Sports update Sept. 6: Football wins season opener

The football team posted a 28-10 win at Knox College in its 2011 season opener Sept. 3 at the Knosher Bowl in Galesburg, Ill.

Senior tight end Phill Stoecker caught six passes for 41 yards and three touchdowns in the win for the Bears. Sophomore running back John Hagemann carried the ball 14 times for a career-high 102 yards and a touchdown, as WUSTL grinded out 242 rushing yards. Junior running back Chris Castelluccio added 63 yards on nine carries.

The WUSTL defense limited Knox to 220 yards of total offense and forced two fumbles and had three interceptions. Sophomore defensive back Scott O’Brien led the defensive unit with eight tackles, including two for loss, and two interceptions.

The team returns to action at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10, for its home opener against Rhodes College. The game will be broadcast live on client.stretchinternet.com/client/wustl.portal#.

Volleyball starts strong with win at Bears Classic

The No. 3 volleyball team swept all six of its opponents during the first week of competition and picked up a win the Bears Classic Sept. 3-4 at the Field House.

WUSTL swept Harris-Stowe State University and Culver-Stockton College in its season opener Sept. 1. The Bears had 25 aces in the win over Harris-Stowe, falling one shy of the single-match school record of 26 set in 1993.

The Bears also defeated Carroll University, DePauw University, the University of Texas-Dallas and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology at the Bears Classic Sept 3-4. WUSTL landed three student-athletes on the all-tournament team: junior setter Marilee Fisher, junior libero Kelly Pang and sophomore middle hitter Kaia Schwartz.

WUSTL returns to action Friday and Saturday, Sept. 9 and 10 for the Washington University/Asics National Invitational at the Field House. The Bears open the invitation at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 9, against Ohio Northern University followed by No. 11 Carthage College at 8 p.m.

Women’s golf captures NCAA Preview Championship

Freshman Olivia Lugar earned co-medalist honors with a career-best 73 to lead the No. 7 Bears the NCAA Preview Tournament Championship in Angola, Ind.

Lugar, who trailed by two strokes after the first day, tied Lauren Campbell of Olivet College in the individual standings with a two-day total of 149 (76-73).

After firing a 313 the first day, WUSTL improved five strokes on the second day with a 308 to capture the tournament championship by 20 strokes over No. 2 DePauw University. The 308 is the second lowest round in school history, and two shy of the school record set in the 2009-10 season at the Wartburg Fall Invite.

Freshman Taylor Fagan also performed well in her first collegiate tournament as she fired a two-day total of 156 (80-76) to tie for fifth place. Hannah Buck (80-78, 158) was eighth and sophomore Allyson Chee (77-82, 159) was ninth as the Bears’ top four golfers all placed in the top-10. Hibbert finished tied for 16th with a 166 (85-81, 166).

WUSTL returns to action Sunday and Monday, Sept. 11 and 12, at The O’Brien National Tournament in South Bend, Ind.

Women’s soccer starts hot

The women’s soccer team outscored its opponents 18-1 en route to three victories in the opening week of the season.

The Bears defeated Missouri Baptist University 7-0 Sept. 1 at home, followed by an 8-1 win over Calvin College Sept. 2 and a 3-0 victory against Whitworth College Sept. 3 — the 250th victory of coach Jim Conlon’s career.

Conlon is 142-73-12 in 12 seasons as a women’s coach and was 108-48-10 in eight seasons as a men’s coach for a combined record of 250-121-22 (.664).

In the three wins, the team had eight different players find the back of the net. Freshman Anna Zambricki tied a school record with four goals against Missouri Baptist, and leads the team with six tallies.

WUSTL has six days off before hosting the Washington University Classic on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 10 and 11. The Bears take on DePauw University on Saturday at 8 p.m., and Rhodes College on Sunday at 4 p.m.

Men’s soccer opens season 2-0

The No. 19 men’s soccer team posted a pair of 2-1 wins to open its season. The Bears beat Webster University 2-1 in their season-opener Sept. 1 and followed that up with a 2-1 win over Central College in their home opener at Francis Field Sept. 3.

Senior Cody Costakis scored a goal in each of the two games, but neither strike ended up being the game winner. Senior Patrick McLean netted the game-winner against Webster and senior Dylan Roman scored in the 73rd minute to lift the Bears over Central.

WUSTL (2-0) returns to action at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 6, when it will face Principia College in Elsah, Ill.

Cross Country opens with Early Bird meet

The men’s and women’s cross country teams opened the 2011 season by running in the Washington University Big River Running Early Bird Meet Sept. 3 at the Central Field of Forest Park.

The women’s squad swept the top four individual spots and held five of the first six positions to score 16 points and captured the team title. The men’s team saw three runners finish in the top 10 to compile 39 points, but the Bears were edged by the WUSTL Alumni, who scored 36 points to place first overall.

Senior Liz Phillips grabbed the women’s individual title with a time of 14:46.9 on 4K course, edging WUSTL freshman Lucy Cheadle by 0.3 seconds. Senior Tucker Hartley paced the men’s squad in their 6K race, finishing fourth overall with a time of 19:19.2.

Senior Michael Burnstein was the next Bear across the finish line, coming in sixth in 19:23.2, and freshman Drew Padgett was the third runner to finish in the top-10, coming in eighth in 19:33.9.

Both teams return to action at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 16, for the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Cross Country Challenge in Edwardsville, Ill.