Sports update Oct. 17: Football snaps losing streak

The football team snapped a three-game losing streak with a 24-20 win over the College of Wooster Oct. 15 at Francis Field.

Senior Chris LaBarge had a fumble return for a touchdown, while his younger brother Trevor LaBarge added two touchdown scores in the win. Junior Chris Castelluccio ran for a career-high 103 yards on 26 carries.

The Bears jumped out first following a 24-yard field goal by junior Eric Chalifour with 5:05 remaining in the first quarter. Wooster had a 377-347 advantage in total offense, but allowed WUSTL to picked up 196 rushing yards on 54 carries. Senior Nick Hillard led the defensive unit with nine tackles, while sophomore Nelson Nwumeh added four tackles, one sack and one tackle for loss.

WUSTL (3-3) closes out non-conference play at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22, at Oberlin College. Oberlin has lost three straight games and is 2-4 overall, and coming off a 37-23 loss at No. 12 Wabash.

Volleyball set-streak ends at 63

The No. 2 volleyball team posted a 3-1 record at the University Athletic Association (UAA) Round Robin No. 2 Oct. 15-16, in Rochester, N.Y.

The Bears posted 3-1 victories over No. 16 University of Chicago and Case Western Reserve University Oct. 15, followed by a 3-0 win over the University of Rochester and a 3-2 loss to No. 3 Emory University Oct. 16.

WUSTL entered the weekend having won an NCAA Division III-record 63 sets it played in this year, but the Bears had that run snapped with a 25-22 loss in the opening set against Chicago.

The Bears finished UAA round robin action with a 6-1 record and will be the No. 2 seed for the UAA Championship Nov. 4 and 5 at New York.

WUSTL (24-1, 6-1 UAA) returns to action at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26, when it hosts Webster University for a single match at the WU Field House.

Women’s cross country wins invitational

The No. 2 women’s cross country team bested a field loaded with some of the top-ranked teams in the nation to win the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Brooks Invitational Oct. 15, at the Lake Breeze Golf Course in Winneconne, Wis.

The men’s team finished second overall, trailing only top-ranked North Central College.

Led by senior Erica Jackey’s first-place overall finish, the women posted a team score of 61 points to lead the field. Jackey completed the 6K race with a time of 21:38.13, besting the 395 student-athletes in competition. Senior Michael Burnstein paced the men’s squad to a second-place team finish by placing second overall out of 434 runners competing on the 8K course. He posted a time of 24:59.06, coming in 13.21 behind Tim Nelson from the University of Wisconsin-Stout.

Both teams return to action for the 2011 University Athletic Association Championships Oct. 29 in Chicago.

Men’s soccer improves to 12-1

The No. 8 men’s soccer team remained in first place in the University Athletic Association (UAA) standings with a pair of road victories at New York University (2-1) Oct. 14, and Brandeis University (2-0) Oct. 16.

Senior Dylan Roman gave WUSTL 1-0 lead over NYU, and then junior Kenji Kobayashi scored the game-winning goal in the 68th minute. Senior midfielder Cody Costakis delivered the assist off of a corner kick, his second assist off a set corner in as many games.

In the win at Brandeis, seniors Michael Chamberlin and Zachary Query netted goals for the Bears. Sophomore goalkeeper Jonathan Jebson was stellar throughout the contest, making a career-high nine save in the win. Jebson is 12-1 this season in the nets with a 0.61 goals against average and five shutouts.

WUSTL puts its five-game win streak on the line at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19, at home against Illinois Wesleyan University.

Women’s soccer splits conference road games

The No. 10 women’s soccer team split a pair of University Athletic Association (UAA) road game Oct. 14-16. The Bears opened the trip with a 1-0 loss at New York University Oct. 14, followed by a 3-0 win at Brandeis University Oct. 16.

Senior Emma Brown and sophomores Lauren Steimle and Jessica Johnson scored in the win at Brandeis.

WUSTL plays its final nonconference game of the season at No. 20 Loras College Oct. 23Loras is 12-2-1 overall and sits in first place of the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) with a 5-0-1 mark.

Putterman falls in championship match

Junior Adam Putterman dropped a 6-0, 6-1 decision to Emory University’s Dillon Pottish in the championship match of the 2011 USTA/ITA Division III Men’s Tennis Singles Championship Oct. 15 in Mobile, Ala.

Putterman, who ousted the No. 2 and No. 3 seed to advance to the final, ends his fall season with an 11-1 record in singles. He was the second student athlete in school history to play for the ITA National Championship, joining John Watts, who won the title in 2007 and 2009.