A fond farewell to four years of Eli triumph

It's been nearly three and a half years since that glorious day in September 1995, but I remember it well. I was a freshman attending my first Yale football game. What a game it was. In an exhilarating offensive battle, the Bulldogs outgunned Brown 42-38, stopping the Bears at the three-yard line on the game's final play. It was the kind of game that made even my roommate's twin brother, who brought his Psychology 110 book to The Bowl, look up from his reading to catch the fourth quarter. It was the kind of game that made me, already an avid sports fan, a die-hard Bulldog fan.

Since that day, I have attended probably hundreds of Yale athletic events, from football to swimming, hockey to basketball, volleyball to squash. I have sat through a good share of losses, some painfully close, some painfully lopsided. But I have also witnessed some glorious triumphs, the memories of which will last long after next month's commencement. As the sun sets on my tenure in New Haven, it seems only natural to reflect on some of those athletic events that have helped to create four "bright college years" for me and the other members of the Class of 1999.

Perhaps no team has brought more glory and pride to Yale during our stay here than the men's ice hockey squad. When I arrived as a freshman, the team was coming off a 12th-place finish in the 12-team ECAC. But by sophomore year, the team showed signs of an imminent resurgence. In a 1-0 playoff victory over Colgate, Alex Westlund, SM '99, displayed the skills that would make him the finest goaltender in more than a century of Yale hockey. The following year, the Bulldogs posted the best season in school history, winning their first-ever ECAC crown and earning an NCAA tournament berth. In a season rife with highlights, Yale's first-ever win at Harvard's Bright Center and the Bulldogs' dramatic, title-clinching victory in the last game of the regular season over Rensselaer stand out. As an encore to last year's success, Westlund and crew delivered another Ivy League championship this season.

Speaking of Ivy championships, the fencing and golf teams have consistently been among the league's best. Women's swimming captured the 1997 conference title with an exciting dual-meet victory over Brown at the Kiphuth Exhibition Pool.

For the most part, however, championships have eluded most Yale squads for the past few years. Nonetheless, Yale has boasted some of the most outstanding individual Ivy performers, including tennis star Jonathan Beardsley, DC '99, and cross country runner Ariana Kelly, MC '99.

Whether or not they were title contenders, Bulldog teams have provided some thrilling moments. One of the most memorable events was the volleyball team's rout of Harvard at the 1997 Ivy volleyball championships. Led by Rosie Wustrack, BR '99, perhaps the greatest player ever to wear Yale Blue, the Elis defeated the top-seeded Crimson in straight games before a raucous crowd at Payne Whitney. Other Yale teams have scored equally memorable victories. In a dramatic 3-2 overtime victory over Harvard in 1997, women's soccer broke Harvard's 22-game Ivy win streak behind a two-assist performance from Annie Kwon, CC '99.

This season, men's squash downed Princeton 5-4 in front of a rambunctious audience, the likes of which the Tigers never hope to never see again. Women's lacrosse scored a victory for the ages over Duke, upsetting the No. 3 Blue Devils 6-5. The men's lacrosse team reestablished itself on the national scene after a yearlong absence with a 17-11 upset of No. 17 Towson State. Even this season's men's basketball team, which set a school record for losses, provided one shining moment of its own by beating perennial power Princeton 60-58 in overtime.

But no event was as magnificent or memorable as that which occurred last November. After three years of frustration, the football team finally gave the Class of 1999 the most precious gift graduating seniors could collectively receive--a victory over Harvard in The Game. The triumph had been a long time coming. Our freshman year, we stood in the miserable, freezing rain as the underdog Crimson pulled off the upset. As sophomores, we watched as Carm Cozza went out with an uncharacteristic whimper. And then there was junior year, when wins at the Bowl were even less abundant than As in a Shelly Kagan class. But this year's amazing turnaround erased much of the agony of the previous three seasons. For many in the senior class, their memory of Yale football will not be of a lopsided loss to UConn, but rather of a Harvard Stadium scoreboard that read: YALE 9, HARVARD 7.

The Game 1998, and the 1995 victory over Brown provided the perfect bookends to a great four-year ride.

Back to Sports...