Marcus: 5-4 Dougherty has big goals for Dowling

At 5-4, Sean Dougherty is coming up big for Dowling's soccer team. He has three goals for the 10th-ranked Golden Lions.

The sophomore midfielder started playing soccer at the age of 4. "Luckily, with soccer, it's one of the sports where size doesn't matter that much,'' Dougherty said. "I like to look up to people like Nate Robinson, short guys who work hard. Work hard and anything can happen.''

Dougherty transferred from NYIT, where he played his freshman season. "I had a great experience over there, but with my brother [Ryan, a lacrosse player] being at Dowling and my friends from Comsewogue [High School], it was the right fit to come to Dowling,'' he said. "I looked at them as a great program. I really liked what I saw. The field is awesome, I'd say best on the Island. It's an amazing complex with a great atmosphere.''

Dougherty has joined former Comsewogue teammates Grassimos Magoulas, Anthony Forlini and Keith Vigorito. All played on the 2008 state championship team in high school.

Dowling always has national championship aspirations - it won the Division II title in 2006 - and Dougherty said his fellow Comsewogue graduates hope to experience the same during their collegiate careers.

"The pressure is great to have,'' Dougherty said. "It's a proving point from high school to states; the next level is college and nationals. We welcome that pressure. We like it.''

Dowling tied then-No. 1 Le Moyne earlier this season. "We have a deep team. So anything is possible,'' Dougherty said.

Dougherty has ambitions beyond college soccer. He wants to play professionally. "That's been a dream of mine since I was a little kid,'' he said. "I want to maximize my potential in this sport, do whatever it takes to get to the next level.''

SBU in CAA plans?

With Villanova's football team likely to leave the Colonial Athletic Association for the Big East, does Stony Brook University have designs on filling Villanova's spot in the CAA?

"I have no comment about another conference or its members,'' Stony Brook athletic director Jim Fiore said. "We remain very committed to Big South Conference football and truly respect and value our relationship with the membership. If a situation presented itself that allowed us to be more cost-efficient with travel, we'd explore that opportunity. Regardless, we remain committed to our ultimate goals of growing our program, advancing to the NCAA Tournament and competing for national championships.''

That said, Stony Brook would be receptive to having more of a Northeast profile with such CAA schools as Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, the Seawolves' opponent in a non-conference game Saturday. There has been some thought that those schools might look to break away from the southern-based CAA, and that is where Stony Brook and perhaps Albany and Fordham would enter the picture.

Hofstra lacrosse to make charity run

The Hofstra men's lacrosse team and its coaching staff will participate in the annual Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Run/Walk in lower Manhattan on Sunday. Proceeds benefit the Stephen Siller Children's Foundation.

Siller, a firefighter, was off-duty on Sept. 11, 2001 when he heard about the attacks on the World Trade Center. His vehicle was prohibited from entering the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, so Siller raced on foot through the tunnel with his gear strapped to his back. He was last seen alive on West and Liberty Streets where he went looking for his squad, all of whom perished.

The lacrosse team will donate more than $2,000 toward the charity.

Million-dollar challenge

An insurance company is offering $1 million to the competing schools if any college football game (regardless of division) ends with no penalties by either team. Liberty Mutual will give each school $500,000 toward the charity of its choice. According to a spokesman for the company, the last penalty-free game occurred when Army played Navy on Dec. 6, 1986.

This season, the following games have been played with one team having no penalties:

Manchester had none vs. Trine on Sept. 2.

Eastern Michigan vs. Army on Sept. 4.

Mississippi vs. Jacksonville State Sept. 4.

Crown College vs. Carleton on Sept. 4.

St. John's (Minn.) vs. Northwestern (Minn.) on Sept. 4.

Rockford vs. Loras College on Sept. 11.

Ohio State vs. Ohio on Sept. 18.

Suffolk CC soccer ranked No. 1Suffolk Community College (9-0) is ranked first in the NJCAA poll. Ricky Rada leads the team in scoring with seven goals and Chris Posillico and Joe Digiglio have six each.

Around the campuses NYIT's Moath Al-Khawaldeh finished third among Division II competitors and 12th overall at the Monmouth Invitational, which has one of the toughest cross-country courses in the nation. Al-Khawaldeh finished the 8K course in 27:06.5. Nine of the runners ahead of him ran for Division I schools . . . Hofstra women's soccer player Salma Tarik has five goals and one assist through the first seven games of the season for the Pride (6-1) . . . Dowling volleyball player Monika Kasperek leads the East Coast Conference with a .450 hitting percentage. Teammate Patrycja Klekotka is second in kills with an average of 3.62 . . . Nassau CC's football team (3-0) is ranked 20th in the NJCAA and will host 14th-ranked Lackawanna (3-0) on Saturday.