Sports Shorts

After a disappointing pair of losses, long season gets a little longer

Indeed, over the past four games—which have seen the Bulldogs go 0-3-1—this feeling has become an all-too-familiar cause for concern. On Fri., Feb. 4, the club dropped a 6-2 contest to league-leading St. Lawrence (15-6-2, 10-2-1 ECAC). Then on Sat., Feb. 5, the Bulldogs fell again, shut out by Clarkson (9-11-3, 4-6-3 ECAC), 4-0.

"Those games didn't lift team spirits at all," defenseman Keith Fitzpatrick, TD '00, said of the losses. "We have to regroup and begin to take baby steps forward."

For the club's sputtering offense, a giant leap seems more appropriate. "Every once and a while you need a break," Fitzpatrick said. "You go up to St. Lawrence, get 40 shots, and only score two goals. You can win with two, but you can't win a lot of games." The club's defense, which has kept the squad in several close games thoughout the season, knows this all too well.

Looking to the future, though, the competition does not grow any easier—the team's last seven games are all against ECAC opponents. This weekend, the Bulldogs hit the road again to face Ren-sselaer on Fri., Feb. 11, and Union on Sat., Feb. 12, against whom Yale managed just a loss and a tie respectively two weeks ago.

The Bulldogs know that a hard fight awaits them in their attempt to climb back up the ladder of the highly competitive ECAC. The team has fallen back to sixth—right in the middle of the pack in the 12-team league. As Fitzpatrick said of the seven games that still remain, "Our margin of error is zero." —James Fagan

Three non-league victories put some zip in their skates

The women's hockey team is starting to feel pretty good about itself. After winning three out of their last four games, the Elis have finally gained some much needed momentum as they prepare for a pair of difficult ECAC games this weekend. The Bulldogs (6-15-0, 2-14-0 ECAC) will take on Maine on Fri., Feb. 11 at Ingalls Rink, and then travel north to challenge New Hampshire on Sat., Feb. 12.

Most recently, the Bulldogs beat Williams, 4-3, on Sat., Feb. 5, and Wesleyan, 3-1, on Wed., Feb. 2, in non-league play."We proved that although we didn't play the strongest game of our season, we could still come out on top," Lauren Gulka, BK '02, said of the Williams game. "We were able to take control of the majority of the game and were confident with the puck and were passing really well." Yale was led by strong performances in both games by Sue Barnes, DC '00, who had two goals and an assist, and Lisa Meyers, SY '01, who had one goal in each game.

The Bulldogs met both Maine and New Hampshire in ECAC play earlier in the season, and although they lost both games, they are optimistic about this weekend. The team is, however, at the bottom of the league standings. The Elis are currently ranked 11th in the ECAC, two steps above cellar-dwelling Maine, in 13th place, and just five notches behind sixth-place New Hampshire. "It would be nice to play up to our potential against Maine because that is something we have yet to do," defender Isabelle Kinsolving, CC '02, said.

"Hopefully we can take the positive aspects from last weekend and carry them over to this weekend," Gulka added. "Maine is a huge game for us, but we have no reason to be intimidated by them. We've been playing well, and it would be really nice to come out of that game with two points, especially since UNH is going to be a very difficult game." —Darcy Wiecks

On the rebound

During a timeout in the last few seconds of the men's basketball game against Princeton on Sat., Feb. 5, with the Eli men on the cusp of an unbelievable upset, a voice came in over the PA system to announce that the Yale women's basketball team had just defeated Princeton, 67-58. A loud roar went up in the John J. Lee Amphitheater, and Yale sports fans knew that two seasons might have just been salvaged in the span of a few moments.

The Bulldogs (7-12, 3-3 Ivy) started the season 2-11, but have been climbing ever since. They started last weekend with a temporary setback—a tough loss to league- leading Pennsylvania (15-4, 5-0 Ivy) on Fri., Feb. 4. Although Yale got off to a slow start, they battled back and stayed just behind Penn for the entire second half. But when the buzzer sounded, the Elis had lost, 70-67. "The Penn game was disappointing," Captain Kelly Denit, DC '00, said. "We really should have won. There were a few questionable calls."

After the Penn loss, Yale knew they needed a win against a struggling Princeton squad (4-15, 1-4 Ivy) to stay competitive in the league. Maria Smear, SM '03, provided the firepower Yale needed to best the Tigers, racking up 23 points and five boards. With the victory, Yale managed to hold on to fourth place in the league.

This weekend the team starts a four-game Ivy home swing—the perfect opportunity to prove that they have some Ivy magic in store this season.

—Geoffrey Chepiga

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