Sports News from Bloomfield College - September 17-20

Bloomfield College freshman Luis Romero (Union City, NJ) has been named the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Men's Cross Country Rookie of the Week for the week ending September 18, in results released this week. 

Romero takes the honor for the second consecutive week after running to a second-place finish for the second straight week, this time finishing just nine seconds off the lead at the Delaware Invitational with a time of 27:04.73.  Again the top rookie finisher, Romero has finished in the top ten in each of the first three meets of his Bloomfield College career, quickly establishing himself as not only one of the best rookies, but as one of the best male runners in the CACC. 

"Luis is obviously off to an outstanding start, and he's very deserving of any recognition he gets," Bloomfield head coach Jerry Wimberly said.  "He is an exceptional runner, and we're very excited to have him here. Hopefully he can keep this tremendous start going."

Bloomfield returns to action Saturday, September 24 when they travel to Philadelphia, PA for the NJAIAW Invitational.  The women's race is set for 10:45 AM, while the men's race is set for 11:45 PM.

SOCCER

Women's Results

September 17, 2011: Bloomfield's women's soccer team fell to 1-5 overall and 0-3 in conference play Saturday afternoon, as they dropped a 5-2 road decision to CACC foe Chestnut Hill College.

The Lady Deacons took a quick 1-0 lead in the fourth minute of play, when sophomore midfielder Mikie Bradley (Jackson, NJ) notched her fourth goal of the season, all of which have come on free kick opportunities.  The advantage would prove to be short-lived, as Carly DiGiovanni brought Chestnut Hill even 54 seconds later with an unassisted goal to knot the match at one.  A breakaway goal by Lauren Riiff gave the Griffins a one-goal advantage in the 26th minute, the home team carrying the slim cushion into halftime. 

Chestnut Hill notched two goals in a seven minute span to take a 4-1 lead in the early stages of the second half, with Riiff tallying her second strike of the match in the 54th minute and Kaelyn Pizarro scoring a goal in the 60th minute.  A foul in the penalty area gave the Lady Deacons a penalty kick opportunity in the 73rd minute, and freshman Dani Andreas (Jackson, NJ) converted the attempt for her first collegiate goal to get Bloomfield back into the match and cut the deficit to 4-2.  But the comeback effort would fall short, as Riiff tallied her third goal of the afternoon in the 89th minute to put the game out of reach, and send the Lady Deacons home still in search of their first conference victory. 

"Unfortunately things did not go our way today, but we were better in a lot of areas of the game," Bloomfield head coach Katie Egan said.  "We simply have to keep improving and keep working hard, and get ourselves back on track.  We have some areas we still need to correct, but we have a chance to get back on the field on Tuesday and get ourselves going in the right direction."

Bloomfield returns to action Tuesday, September 20 with a road match against non-conference opponent St. Thomas Aquinas College.  Start time for the match is set for 6:30 PM. 

Men's Results

September 17, 2011 - Bloomfield's men's soccer team fell to 0-5 overall and 0-2 in conference play Saturday evening, as they dropped a hard-fought 4-3 road decision to CACC foe Chestnut Hill College. 

The two clubs engaged in a wild first half, the shootout complete with six goals and 22 shots in the first 45 minutes of play.  Chestnut Hill kicked off the fireworks in the 8th minute of the match on a Mushe Wamulume goal, but the Deacons were able to quickly rebound with a strike of their own off the head of defender Jonathon Waters (St. Simond's Island, Ga.) just over three minutes later to even the match at one.  

The scoring barrage continued in the 18th minute, when the Griffins converted their second consecutive corner kick opportunity with a header by Gavin Reid, but Bloomfield would counter with a flurry of their own four minutes later.  Senior Juan Ramirez (Medellin, Columbia) notched his fourth goal of the season off a feed from Terry Gibbs (London, England) to even the match at two, and Waters notched his second goal of the match off a corner kick to give Bloomfield a 3-2 advantage.

Chestnut Hill concluded the frenzied opening frame with the sixth goal of the half in the 30th minute, with Darryl Richardson bringing the sides even at three after a Bloomfield turnover.  The sides would remain gridlocked until the 61st minute, when a costly foul in the penalty area awarded the Griffins a penalty kick opportunity.  Reid converted the try for Chestnut Hill, putting the home team up 4-3 with just under 30 minutes to play. 

Bloomfield was able to engineer their finest offensive performance of the season, getting off 28 shots in the contest.  But the fourth goal would prove to elude the visitors, as the Griffins held on to preserve the one-goal victory and leave the Deacons still in search of their first win of the 2011 season. 

"We improved a in a lot of areas tonight, but unfortunately we could not overcome the last goal," Bloomfield head coach Peter-John Falloon said.  "We have to be smarter in the penalty area, and that mistake has now cost us in two matches.  We can take a lot of good things from this game, though, and we have some things to build on as we move forward." 

Bloomfield returns to action Wednesday, September 21 with a road match against non-conference opponent Bridgeport University.  Start time for the match is set for 6:00 PM.

CROSS COUNTRY

September 19, 2011 - Freshman phenom Luis Romero (Union City, NJ) ran to a second-place finish for the second straight week Saturday afternoon, as Bloomfield's men's and women's cross country teams participated in the Delaware Invitational at White Clay Creek.  The women's team finished sixth out of eight teams in the event. 

Romero was the top rookie finisher for the second consecutive week, finishing just nine seconds off winner Bill Steele of Wilmington University with a time of 27:04.73 in the 8K event.  Junior Steven Bowman (Attco, NJ) continued the strong start to his third year at Bloomfield by placing 31st with a time of 30:08.93, while Moses Rotich (Lodi, NJ) placed 37th with a time of 30:49.46.  Devang Patel (North Bergen, NJ) rounded out the men's effort by placing 43rd with a time of 31:08.95.

On the women's side, freshman Catelin Perez (Union City, NJ) continued the strong start to her Bloomfield College career by placing 36th with a time of 28:07.14 in the 6K event.  Bertina Beaubrun (Asbury Park, NJ) followed in 49th place with a time of 30:04.80, while Vanessa Lamison (Laurel, MD) placed 55th with a time of 31:47.60.  Dre'Shonda Williams (Piscataway, NJ) followed right behind Lamison in 56th place, crossing the finish line with a time of 31:56.23, while Kathleen Saunders (Piscataway, NJ) placed 62nd with a time of 34:16.94. 

"I think overall we did pretty well today, but Luis was once again outstanding," Bloomfield head coach Jerry Wimberly said.  "He is really having an outstanding start to his first season with us, and he has already become one of the best runners in the CACC.  We have the building blocks in place to become one of the best programs in our league, and it's definitely exciting.  Hopefully we can keep the good start to our season going."

Bloomfield returns to action Saturday, September 24 when they travel to Philadelphia, PA for the NJAIAW Invitational.  The women's race is set for 10:45 AM, while the men's race is set for 11:45 PM.

VOLLEYBALL

September 20, 2011 - Bloomfield's women's volleyball team fell to 1-4 overall and 0-4 in conference play Tuesday evening, as they dropped a 3-1 decision to CACC North Division rival Nyack College.  The loss drops the Lady Deacons to 0-2 at home on the young season. 

The sides remained even in the opening set through the first 18 points, but a 9-1 run by the visiting Lady Warriors put Bloomfield behind 18-11.  Nyack would take seven of the final 12 points in the frame, grabbing a 25-16 decision and putting the home team behind 1-0 for the second consecutive home match.

But the Lady Deacons would quickly bounce back with a decisive victory in set number two, winning 12 of the first 18 points to grab a sizable advantage early.  The Bloomfield lead would never shrink below five points in the stanza, with the home team taking a 25-17 victory and evening the contest at a set apiece.

It would prove to be the club's only victory, though, as Nyack was able to overcome the onslaught and take a pair of 25-15 victories over the next two sets, leaving Bloomfield still in search of its first conference victory of the season.

Junior outside hitter Clodesh Marie Montano (Carolina, P.R.) and sophomore middle blocker Dominic Spivey (Newark, N.J.) each totaled seven kills to lead the Bloomfield attack, with Montano also tallying 11 digs in the loss.  Allison Hart (Pagosa Springs, Co.) was solid at the setter position, posting 16 assists to go with four kills and 10 digs.  Brandi Bodin (Clara City, Mn.) tallied at least 15 digs for the second consecutive match, notching 18 in the setback.  Amy Dorvick led Nyack with nine kills, while Michelle Makela posted a game-high 25 digs to lead the Lady Warriors' defensive effort.

Bloomfield returns to action Thursday, September 22 with a home match against CACC North Division foe Concordia College.  Start time for the contest is set for 7:00 PM.