It's not often that a team can go from two wins to 15
wins in consecutive seasons, but that's what the Cornell club hockey
team recently accomplished. After finishing 2-12-0 in 2002-03, the team
finished its 2003-04 campaign with a 15-7-1 record, and capped the year
by winning the New York College Hockey League postseason tournament.
Cornell defeated Lemoyne and Cortland to advance to the championship
game, where it faced Hobart, and came from behind to win the game, 4-2.
"I think we had a much more solid group of guys than
last year. Last year, we didn't have a very big team, and a lot of guys
were very busy with different things, and there wasn't a lot of senior
leadership," said captain Nat Brand '04. "This year we had a lot of
freshmen come to tryouts, and they stuck with us even through rush, and
it turned out to be a good year because we had a good balance of young
guys and good senior leadership."
At the beginning of last season, the team's coach
quit, and Ben Hysell '02 and Gary Brandt stepped in as the coaching
staff. Hysell commuted in from Rochester to coach the team, and Brandt
served as assistant coach and faculty advisor.
"[Ben's] good at just making sure the guys keep their
priorities in order and stay focused in the locker room when we need
them to stay focused," Brandt said.
After playing in the Eastern Collegiate Hockey League
last season, Cornell helped to found the eight-team NYCHL last summer.
The new league is composed of only teams in New York State, with most
away games only an hour-and-a-half away.
Cornell held practices weekly on Monday and Wednesday
nights and began its season in late October. After facing little
difficulty in the early part of its schedule, the team faced some
tougher opponents this semester, splitting a home-and-home series with
Fredonia.
"There was one game where we traveled to Colgate with
eight guys, and they had a full squad, and we beat them 5-4. There's
definitely a lot of talent on the team, and at the beginning of the year
everyone gelled together really nicely," Brand said.
As a club sport, the members of the team pay dues that
go towards ice time for practice and games, equipment, insurance, and
travel expenses. The team also received financial support from the SAFC.
With these funds, the team was also able to purchase new uniforms at
the beginning of the season.
"We ended up getting a good amount of money from the
SAFC, they were very generous this year, and we really appreciated
that," Brand said.
Next year, the team hopes to add more games to its
schedule, and the NYCHL could possibly expand also. While the team
graduates six seniors this year, it has a lot of young members thanks to
good recruiting in the fall. With a good coaching staff in place and a
lot of returning members, the team will look for continued success in
the years to come.
"We're hoping that the momentum we created this year
is going to convince the guys that the club team is worth sticking to,
and that it's a good thing to do at a busy university," Brand said.
Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Tuesday, March 30, 2004
Not Just Any Hockey Game at MSG
With the New York Rangers squarely out of playoff contention, GM Glen Sather decided it was time to start the rebuilding process. In the weeks before the trade deadline, he proceeded to trade away much of the team, including Alexei Kovalev, Petr Nedved, and Ranger-for-life Brian Leetch.
With most of the Blueshirts' other stars injured or suspended, I decided that this would be a good time to attend my first Rangers game. Here is a look back at my night at Madison Square Garden on March 25, when the Rangers squared off against the Nashville Predators.
6:00 PM, 98 minutes before the opening faceoff: I arrive at the Garden with my friends Mike and Beki. After getting the tickets from the will-call window, I notice the following words at the top -- "Limited View." That's just great. Several people are wearing Maple Leafs jerseys with Leetch on the back, which leads me to wonder, "Why wouldn't you just buy a discounted Rangers version of Leetch's No. 2 jersey?"
6:15 PM: Our $27 tickets land us in section 414. For those of you who have never been to MSG, watching the game from section 414 is one step below watching the game on the MSG network.
6:30 PM: We enter the arena early to watch the players warm up. "We're going to get like five pucks each," claims Mike. "More like zero," I think to myself. With the ushers ignoring their ushering duties, we move into the $100 seats in the lower level.
6:45 PM: Everything at the concession stands (except beverages) has been marked down 50 percent. Clearly this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and Mike and I venture to the food court. Indeed, the $5 jumbo bag of Cracker Jacks I purchase is now only $2.50. I pass on the $4.25 bottle of Poland Spring water (normally 75 cents everywhere else except at sporting events and airports).
7:00 PM: Still no players on the ice as I begin to tackle the enormously large Cracker Jack bag. I wonder how we are going to get any pucks, as we are sitting near center ice and there is netting at both ends of the rink. However, the more important issue of the moment is finding the peanuts in the Cracker Jacks, which are conspicuously missing.
7:15 PM: The players finally come out to warm up. Noticeably absent is captain Mark Messier, who is serving the second game of his two-game suspension, and Tom Poti, who must have been injured. Jaromir Jagr skates around rather lazily, talking to the other team instead of practicing. I realize that I don't know half the players on the Rangers.
7:20 PM: After getting a grand total of zero pucks, we make our way up to our actual seats. And what great seats they are, I just love the nosebleed section! Far above the ice, we have absolutely no view of the goal as it is directly below us. Taking charge, Mike decides we should move, and we do.
7:38 PM: The Garden crowd boos Sather during the presentaion of the Extra-Effort award by a parapeligic police officer who was injured in the line of duty. The crowd then focuses its negative energy on Rangers goalie Mike Dunham and the National Anthem singer before the puck is finally dropped and the game begins. These people have no shame.
8:00 PM: There's a very loud drunk guy standing behind us, giving us his play-by-play of the game. The large number of empty seats in the lower portion of the Garden, coupled with the inane ramblings around us, leads Mike to decide that we should move down to the better seats. Upon leaving, Super Fan 2K4 quips, "Looks like we scared them away." Right -- or maybe it's because there are $130 seats that are currently unoccupied.
8:05 PM: Our new seats are 100 times better than the nosebleed section. We are now sitting near a guy wearing a Czech jersey, a guy wearing a Red Wings jersey, and a guy wearing a Predators jersey. I was under the impression that there were no Nashville Predators fans. I guess I was wrong.
13:19, First Period: The Predators score, the people around us are cheering.
16:53, First Period: The Rangers score, the goal siren goes off, and Mike and I are among the very few who are celebrating the goal. "This is the deadest I've ever seen the Garden," Mike says.
18:02, First Period: The Preds score again, and some girl in front us of starts waving a Finnish flag poster. Wow.
8:20 PM: During the first intermission, I go search for the nearest concession stand. With the food back up to full price, I throw down $7 on chicken fingers and French fries (still no drink). That's only a tad more pricey than the Ivy Room. While I was away from my seat, some lucky idiot -- err -- fan wins a Mercedes C Class.
9:16, Second Period: Jagr displays why he is the highest paid player in the league, by scoring his 30th goal of the season. If only he could be on the ice for the entire 60 minutes.
8:45 PM: I've come to two realizations during the second period. One, the Rangers are a one-line team. Two, this chicken finger-fries combo was not worth the $7.
9:00 PM: During the second intermission, Rangers legend Vic Hadfield is signing autographs in the team store which, conveniently, is right by our seats. Upon further investigation, it appears you have to buy something in order to get Hadfield's signature. The Rangers must be taking a lesson on nickel-and-diming from Cornell. Zing!
4:57, Third Period: Andreas Johansson scores for the Predators (as Linda Cohn would say, "Former Ranger, now good."). Nashville leads 3-2.
18:13, Third Period: Nashville scores again and the entire Garden crowd rises to its feet and leaves the arena.
I returned home to catch the highlights of the game on SportsCenter, which lasted approximately 45 seconds. Looking at the game story on Yahoo, I see a picture of the girl with the Finnish flag, and the caption reads that Nashville player and fellow Finn Kimmo Timonen had given her his stick. The lesson of the night, as Mike aptly put it, is "We should have pretended to be Finns to get free stuff."
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Steinberg Takes Over As Top Threat
A lacrosse ball weighs approximately
five ounces, and, as any player will tell you, hurts a lot if you get hit with
it. Junior Lindsay Steinberg knows this first-hand, but fortunately for her,
she was not on the receiving end. With head coach Jenny Graap '86 watching her
high school team on a recruiting visit, Steinberg caught her future coach's eye
with her shot strength.
"I ripped a shot from the eight-meter, and a girl on other team actually jumped in front of it. We used to wear goggles in high school, and it hit her square in the goggles, and she just dropped back, " Steinberg recalled.
Four years later, Steinberg is now one of Cornell's biggest scoring threats, thanks to her powerful shot and a vast array of offensive weapons. After playing with first-team All-American Sarah Averson '03 last season, Steinberg will now be counted on to provide leadership on attack and to help the team's freshmen adjust to the college game.
Starting in her first collegiate game in last season's opener against Notre Dame, Steinberg exploded for four goals. The following game, she was surprised to find the opposing defense focusing on her.
This season has been no different, as Steinberg was marked extensively in the 2004 opener against Georgetown by the Hoyas' best defender.
"The coaches have prepared me for that, and it takes on a different strategy, where they're telling my other teammates to pick for me more, and set me up," Steinberg said. "In my respect, for the other girls that are such big threats on attack, like Kristen Smith or some of our freshmen that are really good, I'll set myself up near them knowing that my girl won't really drop off me to double."
It is Steinberg's great knowledge of the game and her desire to learn and improve that make her a valuable asset to the team. Watching game film allows her to see the field better so that she can create scoring chances or just take the ball to the goal.
"Lindsay's the kind of player who just asks a lot of questions and has an enormous desire to learn the game. She's a student of the game, she's the first one in to the office to watch tape. She's very analytical, she's very X's and O's, and she really understands what's going on in the attacking end," Graap said.
While playing at the home position last season on attack, Steinberg netted 36 goals and five assists, good for second on the team in scoring. She had a career game against No. 15 Stanford, scoring five goals and adding two assists. She also recorded 10 multi-goal games in 2003.
This season, Steinberg will move to attack wing, where she will be more involved in the defense. She has worked in the offseason to increase her speed. She also worked to increase her shot power from the weak side.
"I'll have practices where I'll play all lefty. A lot of defenses in college are taught to play people on their strong side, so our defense will play me righty, but that gives me my left hand, and I'll practice my left shot a lot," she said.
With several freshmen on attack this season, Steinberg has assumed an important leadership role, helping the new players learn the offense and shooting with them before practice.
"Incorporating the freshmen into the mix is really important because we are such a young team, and we don't have that many upperclassmen. The five juniors are all taking the freshmen under their wing," she said.
As Cornell's attack continues to develop throughout the season, Steinberg will play an integral role. In her two years on the East Hill, she has already demonstrated her passion and knowledge for the game and looks to help lead the Red to greater heights in 2004.
"I ripped a shot from the eight-meter, and a girl on other team actually jumped in front of it. We used to wear goggles in high school, and it hit her square in the goggles, and she just dropped back, " Steinberg recalled.
Four years later, Steinberg is now one of Cornell's biggest scoring threats, thanks to her powerful shot and a vast array of offensive weapons. After playing with first-team All-American Sarah Averson '03 last season, Steinberg will now be counted on to provide leadership on attack and to help the team's freshmen adjust to the college game.
Starting in her first collegiate game in last season's opener against Notre Dame, Steinberg exploded for four goals. The following game, she was surprised to find the opposing defense focusing on her.
This season has been no different, as Steinberg was marked extensively in the 2004 opener against Georgetown by the Hoyas' best defender.
"The coaches have prepared me for that, and it takes on a different strategy, where they're telling my other teammates to pick for me more, and set me up," Steinberg said. "In my respect, for the other girls that are such big threats on attack, like Kristen Smith or some of our freshmen that are really good, I'll set myself up near them knowing that my girl won't really drop off me to double."
It is Steinberg's great knowledge of the game and her desire to learn and improve that make her a valuable asset to the team. Watching game film allows her to see the field better so that she can create scoring chances or just take the ball to the goal.
"Lindsay's the kind of player who just asks a lot of questions and has an enormous desire to learn the game. She's a student of the game, she's the first one in to the office to watch tape. She's very analytical, she's very X's and O's, and she really understands what's going on in the attacking end," Graap said.
While playing at the home position last season on attack, Steinberg netted 36 goals and five assists, good for second on the team in scoring. She had a career game against No. 15 Stanford, scoring five goals and adding two assists. She also recorded 10 multi-goal games in 2003.
This season, Steinberg will move to attack wing, where she will be more involved in the defense. She has worked in the offseason to increase her speed. She also worked to increase her shot power from the weak side.
"I'll have practices where I'll play all lefty. A lot of defenses in college are taught to play people on their strong side, so our defense will play me righty, but that gives me my left hand, and I'll practice my left shot a lot," she said.
With several freshmen on attack this season, Steinberg has assumed an important leadership role, helping the new players learn the offense and shooting with them before practice.
"Incorporating the freshmen into the mix is really important because we are such a young team, and we don't have that many upperclassmen. The five juniors are all taking the freshmen under their wing," she said.
As Cornell's attack continues to develop throughout the season, Steinberg will play an integral role. In her two years on the East Hill, she has already demonstrated her passion and knowledge for the game and looks to help lead the Red to greater heights in 2004.
Tuesday, March 9, 2004
Cashing In on Baseball Cards
I arrived home for winter break to find a wealth of junk on the floor of my bedroom, and was promptly given the fun task of putting everything away. Needless to say, I wasn't very pleased at this prospect, and after procrastinating for about three weeks, I started to sift through the piles that covered my entire floor.
However, on more careful inspection of the "junk," I found piles and boxes of baseball cards. It seems my dad needed to empty some cabinets so that he could move them in order to replace a window in my room, in the process disturbing my retirement portfolio.
I'm sure many of you have a similar drawer or cabinet at home. It contains the sum total of your card-collecting career, and you put everything away to let it sit for 20 or 30 years. Somewhere down the line, you hoped that your collection would grow so much in value that you could sell the contents for a million dollars or some other ridiculous figure.
I too had this idea, and having to store my collection away again, I got the chance to take a trip down memory lane.
The mind of a seven-year old has a very narrow track, it usually focuses on one or two things, in my case, baseball cards. As kids, we had all heard about the 1952 Mickey Mantle rookie card, and how it was worth $50,000, and we cursed at how stupid our parents were for throwing away such valuable collectibles when they were kids. We vowed not to repeat those mistakes, and so, we kept every card we could get our hands on.
And it wasn't just cards. Somehow, I got the idea into my head that the card wrappers could also be worth something. Seeing old card wrappers at Cooperstown made me more sure that wrappers were valuable enough to save, so I stuffed them in the plastic binder pages along with the rest of the cards.
(Oh man, this wrapper could be worth like $1,000 someday, I'd better save it!)
There were several brands of cards to choose from, each ranging in appeal and value, and at the bottom was Topps. Made of flimsy cardboard, a pack of Topps cards was not worth your $2.00. In the middle you had Donruss and Fleer, a little more respectable, but they did not come close to Upper Deck. There was probably no card more valued than the 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card, and it was worth it to buy the entire set just to get this one card.
Then came the deluge.
The card brands began expanding and pumping out new sets by adding words like elite or premium to the set name. First on the scene was Fleer Ultra. These premium cards were extra glossy and extremely valued by anyone and everyone. My friend Dave, whom I often traded cards with, would not trade me a single Fleer Ultra card, even from a very bad player.
"Hey Dave, I'll trade you this Ken Griffey Jr. for that Kenny Greer card."
"No way, that's a Fleer Ultra card."
"But Greer is terrible, I'm practically giving you this Griffey card for free."
"Still, this Fleer Ultra card is still more valuable, plus it's so shiny!"
New sets kept coming as fast as ever. There was the Upper Deck Fun Deck, which I bought more packs then I should have. These cards were "funner," then other cards, and while they were worth much less, the set had new concept cards, like scratch-off games and mascot cards.
Eventually, the baseball cards were abandoned, left to sit in the cabinet for years, gaining value every day. Unfortunately, that day will never come.
Reading ESPN the Magazine last week, I stumbled upon a brief column on the current state of the baseball card industry, and how there are 43 different Ichiro rookie cards out there. Apparently, the sports card industry decided that to generate more sales, they should pump out more sets. According to the column, there were 87 sets produced by four cardmakers in 2003.
87!!! We went from one Topps set to 87 different sets pretty quickly. That glut has made collecting cards as good as an investment as collecting toilet paper (This brand has ruffles, that's worth something).
To give you an example of this, I will share with you the last baseball card trade I made. While on the tennis team in high school, I gave one of my teammates a shock absorber for his racquet. He was very grateful for this, and in return, he gave me a Derek Jeter rookie card. A Derek Jeter rookie card for a $1.00 piece of rubber? That sounds like the steal of the century, but alas, that shock absorber is probably more valuable.
Also, somewhere along the line, the card manufacturers decided to give you less cards per pack, and charge double the price. Shopping at Target last spring, I came across some hockey cards and just had to buy a few packs (They were at the checkout aisle, how could I resist the allure?). $3.50 later, I have my pack, which contains not one, not two, not three, but four whole cards! Wow, what a deal! I used to pay $2.00 for 15 cards, but these new cards are so much more valuable. I mean, I could get a jersey-swatch card or an autographed card, that's totally worth the extra money.
With my card collecting days over, I will sit back with my Barry Bonds rookie card (purchased for only $10, what a steal) and watch as my other cards continue to devalue towards the brink of worthlessness. Maybe sometime down the road, there will be a huge paper shortage, and I can sell my collection for double its weight in gold. Until then, I'll have to invest my money in something more economical, like a 40-year CD.
However, on more careful inspection of the "junk," I found piles and boxes of baseball cards. It seems my dad needed to empty some cabinets so that he could move them in order to replace a window in my room, in the process disturbing my retirement portfolio.
I'm sure many of you have a similar drawer or cabinet at home. It contains the sum total of your card-collecting career, and you put everything away to let it sit for 20 or 30 years. Somewhere down the line, you hoped that your collection would grow so much in value that you could sell the contents for a million dollars or some other ridiculous figure.
I too had this idea, and having to store my collection away again, I got the chance to take a trip down memory lane.
The mind of a seven-year old has a very narrow track, it usually focuses on one or two things, in my case, baseball cards. As kids, we had all heard about the 1952 Mickey Mantle rookie card, and how it was worth $50,000, and we cursed at how stupid our parents were for throwing away such valuable collectibles when they were kids. We vowed not to repeat those mistakes, and so, we kept every card we could get our hands on.
And it wasn't just cards. Somehow, I got the idea into my head that the card wrappers could also be worth something. Seeing old card wrappers at Cooperstown made me more sure that wrappers were valuable enough to save, so I stuffed them in the plastic binder pages along with the rest of the cards.
(Oh man, this wrapper could be worth like $1,000 someday, I'd better save it!)
There were several brands of cards to choose from, each ranging in appeal and value, and at the bottom was Topps. Made of flimsy cardboard, a pack of Topps cards was not worth your $2.00. In the middle you had Donruss and Fleer, a little more respectable, but they did not come close to Upper Deck. There was probably no card more valued than the 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card, and it was worth it to buy the entire set just to get this one card.
Then came the deluge.
The card brands began expanding and pumping out new sets by adding words like elite or premium to the set name. First on the scene was Fleer Ultra. These premium cards were extra glossy and extremely valued by anyone and everyone. My friend Dave, whom I often traded cards with, would not trade me a single Fleer Ultra card, even from a very bad player.
"Hey Dave, I'll trade you this Ken Griffey Jr. for that Kenny Greer card."
"No way, that's a Fleer Ultra card."
"But Greer is terrible, I'm practically giving you this Griffey card for free."
"Still, this Fleer Ultra card is still more valuable, plus it's so shiny!"
New sets kept coming as fast as ever. There was the Upper Deck Fun Deck, which I bought more packs then I should have. These cards were "funner," then other cards, and while they were worth much less, the set had new concept cards, like scratch-off games and mascot cards.
Eventually, the baseball cards were abandoned, left to sit in the cabinet for years, gaining value every day. Unfortunately, that day will never come.
Reading ESPN the Magazine last week, I stumbled upon a brief column on the current state of the baseball card industry, and how there are 43 different Ichiro rookie cards out there. Apparently, the sports card industry decided that to generate more sales, they should pump out more sets. According to the column, there were 87 sets produced by four cardmakers in 2003.
87!!! We went from one Topps set to 87 different sets pretty quickly. That glut has made collecting cards as good as an investment as collecting toilet paper (This brand has ruffles, that's worth something).
To give you an example of this, I will share with you the last baseball card trade I made. While on the tennis team in high school, I gave one of my teammates a shock absorber for his racquet. He was very grateful for this, and in return, he gave me a Derek Jeter rookie card. A Derek Jeter rookie card for a $1.00 piece of rubber? That sounds like the steal of the century, but alas, that shock absorber is probably more valuable.
Also, somewhere along the line, the card manufacturers decided to give you less cards per pack, and charge double the price. Shopping at Target last spring, I came across some hockey cards and just had to buy a few packs (They were at the checkout aisle, how could I resist the allure?). $3.50 later, I have my pack, which contains not one, not two, not three, but four whole cards! Wow, what a deal! I used to pay $2.00 for 15 cards, but these new cards are so much more valuable. I mean, I could get a jersey-swatch card or an autographed card, that's totally worth the extra money.
With my card collecting days over, I will sit back with my Barry Bonds rookie card (purchased for only $10, what a steal) and watch as my other cards continue to devalue towards the brink of worthlessness. Maybe sometime down the road, there will be a huge paper shortage, and I can sell my collection for double its weight in gold. Until then, I'll have to invest my money in something more economical, like a 40-year CD.
Friday, March 5, 2004
Lady Laxers Fighting Irish
After dropping its opener to No. 5
Georgetown last weekend, the women's lacrosse team heads out on the road again,
this time to South Bend, Ind. to take on No. 12 Notre Dame (2-0) for a noon
contest on Sunday. The Red (0-1) will try to maintain its perfect record
against the Irish, having defeated Notre Dame the previous two seasons.
Following last weekend's loss, Cornell fell to No. 19 in the IWLCA poll. The
team had previously after being ranked No. 12.
"I think we approach the Notre Dame game with all the experience and lessons that we learned in our opener against Georgetown. We see Notre Dame as a formidable opponent," said head coach Jenny Graap '86. "We're a young team, we're a new team, and I think our approach is to solidify some of the fundamentals that we saw were lacking against the Hoyas."
Last Saturday, Georgetown jumped out to a 7-0 lead that the Red was unable to overcome. There were several bright spots in the 16-8 loss, among them freshmen Lindsey Moore. Playing in her first collegiate game, Moore scored two goals coming off the bench. Four other freshmen saw playing time in the opener, and freshman Margaux Viola was the only freshman in the starting lineup.
Sophomore Allison Schindler continued right where she left off last season, picking up two assists to give her 30 on her career. She is now tied with Graap for 10th on the all-time assist list.
While giving up the most goals in two seasons, the defense is still very young and is coming together as the players develop into a cohesive unit.
"We really need to tighten up that defensive unit. We've worked hard so far in practice and will continue to work hard getting our personnel down and doing a better job with the communication among the defensive unit," Graap commented.
Notre Dame comes into this weekend having swept Stanford and Cal on its west coast road trip. Two members of the Irish were recognized for their play last week. Goalie Carol Dixon was named Big East co-defensive player of the week, and midfielder Abby Owen was named Inside Lacrosse Magazine Player of the Week.
Owen scored seven goals last weekend, including two game winners. Meredith Simon also recorded seven goals on the road trip, and is the team's leading scorer with nine points.
"I think Notre Dame has several scoring threats that are emerging early. They have some height on our attacking end that we'll have to make some adjustments to handle," said Graap. "I think we'll go into it as the faster team, but really what I want to prove is that we're the scrappier team and we're the team that wants it more because I do think it could be a fairly-evenly matched talent-for-talent kind of game, in which case it comes down to heart and desire."
The narrow field of Notre Dame's Loftus Center will also be a factor in the game.
"The fact that we're the faster team, if it were a bigger field, the speed would come into play even more, but the fact that it's a smaller venue, it may work towards Notre Dame's advantage in that our speed may not be as important in the game."
"I think we approach the Notre Dame game with all the experience and lessons that we learned in our opener against Georgetown. We see Notre Dame as a formidable opponent," said head coach Jenny Graap '86. "We're a young team, we're a new team, and I think our approach is to solidify some of the fundamentals that we saw were lacking against the Hoyas."
Last Saturday, Georgetown jumped out to a 7-0 lead that the Red was unable to overcome. There were several bright spots in the 16-8 loss, among them freshmen Lindsey Moore. Playing in her first collegiate game, Moore scored two goals coming off the bench. Four other freshmen saw playing time in the opener, and freshman Margaux Viola was the only freshman in the starting lineup.
Sophomore Allison Schindler continued right where she left off last season, picking up two assists to give her 30 on her career. She is now tied with Graap for 10th on the all-time assist list.
While giving up the most goals in two seasons, the defense is still very young and is coming together as the players develop into a cohesive unit.
"We really need to tighten up that defensive unit. We've worked hard so far in practice and will continue to work hard getting our personnel down and doing a better job with the communication among the defensive unit," Graap commented.
Notre Dame comes into this weekend having swept Stanford and Cal on its west coast road trip. Two members of the Irish were recognized for their play last week. Goalie Carol Dixon was named Big East co-defensive player of the week, and midfielder Abby Owen was named Inside Lacrosse Magazine Player of the Week.
Owen scored seven goals last weekend, including two game winners. Meredith Simon also recorded seven goals on the road trip, and is the team's leading scorer with nine points.
"I think Notre Dame has several scoring threats that are emerging early. They have some height on our attacking end that we'll have to make some adjustments to handle," said Graap. "I think we'll go into it as the faster team, but really what I want to prove is that we're the scrappier team and we're the team that wants it more because I do think it could be a fairly-evenly matched talent-for-talent kind of game, in which case it comes down to heart and desire."
The narrow field of Notre Dame's Loftus Center will also be a factor in the game.
"The fact that we're the faster team, if it were a bigger field, the speed would come into play even more, but the fact that it's a smaller venue, it may work towards Notre Dame's advantage in that our speed may not be as important in the game."
Monday, March 1, 2004
W. Hoops Splits Pair
As each senior on the women's
basketball team left the Newman Arena floor on Saturday night, the crowd roared
in appreciation. It was a fitting ending to the six seniors' careers on their
home court, as the Red (9-16, 4-8 Ivy) rolled over Princeton 71-61 on Senior
Night. The previous night against league-leading Penn (15-9, 9-2 Ivy), Cornell
rallied back from a nine-point deficit with under two minutes to play, but the
Quakers were able to hold on to defeat the Red, 69-66.
"I'm very happy with our effort this weekend. I wish we didn't have to play Penn [on Friday]. If we showed that effort against any other team in the league, we probably could have beat them," said head coach Dayna Smith.
The Red jumped out to a 9-3 lead against Penn, as senior tri-captain Karen Force connected with classmate Tanya Karcic down court for a fast break lay-up. The Quakers answered with an 8-0 run, and the game went back and forth for most of the half. The teams went into the locker room with the game knotted at 27.
The back-and-forth battle continued in the second half, as neither team was able to hold on to a lead for very long. Down 52-47 with 7:48 to play, Penn mounted a 12-0 run over the next three minutes to go up by seven.
With 1:51 left in the game, Penn held its largest lead of the game, up 68-59. The Red surged back, as Karcic grabbed a rebound off after a missed Cornell free throw, and found Force open on the perimeter. Force launched the three as she was knocked down, and connected to cut the lead to five.
Karcic got to the line, as she was fouled after grabbing a rebound after a Clark miss at the other end. After trading free throws, the Red had one last chance to tie the game with four seconds left. Force raced down the court, and fired a shot from 27 feet out, but the shot fell short as the buzzer sounded.
Despite the loss, Smith praised her team's effort in the near comeback.
"I'm really proud of our team right now. That was just a battle, that was just a street basketball game, both teams wanted it badly, and unfortunately Penn came out on top, but I'm very proud of effort. I'm proud of the way we competed."
Karcic and Force combined for 50 of the Red's 66 points as Karcic led all scorers with 27. Senior tri-captain Lauren Kilduff had a solid all-around effort, with 12 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and four steals.
The six members of the class of 2004 were honored before Saturday night's game, and were eager to avenge the team's earlier loss at Princeton.
"Although we lost to Princeton the first game, I came into this game believing that we were the better team. I think we all knew that if we played hard and had fun doing it, we would come out on top. That's exactly what happened, and it was a great way to end for the all of us seniors," said senior tri-captain Katie Romey.
Cornell relied on its perimeter shooting for most of the game, and was able to pull away early from a short-handed Tiger team.
"We knew they were going to go zone. They played us all zone last game, and they've been hurting, they've been down in numbers, so we figured it would be a zone. We took a couple more three's that we would liked, I thought we settled for them early in the first half. We took care of the ball tonight and stepped into our shots and knocked them down," said Smith.
The Red led from the opening tip-off, and finished the half with a 14-4 run, and led 41-25 at the break.
"We knew that if we played tough defense and were smart on offense, the game could be an easy one. We were intense on defense, our shots were falling and we owned the boards, we played our kind of basketball and before we knew it, we were up by 16 points," said Kilduff.
Cornell's dominance continued in the second half, as it stretched its lead to 25 points with 13 minutes remaining. Princeton crept back into the game, but could never mount a big scoring run. The Tigers went to their press in the second half, but the Red held firm.
With the game securely in hand in the final minutes, Smith took the seniors out one by one.
"I was so happy we won, and happy that the team had played well, but it was definitely an unsettling feeling knowing it was the last time I would be on this court with my teammates," said Kilduff.
Kilduff and Romey led the way for the Red, scoring 22 and 15 points respectively. Senior Dani Aretino dominated the boards, with eight of her 12 rebounds coming off the offensive glass. While Karcic was limited to two points, she notched a game-high seven assists.
With her 12 assists on the weekend, Force moved up to sixth all-time in the Ivy League, with 444 for her career. She also became Cornell's fifth all-time leading scorer, with 1240 career points. Force will have a chance to move up in both categories next weekend in the team's final games of the season.
"I'm very happy with our effort this weekend. I wish we didn't have to play Penn [on Friday]. If we showed that effort against any other team in the league, we probably could have beat them," said head coach Dayna Smith.
The Red jumped out to a 9-3 lead against Penn, as senior tri-captain Karen Force connected with classmate Tanya Karcic down court for a fast break lay-up. The Quakers answered with an 8-0 run, and the game went back and forth for most of the half. The teams went into the locker room with the game knotted at 27.
The back-and-forth battle continued in the second half, as neither team was able to hold on to a lead for very long. Down 52-47 with 7:48 to play, Penn mounted a 12-0 run over the next three minutes to go up by seven.
With 1:51 left in the game, Penn held its largest lead of the game, up 68-59. The Red surged back, as Karcic grabbed a rebound off after a missed Cornell free throw, and found Force open on the perimeter. Force launched the three as she was knocked down, and connected to cut the lead to five.
Karcic got to the line, as she was fouled after grabbing a rebound after a Clark miss at the other end. After trading free throws, the Red had one last chance to tie the game with four seconds left. Force raced down the court, and fired a shot from 27 feet out, but the shot fell short as the buzzer sounded.
Despite the loss, Smith praised her team's effort in the near comeback.
"I'm really proud of our team right now. That was just a battle, that was just a street basketball game, both teams wanted it badly, and unfortunately Penn came out on top, but I'm very proud of effort. I'm proud of the way we competed."
Karcic and Force combined for 50 of the Red's 66 points as Karcic led all scorers with 27. Senior tri-captain Lauren Kilduff had a solid all-around effort, with 12 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and four steals.
The six members of the class of 2004 were honored before Saturday night's game, and were eager to avenge the team's earlier loss at Princeton.
"Although we lost to Princeton the first game, I came into this game believing that we were the better team. I think we all knew that if we played hard and had fun doing it, we would come out on top. That's exactly what happened, and it was a great way to end for the all of us seniors," said senior tri-captain Katie Romey.
Cornell relied on its perimeter shooting for most of the game, and was able to pull away early from a short-handed Tiger team.
"We knew they were going to go zone. They played us all zone last game, and they've been hurting, they've been down in numbers, so we figured it would be a zone. We took a couple more three's that we would liked, I thought we settled for them early in the first half. We took care of the ball tonight and stepped into our shots and knocked them down," said Smith.
The Red led from the opening tip-off, and finished the half with a 14-4 run, and led 41-25 at the break.
"We knew that if we played tough defense and were smart on offense, the game could be an easy one. We were intense on defense, our shots were falling and we owned the boards, we played our kind of basketball and before we knew it, we were up by 16 points," said Kilduff.
Cornell's dominance continued in the second half, as it stretched its lead to 25 points with 13 minutes remaining. Princeton crept back into the game, but could never mount a big scoring run. The Tigers went to their press in the second half, but the Red held firm.
With the game securely in hand in the final minutes, Smith took the seniors out one by one.
"I was so happy we won, and happy that the team had played well, but it was definitely an unsettling feeling knowing it was the last time I would be on this court with my teammates," said Kilduff.
Kilduff and Romey led the way for the Red, scoring 22 and 15 points respectively. Senior Dani Aretino dominated the boards, with eight of her 12 rebounds coming off the offensive glass. While Karcic was limited to two points, she notched a game-high seven assists.
With her 12 assists on the weekend, Force moved up to sixth all-time in the Ivy League, with 444 for her career. She also became Cornell's fifth all-time leading scorer, with 1240 career points. Force will have a chance to move up in both categories next weekend in the team's final games of the season.
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