Ferrari helps drive DePaul to soccer quarterfinals
DePaul freshman goalkeeper Joe Ferrari produced some of his biggest saves of the season to help the Blue Demons to advance to the quarterfinals of the Big East soccer championship.
The Blue Demons had battled Georgetown to a 2-2 tie after 2 overtimes, forcing the Big East playoff game to be settled on penalty kicks.
Ferrari, a 2009 graduate of Carmel Catholic High School in Mundelein, made diving saves on Georgetown's first 2 attempts, and the Blue Demons went on to claim a 3-1 victory.
Ferrari had 7 saves going into the penalty kicks. Ferrari turned back 4 direct shots in regulation time and 2 overtimes.
He made a game-saving stop at the end of the first overtime, and did it again at the end of the second OT when Georgetown unleashed a flurry of 3 shots in the final 30 seconds.
In the first half, Ferrari came up with a kick save.
Women's cross country
Illinois Wesleyan senior Kerry Devitt (Carmel) became only the second Titans women's runner to earn entry into the NCAA Division III national cross country championships Saturday at the Highland Hills Golf Club in Ohio.
Devitt qualified as an individual in the national meet as a result of her ninth-place finish-time of 21:46 at the Midwest regional at Winneconne.
Devitt is IWU's first women's winner of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin meet (Oct. 31), where she posted a time of 23:15.3 and was chosen as the CCIW female athlete of the year for cross country.
Volleyball
• In Drake's 24-26,25-22,25-17,19-25,8-15 victory over Southern Illinois, the Salukis were led by outside hitter Jennifer Berwanger (Lake Zurich), who had a match-high 17 kills and 24 digs to go with 2 block assists.
• Five Carthage women's volleyball starters were named to the 2009 All-CCIW team. Libero Katie Lundgren (Stevenson) was named CCIW women's volleyball player of the year and first-team All-CCIW for the second-straight year. She averaged 5.96 digs per set.
Sophomore setter Drewann Pancratz (Schaumburg) was named second-team all-conference. She averaged 9.34 assists per set with a .291 efficiency.
Outside hitter Lauren Dembkowski (Hersey) earned honorable-mention All-CCIW honors.
Pancratz and Dembkowski (. 219, 2.98 kills per set, 0.31 service aces per set) were both named second-team All-CCIW in 2008.
Carthage coach Leanne Ulmer, the former Stevenson boys and girls coach was named CCIW women's volleyball coach of the year for the fifth time since 2002.
• Aurora University senior middle hitter Jill Smart (Grayslake High School) was selected to the Northern Athletics All-Conference first team, while junior outside hitter Amy Reynolds (Schaumburg) was named NAC honorable mention all-conference.
Smart led the Spartans with 2.95 kills and 0.86 blocks per set and was named the AU Jim Coleman Classic MVP and to the all-tournament team. Reynolds averaged 2.30 kills and 3.59 digs per set and was named to the Monmouth College and Rose Hulman Institute of Technology all-tournament teams.
• Kasey Kiepura (Vernon Hills), a middle blocker for Dominican University, was named to the All-Northern Athletics Conference second team.
Wrestling
The University of Dubuque's Josh Terrell (Round Lake) placed third at the Loras College Open. Terrell (4-1) is ranked second in the 165-pound weight class for Division III.
Certification
The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) has launched a national certification program for interscholastic coaches with the Level 1 Accredited Interscholastic Coach Certificate.
To become certified by the NFHS, a coach must take three required professional development courses online - Fundamentals of Coaching, First Aid for Coaches or its equivalent and a sport-specific course or Teaching Sport Skills - and complete an application online at www.nfhslearn.com. The cost of Level I certification is $50.
Coaches are encouraged to become certified for a number of reasons: to create a more educational environment and minimize risks for students, to stay current in the profession and to be nationally recognized - to name a few.
"Schools have many challenges facing them today, not the least of which is hiring coaches who understand their role in teaching life skills to students through the sport experience," said Tim Flannery, NFHS assistant director and director of the NFHS Coach Education Program.
"This does not automatically happen. It must be intentional."
Flannery said when interscholastic coaches receive the proper training, they are able to provide their students a well-rounded education applicable to life beyond the playing field, and the entire community sees the benefits.
"School administrators today must continually demonstrate the educational value of athletics to ensure the support of the community, and having trained coaches on staff is paramount to that success," said NFHS Executive Director Robert F. Kanaby.
Men's soccer
Aurora University junior defender Matt Reimer (Lakes) was a first-team all-conference selection for the Northern Athletics Conference. Riemer was a defensive ace for the Spartans, who allowed 16 goals, had 9 shutouts and a 0.82 goals against average. He also had 1 assist.
Football
Carthage College sophomore Evan Jones (Grayslake) threw for 350 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 35-30 win at Wheaton College. He was not sacked in 56 attempts. Carthage ended the season with a three-game winning streak and finished 7-3 and 4-3 and tied for third in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin.
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