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(02/01/00 10:00am)
Ugonna Onyekwe dominated St. Joe's, scoring 20 points and blocking three shots last night. It seemed to be a foregone conclusion. Sooner or later, Penn freshman Ugonna Onyekwe was going to arrive as a bona fide star. The Quakers forward got his feet wet with 14 points in the season opener against national powerhouse Kentucky, but Onyekwe hadn't waded out past his waist since then. Inexperience seemed to hold him back from venturing further into the upper echelon of college basketball players. Until last night, that is. With the last of his three dunks 1:24 from game's end, Onyekwe added a final exclamation point to a game in which he dominated both inside and out, on offense and on defense. Onyekwe fouled out only 14 seconds after that dunk on an attempted block of St. Joseph's forward Ryan Phillips, but he had already more than made his mark in the game. The numbers themselves were impressive enough -- a career-high 20 points, seven boards, three blocks, two assists and a steal. But Onyekwe did a lot more than just clutter the stat sheets. He pulled fans out of their seats with a seemingly never-ending stream of highlight-film material. The Nigerian-born forward started the game's scoring off on Penn's first possession with an authoritative dunk from the baseline on a pass from guard Michael Jordan. And two possessions later, Onyekwe demonstrated his ball-handling skills by slicing through the Hawks' defense, driving hard from midcourt and scoring two points for the Quakers with a soft lay-in. "Early, we allowed [Onyekwe] to get his feet underneath him and some real clean open looks," St. Joseph's coach Phil Martelli said. And Onyekwe fed off that early success. In the course of a minute later in the first half, Penn's freshman forward looked like Tim Duncan on a court full of high schoolers. First, Onyekwe sent a shot by St. Joe's forward Frank Wilkins several rows into the stands. He then followed that up with a Palestra-rocking put-back jam off a Geoff Owens miss. But Onyekwe's game wasn't all about flamboyance last night. The Penn freshman played more like a grizzled veteran than a man playing in only his 16th college game. The Quakers forward had been taking -- and missing -- a plethora of wild three-point shots in the past few games, but he hit two of his four from beyond the arc last night. More importantly, Onyekwe also passed on some choice looks from three-point range to feed teammates for open shots. A prime example of this came five minutes into the game when he faked a three-pointer and then drove through the lane and found Owens for an easy layup. Defensively, Onyekwe dazzled with his blocks, but he also managed to keep the ball away from his man. Throughout most of the game, he was matched up with Hawks' forward Andre Howard. Howard came into the game averaging 8.9 points a game, but Onyekwe held the St. Joe's senior to just four shots. "We were hoping that we were able to exploit that matchup [of Howard on Onyekwe] at the other end and they kind of exploited that matchup on us," Martelli said. Onyekwe used versatility as his weapon to exploit St. Joe's last night, grounding the Hawks with his combination of a right-handed perimeter game and a left-handed inside game that features a baby hook polished well beyond the Penn freshman's years. But Onyekwe's versatility didn't just make him look good. It freed up the lane for the rest of the Quakers to penetrate. "During the game, Ugonna hit those couple threes, and when I went off a high screen from him, they didn't help," Jordan said. "So that opened it up for me to go to the basket and get a layup." Although Onyekwe fouled out before the nail-biting ending, he was, like all stars, at his finest at crunch time. The Penn freshman teamed with Owens to block a Howard shot in the lane with 3:31 left and, a minute later, abused Howard inside -- hitting a four-foot hook while getting hacked by the St. Joe's forward. He showed signs of immaturity by missing the foul shot, but he redeemed himself quickly. The exclamation point to Onyekwe's career night came in the form of a rim-rattling dunk with 1:24 left on the clock. He took to the air on a bounce pass from Jordan on the baseline, and by the time he reached the ground, he had not only slammed Penn to a seven-point lead, but made it clear to the Palestra faithful that he has arrived. When Onyekwe committed his fifth foul on the next possession, the Penn fans erupted into a standing ovation for the freshman forward, an ovation that celebrated the long-awaited baptism of the Quakers' newest star.
(01/31/00 10:00am)
Penn students' ritual of standing throughout each men's basketball game has been squashed at the Palestra this year. But contrary to popular opinion, this is not a new rule -- only a crackdown in enforcement. Since the start of the 1995-96 season, students in the usually rowdy sidecourt sections -- 115, 116 and 215 -- have been prohibited from standing for the entire game because they were blocking the view of the court from long-time season ticket holders in adjacent sections. The policy, however, faded into the background until last year, when students in the side section resumed the tradition of ignoring their seats for most of the game. This irked non-student ticket holders in the other sections and prompted Penn Athletic Director Steve Bilsky to enforce the four-year-old policy. Students buying season tickets this season were told that they would not be allowed to stand constantly if they had sidecourt tickets, although as usual, standing would be allowed freely in sections behind the west basket. Some students, like College sophomore Kathleen Culver, heeded the warnings. Culver chose to sit behind the basket so she could partake in the standing tradition. Others, however, did not believe the Athletic Department would follow through on its promise to enforce the rule this year. College freshman Donny Astor and Engineering freshman Eric Borgman chose to sit in section 116 for the better view, but have been frustrated by their inability to get off their feet. "We wanted to see the game really well and we thought they wouldn't be as strict about it, but they are," Astor said. There is little consensus, however, on the extent of the University's enforcement. College freshman Ed Graf claimed that he was told to sit down at the Penn State game last December, but others said they have not seen a real difference this season. "We had much more of a crackdown about three years ago," said Tony Jannetta, a 1956 Penn graduate with season tickets in section 214. The current policy was agreed upon by a small group of students, alumni, faculty and staff prior to the 1995-96 season and does not prohibit all standing by those in the student sections -- only excessive and incessant standing. "There will be times where [students] are up clapping and yelling and screaming because they're trying to incite the team, and that's what people expect to happen," Bilsky said. "What they don't want to have happen is someone comes in the entire game and they're standing." According to Bilsky, the step-up in enforcement has been a complete success this season. "It's worked exactly the way it's supposed to work," Bilsky said. But many students and veteran student ticket holders still believe the current solution is not ideal. College sophomore Erick Goldberg, for one, calls the policy "absurd." "The players tell you there's nothing like playing at the Palestra and having the entire student body behind you," Goldberg said. "And when an opposing team comes in here, they expect to see thousands of Penn fans standing on seats and jumping up and down." Jannetta, meanwhile, believes the solution would be to move all student tickets to behind the baskets. "You wouldn't have any problems and the kids could see the game just as well, and that's what most schools do," Jannetta said. Still, most students begrudgingly accept the current policy as an acceptable solution to a difficult problem. "I understand the rule, but it just goes against the spirit of the game," College freshman Ann Vecchio said.
(01/26/00 10:00am)
The Quakers shot just 10-of-24 from the charity stripe last night. The Penn men's basketball team dodged a bullet last night at the Palestra. True, the Quakers never trailed in their 54-46 win over Drexel and the Dragons never got within seven points in the last 28 minutes of the game. But Penn's philanthropy to the Dragons at the charity stripe gave Drexel every opportunity to claw back into the game in the final minutes. The Quakers shot a horrific 35.7 percent from the foul line and hit only 1-of-6 free throws in the last 40 seconds of the game. Luckily for Penn, however, Drexel could not capitalize on the Quakers' mistakes. The Dragons missed their last four shots from the field to allow Penn to preserve its lead, but Quakers coach Fran Dunphy admits his team's deficiencies at the stripe are a cause for concern. "Our foul shooting is so poor right now," Dunphy said. "That's a stat that we need to take care of. We need to step up and make shots." Penn center Geoff Owens -- who shot just 3-of-9 from the line -- was the worst of the Quakers at the stripe, but poor free-throw shooting seemed to have spread like the mid-winter flu, affecting the whole team. Freshman guard David Klatsky, 8-for-8 from the line entering the game, missed his first foul shot of the season last night. Forwards Ugonna Onyekwe and Josh Sanger both missed front ends of one-and-one opportunities. Even senior Matt Langel caught the virus, missing both of his free-throw attempts. "[Langel] makes every foul shot he takes. Tonight he misses two of them." Dunphy said. But as a team, Penn's foul-shooting problems last night were not an aberration -- merely a low point for a team that has had trouble from the line all year. The Quakers are shooting just 61 percent from the stripe this season. And that number falls to just 53 percent if you take away the senior backcourt of Michael Jordan and Langel. Furthermore, half of the six Quakers that get to the line most frequently -- Owens, Onyekwe and Koko Archibong -- are shooting at or below 50 percent for the season. Penn's foul-shooting problems have not been confined to this season, however, as the Quakers shot only 65 percent from the stripe in 1998-99. And for those who do not remember, poor foul shooting contributed to Penn's key losses to Florida and Princeton last season. The Quakers shot 36 percent from the line against the Gators, and one could argue that free-throw shooting was the difference in the two Penn-Princeton matchups in 1999. The Quakers hit just 9-of-19 foul shots against Princeton in blowing a 26-point lead last February, but prevented a late Tigers' run in the March rematch by sinking 8-of-9 from the stripe in the last 3:15 of that game. This season, Penn has not lost a game due to poor foul shooting, but this marks the second time in three games that the Quakers have let a team hang close because they could not convert from the line. Lehigh almost pulled off an upset of Penn earlier this month, fueled in part by 15 missed Penn free throws. The Quakers hit 52 percent of their shots from the charity stripe, and Owens struggled to hit 5-of-14 from the line in Stabler Arena. Last night, seldom-used sophomore Dan Solomito made Penn's first trip to the line and sunk his first attempt. But the sophomore forward missed his second shot, and the rest of the night at the stripe would be more like a nightmare for Penn. Big men Geoff Owens and Josh Sanger both missed front ends of one-and-ones 15 seconds apart late in the first half, and Penn went into the locker room at halftime shooting just 5-of-10 from the line. Things only got worse for the Quakers in the second half, however, reaching an ugly climax in the final 40 seconds. With Penn up by seven, the last few possessions were like a broken record of futility: two missed foul shots by Owens, Drexel shot missed, one of two foul shots missed by Klatsky, Drexel shot missed, two missed foul shots by Langel, Drexel shot missed. Penn escaped with an eight-point victory, but if a few of those shots had fallen for the Dragons, the Quakers could have found themselves three games under .500 for the season.
(01/26/00 10:00am)
The Undergraduate Assembly has been dribbling its proposal for new basketball courts for three months -- and now, the basket may be in sight. Provost Robert Barchi and the UA Executive Board will meet tomorrow to discuss the plan, which calls for Penn to build two outdoor courts. The UA originally presented its proposal to the University in November and a month later provided officials with a petition signed by 1,121 students to demonstrate a need for more courts. "We hope to get a final answer or at least see significant progress," UA Chairman Michael Silver said about tomorrow's meeting. Barchi declined to comment until after the discussion tomorrow. The UA's November 2 proposal called for the two basketball courts to be built on the rooftop of the parking garage at the corner of 38th and Spruce streets. Since then, however, other sites have been considered. Plans for an extensive overhaul of the parking garage, in addition to the potential of open space elsewhere, have led Penn officials and the UA to look at possible ground-level locations. Silver, a College senior, said one of the areas, Hamilton Village, is ideal because of its central location. Hill Field, the space behind Hutchinson Gymnasium and the Quadrangle area are also being considered as possible locations. The UA estimated the cost for the basketball courts as between $70,000 and $100,000 in its original proposal but has since amended its estimate to $100,000 to $150,000. However, Silver said he doesn't see cost as a major issue. "If funding is the last remaining hurdle, we can find donors that are interested in sports or Penn sports alums to donate the money. We'll do a fundraising job if we have to," Silver said. The courts would be PennCard-accessible and will likely remain open from 10 a.m. until as late as 10 p.m. if lighting is approved, according to UA Facilities Committee Chair Jonathan Glick, a Wharton junior. Student opinion on the Undergraduate Assembly's proposal of two outdoor basketball courts has been largely positive. "It's a pretty good idea," Wharton senior Jordan Milman said. "We need more space and playing outdoors is more enjoyable, a different game." Many students complained about the long waits to use the courts at Gimbel Gymnasium, often 30 to 45 minutes at peak afternoon and evening times. "I'm in favor of [the proposal], obviously," College freshman Trip Clattenburg said. "These courts do get overcrowded." Some students, however, questioned whether outdoor courts would alleviate the problem year-round. "It couldn't hurt for the fall or springtime," College senior Bill Mandia said. "But during the winter, it's not going to do a lot of good." In addition to being overcrowded, Wharton senior Andy Goldman said the indoor courts are a "health hazard on a hot day" because of the stifling heat and humidity in a closed, windowless gym. Currently, only Gimbel and Hutchinson gymnasiums are equipped with basketball courts. In its proposal, the UA pointed to a 1998 study that showed Penn was eight basketball courts short of demand. "Absolutely there's a need for basketball courts," Silver said. "Anybody that plays at Gimbel or Hutch understands how long they have to wait."
(01/21/00 10:00am)
Penn heads to the National Dual Meet Championships. Like it or not, the Penn wrestling team may have yet another midwest opponent stuffed down its throat. Ranked fourth in the nation and seeded third in this weekend's National Dual Meet Championships, Big Twelve powerhouse Oklahoma State looms as the sixth-seeded Quakers' likely second-round opponent tomorrow at State College, Pa. Penn is certainly no stranger to midwest wrestling this season. All three of the Quakers' dual meets have been against opponents from the elite midwestern-based Big Ten. And, so far, the conference has not been kind to the Red and Blue grapplers. The 1998-99 Quakers, with no Big Ten opponents on the slate, finished with a 10-0-2 record. This year's Red and Blue squad has already lost close matches to Michigan and Purdue. Penn coach Roger Reina, however, does not feel that it matters what athletic conference their opponent comes from. "In terms of what conference they're from, it's really not that important," Reina said. Penn wrestlers will have to disagree with their coach. "They're just more in-your-face, non-stop brawling technique," Penn junior Mike Fickell said of midwestern wrestlers. "We don't do too much of that in the Ivies." If Penn gets by Oklahoma State, Minnesota would likely be the Quakers' next opponent. And nowhere is that Midwestern style more evident than in the Golden Gophers heavyweight, Brock Lesnar, a potential opponent for Penn's Bandele Adeniyi-Bada. Minnesota's big man carries a No. 1 national ranking, and in last year's National Duals, Lesnar pinned all four of his opponents. "He seems big, stationary and uses a lot of strength and muscle," Adeniyi-Bada said. Lesnar -- never known for being a finesse wrestler -- has, by Adeniyi-Bada's estimation, a several-inch and 20-pound weight advantage over the Penn senior tri-captain. However, the midwestern style -- seven minutes of incessant intensity -- is one the Penn wrestlers see every day in practice with Quakers assistant coach Brian Dolph, a three-time All-American from Indiana. Adeniyi-Bada sees Reina, a Penn graduate, as the coach who "is always preaching technique," while Dolph "stresses physical to complement the tactical." If the Quakers face Oklahoma State, last year's National Duals champion, Penn will have to be firing on all cylinders to beat a team with nine of its ten wrestlers ranked in the top 20 nationally -- and six in the top ten. But there is no guarantee of a Penn-Oklahoma State showdown, as to get the opportunity to face the Cowboys, the Quakers will have to do something they have never done before -- win a first-round match in the National Duals. Penn's first round draw in the 16-team field will be determined randomly from among the eight unseeded teams. The Quakers could end up facing a team as weak as Division III Wartburg or as strong as No. 16 West Virginia -- a squad that knocked off Penn in a wrestleback round of the National Duals in 1998. This is the third time in four years that Penn will compete in the National Duals, but the Quakers have not yet been able to claim a place by finishing in the top eight. "We want to come back with some lumber," Fickell said. "We want to place." A key to determining whether the Quakers can grab a place in this weekend's tournament is whether Penn can keep up its intensity against a potentially unranked team in the first round. The Penn grapplers will be facing a situation similar to one they faced last week, with a weaker opponent preceding a top-notch foe. Purdue, ranked 24th in the nation, upset Penn last Thursday when the Quakers might have been looking toward top-ten Michigan. "I think maybe we overlooked Purdue a little bit, and it came up and bit us in the ass," Matter said. "So in that respect, we can't overlook any opponent." The tournament has a strong field, with eight of the top 14 teams in the country in attendance. Host Penn State will also compete in the tournament and could face Penn in the first round in a rematch of December's Palestra dual meet, which the Quakers won. Reina worked his wrestlers hard in double practices both yesterday and Tuesday to try to get the Quakers back on track after a two-match losing streak. "Most important is that we rebound and look at this weekend as an opportunity to redeem ourselves," Reina said.
(01/21/00 10:00am)
Turnovers and poor shooting doomed the quakers last night. In a game where both teams suffered from ice-cold shooting hands, the chorus to a popular Red Hot Chili Peppers' song offers the best explanation for Temple's narrow victory over the Penn men's basketball team last night. "Give it away, give it away, give it away now." Although both squads combined to shoot below 30 percent from the field, the Quakers fell because they committed 16 turnovers -- four times as many as the Owls. "The only thing that saved the game for us was we had only four turnovers," Temple guard Pepe Sanchez said. Temple coach John Chaney's self-described "well-oiled machine" somehow kept the wheels from falling off by committing a season-low in miscues, despite missing its first 12 shots from three-point range. Penn, on the other hand, only exacerbated its shooting woes by repeatedly forcing passes into double teams, only to see them glance off freshman Ugonna Onyekwe's fingertips or get knocked away by defenders in front of center Geoff Owens. But even good Penn passes were mishandled. A prime example occurred with six minutes remaining in the game, when Quakers guard Michael Jordan took his eyes off a David Klatsky pass on a fast break and fumbled the ball out of bounds. "If I didn't lose the ball at halfcourt with no pressure, then maybe we get a shot out of that," Jordan said. "We've got to do the little things to help us win the game." And Penn certainly did not do the little things against Temple. Four Quakers committed at least three turnovers, while no Owl gave up possession more than once. Point guard Pepe Sanchez epitomized the plight of the Owls last night. The Temple senior didn't turn the ball over once, despite sinking just one of his eight shots. Meanwhile, Klatsky -- whom Sanchez guarded for most of the last three minutes -- had a vastly different game. Despite hitting two of his three shots from behind the arc, the Penn freshman committed more turnovers last night (four) than he had in his last eight games (three). Klatsky seemed especially frustrated by Temple's unique matchup zone defense, evident midway through the first half when an Owls' trap caused the Penn guard to throw the ball away -- right to Sanchez. Not surprisingly, Temple's matchup zone facilitated the Quakers' mistakes all night. "When you play against the zone, you play against a lot of traffic and you turn it over a lot," Sanchez said. Temple forced 20 turnovers against La Salle on Tuesday and 23 two weeks ago against Rhode Island, but, in a low-scoring game like last night's, Penn's 16 miscues were magnified. Although the Owls only scored five total points in a seven-minute span in the first half in which they forced seven turnovers, Temple eventually turned those 16 turnovers into 12 points. And in such a low-scoring game, those 12 points were vital -- accounting for more than a quarter of Temple's total. Part of the reason for Penn's high turnover total was Temple's presence inside. Owls center Kevin Lyde grabbed 11 boards, blocked two shots and more than doubled his previous career high with a Sanchez-esque five steals. "My teammates talked to me and I saw where I could jump in the lane and get the steal," Lyde said. Lyde was not the only Owl to benefit from the Quakers' gifts. Forward Mark Karcher amassed three steals, while massive sophomore Ron Rollerson had a block and a steal in just five minutes. "You know they're going to force turnovers," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. However, poor shooting prevented Penn from overcoming those mistakes. Quakers guards Matt Langel and Jordan combined to shoot just 3-for-22 from three-point range, while Penn shot below 30 percent in each half. "They're such a good defensive team, I'm not surprised by the shooting percentages and how difficult it was to score," Dunphy said. But the high number of Penn turnovers in a slow-paced game was a surprise -- and, ultimately, a costly one. It was the team that held onto the ball -- Temple -- that held the lead when the final buzzer sounded at the Apollo.
(12/06/99 10:00am)
The Quakers beat Army, but Penn State spoiled their first homestand. Bitter irony cut through the mayhem in the Palestra almost as sharply as the final buzzer on Saturday. After 40 minutes of futility for the Penn men's basketball team behind the three-point line, Quakers forward Ugonna Onyekwe finally connected on a shot from downtown. But the game-tying shot did not leave the freshman's hands until after the buzzer had sounded. The game was over, and Penn State's 59-56 victory was sealed, turning a positive weekend for Penn (1-2)-- which beat Army (2-3) 71-56 on Friday night -- into a disappointment. Onyekwe's opportunity to send the game into overtime came because Penn State guard Joe Crispin failed to put the game away at the charity stripe. The foul with 9.3 seconds to go was Penn guard Michael Jordan's fifth, so prior to Crispin's free-throw attempts, Penn coach Fran Dunphy designed a play that involved getting the ball in the hands of freshman floor general David Klatsky. Crispin missed his second foul shot and Onyekwe grabbed the rebound. But he hesitated in getting the ball to Klatsky, eating up precious seconds on the clock. "They did a good job of not letting David catch the ball after the foul shot," Dunphy said. "I thought that was a key for not allowing us to get a three off in time." After finally getting the ball, Klatsky dribbled to the top of the key and fed the ball to Onyekwe on the right side of the court for a three-point attempt. It was clear, however, that Onyekwe didn't get the shot off until after the buzzer sounded. "I thought I saw the light go on before I saw Ugonna shoot the ball," Dunphy said. In what could have been redemption for Penn's long-distance struggles on the night, Onyekwe's shot instead drew more attention to Penn's poor shooting. The Quakers connected on just 2-of-20 shots from downtown. Penn's dreadful shooting was at its worst early in the second half, as Jordan and Onyekwe both launched air ball three-point attempts within thirty seconds of each other. Poor shooting was a malady that affected the entire Penn squad against the Nittany Lions, but it was especially tough on the Penn backcourt. Senior co-captains Jordan and Matt Langel were a combined 3-for-24 from the field -- 0-for-10 from downtown. Health concerns may have contributed to the poor play of the guards. Langel is still recovering from an injury to his right foot, while Jordan played with the flu. The Quakers did a good job making up for the subpar outside shooting with their inside size advantage. The Nittany Lions most often used a lineup that included no one over 6'7", while Penn used five players who stand at least that tall. The Quakers hauled in 43 boards and grabbed an impressive 21 offensive rebounds. Leading Penn down low was center Geoff Owens, who had five offensive boards and scored most of his 14 points in the paint. Penn State was in control of the game early, going on a 15-6 run over the game's opening 6:30. The Quakers took their first lead with 5:03 remaining in the first half when Klatsky converted on both shots of a one-and-one caused by a struggling Joe Crispin's second foul. Crispin amassed more turnovers (four) than points (three) in the first half. The Pitman, N.J., native was somewhat affected by the pressure of playing so close to home. "I was just a little too emotional," he said. Crispin made a complete turnaround in the second half. The deceptively quick Nittany Lions' junior scored17 in the final 20 minutes to fuel Penn State's transition offense. "In the transition we got outscored pretty badly," Dunphy said. Typical of the Nittany Lions' transition game was a sequence early in the second half. A turnover by Penn's Frank Brown led to a Jon Crispin to Gyasi Cline-Heard alley-oop layup that tied the game at 34. That play ignited a 12-6 Penn State run that put the Nittany Lions up for good. Penn State held at least a two-point advantage for the final 9:09. For the Quakers, trailing was a big change from Friday night. Penn led for all but 4:08 in the win over Army and never saw its lead shrink to less than 13 in the second half. The Cadets held close early by making nine of their first 14 shots. But Army's outside shooting soon went AWOL. "I think it's hard to sustain that outstanding shooting," Dunphy said. "I think our defense toughened up. From that point on, I thought we guarded very well." Army shot only 32 percent from the field in the last 28 minutes and the Quakers ended the first half on a 22-3 run. Integral to Penn's success on Friday was the play of its freshmen. Dunphy used his first-year players liberally. Onyekwe and Koko Archibong started the game, and, at one point in the first half, a lineup of Jordan and four freshmen outscored the Cadets 6-3 in the two minutes they were together. Archibong ignited the crowd on Friday. The freshman forward thrilled the Palestra faithful in the second half with a one-handed tomahawk jam on a breakaway. Archibong followed that up a few minutes later with an emphatic swat of an Army shot that triggered another deafening ovation. The Quakers dominated the inside against Army just as they did against the Nittany Lions, grabbing 15 offensive rebounds and outscoring the undersized Cadets 34-14 in the paint. As demonstrated by Penn's one-up-one-down weekend, however, a team needs to have more than inside dominance to truly excel.
(11/30/99 10:00am)
Penn guard Matt langel had the cast on his left good removed yesterday morning. Penn senior guard Matt Langel, who has been out with a sprained left arch since playing in the Quakers' game against Kentucky on November 17, may be able to return to action this weekend against Army and Penn State. Langel's cast was removed at 8:30 a.m. yesterday and the Quakers co-captain was able to complete a pool workout in the afternoon. "It feels pretty good," Langel said. "I don't have any of the pain that I had when they put the cast on, so I'm pretty optimistic about the weekend." Langel will shoot around on the court today and visit the doctor again tonight. If he is cleared, the senior guard will practice tomorrow in preparation for Friday's game against the Cadets. If Langel cannot play this weekend, junior Lamar Plummer and freshmen David Klatsky and Duane King should all see more playing time. Plummer, Klatsky and King combined for 10 points, four rebounds and an assist in 40 total minutes against Kentucky. · Langel is not the only Quaker who has been banged up recently. Center Geoff Owens missed a week of practice following the Kentucky game due to shin splints. Owens returned to practice on Saturday and has felt no ill effects thus far. But he has been battling shin splints since September. "It's been pretty much off and on all season," Owens said. Penn coach Fran Dunphy expects Owens to start against Army and Penn State, but there is a chance his minutes may be curbed. "It all depends on what he can give us," Dunphy said. · If Owens plays this weekend, there is an excellent chance the Quakers' center will eclipse the 100-block plateau for his career. Owens enters this weekend with 98 career blocks, the third most in Penn history. With 41 blocks this season -- Owens swatted 58 last year -- he will pass Hassan Duncombe and Tim Krug to become Penn's all-time leader. · Penn will tip off its Palestra schedule on Friday night against Army in front of a crowd that might have quite a few men in uniform. The annual Army-Navy football game will be held on Saturday at Veterans Stadium, so there should be a sizable Cadets contingent in the area -- many of whom are expected to be in attendance at the Penn-Army game. · The Palestra crowd may not be at its typical volume level this weekend, however, as Army is far from being a basketball powerhouse. But, even though the Cadets lost by 58 to Duke last week, the Quakers say they are not taking Army lightly. "You're doing yourself harm if you take anybody lightly," Langel said. "We prepare every day in practice whether we're playing Kentucky or whether we're playing Army. People laugh at that, but in college basketball it's what you need to do because on any night anyone can upset anyone else." · Freshman Ugonna Onyekwe could be rewarded for his impressive debut against Kentucky with a start or two this weekend. Dunphy has not finalized the starting lineups against Army and Penn State, but the Penn coach admitted that there is a "good possibility" that Onyekwe will be on the floor for the opening tip. Onyekwe scored 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting and grabbed eight boards in just 19 minutes of action at Rupp Arena, garnering Penn's Ivy League Honor Roll nod this week. If Dunphy starts Onyekwe, it is likely that either Frank Brown or Oggie Kapetanovic will begin the game on the bench. Neither had a good game against Kentucky; Brown was held scoreless while Kapetanovic committed four turnovers and scored just two points in 15 minutes. Although Onyekwe did not start against Kentucky, he played more minutes than both Kapetanovic and Brown and saw significantly more playing time in the second half. "I'm not worried about who starts," Dunphy said. "I'm more worried about who finishes, who plays well in the game." · Another Quakers freshman, King, can expect increased minutes this weekend even if Langel is able to play. Against the Wildcats, King only saw three minutes of action late in the game, making a three-pointer in his only attempt. But Dunphy expects to give King a longer look on Friday and Saturday. "He was in there so short a period of time," Dunphy said. "He made a three at the end but he also did some other things we'd like to see him improve on." · The atmosphere at Rupp Arena brought back memories of the Palestra for some of the Quakers. The Preseason NIT game attracted a crowd of 21,451 boisterously loud fans in Lexington. "Kentucky was similar to the Palestra. [In 1996] we played in Arizona and it was a packed house, but the way the arena was set up, it didn't get as loud," Langel said. "Kentucky fans love their basketball team there and get behind their players no matter what." "For an away game, it's the loudest crowd that we've played against."
(11/24/99 10:00am)
Brown quarterback James Perry won the Asa S. Bushnell Cup, while two Penn athletes -- senior linebacker Jim Hisgen and sophomore running back Kris Ryan -- were unanimous first-team selections when the All-Ivy football teams were announced yesterday. A total of five Quakers made the first team, as senior center Carmelo Rubano, junior defensive tackle Mike Germino and senior cornerback Anthony DeSalle also made the list. Ryan led the league with 1,197 yards on 214 carries, while Hisgen led the Quakers with 89 tackles and added four sacks and three interceptions. Germino paced Penn with 9.5 sacks. DeSalle, for his part, tied for the Quakers' lead with four interceptions. Penn also had five athletes honored on the second team. Senior tight end Brandon Clay, senior offensive tackle Jason Lebron, senior fullback Brian Cosmello, junior kicker Jason Feinberg and senior defensive tackle Jason Maehr were the second team selections. Seniors Hasani White, Joey Alofaituli, Adrian Puzio and sophomore Rob Milanese were honorable mention All-Ivy picks. Perry, who threw for 3,255 yards, was honored as Ivy League player of the year. Rookie of the Year honors went to another Brown athlete, Chas Gessner. The Bears' wide receiver gained 560 yards on 43 receptions. The Ivy co-champions combined for 10 first team selections -- six from Yale and four from Brown. Perry and Harvard linebacker Isaiah Kacyvenski were both picked for the All-Ivy first team for the third year. The team is chosen by a vote of the eight Ivy League coaches.
(11/24/99 10:00am)
Yoshi nakamura, Jason Nagle and Justin Bravo have all been sidelined. Half of the 10 EIWA wrestling champions last season wore Penn's red and blue. And four of those five champions had at least another year of eligibility left. But of those four, only senior Brett Matter has wrestled this season. For various reasons, senior Jason Nagle and juniors Justin Bravo and Yoshi Nakamura have been conspicuously absent from the Quakers' first two meets. Nagle is taking a leave of absence this semester but is expected to return to his regular 133-pound spot in the lineup for the Midlands Open in late December. Bravo, meanwhile, is taking time off to focus on academics. Penn coach Roger Reina does not know at this point when the 125-pound All-American from a year ago will rejoin the team. "I expect him to take care of academic needs and be a leader and a future star on our team," Reina said. Nakamura's return date is also in question. The 157-pound junior was injured earlier this fall and has been in street clothes at the last two matches. Reina says that Nakamura will be evaluated on a "day-to-day basis," and would not make any predictions on how long he would be sidelined. · The lone returning EIWA Champion, Matter, has picked up right where he left off last year. The 157-pound co-captain has won all eight of his matches, including three by pin and three by technical falls. Matter has been dominant this season, using a fast and furious style to overwhelm opponents. He is on pace to break the Penn single-season record of seven falls, but another record looms larger for Matter. The Delran, N.J., native passed the 100-victory plateau last weekend and now stands second on Penn's all-time victory list with 102. Matter, who posted a 30-6 record last season, now only needs nine more wins to break 1998 graduate Brandon Slay's record of 110. · Freshman Jody Giuricich nearly became the second Penn freshman in as many meets to earn an individual title last weekend. Chris Hanlon captured the 141-pound championship last week in the Ivy League Kickoff Classic, and on Sunday Giuricich had a chance to repeat the feat. But the Blairstown, N.J., native could not, as he lost by a rather mundane 4-0 score to Rider's Derek Jenkins in the 149-pound finals. The score, however, did not come close to capturing the essence of the anything-but-mundane match. Jenkins and Giuricich both started out conservative in the first period, as neither scored in the first three minutes. The match proceeded much the same in the second period, as Jenkins, starting on top, rode Giuricich for the whole two minutes. But, key to the outcome of match, both wrestlers were called for stalling and given a warning. So now another stalling call would result in a one-point penalty. Giuricich started on top in the third period and rode Jenkins for the first minute, but the Penn freshman was called for a controversial stalling penalty that gave Jenkins a one-point lead. "[The penalty] completely changed the match," Reina said. Following the penalty, Reina let Giuricich try to continue to work on top to turn Jenkins and score back points at first, but Penn would have to amend that strategy. "When it looked like that wasn't developing, we went to the second strategy, which was to give [Jenkins] the escape and then go for the takedown," Reina said. Reina could have also let Giuricich continue to ride Jenkins and hope to get a stalling call on the Rider wrestler, but the Penn coach quickly dismissed that option. "If we choose the second option, you're relying on the official to do something for you," Reina said. So at that point, Jenkins had a 2-0 lead. A takedown by Giuricich -- worth two points -- could knot the match up, but it was Jenkins who ultimately scored the only takedown of the day to pull out a slightly tainted 4-0 win. "Most people don't like to see the official become a factor in the match," Reina said. "The official by ultimately awarding that point, I think, definitely became a factor." · Because of the absences of Nagle, Bravo and Nakamura, Reina will have several strategic decisions to make when choosing a lineup against Penn State next month. Kevin Rucci seems to have locked up the 125-pound spot and Keystone Classic champs Matter, Mike Fickell and Bandele Adeniyi-Bada are practically entrenched in their respective spots at 157, 197 and heavyweight. Junior Rick Springman will definitely start, but it is still undecided whether he will fill the 174 or 184 spot. If he wrestles at 184, sophomore Craig Melcher likely takes over the 174 spot. If Springman wrestles at 174, Melcher and senior Mike Gadsby will fight for the 184 spot. Gadsby started there last year but Melcher won a 5-4 decision over him on Sunday. At 133 pounds, freshman Brett Vanderveer is the favorite, but Hanlon could drop down from 141. "It's not confirmed yet but we've been impressed by Vanderveer's work ethic and tenacity and he's making good progress," Reina said. If Hanlon ends up wrestling at 133, Giuricich would take the 141 spot, with junior Martine Apodaca or senior Jonathan Gough taking over at 149. Gough could also potentially move up to 157, with Matter wrestling at 165. If not, senior Tim Ortman would probably start at 165.
(11/22/99 10:00am)
Defending champ Penn fell to fourth place with a loss to the Big Red. Going into Saturday's game against Cornell, the Penn football team's Ivy title hopes rested on a wing and a prayer. But it was Cornell's prayers that were answered when a Hail Mary landed in the hands of Joe Splendorio, sending the Quakers to a season-ending defeat. A 31-yard desperation heave by Cornell quarterback Ricky Rahne to Splendorio on fourth-and-25 with 14 minutes and 50 seconds remaining gave the Big Red an eight point lead and paved the way to a 20-12 Cornell victory at Franklin Field. The loss dropped the Quakers (5-5, 4-3 Ivy League) to fourth in the Ancient Eight, while the Big Red (7-3, 5-2) finished in third, a game behind co-champions Brown and Yale. Splendorio's miraculous touchdown grab came after Penn appeared to have thwarted Cornell's drive. Rahne had eluded a Fred Plaza tackle to pick up a first down on third-and-six, and on the next play, Cornell receiver Kevin Ferese picked up 23 on a Rahne pass to the sideline to move the Big Red to the Penn 16. But Quakers senior Jason Maehr sacked Rahne two times in three plays to push the Big Red back to the Penn 31 and bring up a fourth-and-25 situation. "I was pretty confident that was far enough," Maehr said of his personal defensive stand. On fourth down, Cornell coach Pete Mangurian had little choice but to run a play. At Penn's 31, Cornell was too close to punt, and with kicker Peter Iverson's longest career field goal just 39 yards, the Big Red were out of their kicker's range. On the pass, Rahne rolled out of the pocket to the right sideline and threw a heave across his body and across the field into double coverage. Somehow, Splendorio managed to grab the pass over Penn defenders D.L. Bouldrick and Anthony DeSalle and land in the end zone. "It was just a throwback play," Splendorio said. "I came across the hash and broke back out. Ricky put the ball where it had to be. There were two guys on me and the ball was just right there." On the ensuing possession, the Quakers drove down to Cornell's 27-yard line, but Penn was stopped twice in a row on short-yardage running plays. Quakers freshman Todd Okolovitch could not convert on a third-and-one fake option and junior Mike Verille lost two yards on an off-tackle play on fourth down. Two possessions later, Cornell extended its lead to 11 with a 28-yard field goal. But Penn countered with a fourth-quarter scoring drive of its own, fueled by a 49-yard pass to sophomore Rob Milanese. The Quakers penetrated as deep as the Cornell three-yard line but an offensive pass interference call forced Penn to settle for a 38-yard Feinberg field goal to bring the Quakers within one score of a tie. Feinberg's ensuing onsides kick went off Splendorio's hands -- but also went out of bounds, and Cornell took over. But Penn's luck held and the Red and Blue got the ball back after the Quakers defense forced a Cornell three-and-out. Now needing a touchdown, and with their season on the line, Penn had too far to go and too little time to do it in. Hoffman's last-second throw to the end zone was knocked down by Cornell cornerback Jason Tisdale. As a result, the Quakers fell to .500 on the season and the Franklin Field goal posts remained intact. The Quakers outgained the Big Red, 379-323, and both teams committed only one turnover, but the game was won on third and fourth downs. Penn converted on only two of 13 third- and fourth-down plays, while Cornell was successful on 12 of 24. Hoffman finished 25-of-34 passing for 244 yards and, in the process, set the Quakers' single-season record for passing yards with 2,328. Rahne passed for 296 yards, including 203 on 31 attempts in the first half. Cornell struck first on Saturday, driving 57 yards in eight plays in its first possession to set up a 25-yard Iverson field goal. The key play in the drive was a 32-yard reception by Splendorio. Penn took the lead in the second quarter when sophomore receiver Colin Smith beat Cornell corner Jimmy Vattes in single coverage down the left sideline. The 24-yard scoring strike gave Penn a 6-3 lead but Feinberg's extra-point attempt hit the right goalpost. Cornell regained the advantage several minutes later. Big Red freshman receiver Keith Ferguson caught a Rahne pass over Penn cornerback Joey Alofaituli in the right corner of the end zone and the visitors took the lead for good at 10-6. This marks only the second time in the eight-year regime of Penn coach Al Bagnoli that the program has not posted an over-.500 record. The Quakers went 5-5 in 1996 and went 1-9 in 1997 after forfeiting five wins. "Some of it is this league is very well balanced," Bagnoli said. "Some of it is we're trying to overcome an abnormal amount of injuries." Most vital among those injuries was running back Kris Ryan's sprained right ankle. The sophomore was only able to carry two times for three yards. Verille filled in admirably, however, gaining 118 yards on 18 carries, although he did drop a pass on a critical third-and-one play over the middle in the first series of the second half. Ryan, despite missing most of the final game, still finished as the league's leading rusher with 1,197 yards. Cornell's running game, meanwhile, struggled, as the Big Red averaged less than a yard on their 28 carries. "Penn has a great defense against the run," Mangurian said. "We kept trying to run it. We just couldn't spring anything and get it out of there, but you don't want to totally abandon the run." The Quakers came into the game needing to win and have both Brown and Yale lose in order to take one third of the Ivy crown, but none of those conditions were met as Penn lost and the Bears and Elis both recorded victories. "I think you have to be disappointed," Maehr said. "But it was different this year. The guys really bonded. It's disappointing to lose the last game. We really would have felt the season was a success if we had won. "I kind of have mixed feelings today about how this season went. But I'm glad to be with the guys I left with."
(11/17/99 10:00am)
Gavin Hoffman could break Jimmy McGeehan's Penn single season passing record. As of yesterday, Penn tailback Kris Ryan's status for Saturday's finale against Cornell was still up in the air. His MRI was negative but the sophomore back's sprained right ankle may still force him out of the lineup against the Big Red. "We have a shot for Saturday," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "But we won't know yet. It's day by day." Ryan went down early in the second quarter last weekend against Harvard and has not been on the field since then. "He did not practice [yesterday]," Bagnoli said. "There was no sense to try. We'll re-evaluate [today], re-evaluate [tomorrow], re-evaluate Friday." A tandem of junior Mike Verille and sophomore Matt Thomas will likely take over the ball-carrying duties if Ryan is unable to play against Cornell. The two combined for 26 yards on 10 carries after Ryan went down against Harvard. · Ryan is not the only Penn starter whose status for Saturday's game is in question. Safety Kunle Williams left Saturday's game with a finger injury. And the 6'1'', 190-pound sophomore, who was named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week for his two interception returns for touchdowns against Princeton on November 6, may not heal in time for this Saturday's game against Cornell. "If they can set it correctly and it can be casted, he'll play," Bagnoli said. "If they can't, he may not be available." · He didn't duplicate the dramatic returns of Williams, but Penn linebacker Jim Hisgen did enough to give the Quakers their second straight Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week. Hisgen garnered the award on the strength of two interceptions, a forced fumble and eight tackles while helping Penn hold Harvard to just 56 yards on the ground. And this was after recording two sacks, a forced fumble and 10 tackles against Princeton. "I thought I actually had a better week the week before," Hisgen said. "But with Kunle's two interceptions for touchdowns, you can't really compete with that." · With the selection of James Perry as Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week, now all nine Offensive Players of the Week this season have been quarterbacks. The last non-quarterback to win the award? Princeton running back Derek Theisen, in the final week of last season. · Penn quarterback Gavin Hoffman won an Ivy League Player of the Week award himself in mid-October and now the sophomore transfer from Northwestern is closing in on Jimmy McGeehan's single-season team record of 2,197 passing yards. With one game remaining in the season, Hoffman is just 114 yards shy of McGeehan's record. "It would be nice because of the quality of quarterbacks they've had here before me," Hoffman said. "But that would be something I'd think about when I'm done playing at the end of the year. Right now we're still in the Ivy race." With Hoffman averaging 231 yards passing per game this season, barring injury he should have little trouble etching his name at the top of the Penn passing charts. "If it happens, it's great," Bagnoli said. "Hopefully it'll happen in the normal course of the game, but you never go out there thinking this guy needs that.? We're not going to specifically say the first 20 plays are going to be passes." In addition, Hoffman only needs 116 yards against Cornell to eclipse the 2,199 yards passing he compiled last year at Northwestern. It took him 11 games, however, to post that mark as a Wildcat -- and Saturday's game will be just his 10th in a Penn uniform. · Heading into the final day of the season, four teams have a shot a claiming at least a share of the Ivy League crown. Brown and Yale sit atop the league at 5-1, while Penn and Cornell are both 4-2. To grab a piece of the title, the Quakers would need to beat Cornell, have Brown lose to Columbia and have Yale lose to Harvard. "It looks unlikely needing both of them to lose," Hoffman said. "They're both playing well, both winning, but we can only control what we do. We've just got to go out there and win [against Cornell]." Although Brown and Yale have only two losses between them and neither has lost in at least six weeks, both may face tough tests this weekend. Columbia, Brown's opponent, is just 1-5 in the league this year. But the Lions played the Bears close last year, losing 10-3. And no matter what the contest means to the Ivy race, Harvard never has any trouble getting ready for "The Game" against Yale. All three games start at 12:30 p.m., so expect fans, players and coaches alike to do their share of scoreboard watching.
(11/17/99 10:00am)
Penn and Princeton have had a virtual lock on the Ivy League title for as long as anyone can remember. Since 1962, there have only been three seasons when one of the two 'P's did not finish atop the league. It looks to be much of the same for the 1999-2000 season, although Dartmouth, with four starters returning, and a darkhorse Cornell team, anchored by one of the league's best backcourts, could challenge the perennial favorites for the top spot. With that said, here's a team-by-team rundown of the Ancient Eight, per order of the Ivy League preseason media poll: Last Year: 22-8, 11-3 (2nd) in the Ivy League This Year: Princeton lost two four-year starters, Brian Earl and Gabe Lewullis, to graduation and has already suffered two early-season losses to Syracuse and Missouri. But, as usual, the Tigers remain one of the favorites in the Ivy League. Princeton retains a talented group of players, led by last season's Ivy League Rookie of the Year Chris Young (12.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg). The 6'11'' sophomore, who led the team in scoring in both of Princeton's losses last week, also had 86 assists, 55 blocks and 22 three-point field goals last season. The Tigers might have two straight Ivy Rookies of the Year, as they nabbed California high school star Spencer Gloger. Gloger finally chose Princeton over UCLA in August and started the first two games. Mason Rocca (7.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg) provides support for Young on the front line. Rocca, a 6'9'' senior was deadly for Princeton in its 50-49 win over Penn last February. Look for Rocca to be spelled by 6'7" junior Nate Walton, son of Hall-of-Famer Bill. Junior guard C.J. Chapman (4.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg), a shooter, plays off-guard, while 6'5'' sophomore swingman Eugene Baah (2.1 ppg, 0.8 rpg) is a defensive specialist. Sophomore Ahmed El-Nokali (4.2 ppg, 1.5 rpg) will also get significant minutes. Outlook: If Gloger emerges, Princeton will be in a dogfight for the Ivy title; if not, look for Dartmouth to leapfrog the Tigers. Prediction: 2nd Last Year: 14-12, 10-4 (3rd) in Ivy League This Year: Twelve of 13 letterwinners are returning. And four of five starters are back -- only sophomore Charles Harris (8.2 ppg, 3.1 rpg), who is taking the year off to concentrate on academics, is not returning. First team All-Ivy selection Shaun Gee (17.4 ppg, 6.5 rpg), a 6'7'' forward, is the only senior among the Big Green's starters. Gee saw his scoring average drop last year, but dished out 55 assists to make up for it. Ian McGinnis (8.2 ppg, 12.2 rpg) joins Gee on the front line. An inside force, McGinnis led the nation in rebounding last season. Flinder Boyd and Greg Buth return as backcourt starters. Boyd (7.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg), a 5'11'' sophomore point guard, finished 20th in the nation with 151 assists. Buth (16.5 ppg, 2.2 rpg) beat out Duke's Trajan Langdon for the Ed Steitz Award, given to the nation's best three-point shooter (46.6 percent). Dartmouth's weakness is its bench. Sophomore Vedad Osmanovic (3.1 ppg, 1.1 rpg) is the top option there for the Big Green. Outlook: Another third-place finish this season would be a disappointment for a team poised to break the Penn-Princeton stranglehold at the top of the league. Predicted Finish: 3rd Last Year: 11-15, 6-8 (5th) in the Ivy League This Year: Cornell also returns four of five starters from a year ago and has the talent to pull off an upset against the top two. Prather, the second best Ivy League rookie last year, proved he could match up with the Ivy's best with a 22-point effort against Michael Jordan last February. The 5'9'' sophomore (12.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg) led Cornell with 90 assists and 49 steals. Joining Prather in the backcourt is 6'3'' junior Kevin Cuttica (7.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg), a shooter who also dished out 48 assists. Senior Jim Pieri will add his shooting prowess (48.1 percent from behind the arc) to the bench. Keiran Brown (8.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg), a 6'6'' senior, should replace graduated center Jeffrion Aubry. Brown started eight games at power forward last season. Joining Brown inside will be 6'5'' junior Ray Mercedes (14.2 ppg, 5.5 rpg) and either senior Derek Kruse (4.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg) or Utah Valley State College transfer Greg Barratt. Outlook: Cornell should have no trouble finishing in the top half of the Ivies, but a run at the top two spots would be a surprise. Predicted Finish: 4th Last Year: 13-13, 7-7 (4th) in Ivy League This Year: Harvard has averaged 14.5 wins a year since 1995 but hasn't broken through for more than 17 in one season during that stretch. Five seniors, including the starting backcourt and both centers, are gone from last year, but with forward Dan Clemente back, the Crimson look to head toward another double-digit-win season. Clemente (14.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg), a 6'7'' junior, was the Ivy Rookie of the Year two years ago but was hobbled by an ankle injury last winter. Clemente had surgery in March and has since returned to full strength. He should be on the fringe of the All-Ivy team. Harvard's other returning starter is 6'2'' sophomore guard Andrew Gellert (4.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg). Gellert started just six games but had 33 steals and 50 assists. Also in the backcourt is senior 6'2" Damian Long (4.0 ppg, 2.6 rpg). The Crimson are looking for help in the frontcourt, as their most experienced player is 6'8'' Tim Coleman (2.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg). Three newcomers should see immediate action: 6'5'' swingman Bryan Parker, a transfer from Cuesta (Calif.) College; 6'3'' freshman point guard Elliott Prasse-Freeman; and 6'4'' shooter Brady Merchant. Outlook: If Harvard's young replacements can't complement Clemente, the Crimson could fall near the bottom of the league. Harvard has never won an Ivy League title -- don't expect this to be the year. Predicted Finish: 5th Last Year: 4-22, 2-12 (tied for 7th) in the Ivy League This Year: A young Brown team returns four starters, but the Bears will have difficulty replacing center Kamal Rountree (19 ppg, 6 rpg). The leading candidates to take Rountree's place are 6'9'' sophomore John Verdeaux (0.7 ppg, 1.5 rpg) and 6'9'' junior Tyler Driggers (0.5 ppg, 0.9 rpg). Three sophomores will attempt to take the pressure off the frontline. Shaun Etheridge (8.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg) should start at the four-spot, while 6'4'' Travis Brown (7.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg) and 6'6'' Josh Meyer (5.8 ppg, 2.2 rpg) compete for the other spot. Brown played at two-guard in '98-99, while Meyer started every game at power forward. The Bears, with 6'0'' point guard Corey Vandiver and 5'11'' off-guard Jihan Bowes-Little, are talented but small in the backcourt. Vandiver had 80 assists last season, while Bowes-Little, a transfer from Portland, will provide spark as a playmaker. In the off-season, Brown coach Frank "Happy" Dobbs resigned and was replaced by Glen Miller -- who led Connecticut College to the Division III Final Four last season. Outlook: With the exception of senior Vandiver, Brown may start an all-sophomore lineup. Look for the Bears to go through growing pains. Predicted Finish: 6th Last Year: 4-22, 2-12 (tied for 7th) in Ivy League This Year: New Yale coach James Jones inherits a team that pulled off the Ivy League upset of the year with a win over Princeton three days after the Tigers shocked Penn at the Palestra. But Jones also inherits a team that followed that 'W' with five straight losses to end the season. Junior center Neil Yanke (9.2 ppg, 6.9 rpg) shined in the victory over Princeton, scoring 21 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Fifth in the Ivies in rebounding and sixth in blocks, the 6'10" Yanke will again guard the middle. Yale's backcourt from last season, 6'2'' sophomore Onaje Woodbine (9.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg) and 5'10'' junior Isiah Cavaco (6.9 ppg, 1.2 rpg), returns. Woodbine provides the shooting spark, while Cavaco (72 assists) plays the bulk of the minutes at point. Freshman Chris Leanza, the Associated Press Co-Player of the Year in Ohio's Division II, may get big minutes in the backcourt. Yale's major weakness is at forward, where the loss of David Tompkins (16.2 ppg, 9.9 rpg) left a gaping hole. Seniors Ted Smith (3.4 ppg, 2.0 rpg) and John Kinkowski (1.9 ppg, 1.6 rpg) will be given opportunities to earn starting roles, while shooter Brad Reusch (4.1 ppg, 1.3 rpg), a 6'5'' sophomore, will contribute off the bench. Outlook: Yale will once again be among the bottom-dwellers of the league. Predicted Finish: 7th Last Year: 10-16, 5-9 (6th) in the Ivy League This Year: With four of five starters gone and no seniors on the roster, this could be a long winter at Levien Gymnasium. Forwards are the Lions' strong spot. Columbia's top player might be 6'8'' sophomore Mike McBrien (5.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg). McBrien, who was slowed by mononucleosis in '98-99, will be moved from center to power forward. Joining him up front is 6'5'' sophomore swingman Craig Austin (6.3 ppg, 2.0 rpg), the leading returning scorer. In the middle, junior Michael Merley (2.2 ppg, 1.8 rpg) will split time with 6'9'' freshman Chris Wiedeman. Columbia's backcourt is unsettled. Sophomore Victor Munoz (1.9 ppg, 0.5 rpg) is the leading candidate to start at the point, but his turnover-to-assist ratio last season was a horrendous 3-to-1. The only other returnee is 6'1'' sophomore walk-on Derrick Mayo. Treg Duerksen, a 6'4'' transfer from Neosho (Kansas) Community College and an Academic All-American last season, might start right away at two-guard. Outlook: Disappointing enough last year, expectations are even lower for a depleted Columbia team this winter. Predicted Finish: 8th
(11/15/99 10:00am)
Eighteen minutes into the men's soccer game on Saturday, the fat lady was already warming up on Ohiri Field. Penn, a team that has not come back from any sort of deficit this season, was in a seemingly insurmountable 2-0 hole against host Harvard. But the Quakers, by uncharacteristically mounting a comeback, managed to at least postpone the singing until after the final horn. But when all was said and done, Penn had clawed its way back on top of Harvard, only to watch the Crimson pull off a comeback of their own to knock off the Quakers, 4-3. Harvard started the scoring on a penalty kick by senior Will Hench nine minutes and eight seconds into the game. The Crimson then took a two-goal advantage less than 10 minutes later when sophomore Nick Lenichek took a pass from Juan Carlos Montoy, cut towards the center and knocked the ball past Penn goalie Mike O'Connor. Throughout the season, when the Quakers (4-11-2, 0-6-1 Ivy League) have fallen into a hole, they have failed to crawl out. But this time Penn reacted differently when it fell behind. "There was certainly a reaction of anger," Penn coach Rudy Fuller said. "I think the guys responded and started to play the way they're capable of playing." Less than eight minutes after they fell behind 2-0, the Quakers would knot the game at two. Penn slashed the deficit in half in the 25th minute, as Quakers freshman Billy Libby crossed to junior Mike McElwain, who took a shot that bounced off Harvard keeper Dan Mejias to the feet of Penn freshman Nathan Kennedy. The Quakers forward then knocked it past the out-of-position Mejias from 18 yards out. Senior Reggie Brown tied the game only 24 seconds later on a left-footed shot after being set up on a cross from McElwain. In the season opener against James Madison, Kennedy and Brown scored for the Quakers, but neither had netted another goal until Saturday. "We would have expected to put a lot more away this season with that opening promise," Brown said. "But that's just the way things go." Penn came out of halftime attacking, and 5:01 into the second period, Quakers freshman Justin Litterelle was fouled in the box. Junior Henry Chen took the penalty shot and nailed it home to give Penn a 3-2 lead. Harvard (6-9-2, 3-4) gave the Quakers a dose of their own medicine by mounting a comeback of their own in the 80th minute. Harvard's Armando Petruccelli deadlocked the game at three and stopped Penn's three-goal run when he drilled home a Montoy cross from the 20 at the 79:03 mark. Forty-two seconds later, the Crimson took the lead on Lenichek's second goal of the day, a header off a cross from sophomore Wells Mangrum. "I take a lot of the blame for the loss because of some of the moves I didn't make," Fuller said. "Some of our guys ran out of gas and I didn't take them out fast enough." The Quakers kept pressure on the Harvard defense for the final 10 minutes but could not manage a serious striking chance. "We actually had more opportunities when it was 3-2 to make it 4-2," McElwain said. McElwain came closest to giving Penn a two-goal advantage when his header off a free kick from Chen went just over the crossbar. The Quakers played their final game of the season with senior midfielder Jason Karageorge, who returned after missing two games with a torn posterior cruciate ligament. Karageorge did not start but came into the game after Penn fell behind by two goals. "He was still hurt, so he wasn't really playing up to his best," McElwain said. "But just having him on the field and communicating between our defense helped us a lot." Penn finished its season with just four wins for the second year in a row but the goal totals illustrate the difference between the past two Quakers' teams. Last year Penn was outscored 30-9 but this year that margin was just 28-18, indicating that the 1999 Quakers were a great deal more competitive. Still, Penn could not get the breaks to pull out the close victories this season, something never more evident than in Saturday's heart-wrenching loss to Harvard.
(11/10/99 10:00am)
The Quakers made the Seawolves look like fish out of water while picking up their fourth win of the season. The Penn men's soccer team played its final home game of the season yesterday and, like it has through much of the season, the Rhodes Field turf decided to get in on the action. Depending on who you talk to, the Quakers stopped a six-game skid with a 2-0 victory over Stony Brook either in spite of or with a little help from the patchy, torn-up playing surface. "I think we were a better team so I think the field was an equalizer for [Stony Brook] today," Penn coach Rudy Fuller said. "It kind of evened the two teams out because we weren't able to play the ball around like we would like to." The Seawolves, however, seemed most directly affected by the field conditions, as Stony Brook forward Juan Serna's pass to teammate Anton Allen on a breakaway early in the second half went awry after taking a bad bounce. What could have been an excellent scoring opportunity for the Seawolves resulted in only a forced Allen shot right into the arms of Penn keeper Mike O'Connor. "Maybe there's a slight advantage for [Penn] because they play on [Rhodes Field]," Stony Brook coach Scott Dean said, "but in reality, a bounce is a bounce." Penn's (4-10-2) two second-half goals, however, had little to do with the field conditions. Junior Mike McElwain broke the scoreless tie with 26 minutes and 47 seconds remaining in the game. Quakers sophomore Evan Anderson found an open McElwain down the left side of the field and the York, Pa., native fired a shot off goalie Brian McOmber's fingertips into the left side of the net for his team-leading fifth goal of the season. Both teams continued on the attack after McElwain's goal and, with under four minutes remaining, Stony Brook (4-13-1) almost tied the game on another breakaway. Allen got just behind Penn junior Henry Chen and fired a shot from 18 yards away on a drawn-out O'Connor. But the Quakers goalie dove to his right to knock the ball away. And less than 30 seconds later on the counterattack, Anderson hit nearly the same spot McElwain did in the netting to give Penn a commanding two-goal lead. "The ball just bobbled loose from them and Billy [Libby] played me a great ball to net," Anderson said. "All I had to do was get it past him to the back of the net." An Allen shot with 1:20 left that soared 10 feet over the goal was the best offense the Seawolves could muster in the final few minutes, as Penn held on to give O'Connor his third shutout of the season. With eight saves, senior co-captain O'Connor had to work hard to keep Stony Brook off the scoreboard -- especially in an early second-half barrage of Seawolves' shots. Breakaways by freshman Michael Kokolakis and senior Keith Ginsberg and a shot off a cross by freshman Bryan Baracaldo kept him busy in the first five minutes of the second half. "I wasn't too happy with the way we came out the second half, and I got on the guys a little bit," O'Connor said. "But we settled in and tried to make some changes." The Seawolves also had chances to score in the first half, most notably a shot by Serna that hit the upper right post. But bad breaks are nothing new to the youthful Stony Brook team, as the Seawolves are 0-4-1 in overtime games and have had 16 shots hit the post in 18 games. "We get opportunities, chances to score and we hit the crossbar," Dean said "It's almost like we're snakebitten." The Quakers managed to neutralize the Seawolves' best scorer, senior Moses Sarr. Earlier in the season, the midfielder from Ibadan, Nigeria, scored seven goals in the span of a week. Yesterday, however, he was rendered nearly invisible under the close supervision of Penn freshman Eric Mandel. But in many ways, the match was affected by the environmental conditions -- and not just the playing surface. Stony Brook made the unusual choice of playing against the wind in the first half so as not to be looking into the setting sun in the second half. "We knew the sun was going to set down and be tough for the second half," Dean said. "We chose to ride it out, defend and keep the slate clean and get out of the first half." The Seawolves then turned up the offensive pressure in the second half, but could not capture any breaks in their final game of the season.
(11/09/99 10:00am)
Hustling midfielder Reggie Brown nears the end of his senior campaign as Quakers co-captain. Of all the goals Reggie Brown has scored in his 17 years of soccer, the most memorable was the one three years ago that never got recorded on the scoresheet. Penn was trailing Lehigh by one with five minutes remaining when then-Quakers-coach George O'Neill sent in Brown, then a freshman midfielder, for his first action of the game. For the next four-plus minutes, nothing transpired. Just before time expired, however, teammate Austin Root tried a desperation cross from midfield. And somehow, someway, by some miracle, Brown slapped it in to tie the game and force overtime. Or so it seemed. The referee disallowed the goal, saying it occurred after time had expired. Much like George Brett in the infamous pine tar incident, the 5'7'' freshman went absolutely ballistic. "It took three people to hold Reggie back from the ref," Penn senior Jason Karageorge said. "That just shows you the heart and passion with which Reggie plays." · For Reggie Brown, soccer is almost an obsession, something that was evident from the very start. Brown is the middle child in a family of five -- and every one of them played soccer. But Melvina Brown, Reggie's mother, has no trouble naming Reggie as the most intense, dedicated player of them all. Whether kicking the ball in his basement or playing in an open space in his yard, Reggie always had soccer on his mind. "Reggie was just out and out soccer," said John Bouman, Brown's coach at Glenelg High School. "He took it very seriously, and in a way that was good because it made him such a good player, but sometimes he also put a lot of pressure on himself." Brown is just as serious about training off the field as he is on it, though. In nearly every team fitness run the past four years, the slender midfielder has finished first. "I think I came into my senior year in really good shape and then I got lapped by Reggie," said Karageorge, who stands an inch taller than Brown at 5'8''. "I used to use my short legs as an excuse but I can't do that with Reggie." Brown does have a good deal of natural running ability -- he was on a state champion 4x800-meter relay team in high school -- but it's his fanatical commitment to fitness that has made him the Penn player with the most endurance. And he never fails to try to rub that fanaticism off on others. "I think he's been a motivator for my two youngest sons," Melvina Brown said. "My fourth son [Randal] was getting ready to go into high school and Reginald wanted Randal to make the team so they got up at five o'clock in the morning and they ran each morning before work. And, because of Reginald, Randal made the team as a freshman." · The only college Brown applied to was Penn, but the Elliott City, Md., native certainly did not start out committed to playing in Philadelphia. O'Neill saw Brown in a Memorial Day tournament in Reggie's sophomore year of high school and told him to consider coming to Penn. But Brown was confused the next fall when he got a letter from the University of Pennsylvania. "Reginald thought it was Penn State," Melvina Brown said. "I said, 'Reginald, that's an Ivy League school.' And it was almost like he was disappointed." · Brown only started once in his first two years but he has been on the field for the opening whistle every game since, scoring three times. Still, Reggie is more of a playmaker than a scorer. All too often he has frustrated the opposition with a quick fake, leaving a defender in his wake as he dribbles downfield and sets up a cross to a teammate. "He was quite an unselfish player," Bouman said. "A lot of times he would be close to the goal and would pass it and have someone else score." This was most evident in the game against St. Francis last year. Penn scored three goals and Brown picked up the assist on every one. But when Reggie does score, he does it with a flair unlike anyone else on the Quakers team. His first collegiate goal, against St. Joseph's in 1996, is indicative of this flair. "There was this ball bouncing around the 18 [yard line] and I faked like I was going to make a move on it and I didn't touch it all," Brown said. "The [defender] went for it and then I hit it inside the netting." · In Brown's first year at Penn, the Quakers posted an 8-6-1 record, but the team has won just 11 games over the last three years. Back at Glenelg High School, Reggie won a state championship in his freshman year but the team never quite made it that far in the next three years. "[Brown's] most successful years in terms of team results were the first couple of years," Bouman said. "His third and fourth years individually he did very well but the team was a little too young." And, with 12 freshmen flooding the 27-player Quakers roster this year, it seems as if the cycle is repeating itself. That's good news for Penn, however, as Glenelg won two state championships after Reggie left. But once again, co-captain Brown will not be around to see the young talent mature. "Everything is going in the right direction, and being a part of something like this is going to be really memorable when I look back and see how well the team's doing in a year or two," Brown said. "We joke, 'If I could have one more year?' but I've had a great time and my time's up I guess," he said. And just like the Lehigh game three years ago, nothing Brown says or does can turn back the clock. But with two games left on the Quakers schedule, there's still time for one last Reggie Brown goal. Penn has long since been eliminated from the title race but Brown has hardly stopped hustling. Maybe time will be running out in a scoreless game against Harvard on Saturday, and just when the clock hits zero, he'll nail a 20-yarder into the back of the net. And he'll look at the referee, who will signal that the goal is legal. And this time, there will be no need to hold back Reggie Brown.
(11/06/99 10:00am)
Penn has lost two in a rowto bring its Ivy record to 2-2, a game ahead of sixth-place Princeton. PENN 17 Dartmouth 6 WHAT HAPPENED: Dartmouth's sputtering offense totaled just 169 yards as Penn took the first step toward defending its Ivy League crown with a sloppy opening day victory at Franklin Field. Quakers sophomore Kris Ryan broke several tackles on a 48-yard touchdown run to put Penn up 10-0 in the second quarter, and Northwestern transfer Gavin Hoffman's 19-yard touchdown pass to Ben Zagorski with 5:56 remaining sealed the win. Hoffman, in his debut in a Penn uniform, completed 23-of-36 passes for 196 yards, but threw two interceptions and fumbled once. Ryan, junior Mike Verille and sophomore Matt Thomas combined for 189 total yards as replacements for departed Bushnell Cup winner Jim Finn. KEY PLAY: Penn sophomore Erik Bolinder partially blocked Dartmouth kicker Alex Csizinsky's 32-yard field goal attempt 8:27 into the game, causing the kick to sail wide right. The Big Green had started their drive on the Penn 18 after a Hoffman fumble but could not capitalize to take the early lead, and the Quakers control led the rest of the game. OFFENSIVE HERO: Ryan. The sophomore running back grinded out 99 yards on 15 carries. DEFENSIVE HERO: The whole Penn defense. The Quakers limited the Big Green to just 2.7 yards per play and forced four turnovers. Villanova 34 PENN 6 WHAT HAPPENED: Villanova quarterback Chris Boden completed 33-of-43 passes for a school-record 424 yards and two touchdowns, handing Penn its first loss of the season. The Quakers kept within striking distance of the No. 14 Wildcats early, as Villanova clung to a 3-0 lead after the first quarter. But after a Boden touchdown pass to Brian White and a Joe Kearing interception return, Penn went into the locker room down 17-3. Kris Ryan had another solid day with 81 yards on the ground, but the rest of the Quakers' rushing attack could only muster 26 yards on 26 carries. Hoffman completed just 14-of-28 passes for 108 yards as Penn was overmatched on both sides of the ball. KEY PLAY: Kearing's second quarter interception. Hoffman was trying to throw a screen to back Mike Verille, but the pass went right into Kearing's hands and the Wildcats' defensive end rumbled 16 yards to paydirt. Penn was only down 10-3 at the time but the interception changed the momentum of the game. OFFENSIVE HERO: Boden. Villanova's quarterback abused Penn's secondary all day, although he did throw three interceptions. DEFENSIVE HERO: Kearing. His interception return all but put the final nail in Penn's coffin. Credit also should go to Quakers freshman Travis Belden, who had two picks himself in the losing effort. Bucknell 23 PENN 16 WHAT HAPPENED: Penn's fourth-quarter comeback was stopped short as the Bison held on for a seven-point win after Penn quarterback Gavin Hoffman fumbled with 18 seconds remaining. The Quakers trailed 23-6 after Bucknell quarterback Don McDowell's two-yard touchdown run on fourth down with 5:41 remaining. But sophomore Erik Bolinder caught a 49-yard pass from Hoffman to cut the lead to 10. Penn's two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful. Then, after an onside kick, a 39-yard Jason Feinberg field goal, and a defensive stand, Penn had the ball on its own 25-yard line with 48 seconds remaining. The Quakers drove down to the Bucknell 29, but Bison defensive end John Papadakis sacked Hoffman, who coughed up the ball, which Bucknell's Eric Green recovered. Kris Ryan had another impressive day on the ground for Penn, as the sophomore back rushed for 152 yards on 24 carries, including a 33-yard touchdown in the first quarter to give Penn a 7-0 lead. KEY PLAY: Hoffman's fumble with 18 seconds remaining. The game's result was in question until then. OFFENSIVE HERO: Bucknell flanker Jabu Powell. After Bison tailbacks Dan Palko and LaMario Bradwell went down with injuries, Powell moved to running back, where he gained 102 yards on 12 carries. DEFENSIVE HERO: Papadakis. He had the sack to end the game. Enough said. PENN 35 Fordham 18 WHAT HAPPENED: Penn tailback Kris Ryan exploded for 256 yards and four touchdowns as the Quakers stormed past the winless Rams to even their record at 2-2. Ryan averaged 7.3 yards per carry en route to the third-best single-game running performance in Penn history. It took less than five minutes for Ryan to set the tone of the game, as the sophomore back rumbled 52 yards for a touchdown on Penn's second possession of the game. The Quakers had a 21-3 lead at halftime but Fordham wide receiver Gerry McDermott caught two touchdowns in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 28-18. Ryan ran for his fourth touchdown of the day with 10:13 remaining, and senior linebacker Jim Hisgen stopped Fordham tailback Al Lundy on fourth down with 8:16 left to wrap up the Quakers' victory. KEY PLAY: Ryan's 52-yard touchdown in the first quarter set the tone for the rest of the game. OFFENSIVE HERO: Ryan. With 256 rushing yards, there is no close second. DEFENSIVE HERO: The Quakers' defensive line. With cornerback Joey Alofaituli and safety Hasani White both out with injuries, the line needed to create pressure. And it did. Penn stopped Fordham short on all but one of its 15 third-down plays and sacked the Rams' quarterbacks four times. PENN 41 Columbia 17 WHAT HAPPENED: Penn quarterback Gavin Hoffman threw for a school record 399 yards as the Quakers posted 626 yards of total offense against the Lions to remain undefeated in the Ivy League. Hoffman was 25-of-32 with four touchdowns, while tailback Kris Ryan continued his stellar season with 172 yards on 30 carries. Rob Milanese caught eight of Hoffman's passes for 184 yards, including a 77-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Less than two minutes into the game, Lions running back Johnathan Reese caught a short pass over the middle from Mike Glynn and ran 72 yards for a touchdown to give Columbia a 7-0 lead. But Hoffman's 35-yard pass to receiver Brandon Carson evened the score three minutes later. Penn hung to a 21-17 lead at halftime, but a 63-yard touchdown pass from Hoffman to Brandon Clay on the second play of the second half gave the Quakers some breathing room. KEY PLAY: Clay's touchdown catch. On a play-action pass that Columbia cornerback Justin Logan bit on, Penn was able to take control of the game. OFFENSIVE HERO: Hoffman. After four games of mixed results, the Northwestern transfer finally broke through, shattering Mark DeRosa's record for passing yards in a game by 39. DEFENSIVE HERO: Defensive back Anthony DeSalle. The Penn senior had two interceptions and helped the Quakers hold Columbia to just 56 yards after halftime. Brown 44 PENN 37 WHAT HAPPENED: Brown quarterback James Perry passed for 440 yards and five touchdowns as the Bears held off a late Penn rally to pull out a seven-point victory. Perry broke former Columbia quarterback John Witkowski's career record for Ivy League passing yards in the process. Brown held a 21-point lead late in the fourth quarter but Penn quarterback Gavin Hoffman threw for two touchdowns in the final 1:05 to cut the lead to a touchdown. Bears tight end David Brookman recovered Jason Feinberg's onside kick with 25 seconds remaining to end the Quakers' comeback hopes. Brown receivers Stephen Campbell and Billy Rackley combined to catch 18 passes for 336 yards and all five of Perry's touchdowns. Hoffman, meanwhile, passed for 343 yards for a school record 742 yards in two games. KEY PLAY: Perry's 29-yard touchdown pass to Rackley on the opening drive of the game. The touchdown gave Brown a 7-0 advantage as the Bears led the entire way. OFFENSIVE HERO: Perry. After throwing for 470 yards and five touchdowns last year against the Quakers, the Brown quarterback did it again against the Penn defense. DEFENSIVE HERO: In a game with 983 yards of total offense, there was no real defensive hero. Yale 23 PENN 19 WHAT HAPPENED: Yale quarterback Joe Walland's 29-yard touchdown run with 6:41 left gave Penn its second league loss and dropped the Quakers to fifth in the Ivy standings. Walland threw for a career-high 290 yards and ran for 57 -- including the final 47 yards in two plays on the game-winning drive. Penn took a 16-13 lead into the fourth quarter, but a fumble by tailback Kris Ryan gave Yale possession on Penn's 28-yard line. The Elis turned the good field possession into three points to tie the score. But the Quakers answered right back with Jason Feinberg's school record-tying fourth field goal of the day. The two teams struggled in the red zone, as there were a total of seven field goals between Yale and Penn. Ryan had another strong day on the ground, gaining 166 yards on 33 carries, but failed to find the end zone. Sophomore Jimmy Keppel led the Elis with nine receptions for 160 yards. KEY PLAY: Penn drove to the Yale 41 following Walland's touchdown run but Hoffman threw an interception to the Elis' Todd Tomich on a third-and-20 play. That was the last offensive play for the Quakers, as Yale ran out the last three minutes of the game. OFFENSIVE HERO: Walland. Yale's quarterback used his mobility to throw for 229 yards in the first half and ran for 47 in the winning touchdown drive. DEFENSIVE HERO: Tomich. He tied a school record with his 12th career interception.
(11/02/99 10:00am)
The Penn men's lightweight crew struggled, but the heavyweight and freshman boats both finished in the top four at the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta on Saturday. The heavyweight eight completed the nearly three-mile course in 13 minutes, 17.74 seconds. This time was good enough to earn the Quakers a fourth-place finish out of 31 teams. Brown was the only collegiate team to beat Penn. The National Team and the Penn Athletic Club team took home the top two spots, followed by the Bears and Quakers. Penn finished 12 seconds ahead of Navy and Princeton and 26 seconds ahead of Yale. "It was definitely our best race of the fall," senior Lewis Goettner said. "We've been making big improvements, week to week, race to race." The Quakers benefited from a change of order in the boat, as junior Bill Ennis and senior Timothy Thompson switched spots. Ennis moved to the seventh seat, while Thompson took the third seat. "It's strange how different ordering of the same people can go twice as fast," Goettner said. Penn finished one place and six seconds behind its 1998 performance, but this year's field was definitely more difficult, as both Brown and Princeton failed to compete in last year's Head of the Schuylkill. The Quakers' second heavyweight boat finished 23rd, ahead of the first boats from Georgetown and Virginia. Penn's freshman boat finished second on Saturday, trailing only Princeton in the 33-team field. The Quakers finished in 14:28.54, nearly 26 seconds behind the Tigers. The freshman race was a spread-out one, as more than five minutes separated first-place Princeton from the last-place Quaker Rowing Club boat. The heavyweights, however, monopolized the success on Saturday. Penn's lightweight eight did not row well at all and finished in a disappointing 23rd in the 24-team race. The Quakers outrowed Pittsburgh by more than 20 seconds, but were still far behind the rest of the field -- 1:33 behind Princeton and nearly 2:33 behind the first-place National team.
(11/01/99 10:00am)
Penn had difficulty containing scrambling Yale QB Joe Walland. NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- On Halloween weekend, it seemed only fitting that an opposing quarterback sliced through the Penn football team's defense like Freddy Krueger's nails through an unsuspecting victim. Unfortunately for the Quakers defense, this nightmare was, in fact, a sequel. But unlike last week, when Brown's James Perry threw for 440 yards, the weapons of choice this week were the legs of Joe Walland. Walland's speed allowed him to scramble for 57 yards. More importantly, however, the mobility of the Elis' quarterback allowed Yale to open up an air attack to make up for the limited success of its running game. Excluding a 36-yard scamper in the first quarter, Yale tailback Rashad Bartholomew had just 23 yards on the ground prior to the Elis' final drive of the game. But Walland more than picked up the slack in Yale's 23-19 win. The 5'11'', 205-pound senior threw for an electrifying 229 yards in the first half en route to a career-best passing total of 290 yards. And much of Walland's passing yardage came after he was flushed out of the pocket. "We were really worried about [Walland's] scrambling ability, probably first and foremost, and it came back to haunt us," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. Because he could bide so much time in the Elis' backfield, Walland opened up a different dimension for Yale's offense, allowing for longer routes to develop. And a key beneficiary of those longer routes was fullback Jim Keppel, who snuck out of the backfield and into the secondary to catch nine passes for 160 yards. "It just seemed like Joe was putting the ball there and I was always open," Keppel said. Walland, however, did not exclusively use his scrambling ability to move the ball in the air. The Yale quarterback also demonstrated that he had more than just a quick pair of feet as he used his strong left arm to complete a multitude of out patterns to his wide receivers on Saturday. In the end, though, it was Walland's pure running ability that proved to be the death blow to the Quakers, as the Yale quarterback ran nearly half the length of the field in two plays to put the Elis up for good. With under eight minutes remaining in the game, Walland ran a draw up the middle on a second-and-seven play, forcing three missed tackles on the way to an 18-yard gain. And on the very next play, Walland scrambled around the right side of the line, danced along the far sideline and finally cut to the middle for a 29-yard touchdown run. "We knew that his ability to improvise would be something we'd have to contend ourself with," Bagnoli said. Walland's play showed that there is more than one way to beat Penn's defense. Perry's all-out, stand-back-and-sling style perplexed the Quakers last week; Walland showed on Saturday that a who-needs-a-pocket Steve Young style of play can be just as successful against Penn. Walland did get sacked four times for a loss of 28 yards, but such is the life of a scrambling quarterback. "[Perry] didn't have to scramble," Penn defensive tackle Mike Germino said. "When he feels the heat he throws it so he really doesn't get sacked. [Walland's] a scrambler. He'd rather let patterns develop and run around." Excluding the four sacks, Walland ran for 81 yards on 11 carries and accounted for two first downs on the ground. However, a combination of a greater reliance on a sputtering running game and less space for receivers to run longer routes stymied Walland somewhat inside the 20. The Yale quarterback was just 5-of-14 inside the red zone. But Walland's play outside the 20 more than made up for his inconsistency inside it. "Big players make big plays," Walland said after the game. And Walland certainly demonstrated that he could make the big play as he cut through the Penn defense on Saturday. He found Keppel down the middle for 53 yards in the second quarter. He hit Keppel again on an important third-down play after Penn called a time-out to start the second quarter. And he weaved through the Quakers defense and to the end zone to keep Yale in the Ivy League championship race and knock Penn back a game. While he didn't thrust himself into the record books like Perry did, Walland showed both that he was a big player and that there is more than one way to beat the Quakers' defense if you're a top-notch quarterback: You can throw over them like Perry or run right run through them like Walland.
(10/29/99 9:00am)
After seven consecutive games of peak-level performance, the Penn men's soccer team finally wore down mentally. A 2-1 loss to Brown last Saturday seemed to sap the intensity of the Quakers and they played with the battery light on from then until a little after 3 p.m. on Wednesday. But it turns out Penn only needed a fiery halftime speech by coach Rudy Fuller against the University of Baltimore-Maryland County to recharge. The Quakers (3-8-2, 0-3-1 Ivy League) played with renewed energy in the second half against the Retrievers and carried the momentum into practice yesterday afternoon in preparation for tomorrow's game against Yale (9-4, 2-2) in New Haven, Conn. "[Yesterday] was probably one of our best practices of the year," Penn senior Henry Chen said. "Everybody looked good. We came out like we were going to kill each other. The intensity's definitely there. We just have to come out Saturday like we did today." Fuller split the Quakers into three teams in practice yesterday trying to recreate a game atmosphere. Two teams would play at a time, with the third team rotating in after every goal or at the end of five minutes if no team scored. These contests steadily built in intensity, culminating in a goal by Chen in the "championship" game. There was even a mini-celebration after Chen's heroics, punctuated by a cartwheel from the Mt. Laurel, N.J., native himself. "Playing is the best thing you can do," Fuller said. "You do this by putting guys in a competitive environment, showing them different things, challenging them different ways in games." Penn, however, needs to re-create that intensity tomorrow to avoid another Yale rout. The Elis have beaten the Quakers by a total of 10 goals in the last two years, including a 5-0 stomping at Rhodes Field last November. The Quakers likely need to slow down last year's Ivy League Player of the Year, senior forward Jac Gould, if they are to come away with their first league victory in Fuller's two-year tenure. "[Gould's] got good speed, good skill, and he can put the ball in the back of the net," Fuller said. "We've got our work cut out for us." Outside fullbacks John Salvucci and William Lee should mark Gould for much of the game, but Penn's strategy to contain the Elis forward involves all three defenders. "[Chen] will probably play a little deeper and protect a long ball over the top," Salvucci said. "He'll also slide over faster than normal when I'm isolated on him." Yale is coming off a 2-0 loss to Brown on Wednesday, a game in which the Bears outshot the Elis, 14-3. "On any given day, any team in the Ivy League can beat any other team, so it's not a shock that Yale loses to Brown," Fuller said. "There's no game in the Ivy League that would surprise me."
