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Sports Shorts
MEN'S HOCKEY
Tied for third in ECAC, hockey heads to Cornell and Colgate
The Bulldogs (5-3, 3-3 ECAC), especially veteran goalie Dan Lombard, SM '02, worked hard over Thanksgiving vacation to prove that Princeton doesn't matter. Registering 37 saves against the Tigers on Tues., Nov. 21 at Baker Rink, Lombard was unanimously voted the number-one player of the game by the press; back at Yale on Sat., Nov. 25, his 31 saves against the Tigers earned him the number-two honor.
His teammate, forward Luke Earl, JE '02, while proud of Lombard, hopes the pressure on him will ease up during the upcoming weekend. "[Lombard's] probably had to make a couple more saves than we'd like him to have to," Earl, who will have to sit out until this weekend due to illness, explained. "We're giving up a lot of goals. The key to this weekend will be sharpening our team defense."
Coming off a split match-up with Princeton, Yale heads north this weekend to play Cornell (3-3-2, 2-1-1 ECAC) and Colgate (2-8-2, 1-3-0 ECAC), two physical teams that play hard defense. During the season so far, the Cornell defensive line has given up only nine goals. Colgate's Scooter Smith '02, who currently leads the ECAC in scoring, said of Colgate's strategy, "We play our game physically, wear a team down." Colgate has a history of trying to focus their scoring on their worn-out opponents in the third period.
Yale, however, also boasts one of the league's best offenses, and has repeatedly shown that it will find a way to score. Smith said that many of his teammates will keep an eye out on shutting down Yale's power play lineup that includes star forward Jeff Hamilton, SM '01. "We have to key in on guys like Jeff Hamilton," Smith said of the second leading scorer in the ECAC. "I don't think you can stop a guy like Hamilton, but you can do your best to contain him."
Earl, who also enjoyed an explosive start this season, added that many of this year's second and third offensive lines included players whose contributions have increased this year due to increased team chemistry and continued hard work. He attributed the team's number-three ECAC standing to its senior leadership, headed by Ben Stafford, BR '01. "[The seniors encourage] everybody to keep working hard," he said—a valuable factor in this year's tightly matched league.
—Sangeetha Ramaswamy
Yale fails to quell nightmares against Sacred Heart
The women's basketball team (1-4, 0-0 Ivy) enjoyed beautiful weather during its trip to Texas, but the team remained as cold as a Connecticut winter on the court—losing by a combined 67 points to North Texas and Texas Christian. Head Coach Amy Backus saw the games as a wake up call. "The pressure we faced against the Texas teams allowed us to more realistically evaluate ourselves against solid athletic competition," she said. New Haven, however, proved no nicer to the Bulldogs, as they dropped their home opener on Wed., Nov. 29, to in-state rival Sacred Heart, 73-56. Despite its current struggles, the team has shown it can play and is still confident for the upcoming Ivy season. The team opened its season in style by trouncing tournament host Boston University in the first round of the Boston Invitational. Though they fell in the final to Baylor, another Texas powerhouse, the Bulldogs landed sophomores Maria Smear, SM '03, and Helene Schutrumpf, BK '03, on the all-tournament team. Both set career highs in points in the win, and Smear broke a Yale record by draining seven three-pointers. "Though we weren't particularly challenged against BU," Coach Backus said, "we played well and gained a lot of confidence, which is extremely important in the early season."
Looking to improve from last season's fourth-place Ivy finish, the team is banking on Smear and Schutrumpf's scoring, leadership of Captain Alyson Miller, JE '01, and the six freshmen who will be asked to fill crucial roles off the bench. "The competition we face our next few games is a little weaker," Smear said. "We're still confident, and we think we have a legitimate shot at the conference championship."
—Kenneth Hammond
Key win over Harvard
Before The Game had begun in Cambridge two weeks ago, Yale had already set a winning tone for the weekend by hammering Harvard 26-15 in the annual rugby grudge match. Captain Shamus Dickson, DC '01, said the team expected to encounter one of its toughest games of the season, but Harvard didn't put up much of a fight. "They just didn't test us the way we expected them to," Dickson said. "We were missing some key players, and we still beat them comf-ortably." Dickson led from the front with a strong game in the scrums and lineouts, complemented by powerful play from backline leader Collin May, SY '02. Mark Marion, SM '03, a consistent performer all season, continued to show his class with a poised game at fly-half.
In facing Harvard, the Elis sought to avenge their loss to Providence in the first round of the Northeast Territorial finals the previous week.They entered the tournament undefeated and were the top seed, but the squad was missing four regular starters. After dropping behind by two converted tries, Yale was held scoreless until the final 10 minutes of the match. The Bulldogs clawed back to a one-point deficit before the clock ran out.
"That result is going to stay with us for a long time," President Alex Kallmann, MC '01, said. "We now have over 30 players with tournament experience who will be returning next year. We've tasted defeat, and we've got the hunger to win."
—Rob Rodi
All materials © 2000 The Yale Herald, Inc., and its staff.
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