Mastrangelo has been magnificent for St. Francis
Mario Mastrangelo was a dynamic soccer player at Peters Township High School. He helped the Indians to the 2014 Class AAA state championship as a senior, two WPIAL titles and a 40-6-2 record.
Mastrangelo, now a junior forward at St. Francis in Loretto, is one of the top players in the Northeast Conference and has helped the Red Flash to a 7-5 record. A Venetia native, Mastrangelo leads the NEC with 11 goals and is St. Francis’ top scorer with 22 points. He ranks four in the nation in goals per game and seventh in scoring.
Mastrangelo has twice been named the Northeast Conference Player of the Week this season. He was the POW for Sept. 10-16 after scoring both goals, including the overtime winner, in St. Francis’ 2-1 win over Cal State Bakersfield. It was Mastrangelo’s third multi-goal game of the season.
He also was named the POW for Sept. 3-9 after producing his third career hat trick in a 3-0 win over Colgate.
Mastrangelo helped the Red Flash win the Johann Memorial Classic hosted by UNLV, as St. Francis went 2-0. He was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Former Washington High School standout running back Shai McKenzie is in his first season with Hampton University after transferring from Virginia Tech.
McKenzie, a junior, has played in all five games for the Pirates and is the team’s second-leading rusher with 181 yards on 50 attempts. He had a season-high 59 yards on 17 carries in Hampton’s 59-0 win over Livingstone and rushed for 44 yards on eight carries Saturday in Hampton’s 17-10 win over Savannah State.
Hampton plays at the Football Championship Series level, in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, and has a 3-2 record.
Penn senior wide receiver Justin Watson, a South Fayette graduate, is one of 181 senior college football players selected as a semifinalist for the National Football Foundation (NFF) William V. Campbell Trophy which is presented each year to the “absolute best scholar-athlete” in the nation.
One of 37 players from FCS football among the semifinalists, Watson has been a standout on the field and off for the Quakers since 2014.
Watson also is one of 22 players named to the watch list for the Walter Payton Award, which is presented annually to the outstanding offensive player in FCS football.
Watson is the third-leading receiver in the Ivy League with 27 receptions for 389 yards and six touchdowns. He is the conference’s second-leading scorer.
In Penn’s 42-21 loss Saturday to Central Connecticut State, Watson caught seven passes for 99 yards including TDs of 44 and 13 yards in the second quarter and became only the second Penn receiver, and the sixth in Ivy League history, to surpass 3,000 career receiving yards. Watson has 3,083 receiving yards and is 327 yards away from setting the Penn record.
Watson also has 232 career receptions, which ranks No. 6 among Ivy League wide receivers and No. 2 in the Penn record book.
Isaiah Robinson, a freshman wide receiver from Washington, scored his second touchdown in as many weeks for West Liberty Saturday when the Hilltoppers’ lost to Shepherd, which is ranked No. 2 in NCAA Division II.
Robinson caught two passes for 23 yards including a 14-yard touchdown in the final minute of the first half of Shepherd’s 51-14 victory.
Robinson also caught a 42-yard touchdown pass late in West Liberty’s 24-19 loss Sept. 28 against Notre Dame (Ohio).
For the season, Robinson has 10 receptions for 114 yards and the two scores. He also averages 19.3 yards on seven kickoff returns.
Placekicker Mike Cushma, a redshirt freshman from Houston, is the third-leading scorer for Edinboro.
A Chartiers-Houston graduate, Cushma has converted 17 of 22 extra-point attempts and made two of three field goals, including a long of 36 yards, for a total of 23 points. Cushma also is the Fighting Scots’ punter and is averaging 44 yards on 10 punts. Three of Cushma’s punts have been for at least 50 yards with a long of 64 yards.
Cushma also handles Edinboro’s kickoffs and is averaging 58.5 yards per kick with 11 of 30 going for touchbacks.
Duquesne women’s goalkeeper Kyra Murphy of Canonsburg was named the Atlantic 10 Conference Defensive Player of the Week for Sept. 25-Oct. 1.
Murphy recorded back-to-back shutouts, turning away all nine shots she faced, as the Dukes defeated Virginia Commonwealth and Fordham, each by 1-0 scores.
For the season, Murphy has a 9-3-2 record in 14 starts with a .860 save percentage. She has allowed only 13 goals.
Allie Thomas, a sophomore forward from Canonsburg, is the leading scorer Winthrop.
Thomas, despite missing two games, has a team-best four goals and one assist for the Eagles, who are 4-6-1 overall and 1-3 in the Big South Conference. Thomas had a goal and an assist last Wednesday when Winthrop defeated Gardner-Webb, 2-1.
Sabrina Bryan, who helped Canon-McMillan to the Class AAAA girls state championship last season, is off to a good start to her freshman season at Hofstra. Bryan is Hofstra’s third-leading scorer with two goals and two assists and has started all 15 games. She is second on the team with 18 shots on goal.
Bryan’s best game was in Hofstra’s 2-1 victory Aug. 27 over Boston University when she had a goal and an assist. It was Bryan’s first career goal and broke a 1-1 tie.
Maddi Santo of Peters Township had a strong freshman season two years ago at Virginia Commonwealth, where she scored three goals and started seven matches for the Rams.
Santo moved into the VCU lineup on a regular basis as a sophomore last year and has become one of the Rams’ best players this season. Santo is the Rams’ fourth-leading scorer with two goals and two assists through 13 games.
Both of Santo’s goals were scored Sept. 11 in VCU’s 5-1 rout of American. She followed that with a goal and an assist five days later against James Madison.
California University cross country/track & field head coach Daniel Caulfield was recently inducted into the Adams State Athletic Hall of Fame.
Caulfield was a 10-time All-American and four-time national champion while competing for the Grizzlies at both the NAIA and NCAA levels. Caulfield helped the Adams State cross country win back-to-back NCAA national championships in 1993 and 1994.
A 1996 graduate of Adams State, Caulfield was the first All-American in the men’s cross country program history. A native of Ireland, Caufield held his country’s indoor record in the 800 meters (1:47.21) for more than a decade.