Messiah College is at the top of its game and apparently unstoppable. The Falcon women's soccer team won the Commonwealth Conference Championships without being scored on, and have now qualified for the College Cup, the Final Four of NCAA soccer.

Sophomore midfielder Amanda Naeher (Seymour/Christian Heritage), who is often not a starter on this talent-laden team, is still good enough to make the All-Commonwealth Conference second team.

Think about that for a minute. She is third on the team in scoring with ten goals and eight assists.

Now Amanda and her teammates are on their way to Florida.

On Saturday, Messiah squashed Westminster College, 3-0, with a 25-1 shot advantage. Opposition goalies must have sleepless nights before facing the Falcons.

Sunday, in the regional final against Ithaca College, Amanda came up huge - two goals, one in each half, to put away the Bombers, 3-1.

Messiah now advances to the College Cup at the Disney Wide World Sports Complex in Orlando next week. The Falcons will play the winner of the College of New Jersey/Lynchburg College sectional final this Friday.

* * *

Western Connecticut State punched its ticket to a first ever NCAA Division III Sectionals final on Saturday by scrapping to a 2-1 double-overtime win over Worcester State College.

"I was wide open and I was saying to myself, 'Please give me the ball, I know I will score,'" said junior midfielder Amy Corchard (Masuk) after she had taken a pass from Megan Starapoli and fired it just inside the far left post in the 114th minute of play.

On Sunday, the Lady Colonials punched another ticket for themselves - to the National Finals in Orlando.

Against Hamilton College Sunday afternoon, the Colonials got a goal from Molly Desjardins in the 28th minute and made it stand up for a 1-0 win.

WestConn peppered the Continentals' goal with 18 shots, but Colonial goalie Jenna Cappellieri (Masuk) didn't have to make a save.

WestConn will play Wheaton College of Illinois in the College Cup this Friday.

* * *

The Penn State women got the top seed in their NCAA Division I region, and promptly swept past Monmouth College in the first round, 4-0.

Sophomore goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher (Seymour/Christian Heritage), who was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year earlier in the week, made three saves in 77 minutes of work, getting her second NCAA playoff win (she got her first win last year, then was injured).

Next for the Nittany Lions in the region is Hoftsra - that game was to have been played Sunday but was postponed because of snow in State College.

* * *

And the Montclair State College men continue to roll their way through the Division III Regionals. The 17-2-1 Red Hawks got a bye in the first round, then withstood a second-half rally by Penn State-Behrend to get a 2-1 win last week.

On Saturday afternoon, in the Sectionals, and battling in a soccer slugfest (four yellow cards), the Hawks emerged battered but victorious with a 3-2 overtime win over New Jersey City University, earning the right to face Messiah College in a rare Sunday evening game.

The winner of that game would go to the College Cup.

In the thick of every one of the Montclair games has been starting junior defensive back Brian Miles (Newtown).

Sunday's meeting with Messiah came, and Montclair held the game scoreless until the 71st minute, when Messiah got the only goal of the game and went on to the Final Four. The Red Hawk season - the most successful ever for Montclair - ends at 19-3-1.

* * *

Wake Forest University junior forward Marcus Tracy (Newtown) put the Demon Deacons into the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game by scoring the lone goal Friday night against North Carolina... in the last minute of overtime.

Ranked number one in the country, Wake faced sixth-ranked Boston College on Sunday afternoon in a nationally televised game to decide the ACC title.

Chasing down a pass from sophomore forward Cody Arnoux, Marcus beat the North Carolina defense and rounding the charging Tar Heels goalkeeper, sent the ball into the back of the net from 15 yards out for the game's decisive score. It was his eighth goal this year.

Going into the ACC final, Wake was 17-2-1 - that one loss was to Boston College.

And after 90 minutes of play Sunday, Wake Forest could expect a bid to the NCAA playoffs, but not as the ACC champion. The Eagles of Boston College once again proved to have the number on the Demon Deacons, getting two early goals and holding on for a 2-1 win.

Football

Muhlenberg College needed ten points off turnovers in the fourth quarter to tip-toe past Salisbury State College on Saturday, 31-21, in the first round of the wild-and-wooly NCAA Division III championships.

John DeLuca, who ended the day with 194 yards on 34 carries got the Mules to a 14-0 first-quarter lead with two long runs for TDs. The teams then traded points until Salisbury knooted the game at 21 in the fourth quarter.

Muhlenberg kicked a field goal and scored on a long pass to end the game - all those coming off turnovers.

Mule sophomore cornerback Cameron Ahouse (Woodbury/Gunnery) had three tackles and forced a fumble in the winning effort. Unbeaten Muhlenberg (11-0) will face 10-1 Wesley College on Saturday.

* * *

Southern Connecticut State won its first-ever NCAA Division II playoff game on Saturday, rumbling-bumbling-stumbling over Bryant University, 45-28. With the win, the Owls have equaled their best season win record at nine.

Redshirt freshman Greg Tuba (Masuk) and Matt Roberts (Pomperaug), both offensive linemen for the Owls, got into the game. Next stop for Southern is a meeting with California University of Pennsylvania this Saturday.

Field Hockey

Wheaton College senior co-captain Kim Anson (Shepaug) has been named to the New England East Region first team by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association.

Kim, a nuclear-powered dynamo on defense, started all 20 games in a backfield that primarily featured two sophomores, one freshman back and a first-year keeper.

She helped Wheaton post seven shutouts, the program's most since 1994, to go along with a 1.38 goals-against average.

The Lyons yielded only 9.6 shots per game. Anson added two assists on offense, including one on the game-winning tally during Wheaton's upset of nationally-ranked Springfield College on October 13.

Swimming

Central Connecticut State senior swimmer Kristen Jurzynski (Seymour/Holy Cross) has found her groove and is moving strongly through the water.

In the weekend's Boston University International, she kept the Blue Devils in sixth place in the big event on the strength of her individual and team performances.

Kristen was third in the 500 free (5:04.27) on Friday night with a season-best time. On Saturday, she opened with a win and season-best time in the 400 individual medley (4:29.49), then took a leg on the winning 800 free relay 7:39.10).

The meet ended up on Sunday, past our deadline. We'll have final results next week.

* * *

Bentley College senior Liza Connolly (Shepaug) has been selected as the Women's Swimmer of the Week in the Northeast-10 Conference after a pair of outstanding performances in dual meets against Gordon College and Bryant University.

Liza competed in seven events (five individual, two relays) and was victorious in all of them.

Against Gordon, Connolly won the 50 free (25.94) and the 100 individual medley (1:05.28). She swept the three shortest freestyle events against Bryant, with times of 25.91 in the 50, 56.37 in the 100 and 2:00.96 in the 200.

She owns five Bentley records: the 50 free, 100 free and three relays.

* * *

Both Bryant University swim teams are unbeaten through their first five dual meets. The latest victim was the College of Saint Rose. On Saturday, the Bulldog men won 117-80, and the women won, 117-82.

Senior Ray Savner (Bethlehem/Holy Cross) anchored the winning 200 free relay (1:32.37) for Bryant and was third in the 50 free (22.19) and the 100 free (51.28).

Bulldog freshman Sarah Lang (Masuk) took the third leg of the third-place 400 medley relay (4:31.65), and was third in the 50 free (27.13) and fifth in the 200 breaststroke (2:47.78).

* * *

Drew University junior Abby Calhoun (Middlebury/Westover) had a decent day in the pool in the meet with Ursinus College last Wednesday.

She anchored the winning 200 free relay (1:55.63) and the third-place 200 medley relay (2:06.44) and was fourth in the 500 free (6:24.99). Still, the Rangers lost to Ursinus, 111-89.

* * *

Freshman swimmer Sally Tabler (Newtown) helped DePauw University to a second place overall in the Wabash Invitational Meet over the weekend.

She had a strong individual showing for the Tigers in the nine-college event - second in the 200 butterfly (2:18.23), fourth in the 200 free (2:38.25) and fifth in the 400 individual medley (4:52.71).

Basketball

Southern Connecticut State, the defending NCAA Division II champions, has already had an interesting month.

In a really interesting - and very rare - exhibition-game match-up between two teams ranked number two in the NCAA, the number two Division II Owls met UConn, the number two team in Division I. Southern got another glimpse of the national spotlight.

The Owls were scrappy but outgunned, and lost 119-58.

But the game was a coming-out party for redshirt sophomore guard Lexi Allen (Pomperaug), who returned to the lineup after a year in rehab following knee surgery. Against the mighty UConns, Lexi pumped in 19 points in a 7-for-12 shooting night and impressed everyone.

On Saturday night, in the official season opener for Southern, Lexi scored a career-high 20 points as the Owls won a shooting match, 92-71, over St. Anselm College.

Sophomore forward Jacqueline Johannes (Pomperaug) had her best game yet for Southern, scoring 15 points and leading the rebounding with eight.

* * *

The Western Connecticut State women took Mount St. Mary College into double overtime on Saturday night, but couldn't get past the Blue Knights in the season opener for both teams, part of the Cardinal Classic at SUNY Plattsburgh, 72-68.

Freshman guard Heather Lee (Seymour) exemplified the dismal night the Lady Colonials had - she was 2-for-14 from the field, scoring six points.

* * *

Muhlenberg College started the game against Villa Julie College with a 19-3 run, then coasted to a 73-56 in the season opener at the hometown Scotty Wood tournament.

Sophomore guard Alexis Bates (Masuk) scored a career-high 11 points for the Mules, who meet 14th-ranked University of Scranton in the finals.

* * *

Norwich University is 1-1 out of the gate for the new season after an 80-68 win Saturday over FDU-Florham. Starting junior guard Tom Fico (Masuk) had a solid night for the Cadets - five points, three rebounds, three assists and a steal.

* * *

Eastern Connecticut State senior forward Leon Martin (Nonnewaug) scored 16 points, blocked six shots and snagged ten rebounds - but it wasn't enough as the Warriors lost to St. Mary's College in the final of the Eastern Tip-off Tournament, 94-88.

On the distaff side of the tourney, senior forward Bridget Durette (Seymour) had a big first game of the season against Husson College - she scored a game-high 15 points, grabbed six rebounds, grabbed two steals and blocked two shots.

* * *

Have news about a local athlete who now plays a college sport? Please drop me a line at jaddyman@snet.net., and let me know what your relationship to the athlete is.