OxfordPress.com

To the extent it's possible for a freshman football player to have a good season without actually appearing in a game, Zach Domicone has done just that.

The former Beavercreek High School quarterback, redshirted by Ohio State after signing as a safety, twice has been named defensive scout team player of the week for his work in helping to simulate opposing defenses in practice.

"They like how he flies around," Beavercreek coach Scott Clodfelter said. "They like big safeties, and he's bigger than all the safeties they have."

Domicone, listed at 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, earned his recognition leading up to the Youngstown State and Wisconsin victories.

He figures to play on special teams next season and possibly crack the two-deep.

"Who knows? He could start," Clodfelter said. "They're losing some good defensive players."

At the Michigan game, Domicone told Clodfelter he had knee surgery for a torn meniscus the previous Tuesday.

"He's fine," the coach said. "It was a very small procedure. He wasn't even on crutches when I saw him."

DC grad honored

Zach Patterson (Dayton Christian), a senior soccer player at Mt. Vernon Nazarene, has earned the Kyle Rote Jr. Award from the National Christian College Athletic Association. It goes to an upperclassman with "a vital Christian testimony on and off the field who exhibits outstanding leadership qualities."

Nazarene is in the NAIA Sweet 16 and Patterson is team captain. He also has a 3.4 grade-point average in international business/financial management.

ONU's road ends

Led by goalkeeper Aaron Collins (Carroll), midfielder Ben Tarkany (Miamisburg) and Ohio Athletic Conference Defender of the Year Ryan Smith (Miamisburg), the Ohio Northern men's soccer team won the OAC and reached the Elite Eight of the Division III national tournament.

The road ended last weekend in Dubuque, Iowa, one win short of the Final Four. After knocking off undefeated and No. 4-ranked Hobart College on Saturday, the Polar Bears lost 4-1 the next day to Loras (Iowa).

Campus tour

• Wittenberg senior soccer player Matt Borland (Alter) is a repeat winner of the North Coast Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year award. Borland scored seven goals and led the NCAC with 13 assists. Wittenberg posted the best record (16-4-1) in school history and earned its first NCAA D-III tournament berth since 1996.

• In the OAC, brothers Steven and Daniel McCarthy (Alter) of Capital are the forward and midfielder of the year, respectively. Each is the first Capital player so honored. Steven, a junior, had 15 goals and five assists to rank second in the league with 35 points. Daniel, a freshman, had four goals and five assists.

• Junior midfielder Nicole VanScyoc (Fairmont) is MVP of the Earlham College field hockey team, which finished 6-11. Second on the team with four goals, she also made first team All-NCAC.

If you have information about local athletes competing in college sports, please send an e-mail to smcclelland@DaytonDailyNews.com or sports@DaytonDailyNews.com.