Football | at Wisconsin-Stevens Point | Saturday at 2:00 p.m (1:00 pm CST). - Video / Stats
Men's Soccer | at Kenyon | Friday at 2:30 p.m. - Video / Stats
Men's Soccer | vs. Denison | Sunday at 1:00 p.m. - Video / Stats
Women's Soccer | at Grove City  | Friday at 3:00 p.m. - Stats
Women's Soccer | at Case Reserve | Sunday at 1:30 p.m. - Video / Stats 
Women's Golf | at BW Invitational (Mallard Creek Golf Course) | Saturday and Sunday 
Volleyball | vs. Pitt-Greensburg at St. Vincent Bearcat Invitational | Friday at 4:30 p.m. - Stats 
Volleyball | vs. Westminster (PA) at St. Vincent Bearcat Invitational | Friday at 8:30 p.m. - Stats 
Volleyball | vs. Waynesburg at St. Vincent Bearcat Invitational | Saturday at 12:00 p.m. - Stats
Volleyball | vs. Oberlin at St. Vincent Bearcat Invitational | Saturday at 4:00 p.m. -  Stats
Cross Country | at Sudeck Sunset Classic Stampede | Friday at 5:30 p.m. 

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The 2018-19 sports calendar begins for John Carroll University with seven teams in action on Labor Day weekend.

Football 
The John Carroll University Blue Streaks (0-0, 0-0 OAC) kick-off the 2018 season against the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers (0-0, 0-0 WIAC) at Community Stadium at Goerke Park in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. This is the first time these two teams have met. 

The John Carroll Blue Streaks bring a top-notch rushing attack to Wisconsin. Senior running back Sam Kukura anchors the ship, as the primary ball carrier for the Blue and Gold. Kukura enters this season 20th all-time in school history in rushing yards and tied for 13th all-time in rushing touchdowns. The Blue Streaks return all five starters (Drew Turner, Andrew Clemente, Chris Clemens, Brian Dytko, Blake Herideen) on their offensive line. Under center for the third straight season is junior quarterback Anthony Moeglin. Already among the top-five all-time in school history passing yards, completions, completion percentage, and passing touchdowns, Moeglin is 18-6 as a starter..

Defensively, the Blue Streaks defensive line is the strongest position group on this year's team. Leading the way for the Blue and Gold is D3Football.com preseason All-American junior Conner Bogard, who ended his 2017 campaign second on the team in tackles (52) and tackles for loss (11.0). 2017 preseason All-American Ray Brown will have an impact as well, as the senior defensive lineman is third all-time in tackles for loss (40.0) and fifth all-time in sacks (20.0). It does not stop there up front on defense for the Blue and Gold. Senior Jimmy Thomas led the team in tackles for loss last season (11.5) while senior Adam Thompson and junior Tyler Fredrick both finished 2017 with over 40 tackles. In the backfield, senior Connor Robinson led the team in pass-breakups with 13 and collected 41 tackles in his 2017 campaign.

The Pointers are going to be lead in the backfield by a duo of Sophomores Samaj Williams and Zach Bosek.  Williams is coming off of a very productive freshman campaign where he rushed for 462 yards on 88 carries (5.2 yards/carry) finding the endzone just once. Bosek also ran hard gaining 368 yards on only 67 carries appearing in only five games. Through the air, the Pointers will relay on the arm of Matt Urmanski, who appeared in 8 games last year throwing for 532 yards and six touchdowns. After graduating their number one wide receiving target, look for tight end Steve Herra to be active in the passing game as he is coming off of a 42 catch 658 yard year which produced six touchdowns.

On defense, the Pointers will be lead by defensive back Juleyan Givens. The 5'8" corner is the team's returning leading tackler, finishing with 48 tackles (42 solos), one sack, four pass breakups and one fumble recovery. 

Prior to 2016, John Carroll had never faced a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference member school in its long and storied history. That all changed when the Blue Streaks opened the 2016 campaign at Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Today's game will mark the fifth time in three seasons that JCU is facing a WIAC opponent. JCU is 1-3 vs the WIAC.

The Blue Streaks have an all-time record of 59-33-3 record in season openers.  Of the 44 times John Carroll has opened a season on the road, the Blue Streaks are 25-19, including 10-4 in the last 14 season openers away from home.



Men's Soccer
The 2018 season kicks off in grand fashion Friday for JCU, as the Blue Streaks (ranked #24) will face Kenyon College (ranked #20) in the season opener for both teams. Teh game will take place in Gambier, Ohio.

Last season, JCU knocked off the Lords, then a top ten team in the nation, by a 1-0 score in University Heights. Jared Ianiro had the game winning goal, his first as a collegian.

This will be the ninth all-time meeting between the Blue Streaks and Lords, each owning four wins in the series that dates back to 2002.

On Sunday, John Carroll and Denison will be meeting for a 22nd time in a historically even matched series. Denison has won 11 times compared to John Carroll's ten, but the Blue Streaks have won the last two meetings. Sunday's match-up will take place at Don Shula Stadium.

The Blue Streaks are coming off a tremendous 2017 season in which they finished 16-3-2, earning a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the third time under head coach Hector Marinaro. JCU also received its highest national ranking (#4) in program history.

The 2018 edition of the Blue Streaks s loaded on the defensive end as seniors Liam McIntosh, Brian Lutz, and Eric Rozsits, along with 2017 OAC Freshman of the Year William Turrittin, gave JCU a strong backline. McIntosh will continue to be looked to as a leader on the Blue Streak roster as he begins his fourth year as the starting keeper. The second-team all-conference goalkeeper did not allow a goal in 10 games, making him the program leader for single-season shutouts. In his previous three seasons with the blue and gold, he has recorded 191 saves.

In 21 games last season, Lutz appeared in 20 of them, while Rozsits – a first team All-OAC selection -- played in all 21. Lutz also recorded one game-winning goal against Denison in the Blue Streaks' season opener.

Other players looking to see a fair amount of field time this season as they did last year include Chad Kanakkanatt, Jared Ianiro, and Mitchell Kotheimer. Role players who could step up into starting roles this year also include the likes of Michael Adelman, Thomas Korsa, Adam Haas, Justin Brown, Stephen Schutt and William Grubbs. The Blue Streaks also welcome back Jarrod McDowell, a starter on the 2016 OAC championship squad.

Denison started slow last season but picked up its efforts once it began play in the North Coast Athletic Conference. Finishing the year 7-8-3  and qualifying for the NCAC postseason tournament, the Big Red are hoping the upswing continues in the early going of this year.
 
The Big Red secured four athletes on the 2017 All-North Coast Athletic Conference team, including Luis Zamora earning first-team honors and David Jaben who was named honorable mention. 
After receiving second-team honors in his freshman season, Zamora put together his best season yet in 2017, leading the Big Red with 14 points, while recording four assists and a career-high five goals. Jaben started every game ast year, leading a Big Red defense that secured seven shutouts in 2017 and outscored the competition 18-11 in conference play.


Women's Soccer 
Lead by ten seniors, the JCU Women's Soccer team will be kicking off their big opening weekend against Grove City College this upcoming Friday.

John Carroll finished the 2017 season with an overall record of 11 wins, six losses, and two ties. They will be facing a Grove City team that, like the Blue Streaks, lost in its conference tournament semifinals a year ago. The Wolverines ended their 2017 season 17-6.

The Blue and Gold have an all-time winning record against the Grove City Wolverines, 10-3-2.

On Sunday September 2nd, the Blue Streaks will end their weekend by facing the neighboring Case Western Reserve University Spartans, who finished their 2017 campaign  7-11. The Blue Streaks have an all-time record of 7-13-2 against the Spartans, and are looking to beat them on their own home field for the first time since 2011.

Last year, the Blue Streaks defeated the Spartans 4-2, with goals scored by Bailey Fischer, Ady Burns  and Justina Fortson ('17). The Blue and Gold outshot the Spartans 23-19,

Senior Bailey Fischer, 2017 All-OAC First Team and OAC Co-Forward of the Year, is looking to have another multi-goal game against the Spartans this weekend.



Volleyball 
The John Carroll University Blue Streaks (0-0, 0-0 OAC) will begin their season in Latrobe, Pennsylvania this weekend at the St. Vincent Tournament, taking on the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, Westminster College (PA), Waynesburg University and Oberlin College over the course of 48 hours. 

Over half of the John Carroll University 2018 volleyball roster may be returners, but there are plenty of new faces that could see time on the floor this season. head coach Michele Benoit nearly doubled the size of her roster with recruits to aid in her team's rebuild.
 
Youth and opportunity will be the themes of 2018. With nine of the 19 players on the rosters being newcomers and only three returning starters, there will be quite a few chances for players to earn a starting spot in the lineup.
 
In her first season as a Blue Streak, sophomore captain Sarah Calabrese led the front line (98 SP, 28 MP, .141 Att%, 17 Blks) in kills with 301, making her the returning player with highest number of career kills coming into the season. Senior Thommie Jackson (111 SP, 32 MP, 133 K, .151 Att%, 75 Blks) is also entering her second season at JCU. In addition to ranking third on the team in kills, she led the Blue Streaks in blocks (75), with 18 of them being solo.
 
The Blue Streaks will look to senior captains Caitlin Cianciolo and Becca Fortsch to lead the defense. Cianciolo is coming off a career-best season, recording 464 digs in 91 sets played. After three seasons, she is 17 digs shy of the 1,000 career digs accolade.  Fortsch was also an asset in the back row in 2017, tallying 93 digs.

JCU's first opponent, Pitt-Greensburg, posted a 4-21 overall record in 2017. The Bocbats were selected eighth in the 2018 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference preseason poll, while juniors Emma Dongili and Kaii Niver have been named Players to Watch.

Westminster had a stellar 2017 campaign. Following last season's runner-up finish in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Volleyball Championship Tournament and  capturing the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III title, the Titans have been selected as the favorite in the PAC preseason coaches' poll.
 
This marks the first time Westminster will enter the season as the league favorite since 2009. Westminster finished its 2017 season 30-6, becoming just the third team in program history to win at least 30 matches in a season. The Titans return five starters, including senior Delaney Saxton who earned PAC Second Team honors last season

Saturday's first opponent, Waynesburg, is on the other end of the PAC spectrum. Waynesburg, which is under the leadership of first-year head coach Hayley Kiriby, is coming off a 1-25 season in 2017, which included an 0-18 mark in PAC competition.

Oberlin, from the North Coast Athletic Conference, was the only team JCU faced last year among this group of opponents. The Yeowomen defeated the Blue Streaks in four games in University heights on September 20, 2017.

After finishing 2017 with a mark of 12-14 and leading the NCAC in aces per game, Oberlin brings back a veteran group led by second team all-league selection Lexi Mitchell.

John Carroll has enjoyed success against these teams in the past. All time, the Blue Streaks are 2-0 against Pitt-Greensburg, 9-2-1 against Westminster, 3-1 against Waynesburg and 28-2 against Oberlin. 


Cross Country
The 2018 JCU women's cross country team will start their season the same way they did last year, at the Sudeck Sunset Classic at Case Western Reserve University. The meet will take place Friday in Hunting Valley.

Last year the Blue Streaks finished second of four teams, falling only to host team Case Western.

This year the Blue Streaks will face off with Case Western and Ursuline College.

The Blue Streaks had an impressive showing at last year's kickoff to the season, sophomores Madelyn Brindza sixth (15:45.7), Morgan Kelley ninth (15:54.3) and Maria Sagi 10th (15:55.5) were the next ones to finish after Erin Kiley finished third. Both Morgan Kelley and Maria Sagi were named second team all-conference runners.

Coach Kyle Basista thinks that this season will welcome many breakout stars such as Lyla Graham, Jamie Amoroso and Gina Majczy the only senior this year.

On the men's side, the Blue Streaks finished third of four teams at last year's Sudeck meet, but the preseason OAC favorites are looking to improve on that showing in 2018. 

This year. the Blue Streaks are led by a large group of veterans, Luke Cancilla, Zack Modzelewski, Chris Pamer, Alex Ryan, Ryan Scanlon, Matt Hallgarth, as well as a group of youngsters such as Jamie Dailey, Jake Darby, Jimmy Zimmerman, Jack Kawalec. and Matt Hallgarth

Dailey was the first Blue Streak freshman to finish for JCU at the 2017 Sudeck Classic, placing 14th with a time of 20:07.4, Dailey kept his success up all season being named both the OAC and Division III All-Ohio Freshman of the Year.


Women's Golf 
The 2018-19 women's golf season gets underway Saturday and Sunday for the Blue Streaks at the BW Invitational, which will be held at the Mallard Creek Golf Club in Columbia Station, Ohio.

JCU finished third out of four teams in last year's event.

The Blue Streaks return two All-OAC performers from a year ago - Mary Hunt and Sarah Beckwith.