Chapman Comeback Falls Short in 35-33 Loss

Stanley Villanueva hit Eric Del Conte for a 12-yard scoring pass with two seconds to play, but was then stopped short on a two-point conversion run as Chapman lost to host La Verne, 35-33, in a nonconference college football game Saturday.

Villanueva’s pass completed a 54-yard drive for Chapman (2-3), which rallied from a 35-20 deficit entering the fourth quarter.

Adam O’Neil caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Villanueva to cap a two-play, 64-yard drive with 8:42 to play.

Villanueva completed 22 of 37 passes for 282 yards and four touchdowns. Dan Blahy, a former Loara High School and Golden West College standout, completed 21 of 33 for 447 yards to lead La Verne (5-0), which took a 22-20 lead at the half.

Chapman trailed, 16-0, before Del Conte scored on a 15-yard pass from Villanueva with five minutes remaining in the half. Dino Rossi returned a blocked punt for a touchdown with 3:19 left in the second quarter to bring Chapman within two, 16-14.

La Verne answered with a touchdown two minutes later, but Marin Qualls (nine catches, 162 yards) scored on a 57-yard pass from Villanueva with 28 seconds left in the half.

At the UC San Diego cross-country invitational:

UC Irvine sweeps--The Anteater men’s and women’s cross-country teams finished first on the UCSD athletic fields.

The UCI men’s team totaled 89 points to top the 22-team field. UCI’s Chris Evans was eighth overall and the fourth collegian, touring the 8,000-meter course in 25 minutes 49 seconds. Teammate Jon Doroski was 21st overall and 12th among college runners (26:33).

The UCI women’s team had four runners finish in the top 12 in the 20-team field. Freshmen Courtney Baird was third on the 5,000-meter course in 18:09, Kareen Nelson was sixth (18:22), Jamie Blair was 10th (18:30) and Allyson Kulak 12th (18:37).

In nonconference men’s soccer:

Chapman 9, Cal Tech 0--Scott Martino had two goals and four assists and Marco Inga added two goals to lead host Chapman (9-3-1) to its fifth consecutive victory.

In Golden State Athletic Conference women’s soccer:

Biola 4, Concordia 1--Behind by one goal at the end of the first half, Concordia lost control of the game as Jamie Fiktarz scored two goals and Julie Smithson added one to cap Biola’s scoring in the second half. Lisa Kulovitz scored for Concordia (5-7, 1-4). Biola is 10-2, 3-1.

In nonconference women’s soccer:

Chapman 4, Hope International 0--Aja Cordova scored two goals to lead host Chapman (9-4), which outshot Hope International, 36-1. Sara Struhs and Stacie Lopez also scored for the Panthers. Hope International is 3-8.

In Big West Conference women’s volleyball:

Utah State 3, Cal State Fullerton 0--Winning its seventh match in a row, host Utah State made quick work of the Titans in a 15-6, 15-6, 15-6 victory. Amy Goulding-Crosbie had 10 kills for Utah State, which improves to 8-8, 6-2. Megan Sabo had 10 kills and 10 digs for the Titans (5-15, 1-7).

In the Golden State Athletic Conference:

Concordia 3, Vanguard 2--After splitting the first four games, 15-7, 12-15, 15-4, 11-15, Concordia came back to win the fifth game, 15-6. Sarah Roberts had 17 kills and teammate Annie Sand had 15 for Concordia (15-10, 5-7), and Angie Barkin had 23 digs and 47 assists. Vanguard is 11-13, 3-9.