By Jeff Vorva
Staff Writer
For three quarters, Saint Xavier went nearly toe-to-toe with the No. 1-ranked football team in the nation.
Justin Pringle had returned a kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown to bring the Cougars to within three points of Northwestern (Iowa), the top-seeded team in the NAIA playoffs and the defending national champion, late in the third quarter of their quarterfinal-round matchup.
But the Red Raiders scored a pair of touchdowns in the fourth and kept the Cougars off the board the rest of the way in a 34-17 victory Dec. 2 at De Valois Stadium in Orange City Iowa.
The 12th-seeded Cougars finished 8-4.
Saint Xavier quarterback Stuart Ross closed his career throwing for 183 yards and a touchdown.
Pringle caught nine passes for 79 yards and a score, in addition to his big play on special teams.
Amari Venerable had 67 yards on 12 carries.
Northwestern (13-0) was led by Jalyn Gramstad, who threw for 217 yards and two touchdowns. Konner McQuillan ran for 99 yards and a score.
Hoops heartbreaker
December 2 was also bad for the Cougars men’s basketball team, which dropped a 73-72 heartbreaker to Governors State in a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference matchup in University Park.
SXU (2-5, 1-2) took a 72-70 lead when Cedric Johnson nailed a 3-pointer with eight seconds left. But GSU (4-6, 2-1) had the final word when Lashaun Gist hit a 3-pointer with 1.6 seconds left for the win.
Trolls soccer
Trinity Christian College’s run in the National Christian College Athletic Association’s national tournament ended with a 2-1 loss to Central Christian of Kansas on Nov. 29 in Kissimmee, Florida.
Shepard graduate Fernando Rosales tied the match at 1-1 in the second half for the Trolls (9-8-4), but Central Christian’s Johnny Rodriguez scored with just three seconds left in the match.
Rosales led the team in goals this year with six, all of them over the final nine games of the season.
The nine wins was the most for the Trolls since 2011.
Stagg grad named All-American
Moraine Valley volleyball player Mary Zielinski was named to the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II All-American second team.
The freshman outside hitter, a Stagg graduate, was second in the nation with 6.0 points per set, second in the nation with 5.21 kills per set and 21st in kills with 443.