Hoffman makes stops
Brittany Hoffman of McMurray followed up a phenomenal performance that netted her league recognition with an even finer effort in the nets for the New Jersey City University women’s soccer team.
After stopping an incredible 21 shots against William Paterson University, Hoffman eclipsed that personal record by eight when she made 29 spectacular saves in a 5-0 loss to nationally ranked Rowan University. The 29 stops rank sixth in school history and are the most by a Gothic Knight since 2002.
For Hoffman, many of her saves were difficult stops, leaping to tip balls over the crossbar or diving post-to-post to set aside chances. She also disrupted Rowan’s attack by cutting off dangerous crosses and smothered a pair of near goals. She reached double figures in saves for the 15th time in her career.
A two-time All-New Jersey Athletic Conference goalkeeper, Hoffman is the reigning conference and ECAC Defensive Player of the Week. The junior now has 395 career saves. She leads the conference in saves, saves per game and save percentage.
The Peters Township High School graduate is a fire science major.
Jenn Stroyne and Morgan Parisi enter the WPIAL doubles tennis tournament this week, Oct. 2-3, among the favored duos. The Peters Township pair commence play as the Section 5 champions, having defeated their own teammates in the finals.
After receiving a first-round bye, Stroyne and Parisi dispatched Ringgold’s Olivia Warner and Serna Costello, 10-4, and outlasted Bethel Park’s Nina Barbano and Jessica Fanning, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, to set up a showdown with Jen Holcombe and Megan Hixon.
Holcombe and Hixon had advanced to the finals in much the same fashion as Stroyne and Parisi. They received a first-round bye then beat Anna Carpenter and Marissa Myer of Bethel Park in a pro set, 10-1. In the semifinals, Holcombe and Hixon defeated Moon’s Nikki Bojanovic and Cameron Beer in straight sets, 6-2, 6-0.
In the section championship match, Stroyne and Parisi bested Holcombe and Hixon, 6-3, 7-5.
In the consolation match, Barbano and Fanning defeated Bojanovic and Beer, 6-4, 6-2, to advance to the WPIAL tournament.
Colin Gasper of Upper St. Clair is a member of the Denison University football team, which is off to a 2-1 start this fall.
The Upper St. Clair graduate is a 5-11, 265-pound offensive lineman. He played on two of the Panthers’ conference championship teams in 2011 and 2012.
The son of Alyson and John Gasper is a freshman economics and political science major.