Club Sports: Teams set goals, prepare for seasons

Pitt’s club sports teams have set some high goals this season: The roller hockey team wants to… Pitt’s club sports teams have set some high goals this season: The roller hockey team wants to go to nationals for the second consecutive year, and the Division II men’s ice hockey team is focused on winning its league.

Since returning to campus, the teams’ leaders have focused on holding tryouts and finalizing their rosters, looking to put together the right combination of returning players and newcomers to make the goals achievable.

Club sports teams compete with teams from other universities, but their athletes aren’t on athletic scholarships and the teams aren’t governed by the NCAA.

While play has begun for some clubs — men’s rugby competed in a tournament over Labor Day weekend — others are still preparing for the start of their seasons.

The Pitt News checked in with some of the teams on campus to see where club sports at Pitt stand early in the school year.

Ice Hockey

Dennis Wilson, captain of the Division II men’s ice hockey team, said that his team will accept “nothing less than winning the league” this year, after losing to Dayton in overtime of the Tri-State Collegiate Hockey League championship game last March.

Pitt only lost a few players to graduation and returns several seniors who have played together for three years. The team added nine new players through tryouts and two have experience playing collegiate club hockey.

Wilson said that a league-finals rematch with Dayton is likely, as the opponent didn’t lose many players to graduation either.

Roller Hockey

Despite his team’s retaining just five players from last year’s squad — which made it to nationals — Ralph DeStefano, sophomore and president of the roller hockey team, said he feels confident that Pitt roller hockey can make a return trip this year.

The second-semester return of two veteran players from study abroad will strengthen the team’s chances. The season runs from October to the beginning of April.

Tryouts, which concluded over the weekend, brought players capable of contributing from the start, and that’s imperative given the small turnover the team experienced, DeStefano said.

The squad’s goal is to make it back to Division II nationals, where it finished in the top eight last year.

To accomplish this goal, the team must win its league, the Eastern Collegiate Roller Hockey Association, or do well enough during the regular season to receive an at-large bid — the route Pitt took last year.

Slippery Rock, which finished second to Pitt in the Keystone Conference and also received an at-large bid to nationals, will likely challenge the Panthers in the division.

SUNY Binghamton might provide the biggest challenge for the Panthers at regionals, which consists of the top eight teams from the Eastern Collegiate Roller Hockey Association. Pitt beat the Bearcats during the regular season last year, but Binghamton eventually defeated the Panthers to win the region.

Pitt moved down to Division II two years ago. DeStefano said that division placement for teams is performance-based, and if the Panthers do well in Division II again this year, they could get bumped up to Division I.

Men’s Rugby

The rugby team began its season by placing third in the Pound for Pound Collegiate Rugby Tournament over Labor Day weekend.

The team began Allegheny Rugby Union play on Sept. 11 with a 20-15 victory over Slippery Rock.

Benjamin Paul, one of the squad’s veterans, said he thinks the team has a very good chance of winning the league, a feat that would assure the Panthers a spot in the Sweet 16 in the Midwest playoffs.

Paul said West Virginia, which is leaving for Division I next year, would compete with Pitt for the Allegheny Rugby Union Championship.

Women’s Rugby

The women’s rugby team continues its winning ways, despite losing many players this season.

After going undefeated in the league a year ago, the Pitt women’s rugby team is 2-0 in its fall campaign. The Panthers dominated their opposition, winning the past two games by a combined score of 183-5.

The club’s goal in the spring is to repeat as Allegheny Rugby Union champions and go to regionals.

To win the league, Pitt must first win its division and then the Allegheny Rugby Union playoffs.

League rivals Slippery Rock and Indiana University of Pennsylvania will pose a challenge to the Panthers’ repeat bid.

“The team has lots of girls that have never played before,” secretary Kirsten Andrews said.

She added that the best way to learn the game and gain experience is by playing in games, which the new players will be able to do by playing with the squad’s B-side.

Women’s Ultimate

After graduating only four players from last year’s squad and starting the fall season off well, the Pitt women’s Ultimate team, Danger, has nationals in its sights.

In order to qualify for nationals, Danger must first win sectionals, a competition that consists of other Pennsylvania schools, and then Ohio Valley Regionals.

Although the Ohio Valley didn’t get any automatic bids last spring, one team from the region could potentially secure an automatic bid.

Danger failed to qualify for nationals last year, losing to Penn State 15-6 in the regional quarterfinals. The team is confident that the rebuilding phase is over and that they will find success this year, team captain Bailey Moorhead said.

Although the fall season doesn’t count for anything officially, the tournaments are still important as players vie for spots in the rotation for the spring season.

Moorhead said that fringe players get ample playing time in these tournaments, which allows captains to do thorough evaluations before they put the rotation together for the spring season.

The extra time provided by the fall season also helps the team members gain experience playing with one another. Coupled with practices at the Cost Sports Center between seasons, the fall season eliminates the need for an adjustment period once games start back up in the spring, Moorhead said. She said that it takes a semester to get the offense clicking.

The team has a viable shot at qualifying for nationals, the captain said, and two transfers with prior collegiate Ultimate experience will begin to contribute right away.

Ohio State, last year’s regional champion, and Penn State, the other regional finalist, will again provide challenges for the Danger..

Men’s Lacrosse

The men’s lacrosse team made it to its conference championship last year, losing to Michigan State in the semifinals 19-3. This year, Pitt hopes to get to the championship again.

But the road will be a bit different —as the Central Collegiate Lacrosse Association now consists of a six-team conference instead of two four-team divisions. Michigan is now an NCAA Division I Program, and Ball State left the association.

The Pitt team lost just three players to graduation, and team president Brian Faber said the new players on the squad, — a mix of transfers and freshmen, — have the ability to contribute right away.

With Michigan out of the equation, the team most likely to challenge the Panthers for the conference championship is Michigan State.

Faber said the team’s goal is to qualify for the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association National Championship.

Winning the conference automatically qualifies the team, but there’s also the possibility of an at-large bid. To prepare for the spring season, the team faces a five-game fall slate in addition to a tournament at West Virginia in October.