by KJ Lauck | Sep 3, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb Men’s and Women’s Cross Country kicked off its season Saturday morning at Vaughn’s Gap at Percy Warner Park in the Belmont Opener. There were nine schools that participated in the meet, including local teams, such as Belmont, Vanderbilt, Tennessee State and Trevecca, as well as Austin Peay, Murray State, Rhodes and UT-Chattanooga. “It’s a preseason meet, but it’s also not a preseason meet,” Director of Cross Country Bill Taylor said. “The women always run a 5K, but guys usually run an 8K or a 10K,” Taylor said. “The women will sometimes run a 6K, but I don’t know why they don’t run the same distance.” The distance for the men in this meet is smaller than that of a regular cross country meet. For this meet, instead of the NCAA scoring all the teams together like what would be done at a normal meet, the teams are split into groups and scored. The reason for the scoring difference is because the opener is not an official meet. “Since this is sort of primer for the regular season, we don’t really look at time as much as where we want to be when we get to those regular season meets,” Taylor said. “We feel really good about the performances today of both the men and women,” Taylor added. “It gives us a good feel for where we are as a team and individually. It also gets us ready for the real meets, especially Vanderbilt in two weeks.” Freshmen who are new to the team had a chance to experience how a college cross country meet is run. “It gets...
by Micah Dempsey | Sep 2, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
The Lady Bisons soccer team (3-1-1) beat the Middle Tennessee State University Blue Raiders (2-2-0) 3-0 for the first time in eight meetings Thursday night at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex. Entering the game, Lipscomb was 0-4-3 against MTSU, with a tie last season. Coming off of two wins against SEC schools in the past three games, the Lady Bisons arrived on the field brimming with confidence. “[The team] came into the game making sure we did not underestimate the Blue Raiders, ” freshman forward Olivia Doak noted. Throughout the first third of the game, Lipscomb dominated the time of possession due to speed and numerous steals. “We have been working on our pressing because we have quick players this year,” Head Coach Kevin O’Brien commented. “This was a good game to try it, and it definitely makes us a more difficult team to face.” In the 33rd minute, Junior defender Emily Rogers sent a hard ball into the box off of a set piece from the middle of the field. The ball changed possession multiple times in a matter of seconds, eventually leading to a Blue Raiders foul and therefore a Lipscomb penalty kick. Junior midfielder Natalie DuBoise drove the ball high into the left corner of the goal to take a 1-0 lead. “I felt very calm when I took the kick,” DuBoise said. “I did my routine and was glad it connected.” After multiple diving saves by the goalkeepers of both teams, defense prevailed for the remainder of the half, and the Lady Bisons took a 1-0 lead into halftime. The second half opened with strong offensive attacks...
by Lindsey Nance | Sep 2, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
In a recent video published by Lipscomb Athletics, senior Anna Buhigas talked about life both before and after joining the Lipscomb soccer program as a goalkeeper. Abandoned and unloved are the last two adjectives that come to mind when people think of senior goalkeeper Anna Buhigas. With her contagious smile and personality broadcast throughout campus, no one could ever expect the trials she has overcome. At a young age, Anna watched her parents battle for custody during a long divorce process. She lived with her mother until she fell ill with cancer and moved back to her hometown in southern Spain, leaving Buhigas in the states. “I just remember the day that she left taking a little piece of my heart,” Buhigas said. “I felt abandoned and unloved by the only person that I wanted that love from.” Buhigas then lived with her dad and spent her days trying to fill the void in her heart. She relied on affirmation from relationships, success in sports and material things to keep her happy. Years later, her love of sports paid off when she earned several D1 scholarships in basketball and soccer. Buhigas planned to play basketball close to her hometown until she met Lipscomb coach Kevin O’Brien and heard his dream to turn around the Lipscomb soccer program. “I fell in love with what he wanted to do here and loved that they had faith in me,” Buhigas said. After searching and searching, Buhigas said she could not find anything to fill the hole in her heart. Lipscomb offered a glimmer of hope, as it had a special sense of community that was appealing to her with...
by Micah Dempsey | Aug 29, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb men’s soccer (2-0-0) culminated its first weekend of regular season play on Sunday afternoon at the with a 3-0 victory over the Western Illinois Leathernecks (0-1-1) at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex, following their season-opening victory Friday night. “The momentum is all there for us right now,” assistant coach Peter Lowry said. “There is a lot of hard work in the off-season that is paying off as we start the season well.” The Bisons controlled the flow and tempo for the majority of the game, beating Western Illinois from the start with run after run into the box. After a few possessions cleared away by the Leathernecks back line, freshman midfielder Brandon Santel sent an arching cross from the right side that sophomore Logan Paynter headed from 10 yards out into the top left corner of the goal in the 10th minute of the game. “Logan was after the back four, and I just did my best to whip one over to him, and he finished with a beautiful touch,” Santel said, who recorded the first assist of his collegiate career tonight. Lipscomb continued to make strong offensive plays while the defensive back line remained firm and stopped any counterattack Western Illinois made, allowing the Bisons to coast into a 1-0 halftime lead. Opening the second half, both teams pressured heavily and played fast-tempo. In the 53rd minute, the Bisons took advantage of a free kick from freshmen defender Austin Eager as Paynter again capitalized on an assist from a teammate, rocketing the ball high into the left half of the goal. This was Paynter’s second score of the...
by Patrick Carpenter | Aug 27, 2016 | News Slider, Opinion, Sports
So we lost week one in horrifying fashion. We left several points on the field, and Centennial scored 14 points in the final 72 seconds to win. It was definitely not the opening anyone would want. Their quarterback finished 9-25, and most of those completions came on the final two drives. I had a big “hoorah” blog lined up in my head for if we had won, but I wasn’t able to write it. For a moment, I questioned doing this. Is this really something I wanted to do? Do I really like football this much to go through everything we did simply to lose like that? Sunday rolled around, and we put it behind us. It happened. It’s over. Time to regroup. It made me sick the rest of the week, but, in a way, I loved that. I loved that I finally had some drive in me. It didn’t matter what happened because we are a team. We lost as a team. Everyone has to get better. Tuesday we had the best defensive practice I think I have seen. Offensively, our line was beginning to gel. Going into Riverdale, no one gave us a chance. Riverdale is full of athletes and extremely talented skill-guys. But we were prepared. Riverdale features many of the top recruits in the state such as safety Gentry Bonds, who committed to Georgia Tech. We put up 21 unanswered points, but they began to trickle back into the game little by little. We fumbled at the 1-yard line right before we could have scored. Those thoughts from the week prior against Centennial came...
by KJ Lauck | Aug 27, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb Men’s Soccer (1-0) opened the season with a new conference logo, new jersey design and a win over Florida Atlantic University (0-1) on Friday night at the Lipscomb soccer complex. “I thought it was a great start for the season,” head coach Charles Morrow said. “We’re still nursing some injuries from the preseason, but I thought the guys that played tonight all looked good.” Ivan Alvarado, the ASUN Preseason Player of the Year, did not play, but that did not stop the Bison’s from putting in a collective effort. Logan Paynter shot a volley from the 18 yard box in the 18th minute, but FAU keeper Philip Hitpass made a leaping save. The shot was one of 10 the Bisons had for the night. The ASUN Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year, Micah Bledsoe, came up with a diving save after a defensive breakdown in the 24th minute. Both teams had limited chances in the first half, with the defenses controlling the tempo and keeping the respective offense in check, resulting in a 0-0 halftime score. “We were playing a team that, defensively, puts a lot of numbers back,” Morrow said. “They can lull you into putting too many numbers forward, and they can hurt you on a counterattack.” However, the Lipscomb offense started hitting its stride in the second half. The Bisons’ first goal of the season was a van-Persie-esque diving finish by junior Scout Monteith off of a set piece, giving Lipscomb a 1-0 lead. The assist was delivered from last season’s leading scorer, Logan Paynter. “I thought our guys did a good job of being patient...
