the guys are becoming more familiar with one another, learning each other’s strengths and weaknesses,” he said.

Aside from building chemistry, Gitto said the squad was able to put more attention solely on basketball with no academic responsibilities to attend to over the break.

“During the break the coaching staff really focused on breaking down and simplifying what we were trying to achieve,” Gitto said. “With a young team this really helped our focus and contributed to our success.”

With the players gelling better than ever, pushing the pace of play and getting everyone on the floor touches, Mullins said he thinks the team is one to watch in the final stretch of the season.

“When we’re moving the ball, playing unselfishly, we’re a pretty dangerous team,” he said.

Sophomore Trio Spearheads Sports Podcast

Note: This is another feature I did for school.

ITHACA - If you find yourself in the lobby of the Roy H. Park School of Communications on a Wednesday afternoon, there is a good chance that just a few feet away, in Room 218, you will hear what sounds like an afternoon drive sports talk radio show.

But if you go into the room and ask for the volume to be lowered, there will be no radio on. Instead you will find three sophomores recording a weekly sport talk podcast, called “The Asman and Budick Show.”

After a few microphone checks, the show opens the same way it does every week: a pre-recorded voice telling the listener “The Asman and Budick podcast starts right now”, followed by the familiar guitar riff from The Heavy’s 2009 hit song “How You Like Me Now?”

The roots of the podcast can be traced back before college. Sophomore co-hosts Jake Asman and Daniel Budick went to high school together in Syosset, New York and were able to host a sports-talk radio show at their school every week, normally on Mondays. Each said they had been listening to sports-talk radio for much of their lives, so they knew it was something they would like to get involved in.

“We did a lot of local and national and New York sports stuff,” Asman said. “It was pretty much just basic sports talk, similar to what the podcast is. When we both came to Ithaca College it was something we wanted to do.”

Asman said one factor in creating the podcast was being able to do a show that focused on what the duo wanted to talk about and allowed them to do it every week in order to enhance their skills in front of the microphone. Budick also mentioned that doing a weekly podcast allowed them to have the flexibility to tape the show whenever they were able to.

Getting the show the green light from Ithaca College Televisions’ special productions department was the first hurdle they cleared, so they went looking for a producer. That is where sophomore Jake Chernok came into the picture. He did not know Asman or Budick before coming to Ithaca College, but he ended up being a good fit for the podcast.

“These guys were looking for a producer and I volunteered, and its worked out great so far,” said Chernok, who, much like Asman and Budick, is an avid fan of sports-talk radio.

Chernok is the shows’ utility man. He not only plays the role of producer, editing the show after taping is complete, but is also a part of weekly segments, and books special guests for Asman and Budick to interview. They have had numerous high profile guests on the show, from Sal Paolantonio of ESPN, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, and TNT basketball broadcaster Kevin Harlan to name a few. Part of their ability to book some the bigger names in the sports industry was being approved for as media credential for the NBA, NFL and MLB, allowing them access to the same contacts list ESPN reporters have.

When asked what each of their favorite interviews were, all three agreed that their interview with Craig Sager Jr. in April 2014 was special and emotional, talking about his father’s diagnosis with leukemia and the powerful interview he conducted with San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.

“There’s so much negativity surrounding sports all the time,” Chernok said of the interview. “Every single story that comes out is so negative and to have something good come out of that was really, really awesome.”

Budick also mentioned the first interview they ever did on the podcast as being a special moment for them.

“I remember the first guest we had was John Yastrzemski of WFAN,” Budick said. “Just us interviewing him I felt like it was really cool because I’ve been listening to these guys for so long and it’s almost like, ‘Wow, they’re calling into my show now’, and I think that was a big eye opening experience.”

Aside from Yastrzemski, the co-hosts draw inspiration from current sports-talk personalities that they listen to on a daily basis. Budick said he tries to model his interview style on WFAN’s Marc Malusis and Mike Francesa, while Asman will routinely wake up an hour before his 8 a.m. class to watch Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton’s television simulcast and take parts from their show, as well as others, to create his own style.

Asman said that trio plan on continuing the podcast through college, and he hopes it gives all three of them valuable experience in the sports-radio business.

“We hope it continues to make us better so when we do graduate college, it gives us an opportunity to have a leg up on the competition when we’re searching for jobs,” he said.

King of the Hill

This is a feature I did at school for the school newspaper, The Ithacan:

King of the Hill

Kelsey King has the Bombers poised for a deep playoff run on the South Hill

Every successful team has a player who can take over a game at the snap of a finger when the team needs him or her most. Real Madrid has Cristiano Ronaldo, Alex Morgan is the X-factor for the U.S. Women’s National Team and the Bombers’ women’s soccer team looks to junior forward Kelsey King.

King has been on a tear in her third year on the South Hill, finishing the regular season with 12 goals and five assists through 16 games. This follows her 14-goal outburst last year in 22 games. With the playoffs on the horizon for the Bombers, King is looking at exceeding her goal total from last year and has already reached her personal record for assists in a season.

Her high motor and steadfast work ethic make her effective on the field, head coach Mindy Quigg said.

“She’s tenacious,” she said. “She just brings it every single day. Every play, every day,  Kelsey’s going hard.”

She described King as savvy and technically sound with the ball at her feet, getting forward quickly and making instinctual decisions that would cause hesitation in other players.

Junior goalkeeper Beth Coppolecchia echoed Quigg’s words when talking about King’s attitude and commitment to playing hard.

“I think a lot of her success has come from her hard work during practice and each game,” she said. “When we’re down a goal, she’s always the one to bring the positive attitude and give everything she can to try and score a goal. She has been amazing thus far, and I know she’s only going to continue to do well throughout postseason.”

In some games this year, Quigg said, the opposing team would dedicate one or more players solely to shadowing King on the field to try to restrict her impact on the game, because when they give her the slightest amount of room, she has proven that she can do whatever she pleases with the ball at her foot.

“It can be really frustrating, because it limits what I can do,” King said. “I have less time, less space, to do all the things that I usually like to do. It’s an adjustment that I’ve had to make over this season especially. I’m just kind of getting used to it, but it just makes me play different.”

With opponents trying to shut the door on King’s scoring, it opens another one for her teammates. King’s assists are up by four and counting this year, and she credits that in part to the extra attention she has been receiving on the field.

“I think maybe it comes from having that extra pressure and extra defense on me,” she said. “It opens up other people, and I can play them that quick ball so that they can get the opportunity.”

Quigg also attributes this increase to King’s development as a more well-rounded player.

“She plays so much more with her head up now, which makes her more of a threat,” she said. “She creates so much for other people, not just because people are swarming to her to defend her, but because she creates. She distributes the ball extremely well.”

King’s importance to the squad does not stop at her offensive production and team-leading statistics, however. Coppolecchia said King’s communication and leadership have aided the team’s success.

“She is one of the biggest leaders on our team, and especially for the offense,” Coppolecchia said. “Throughout the game she’s consistently communicating to everyone and keeping the energy high.”

Quigg said King’s maturity has a big impact on the team’s mentality, and her experience will be a factor in their playoff run.

“What she does on the field is amazing, but her maturity is equally important,” Quigg said. “She’s a leader on the field, she’s a leader off the field, she’s vocal, she’s a leader by her actions, a leader by her words.”

With the postseason drawing near and another year on the horizon for King, Quigg said she is glad to be on the same sideline as the goal-scoring midfielder.

“We’re fortunate that she’s a Bomber for sure,” she said. “We wouldn’t want to play against her.”

The Case for MVLee

The MLS MVP race is going to come down to this final weekend, and the race is tight. The clear frontrunner is Robbie Keane, the Irish striker for LA Galaxy that seems to have taken a dip in the fountain of youth before the season began. He has 19 goals and 14 assists on the season, good for third and tied-second respectively, but he has not scored a goal since October 4th, which puts into perspective just how big of a season he was having before the slump. Obafemi Martins has 17 goals and has been one of Seattle Sounders best players all year. And, of course, Landon Donovan will be in contention, well because he is Mr. MLS and it is his last season ever so everyone can feel happy he got a Derek Jeter moment and won the MVP in his final season. But I think there is one clear choice.

No one has been more valuable to their team than Lee Nguyen of the New England Revolution. And I know what your thinking right now, "This is bias, he's from New England, of course he wants his guy to win..." and you're right. I am bias. But this is the truth. Lee Nguyen has been seemingly unstoppable this year. He has 17 goals, same as Obafemi Martins, and 5 assists, which isn't much but it is more than USMNT midfielder Michael Bradley, who has 4. Maybe the best stat Nguyen has is Game Winning Goals. He has 8. That's the most in the league. It's 3 more than Keane. Lee Nguyen has technically won more games than 3 teams in MLS and would be tied with 2 others. He's also done all of this goal-scoring out of the midfield, while Keane is a striker. That, my friends, is what we call a difference maker. He has been without a doubt the Revolution's best, most impactful player. They would not be 2nd in the Eastern Conference without him, in fact they would not be in the playoffs if it was not for his 8 game winners. He is the most valuable player to his team on the list of candidates.

He should also be getting a call up to the U.S. Men's National Team soon. It would be an utter disappointment if Jurgen Klinssman didn't call up the player riding maybe the biggest hot streak of a season in recent memory to the national squad. Lee Nguyen is one of the best MLS players out there right now, and he deserves recognition.

#MVLEE #NGUYENING

Also he scores goals like this, a little incentive: 

If Catalonia Secedes, Barça Will Be Out Of La Liga

Fox News MADRID –  The president of La Liga says Catalan clubs like Barcelona and Espanyol would be excluded from the country's top soccer league if the region succeeds in its bid for independence from Spain. Separatist sentiment has surged in Catalonia in recent years following Spain's refusal to give the region more autonomy and fiscal powers.La Liga President Javier Tebas says the country's sports law entitles only one non-Spanish territory — Andorra — to legally participate in the league or other official competitions.Tebas adds that for clubs from an independent Catalonia to be included in La Liga would require a "modification" of the law that would have to be approved by parliament.

Big news from Spain with pretty major ramifications for the soccer world. Taking Barcelona out of La Liga is a huge deal. Save for Atletico Madrid's title win last season, it's been a two horse race the past nine years between Barcelona and their rivals Real Madrid. Granted, La Liga allows a non-Spanish team to currently play, that being FC Andorra form the small nation of Andorra (sandwiched between France and Spain), although the highest that squad has ever been in the Spanish soccer hierarchy is the third tier. Barcelona is one of the biggest clubs in the world across all sports, never mind just La Liga. New laws would have to be put in place to allow for more non-Spanish teams to play in the league. Barcelona players such as Xavi Hernandez and Gerard Pique, both Catalan-born, have expressed they want the region to continue to seek independence. This could expand past La Liga as well. Catalonia has had its own national team for some time, but they are not recognized by FIFA. With a new, independent nation, they could become recognized and be able to compete in world tournaments. This would also deplete the Spanish national team of key players. This is certainly a double-edged sword for those in the Catalan region: stay and continue to play as they always have, or secede and have their footballing future in doubt.

PS-Has a club motto ever backfired/been more relevant than Barcelona's? It's "Mes que un club", which means "More than a club". As in they represent not just a club but a region. A region that wants to secede. Talk about a rock and a hard place.

PSS- Poor Espanyol just getting sandbagged. No respect for being a second class team in a region that wants to secede.

Have the Patriots Found Their O-Line Solution?

The New England Patriots offensive line has been the target of much scrutiny this season following the trade of veteran guard and team leader Logan Mankins. Well last night on Sunday Night Football we may have seen the solution. It never occurred to me that coach Belichick could just play three centers at once. Yeah, its that simple. No more Jordan Devey, no more Marcus Cannon. Dan Connolly and Ryan Wendell at the guards and rookie Bryan Stork at center. Tom Brady was only sacked once and hit another time. Thats it. So genius. So Belichick. Just play three center and you'll be all set.

Brady looked as fired up as I have seen him the past few weeks, Gronk was getting back to his old ways of being the bruising pass catcher we were all accustomed to, and Tim Wright was impressive as well. Those first two drives had me ready to run through a brick wall. I was so pumped up watching Brady play pissed off. If we have to bring Jimmy Garoppolo in at the end of every game to get Tommy ready to go the next week then that's what we have to do.

I hope they put Garoppolo in at the end of tonight's game, just to piss of Tom Brady again for next week.
— Toucher and Rich (@Toucherandrich) October 6, 2014

Wait, what's that?

Garoppolo finishes the game. Next week is a lock.
— Toucher and Rich (@Toucherandrich) October 6, 2014