Oct 24, 2023 4 min read

W&J picked 1st in PAC basketball polls

Washington & Jefferson was picked to win the Presidents’ Athletic Conference men’s and women’s basketball titles, according to the polls that were released Tuesday.

The men’s preseason poll had four different schools earn first-place votes, but W&J was selected as the favorite.

W&J was chosen first on three ballots and totaled 90 points. Ninth-year head coach Ethan Stewart-Smith led the Presidents to a 20-7 record last season and 16-4 mark in the PAC to clinch the first seed for the conference tournament.

Defending PAC tournament champion Chatham had the most first-place votes with five and finished with 88 total points to rank second in the balloting. Allegheny placed third in this year’s preseason voting with 73 points, just in front of Saint Vincent.

Waynesburg, under fifth-year head coach Tim Fusina, is coming off a 5-19 season. The Yellow Jackets were picked to finish ninth.

The W&J, led by 20th-year head coach Jina DeRubbo, earned six of the 11 first-place votes and totaled 95 points to secure the top spot. The Presidents were the No. 1 seed in last year’s PAC Championship Tournament and tied a school-record with 24.

Defending tournament champion Saint Vincent received three first-place votes and totaled 91 points. Chatham received two first-place votes and totaled 84 points to place third in the poll.

Waynesburg was picked to finish ninth.

Girls soccer

Alex Taylor scored the only goal of the match as Our Lady of the Scared Heart slipped past Waynesburg 1-0 in the WPIAL Class A playoffs Tuesday night at Avonworth High School.

Taylor took a pass in the middle of the field and fired a shot into the low corner of the net from 23 yards out with 25:44 remaining.

OLSH (10-4) advances to the quarterfinals. Waynesburg finishes with an 11-6 record.

In the NHL

Auston Matthews scored his seventh goal of the season, Joseph Woll made 36 saves and the Toronto Maple Leafs handed the Washington Capitals their fourth loss in five games, 4-1 Tuesday night.

Alex Ovechkin scored his first goal this season and 823rd of his NHL career, moving 71 back of Wayne Gretzky’s record. Ovechkin, who would have tied a career-long season-opening goal drought if he hadn’t scored, had a game-high 14 shots.

In the NFL

New Orleans Saints receiver Chris Olave is facing a reckless driving charge after being arrested for allegedly driving 70 miles per hour in a 35 mph zone, Kenner (La.) police said.

Olave was booked into the Kenner jail and released around 11:30 p.m. Monday, police Capt. Michael Cunningham said.

Olave was stopped in a mixed business and residential area of suburban New Orleans that officers were monitoring with radar because of citizen complaints about speeding, Cunningham said.

Cunningham said Olave’s Dodge Charger accelerated up to 70 mph in the distance of about two blocks from where the vehicle had turned onto the street and was observed “recklessly maneuvering between lanes and around other drivers on the roadway.”

In college football

Maryland football coach Michael Locksley says assistant Kevin Sumlin is not with the team this week following his arrest in Florida over the weekend on a charge of driving under the influence.

When asked if he expected Sumlin to face any discipline, Locksley said “of course,” but he would not go into detail.

Sumlin was arrested early Saturday in Florida, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.