Sports Shorts

Football: Bulldogs tied at top of league, face off against Penn for lead

With a share of first place in the Ivy League at stake, the foot ball team will attempt to knock off one of its key rivals for league domination on Sat., Oct. 30, as it takes on Penn at the Yale Bowl.

After demolishing two weaker Ivy League foes, Columbia and Dartmouth, the Bulldogs (5-1, 2-1 Ivy) turn their attention to a strong Quakers squad. After winning the league championship last season, Penn (3-3, 2-1 Ivy) was picked to defend its crown in the preseason media polls. This year's Ivy race is particularly heated—five teams in the league, including both Yale and Penn, are bunched together at the top of the standings with only one Ivy loss apiece, making this game extremely crucial for both teams. Combined with last year's 34-21 loss at Penn, the Elis should have all the motivation they need against the Quakers.

"I think this game is of huge importance," Captain Jake Fuller, BR '00, said. "We're sitting tied for first place right now with four games left to go. There's a lot of talk that Penn is the defending Ivy League champ and we haven't beaten them in a long time. But I think what's more important to us is the race we're in right now. In a race like this, this late in the season, every single game counts, and this game is especially important."

Last week's 41-29 thrashing of Columbia provided the offensive fireworks Bulldog fans have come to expect out of a Yale offense averaging 34.7 points per game. Quarterback Joe Walland's, TD '00, 185 passing yards and 38 rushing yards moved him into first place on Yale's career total offense list. The defense kept the Lions under wraps through most of the game. Cornerback Todd Tomich, TC '01, had two interceptions, including one off a pass batted into the air by safety Than Merrill, JE '01, at the goal line with three minutes to play and Columbia threatening to score.

"I feel really good about our team," Fuller said. "We've been playing strong, and we've continued to have great weeks of practice. We're confident we're going to go in there and play well on Saturday and pull out the `W' and hopefully keep climbing and keep winning ball games."

—Benjamin Case

Field Hockey: Elis look to future as hapless season draws to a close

Even the most successful teams struggle to maintain positive attitudes, so it is easy to imagine how hard it is to stay excited about a team with an overall record of 4-10 (1-4 Ivy). The field hockey team has tried to keep team morale up, however—not through victories on the field, but through their success off of it.

The Bulldogs' latest losses came at the hands of William and Mary and American University. Despite losing the games 2-1 and 5-3 respectively, the team was pleased with their performance, at least in the first game. "We were pretty happy with how we played as a team against William and Mary," Tovia Martirosian, CC '02, said. However, the Elis were not quite so enthusiastic about their defeat at the hands of American. "It wasn't a terrible game, but we didn't play as strongly, and we were too complacent as to how we had played against William and Mary," Kara Nesburg, PC '02, said. Despite the frustration resulting from two losses in one weekend, coupled with the overall lack of success during the season as a whole, the team benefited from their time together over the weekend.

"The team activities brought us closer together, as did spending the whole weekend with one another," Nesburg said. "The road trip was good for us as a team, even though this is not reflected in our record."

With no hope of participation in any postseason tournament, the team has three games remaining in the season. The Bulldogs will play their last home game against Penn on Sat., Oct. 30, the only team ranked below the Elis in the Ivy League.

"We have only three games left and we have nothing to lose." Martirosian said. "Everyone is trying their hardest for themselves and for the team."

"We just want to keep our morale up and continue trying to improve for next year," Nesburg said.

—Darcy Wiecks

Women's Crew: Disappointment in Boston

Sometimes a team needs to be defeated to find out what it takes to win. Following a disappointing performance at the Head of the Charles regatta in Boston on Sun., Oct. 24, the women's crew team has decided to get down to basics and concentrate on the fundamentals. Their 22nd-place finish in the field, 14th among Eastern Sprints League teams, left much to be desired but gave the team added motivation to improve.

The varsity boat finished close to the bottom of the league last year. Going into the Head of the Charles, the team simply wanted to keep improving on last season's performance. "Last year's varsity didn't do very well," Stephanie Rollins, SY '02, said. Yale raced very well earlier this month with an encouraging third-place finish at the Princeton Chase, but was unable to maintain its momentum in Boston.

"[The team] did not have its best race," Kate Riddile, TC '02, said. Despite the disappointing regatta, the Bulldogs are confident that they can rebound. "[We] feel improvement can be made," Riddile said.

The crew is looking for redemption at its last meet of the season, the Foot of the Charles. Many of the same squads that the Elis faced at the Head of the Charles will again be entered again. Under the leadership of Captain Melanie Petrunia, TD '01, the team is hoping to end the season on a high note. "The attitude at practice is great," Petrunia said. "We're definitely moving in the right direction, and we're right where we want to be at this point in the season."

—Ewan MacDougall

Around the Ivies

High scorin': Penn football

A late Penn rally failed as the Quakers lost to Brown, 44-37, on Sat., Oct. 23, at Franklin Field. While the total scoring paled in comparison to last year's Ivy-record 109 points (58-51, Brown), including a NCAA-record 58-point barrage in the final quarter, the game still provided similar excitement. The teams combined for 983 yards of offense, 773 through the air, and 81 points. Penn faces off against Yale at the Bowl this weekend.

Late scorin': Cornell men's soccer

Forward Ted Papadopoulos '02 scored an unassisted goal on a breakaway 2:55 into the second overtime to lead the No. 21 Cornell men's soccer team to a 2-1 win over Dartmouth on Sun., Oct. 24, in Hanover, N.H. The win improved Cornell's overall record to 8-4, while keeping the Big Red in a tie for first place in the Ivy League with Princeton at 4-1. Cornell appeared to have the game won in regulation, but Dartmouth scored with 59 seconds remaining to force the extra session.

—Compiled by Laurie Randell

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