Sports update Oct. 22: Kindbom celebrates birthday as football wins at Denison

Head football coach Larry Kindbom celebrated his 60th birthday in style as the Bears posted an 18-13 victory at Denison University Oct. 20 at Piper Stadium in Granville, Ohio. WUSTL picked up its second win of the year and improves its overall record to 2-5.

Freshman kicker Alex Hallwachs booted a pair of field goals in the victory for WUSTL — a 45-yarder in the first quarter and a 36-yarder in the fourth quarter. Hallwachs is now 2-for-2 on the season after not attempting a field goal in the first six games of the season. Junior quarterback Eric Daginella was superb in his third start of the season – connecting on 16-of-30 passes for a career-high 197 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Sophomore wide receiver Ryan Lubatkin (five catches, 62 yards, TD) and senior wide receiver Drew Sexton (five catches, 50 yards) were Daginella’s top two threats throughout the game.

WUSTL’s defense allowed a season-low 13 points in the victory, and kept the Denison offense in check. The Big Red had a 327-264 advantage in total offense, but WUSTL’s defense forced four punts and forced one key turnover. Junior linebacker Peter Lowery made a career-high 13 stops, while junior defensive back Tate Byers (eight tackles, one break-up) and senior defensive lineman William Small (six tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss) each made some big plays on defense.

WUSTL opens up University Athletic Association play at home Saturday, Oct. 27, against Carnegie Mellon University. Kickoff is set for noon at Francis Field. Prior to the contest, WUSTL will honor its 15 senior members who will play their final home game.

Clara Jaques sets career shutout mark as women’s soccer defeats Principia
The No. 5 women’s soccer team ran its home-unbeaten streak to 16 games with a 2-0 victory over Principia College in non-conference action Oct. 16 at Francis Field. The two teams originally were slated to play on Sept. 25 before rain and storms forced the postponement. WUSTL improves to 12-1-1 with the victory, while Principia drops to 8-5-1.

The Bears are now 6-0-1 at home this season, and have not suffered defeat at Francis Field since Sept. 17, 2011. WUSTL dominated the play early on and kept the ball in the Principia half most of the first half.

In the 15th minute, junior Jessica Johnson gathered a thrown in and sent a cross into the box to an unmarked Emily Gosché, who one-timed a volley with her left foot into the back of the net. The goal for Gosché was her fourth of the season.

Junior Jen Reed added an insurance goal at the 86:46 mark to put the game out of reach. Junior Lauren Steimle took the short corner kick to Gosché, who sent a left-footed cross into the box to Reed, who headed into the back of the net. The goal for Reed was her first of the season and fifth of her career.

WUSTL outshot Principia 22-5 for the game and had a 7-1 advantage in corner kicks. Senior goalkeeper Clara Jaques picked up the shutout in goal after making a pair of saves. The shutout for Jaques was the 24th of her career, breaking the school record of 23.5 set by Stephanie Peters (1998-2001). WUSTL closes out non-conference play at home against Millikin University at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 23.

Men’s soccer tops Principia
The men’s soccer team improved its record to 8-4-1 with a 3-0 non-conference win over Principia College Oct. 18 at Francis Field.

Junior Jeremy Kirkwood scored on an assist from sophomore Chris Haeberle just 90 seconds into the match to give the Bears a 1-0 lead.

WUSTL outshot Principia 8-0 in the first half, but the score remained 1-0 at halftime. In the second half, freshman Ike Witte took a pass from Kirkwood near the top of the box and fired it to the lower left corner of the goal to give the Bears a 2-0 lead in the 52nd minute. Four minutes later, Haeberle headed in a cross from freshman David Alemany to make it 3-0.

WUSTL (8-4-1, 2-2 UAA) returns to University Athletic Association action with a pair of road contests next weekend. The Bears are scheduled to face No. 16 University of Rochester at 7:30 p.m. (ET) Friday, Oct. 26, in Rochester, N.Y., before traveling to Cleveland, Ohio, to take on Case Western Reserve University at 1:30 p.m. (ET) Sunday, Oct. 28.

Women’s golf third at GolfWeek Fall Preview
The No. 2 women’s golf team wrapped up its 2012 fall season with a third-place finish at the 2012 GolfWeek Division III Fall Preview, held Oct. 14-16 at the Baytowne Golf Club in Destin, Fla.

In a field that featured nine of the top-20 teams in NCAA Division III, No. 1-ranked and 15-time NCAA Division III National Champion Methodist University fired to the low round of the tournament on the final day to rally to claim the team title with a three-day total of 922 (317-306, 299).

No. 8 Mary Hardin-Baylor, the leader heading into the final round, slipped to second with a score of 928 (305-310-313.

WUSTL (309-316-304, 929), No. 10 Illinois Wesleyan University (320-321-324, 965) and No. 3 Centre College (325-315-327, 967) rounded out the top five.

WUSTL had four of its five starters shoot 80 or lower on day three, as the Bears recorded their second lowest round of the year. Freshman Connie Zhou fired the low round of the tournament on the final day with a two-under 70. Zhou’s round was also the second lowest in school history. She finished the three-day tournament in a tie for fifth place with a 229 (81-78-70). Zhou has a 77.5 average heading into the spring season, with eight of 11 rounds under 80. Sophomore Olivia Lugar was the top overall finisher for Washington U., finishing two strokes back of the leaders in sole of possession of third place with a score of 227 (75-75-77). Lugar finishes the fall season with all 11 rounds at 80 or lower and a team-best 76.2 average.

Senior Hannah Buck continued her consistent play on the final day that has led her to three All-America accolades at WUSTL. Buck shot a 77 on day three to finish in seventh place with a three-day score of 232 (76-79-77). She enters the spring with a 79.1 average, third best on the team. Junior Andrea Hibbert rallied from difficult round on day two for an 80 on the final day to finish in a tie for 14th place. Hibbert’s three-day total of 242 (77-85-80) was just five strokes out of the top-10. She enters the spring season with an 80.1 average. Senior Melanie Walsh rounded out WUSTL’s starting lineup with a 48th-place finish with a three-day score of 263 (90-84-89). Walsh, who missed last season while studying overseas, completed the fall with an 85.1 average in nine rounds.

WUSTL begins its 2013 spring season March 15-16 at the George Fox Invite in Peoria, Ariz.

Men’s basketball ranked No. 21 in D3Hoops.com Top-25 poll
The men’s basketball team is ranked No. 21 in the 2012 D3Hoops.com Preseason Top-25 poll. The Bears also were ranked No. 14 in the DIII News Preseason Top-25 Poll.

WUSTL returns 16 letterwinners and three starters from last year’s team, that posted a 20-7 overall record, and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Bears also captured their 11th University Athletic Association (UAA) title with an 11-3 conference mark.

Junior forward Chris Klimek, a second-team all-UAA honoree a year ago, emerged in the second half of the season and finished second on the team in scoring (12.1 ppg) while pulling down a team-best 5.4 rebounds per game. He also ranked sixth in the UAA in field-goal percentage (.530). Klimek scored in double figures in 16 of 20 games played. Junior Tim Cooney started 22 games a year ago at shooting guard and earned honorable-mention all-UAA honors. Cooney averaged 6.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game for the Bears. Also returning in the backcourt is junior guard Alan Aboona, who started 17 of 27 games at point guard averaging 6.4 points per game. Aboona was seventh in the UAA in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.8) and eighth in assists (3.6).

Off the bench, WUSTL returns sophomore forward Matt Palucki (6.9 ppg, 4.2 rpg), senior guard Ben Hoener (6.2 ppg, 3.7 apg) and senior center Robert Burnett (4.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg). 



Head coach Mark Edwards enters his 32nd season at his alma mater with an overall record of 562-258 (.686). The winningest coach in school history, Edwards has guided the Bears to a school-record 28-consecutive winning seasons, 11 UAA championships, 16 NCAA Tournaments and the 2008 and 2009 NCAA Division III National Championship. WUSTL opens regular-season play Saturday, Nov. 17, against Trinity University (Texas). Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. in Chicago, Ill.