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(09/21/99 9:00am)
The Quakers defeated Cal State-Fullerton in a five-game battle Saturday. After being delayed by both Hurricane Floyd and United Airlines, the Penn volleyball team finally made it to San Francisco on separate U.S. Airways flights on Friday night. "When our luggage went and we didn't, that's when I lost it," Penn coach Kerry Major said. "One by one we got bumped down the list. Whoever had the highest-priced tickets got to go in front of us, so we switched airlines. It was tough but we did eventually all get out there and got a good night's rest." On Saturday, the Quakers even got to play, and on Sunday they came home with an impressive 4-4 record for the season after beating Cal State-Fullerton in their second match that day to emerge with Penn's first-ever volleyball victory in California. "Once we got there, it was a good trip," Penn senior K.C. Potter said. "It was so built up because of the delays but once we got there, everyone was really relieved." The Quakers were relieved, but very flat in their first match of the Golden Gate Invitational on Saturday, falling to Fresno State, 15-10, 15-6, 15-5. Penn's highest hitting percentage of the match was a meager .033 in the first game, and the Quakers fell below .000 in the second and third games. Penn then regrouped and took a five-game match from Fullerton that evening. While it was Penn's first-ever victory in California, it was the second time that the Quakers have beaten a California team -- Penn beat St. Mary's in four games at the William and Mary High IQ Classic in 1995. "[After the Fresno State match], we regrouped, and thought 'Did we come all this way to play like this?'" Penn coach Kerry Major said. "Then we went out and played awesome defense, and we stuck with it until the job was done [against Fullerton]." After winning a close first game against the Titans, Penn dropped the second game, 15-4. Although the Quakers lost 15-10 in the third game, their resiliency was impressive. "When we lost game two to Cal State-Fullerton, it would have been really easy to fold," Major said. "One of our goals was if we lost a game like that to come back, and I didn't want to have that spiral effect like against Rutgers. They played the way I know they can play." Penn faced match points in the fourth and fifth games against the Titans but still pulled through, winning 16-14 in each game. "We probably played the best level of ball we've played this season against Fullerton," said Penn freshman Kai Gonsorowski, who had 14 digs and four service aces in the match. "I think we started to realize that we're better than we think we are." The victory was Penn's third straight triumph in a five-game match. The cardiac Quakers are comfortable with that, however, because of the makeup of their team. "We have a lot of depth and a lot of heart," said Potter, who had 15 kills and six digs against the Titans. "We played confidently the whole match, and we knew that we were capable of beating them, and we pulled it out. Five-game matches are always really tight and intense and we played really hard and won the match." Because of the victory against Fullerton, Penn had a chance on Sunday against San Francisco to take second place in the tournament behind the Bulldogs. The Dons proved to be too big and tough, however, and beat the Quakers in three games. For her performance, Potter was named to her first-ever All-Tournament team. "It's an incredible honor to be noticed by the other coaches," Potter said. Still, she said the best part of the weekend was "beating Fullerton." Penn will need to keep that team focus up tonight when the team travels north to face Lehigh (3-6). The Engineers, who like Penn have played a tough pre-conference schedule, are the two-time defending Patriot League champions and are very tough to beat on their home floor. After all of their traveling, the Quakers had a day off from practicing yesterday but they do not believe that the lack of work in the gym will have any effect on their play. "We played so much this weekend that I think we're ready [for the Engineers]," said Penn senior Kristel Weaver, who hit .367 against Fullerton. "After going through the whole struggle this weekend, I think that we will be really strong when we face Lehigh." The Quakers will be happy that once they do return from their contest with the Engineers, they do not have to travel any further than Villanova until October.
(09/20/99 9:00am)
Penn tri-captain Maureen Flynn scored, but the Big Green tallied three goals to defeat the Quakers. The Penn field hockey team is not used to losing to Dartmouth. Coming into yesterday's game with the Big Green, the Quakers led the all-time series 14-6-3. Even though its games with Dartmouth are often hard-fought, it seemed that the Quakers (1-2, 0-1 Ivy League) were expecting less of a challenge than they got yesterday in the league opener for both teams. Dartmouth (2-1, 1-0) kept the Red and Blue from generating any kind of attack on Franklin Field yesterday, beating the host Quakers 3-1. "It's critical to try to control the game," Dartmouth coach Julie Dayton said. "We had a definite game plan to come out and control the game, and we did a good job of that. When you have to start on the road and at a place like Franklin Field, we walk away feeling very good that our hard work has paid off." What the Big Green did was fire at will on Penn's net. In the Quakers' two games prior to yesterday's contest, goalie Alison Friedman had faced 22 shots. Against Dartmouth, she was subject to a constant flurry of shots; the visitors made 17 attempts upon the Penn net during the game. Friedman turned away all but three of those, giving her a save percentage of .823 for the game. In her first three career starts this season, Friedman, a junior, has consistently raised her average. Her current mark of .795 stands below graduated Penn goalie Sarah Dunn's .824 percentage from last year. Given Friedman's constant improvement, though, the Quakers do not have to worry much anymore about their goalkeeping situation. "I thought [Friedman] played great," Penn coach Val Cloud said. "[The score] could have been a lot more than three." Friedman's performance is even more impressive considering that Dartmouth's second and third goals came on penalty strokes by Kim Jenkin and Kristen Leadbeater. Still, the Quakers were outplayed throughout the game by the Big Green. Penn registered just five shots on goal for the game and was held without a shot for the first 26:32 of the game. "We didn't really come out with enough heart," Penn senior Maureen Flynn said. "Regardless of those two strokes, I think we were beaten to the ball, so it doesn't really matter." While Flynn was disappointed in her team's showing yesterday, the tri-captain did score her team-leading third goal of the season with 5:45 remaining in the first half. "Val told me before the game that the keeper went down a lot," Flynn said. "I saw before the shot that she was looking to go down, so I put it up in the air, and luckily it was a good shot." Flynn's floater to the top left corner of the Dartmouth net seemed to energize the Red and Blue, but then Dartmouth got much tougher. The Quakers did not manage to get another shot on goal for the rest of the half. "They took hold of the momentum," Cloud said. "They outplayed us. They took it to us. Not that we didn't hang in there, but they were the better team today." Still, Penn has a lot to build on for its games this week against Lafayette and Cornell. On a day when they were clearly "[not] clicking well together," according to Flynn, the Quakers -- with the exception of the two penalty strokes -- remained even on the scoreboard with an Ivy foe
(09/17/99 9:00am)
Throughout the history of Penn football, there have been plenty of exciting games. Numerous big wins. Wins that clinched championships. Wins that stirred emotion. Wins against Princeton. Selecting the greatest games of the century is no easy task. The Quakers have, after all, emerged triumphant 542 times on the gridiron, beginning with a 27-6 thrashing of Lehigh to kick off the 1900 campaign and closing with last season's championship-clinching 35-21 triumph at Cornell. Still, not all of the greatest games of the century are even Penn wins. So, what makes a great game? There has to be a good story behind it. The greatest games are the ones that leave memories for a lifetime and beyond. For every game listed below, there are countless more which invoke waves of pride and memories of glory. The greatest games are the ones listed here. Saving Embarrassment: Penn 12, Cornell 11 November 27, 1902 Cornell came to Philadelphia for what would become a tradition for much of the century -- a Thanksgiving showdown with the Quakers on Franklin Field. The visitors dominated Penn during the first half. The Big Red's offense generated 240 yards to Penn's 85 and outscored the Quakers 11-0 in the first two quarters. During the intermission, Cornell, one of the strongest teams in the nation, sent a message to Penn offering to shorten the game to save the Quakers from further humiliation, as the Big Red had also defeated Penn 23-0 the previous year. But Penn refused to end the final game of its season on such a sour note, emerging in the second half as an almost entirely different team. The Quakers moved the ball 235 yards and held Cornell to just 40. Carl Williams' Red and Blue scored 12 points to win the game -- Penn would not allow another point until the eighth game of the next season -- and the embarrassment belonged solely to Cornell. The Most Spectacular Game Ever Played: Penn 27, Michigan 21 November 9, 1912 After losing four straight games, Penn appeared destined for its fifth straight defeat as powerful Michigan had stormed to a 21-0 lead at Franklin Field by halftime. During the intermission, trainer Mike Murphy, withered to less than 100 pounds and dying of tuberculosis, asked coach Andy Smith for a uniform, saying, "I just want to wear the Red and Blue to show these boys how to fight." No team in history had ever come back from a deficit so great. But with a minute to play in the fourth quarter, the Red and Blue had slashed the Wolverines' lead to just one point, and Michigan was lined up in punt formation. Richard Marshall received the punt on the Penn 48 and escaped three tackles on his way to what The Daily Pennsylvanian called "the most spectacular touchdown ever made on the American gridiron." The jubilant crowd rushed the field and it took the police and players five minutes to restore order so that the final minute of the game could be played. When it was completed, Penn emerged victorious from "what is generally conceded to be the greatest football contest of all time," according to that Monday's DP. Five inside the 10: Penn 7, Princeton 0 October 17, 1936 In his book, Fight On, Pennsylvania!, Dan Rottenberg called this game "the Stalingrad of Penn football." Lew Elverson returned a punt 57 yards for the only touchdown of the game in the first quarter to give the Quakers the lead. Then, Penn played defense. Five times, Princeton came across the Penn 10-yard line, and five times, the Quakers turned the enemy away unsatisfied. The previously unbeaten Tigers got as close as the two-yard line but never entered the endzone as the Quakers bounced back from their only defeat of the season, a week earlier at Yale. After the very stressful victory, Penn coach Harvey Harman could only say, "We won on guts." Penn's defense in 1936 was so good that it allowed more than seven points on just one occasion -- a 19-12 win over Penn State on November 14. A Valiant Loss: Notre Dame 28, Penn 20 November 7, 1953 In 1953, Penn stood at a crossroads. The Quakers were severely restricted by the rules of the newly formed Ivy League. But with football schedules being made several years in advance, the Ivy restrictions took effect three years before the league's round-robin schedule would begin, and the Red and Blue faced a schedule laden with some of the nation's top teams. This "suicide schedule" included Vanderbilt, Penn State, Ohio State, Navy and Michigan. The toughest opponent, though, was national No. 1 Notre Dame. When the Irish opened up a 21-7 halftime lead, George Munger's troops appeared doomed. But Penn stormed back, outscoring the Irish 13-7 in the third to cut the deficit to eight. Penn, led by QB Ed Gramigna, stormed down the field early in the fourth quarter, desperately trying to get back into the game. When they got down to the goal line, however, Notre Dame's Johnny Lattner, then one of the best players in the country, intercepted a Gramigna pass and the Quakers were denied. The Irish might not have escaped victorious without Lattner. In addition to his key interception, the All-American rushed 12 times for 60 yards and returned one kickoff 56 yards to the Penn 26 and another 92 yards for a first-quarter touchdown. The Best Team That Couldn't Win Does: Penn 33, Yale 20 November 9, 1957 Penn was winless in its first six games, having lost a 19-14 decision to Penn State and blowing leads against Dartmouth, Princeton and Harvard. The New York Post called the Red and Blue "the best non-winning team in the country." The Quakers had lost 29 out of 33 games under coach Steve Sebo and earlier in the week, a DP editorial had called for his ouster. Enter Yale, which had lost just one game and could not believe that it would lose to lowly Penn, and Francis Riepl, the Quakers star defensive back without whom the Quakers had lost every game. At the beginning of the game, the Elis seemed to have things in hand, bolting to a 13-0 lead. But when the Elis next put points on the scoreboard, Penn had tallied 33. The Red and Blue did not lose for the rest of the season. The Coin Toss Decision Game: Penn 7, Harvard 2 November 2, 1963 Even Harvard is vulnerable to the Sports Illustrated jinx. Two days after being featured on the magazine's cover, the Crimson carried the nation's longest unbeaten streak to Philadelphia along with Ivy title hopes. Penn won the coin toss before the second half opened -- as was then the practice -- and elected to kickoff to the Crimson, hoping to force Harvard into a mistake. That mistake came when Wally Grant fumbled the kick. The blunder set up the only touchdown of the game for either team. Harvard's only points of the game came when Penn tried to run out the clock. Quakers tailback Bruce Molloy ran back and forth in his own endzone until he was tackled by the Crimson for a safety. Molloy, who doubled as a punter, helped the Red and Blue immensely by pinning Harvard inside its own 10 on multiple occasions. The win was last-place Penn's only Ivy triumph that season. The Vura to Hall Aerial Showcase: Penn 29, Cornell 22 September 19, 1981 Penn had won a total of one game since October 7, 1978, coming into Jerry Berndt's coaching debut with the Quakers. In the third quarter at Franklin Field, it seemed as though the Red and Blue would walk off the field with yet another defeat, as the Big Red held a 22-7 lead. Penn's comeback was, quite simply, an air show. After years under Harry Gamble's wishbone offense, the Quakers took to the sky. Gary Vura threw touchdown passes to Karl Hall for 84 and 93 yards which, respectively, represent the fifth longest and the longest touchdown pass plays in Penn history. Cornell had one last chance after a pass interference call late in the game against the Quakers brought the Big Red to the Penn one-yard line with three seconds to play. Chris Metz, the Cornell quarterback, ran a bootleg play but was met -- and stopped -- six inches from glory by defensive back John Waterfield, who had committed the interference to bring Cornell down the field. The Kick That Almost Wasn't: Penn 23, Harvard 21 November 13, 1982 The Quakers faced Harvard in the season's penultimate game with the Ivy League championship up for grabs for the winner. Penn raced out to a 20-0 lead, but Harvard scored three touchdowns in seven minutes in the fourth quarter to take a 21-20 lead. With three seconds remaining, Penn's Dave Shulman lined up for a 38-yard field goal. The kick sailed wide left, and time expired, with Harvard apparently emerging with the championship. But there was a flag on the field. Harvard had been penalized for running into the kicker -- and Shulman would get another chance. The second time around, he split the uprights to clinch Penn's first Ancient Eight championship since 1959. The next day's main editorial in the DP read "Harvard 21, Pennsylvania 20" with a big "X" through it, and then "Pennsylvania 23, Harvard 21. What else is there to say?" The Keith Elias Game: Penn 30, Princeton 14 November 6, 1993 This one really should be called "The Terrance Stokes Game." In the week leading up to the meeting between the undefeated Quakers and the undefeated Tigers, Elias spoke insultingly about the Penn team and its intelligence, all the while flaunting his mohawk and 183.7 yards per game rushing mark. On gameday, though, Stokes' actions spoke much louder than Elias' words. The junior tailback ran for a Penn record 272 yards on 42 carries, seven of which went for 10 or more yards. Elias, meanwhile, was held to just 59 yards on 15 carries by a strong Red and Blue defense. After the game, he still couldn't stop talking, blasting his teammates and coaches over the performance. Six months later, at the Penn-Princeton basketball game at Jadwin Gym, Elias was still sore about the loss and his failure to put his money where his mouth was. As he walked onto the floor at halftime, Penn fans in the upper balcony started chanting "Elias Sucks!", "59 yards!" and "Terrance Stokes!" Elias charged towards the upper balcony and had to be restrained by the arena guards. The Wild One: Brown 58, Penn 51 October 24, 1998 Jim Finn broke a Penn record in Providence by running for six touchdowns against the Bears, but the fourth quarter was a game all by itself. Brown outscored the Quakers 30-28 in the final period, scoring the winning touchdown with four seconds remaining, 40 seconds after Finn's five-yard touchdown run tied it up. Finn ran for 259 yards on the day, so easily cutting through the Bears defense that the DP wrote "on one touchdown run in the fourth quarter, he would have scored even if it had been a game of two-hand touch." Finn's four touchdowns in the fourth quarter were the entirety of the Penn scoring. Just about the only thing that the '98 Bushnell Cup winner did wrong all day was a missed two-point conversion in the third quarter. The Bears, meanwhile, went through the air to win the game. James Perry threw for 470 yards and six touchdowns, four of which came in the final period.
(09/17/99 9:00am)
The Quakers missed their flight to the San Francisco Tournament yesterday. The Penn volleyball team was all set to head to California to face its toughest test of the season at the Golden Gate Invitational yesterday. But it turns out that the mere act of heading to California might be the toughest test of all. The Quakers (3-2) got as far as the Philadelphia International Airport yesterday morning, hoping that their 9 a.m. flight to the west coast would not be canceled. When they arrived, Hurricane Floyd was already busy erasing flight after flight from the departure board. "We were thinking it was going to be canceled," Penn senior Karin Witte said. "All the flights around us were getting canceled but they were trying to keep the flight to San Francisco going, and then finally they did cancel it." So the Red and Blue were forced to stay in Philadelphia for an extra day. They practiced as usual in the afternoon and expect to be able to fly west this morning, arriving in time for their game against San Francisco at 10 p.m. If the Quakers cannot get in the air by noon, though, they will not be able to make the trip. "We'll all be disappointed if we don't get to go," Penn coach Kerry Major said. "But the team will bounce back if we don't get to go." The Quakers remained upbeat, however, and are still looking forward to their games and the trip. "This is all just surrounding our trip getting there," Witte said. "Even though it's inconvenient, it certainly doesn't subtract from the fact that we're going there to play and get good experience." Floyd was another story. "I always thought it was a mean person's name, so now it's confirmed," Major said. "I will not name my kid Floyd." Awaiting the Quakers arrival are the Dons (7-2), who had headaches of their own last week when they traveled to the Blackbird Invitational in Brooklyn, N.Y. "San Francisco Airport is the home of delays," San Francisco coach David Noble said. "You just have to be flexible about it." When play finally does get underway, Penn will have its hands full with the Dons, who have won their last seven matches. In addition to facing a hot team, the Quakers will have to deal with a team that does not underestimate them, as Colgate, La Salle and Rutgers may have done last weekend. In the matches against those teams, Penn was able to make an early run. That will likely not be the case tonight. "I know Kerry and she gets the best out of her players," Noble said. "A lot of times her teams have a lot of ball control, and we don't expect this team to be any different." While the coaches know each other, the players do not. The Quakers do not see this as a problem, however, because they know what they want to do on this trip. "The focus is on our play," Witte said. "We'll do what we need to do to achieve our smaller goals -- passing well, playing good defense -- and hopefully things will work out." Much as they did in the season-opening Colgate Tournament, the Quakers know that they are facing strong competition, and as Major says, that "on paper, we should lose." Still, Penn took three out of four in Hamilton, N.Y., and was able to improve as a team. That will be the real goal in San Francisco, where the Quakers will also face Fresno State and Cal State-Fullerton tomorrow night. "We can pull off these wins because we have that heart and soul," Major said. "That's what I'm looking for -- that heart, that soul, that courage and determination, and everything we practice on defense. That's what I'm trying to develop for our team." All of the mental development and the tougher competition is really to get ready for the Red and Blue's Ivy League schedule, where Major is confident that the Quakers can hold their own physically. "We are playing better teams right now," Major said. "But I want us to have good long rallies, play good defense. A lot of the things that we tried to work on with Rutgers, I think we can do this weekend. If we work through that, I think we can reach a level of toughness where no one can stop us when we reach someone at our [physical] level."
(09/09/99 9:00am)
After 17 years as head coach of both the Penn men's and women's swimming teams, Kathy Lawlor-Gilbert surprisingly announced her retirement yesterday. Michael Schnur, who has been the assistant coach of both teams for the last seven years, was named the interim coach, and will lead the Quakers for the 1999-2000 season. "It is most appropriate to conclude my coaching career at the University of Pennsylvania because it has been such a rewarding experience," Lawlor-Gilbert said in a statement released by the Athletic Department yesterday. "My interest and support of Penn's swimming and diving programs, and our student-athletes, will continue." Lawlor-Gilbert announced her decision to retire yesterday to members of both teams who had gathered to swim at Sheerr Pool. Organized practices are not allowed until October 1, but many of the swimmers swim together in the afternoons and most of the members of both teams were in the pool yesterday. "It was a shock," Penn senior Jen Walsh said. "She just said that she's decided to retire and that she felt like the time is right." When Lawlor-Gilbert arrived at the pool yesterday, she asked that everyone get out of the water for a quick team meeting, during which she told the team of her decision. The team members on hand thanked her and applauded, and also congratulated Schnur on his sudden promotion. Many of the swimmers then continued swimming, while others spoke with Lawlor-Gilbert. The entire women's team plans to meet with her today. Lawlor-Gilbert was the first woman to handle the coaching duties of a men's and women's swimming team simultaneously at the Division I level. During her tenure at Penn, her swimmers broke every school record in both individual and relay events. Her 17 years of coaching were not entirely successful, though, as she compiled a 65-118 record with the men's team and a 115-124 record with the women's team. In recent years, the Quakers have encountered more trouble in the water, especially against league opponents. Penn's women are 0-42 against the Ivy League over the past six years and have not put together a winning season against the Ancient Eight since 1990. Since their last winning season against the EISL in 1991, Penn's men are 20-55 in league competition. Still, Lawlor-Gilbert will certainly be missed on the deck. "I guess I'm just sad because I did get along really well with her," Penn sophomore Kenneth Goh said. "She's been coaching for a really long time and she's got tons of experience." Lawlor-Gilbert's retirement was an enormous surprise to both teams especially because Penn's swimmers believe that they were starting to turn the program around at the end of last season. They do believe that it will still be possible to do so under Schnur. "A lot of people made a lot of improvement last year," Walsh said. "And I think that there are two ways that a team can handle the sudden loss of a coach -- you can go up, or you can go down, and if we pull together and continue making steps and strides, I think that this year we're going to surprise a lot of people." The team's confidence in and familiarity with Schnur is still accompanied by worries, though, especially since he will have to manage two teams as his first head coaching job. It is unclear whether another assistant will be hired before the 1999-2000 season. Schnur could not be reached for comment last night. "[Lawlor-Gilbert] and Schnur had a pretty good working relationship," Goh said. "It'll be something to get used to not having both of them to work with. With one coach instead of two, it might affect the attention that he can give to all of the swimmers." Lawlor-Gilbert's decision to retire remains unexplained, as does her method of only telling part of the team at an impromptu poolside meeting. "I guess she has her reasons," said Goh, who heard of Lawlor-Gilbert's retirement from a reporter. "She hasn't talked about it at all. It's quite a surprise."
(08/05/99 9:00am)
As the summer progresses and the professional baseball season heads into its stretch run, four of the six divisions feature legitimate pennant races and both wild card spots are up for grabs. For most baseball fans, this August will likely lead into one of the most exciting Septembers in years, as so many teams are in contention for so many spots in the playoffs. One solution is to keep tabs on your favorite team with the Internet, and its constant supply of information. Sometimes, however, as a baseball fan, you just have to see a game. In this case, it is nice to be able to follow a team that is not in direct competition with your favorite -- a team in the opposite league. Hillary Clinton, for example, found the Yankees convenient at the beginning of this summer as the First Lady, a Cubs fan, spent more time in and around New York. For American League fans, the obvious choice at Penn is the Phillies. The games are a quick enough ride away on SEPTA, and, who knows, that favorite American League team could wind up playing the Phils in the World Series such a short distance away. They are in contention for the first time since 1993, when they won the National League pennant. The Phillies have had very strong starting pitching this season. As expected, Curt Schilling has been dominant, but it is the rest of the Philadelphia staff that has propelled the Phils into contention. Journeyman Paul Byrd was a surprise member of the National League All-Star team, and rookie Randy Wolf has been particularly impressive since being called up from the minors. After closer Jeff Brantley went down for the season with shoulder problems, Wayne Gomes stepped into the role, and has been excellent. Former Rookie of the Year third baseman Scott Rolen and All-Star catcher Mike Lieberthal are perhaps the best known hitters for Philadelphia, providing power in the heart of the order. The best pure hitter for the Phillies, however, might just be center fielder Doug Glanville, whose 138 hits rank the Penn alumnus second in the National League. His .325 batting average ranks eighth in the senior circuit, and second on the club to Bobby Abreu. For National League fans who might not want to involve themselves with a down-the-stretch rival like the Phillies, there is a team to follow, but it's not the obvious geographical choice. As bad as they have been, and as odious as so many people find a team that features a monstrous payroll and Albert Belle, it is impossible to recommend the Baltimore Orioles. The American League team to follow does not even play in America. The Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia's 1993 World Series opponent and the current leader in the American League wild card race, are the easiest junior circuit team to follow while on campus. Since CBC (the Canadian broadcaster) is available on ResNet, Toronto's games are televised on campus. And the Blue Jays are a team that can relate to Penn's baseball rooting population on many levels. For a fan of a National League team, the odds are that there is a familiar face on the roster. Members of the Blue Jays have played for eleven of the National League's sixteen teams. Beyond that, Toronto has assembled a very likable bunch of players. The Blue Jays' best player, outfielder Shawn Green, is one of the most unassuming stars in baseball. He hits for both average and power, runs well, and plays much better defense than he gets credit for -- as he is finally starting to shake his reputation as a poor fielder. A characteristic that is not uncommon just west of the Schuylkill is being from New York City or Long Island. Two of Toronto's relief pitchers fit this bill: setup man John Frascatore is from Queens, while the closer, Billy Koch comes from Rockville Center, Long Island. Of course, the most universally identifiable Blue Jay is David Wells. Toronto's ace starting pitcher is very much like a college student himself -- Wells is well known for his love of beer, and can often be seen lightening the spirits of his teammates in the dugout. So, if the events of 1993 should happen to repeat themselves, these Toronto Blue Jays will be just a quick SEPTA ride away, a nice consolation if your favorite team disappears from both view and the top of the standings in September.
(06/17/99 9:00am)
After a team-record 28 losses, head baseball coach Bob Seddon and pitching coach Bill Wagner must have known that there was nowhere for the Quakers to go but up. Little did they know that the Ivy League champion football team might just hand them a quarterback. A quarterback who can throw an 88 mile per hour fastball. In what initially seems to be an unfortunate break for Seddon and Wagner, incoming freshman Jonathan Searles might just be a bit too good throwing the baseball. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected the quarterback/pitcher in the eighth round of the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft. The rule certainly limits Searles' opportunities, but the upside for Seddon is enormous. "He has three professional pitches," Seddon said. "He has a straight change, a curveball, and a big-time fastball. He's got a great arm and great talent...[but] there's no rhyme or reason why [Searles] should sign. He's an eighth-rounder." Seddon hopes to build Searles' skills at Penn to increase his draft value coming out of college while also building Penn's program back up from last season's futility. "The only danger is injury," Seddon said. "He's gonna be worth more after [his] junior year. If you get into the Wharton School, and you have a chance to play football and baseball in college, you will be worth a lot more in the end of your junior year." However much the rule can help Searles' future value and Penn's baseball program in this instance, it does not make sense to have such a mandate in the Ivy League. As classical values promote a sound mind and a sound body, what greater showing of soundness could there be than to excel as a student and play football at a Division I-AA level, all while climbing the ranks of a professional baseball organization? No one stops an aspiring painter from stepping onto a field of play and writing poetry about his experiences. No one tells a math major that she can't go to the observatory to chart the stars after soccer practice. It is both unfair and nonsensical to treat Searles' multiple talents any differently. If he could somehow successfully balance all of the demands of such activities, then more power to him. If Searles should spend his summer tossing baseballs in the Pirates system, how different would that be from Penn basketball guard Lamar Plummer working in Philadelphia Mayor Edward Rendell's office last summer while hooping it up in the Sonny Hill League? Many people wonder why the Ivy League no longer turns out athletes like Lou Gehrig and Sid Luckman, why the Ancient Eight now produces Doug Glanvilles and Joe Nieuwendyks -- athletes who are certainly good at the professional level, but not among the greats of their games. While the eight Ivies provide excellent academic opportunities, they are really unable to accommodate the needs of athletes. It is impossible to say where John Searles will be in four years. If he signs with the Pirates, he could make his way through a minor league system that is known for its development of pitchers. If he stays at Penn, Searles could develop as a football player. He could become an even better baseball player and increase his future draft value. There is also the risk that Searles could incur an injury. And he would then have to rely only on his mind not just his arm -- to make his way in the world. The good part of the bargain for Searles is that there is no wrong decision. The shame is on the Ivy League for creating this dilemma for Searles.
(06/01/99 9:00am)
St. Anne's School '98 Brooklyn, N.Y. That sentiment was true around most of the Carnival, as there was much to see and do over the course of the event at and around Franklin Field. · Most of the 44,639 in attendance on April 24, the fourth-largest Saturday attendance in the history of the Carnival, saw Michael Johnson -- the star of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, where he won double gold in the 200 and 400 meters -- anchor a superb Olympic Development 4x200-meter relay. Johnson's Nike International team -- which also included Ken Brokenbur, Alvin Harrison and Maurice Greene -- posted a time of 1:19.47, over a second ahead of its nearest competitor, Nike Elite. "I'm pleased with how I ran today," Johnson said. "Being at the Penn Relays is great. I really like coming here and I'll come here every year that I'm running. The crowd is outstanding -- I love it." · Another person who loves the Relays is Bill Cosby. The veteran entertainer attended all three days of the Carnival, amusing everyone with whom he came into contact. Late on Saturday afternoon, a runner from Seton Hall's 4x800-meter men's team was in agonizing back pain. Cosby leaned over and whispered in the athlete's ear, and both were quickly laughing. "The entire community of track and field participates," Cosby said. "It's a family affair. The people in the stands are a mix of elders, parents, coaches and people who used to participate here. And the University of Pennsylvania, which is known for its Ivy League-ishness, its elitistness -- on these four days, it opens up! And you see all the major players, the Olympians and all, coming in their peak to run here and that means that this is special." · While Cosby hosts the CBS program Kids Say the Darnedest Things, competitors at the other end of the age spectrum raced in one of the Carnival's most interesting and exciting races. In the men's Masters 75-and-older 100-meter relay, Les Wright of the Shore Athletic Club came back from a seemingly insurmountable deficit to catch and overtake the Florida Athletic Club's Tom Kennell in the final 15 meters, winning the race by 16/100ths of a second with a time of 15.27. · The thunderstorms on Friday produced a rare weather delay at the Carnival. The delay, however, only lasted as long as the lightning was around. Events continued through the pouring rain. Most of the qualifying heats for Saturday's championship races were run between the raindrops. On the field, meanwhile, one of the Relays' key field events -- the college men's long jump championship -- was also weighted down with water. On the other hand, the raging storms had no effect on the booming voice of Arkansas jumps coach Dick Booth. One of the most indelible memories of Friday's competition must certainly be Booth's urgings to the Razorbacks' Melvin Lister to catch more of the board on his take-offs. Lister, like any of the 31,904 rain-soaked fans in attendance on Friday, was well able to hear Booth and clearly took heed of his coach's advice, jumping 7.74 meters in the miserable conditions to take the event by four centimeters over George Mason's Maurice Wignall and Penn State's George Audu. · There was more to do at Franklin Field over the weekend than just watch one of the world's largest track meets. "This is a carnival," Cosby said. "I love being here." On the Lott Courts, there was an opportunity for fans to test their track skills against the stars and food vendors lined the north side of the stadium. But the good times at the Relays were not just limited to the track "family" that Cosby spoke of -- the festive atmosphere was enjoyed by everyone who spent last weekend on 33rd Street.
(04/28/99 9:00am)
Those in attendance left with lasting memories During the 105th running of the Penn Relay Carnival last weekend, vendors on 33rd Street sold T-shirts that read "If You Blink? I'm GONE!" That sentiment was true around most of the Carnival, as there was much to see and do over the course of the event at and around Franklin Field. · Most of the 44,639 in attendance on Saturday, the fourth-largest Saturday attendance in the history of the Carnival, saw Michael Johnson -- the star of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, where he won double gold in the 200 and 400 meters -- anchor a superb Olympic Development 4x200-meter relay. Johnson's Nike International team -- which also included Ken Brokenbur, Alvin Harrison and Maurice Greene -- posted a time of 1:19.47, over a second ahead of its nearest competitor, Nike Elite. "I'm pleased with how I ran today," Johnson said. "Being at the Penn Relays is great. I really like coming here, and I'll come here every year that I'm running. The crowd is outstanding -- I love it." · Another person who loves the Relays is Bill Cosby. The veteran entertainer attended all three days of the Carnival, amusing everyone with whom he came into contact. Late on Saturday afternoon, a runner from Seton Hall's 4x800-meter men's team was in agonizing back pain. Cosby leaned over and whispered in the athlete's ear, and both were quickly laughing. "The entire community of track and field participates," Cosby said. "It's a family affair. The people in the stands are a mix of elders, parents, coaches and people who used to participate here. And the University of Pennsylvania, which is known for its Ivy League-ishness, its elitistness -- on these four days, it opens up! And you see all the major players, the Olympians and all, coming in their peak to run here, and that means that this is special." · While Cosby hosts the CBS program Kids Say the Darnedest Things, competitors at the other end of the age spectrum competed in one of the Carnival's most interesting and exciting races. In the men's Masters 75-and-older 100-meter relay, Les Wright of the Shore Athletic Club came back from a seemingly insurmountable deficit to catch and overtake the Florida Athletic Club's Tom Kennell in the final 15 meters, winning the race by 16/100ths of a second, with a time of 15.27. · Friday's thunderstorms produced a rare weather delay at the Carnival. The delay, however, only lasted as long as the lightning was around. Events continued through the pouring rain. Most of the qualifying heats for Saturday's championship races were run between the raindrops. On the field, meanwhile, one of the Relays' key field events -- the college men's long jump championship -- was also weighted down with water. On the other hand, the raging storms had no effect on the booming voice of Arkansas jumps coach Dick Booth. One of the most indelible memories of Friday's competition must certainly be Booth's urgings to the Razorbacks' Melvin Lister to catch more of the board on his take-offs. Lister, like any of the 31,904 rain-soaked fans in attendance on Friday, was well able to hear Booth and clearly took heed of his coach's advice, jumping 7.74 meters in the miserable conditions to take the event by four centimeters over George Mason's Maurice Wignall and Penn State's George Audu. · There was more to do at Franklin Field over the weekend than just watch one of the world's largest track meets. "This is a carnival," Cosby said. "I love being here." On the Lott Courts, there was an opportunity for fans to test their track skills against the stars and food vendors lined the north side of the stadium. But the good times at the Relays were not just limited to the track "family" that Cosby spoke of -- the festive atmosphere was enjoyed by everyone who spent last weekend on 33rd Street.
(04/28/99 9:00am)
The Penn women's lacrosse team wrapped up a season that it would like to forget on Saturday with a 13-2 loss against Brown in Providence, R.I. The loss capped a season in which the Quakers were outscored by a 157-55 margin and set team records for futility with 12 losses and a .077 winning percentage. "The game at Brown was kind of frustrating," Penn defender Jenni Leisman said. "We were all kind of expecting to come out with a little more than we did and, story of our season, we weren't able to get back." The Quakers' problems began just prior to the season, as the team petitioned for the removal of head coach Anne Sage before its spring training trip to Florida. Assistant coach Alanna Wren led the Red and Blue through the season, and even though the Quakers did their best not to focus on the coaching situation on a day-to-day basis, the preseason controversy cost the team dearly against better-prepared foes during the campaign. "I think that one of the biggest challenges for the team was to move on and play the season from that point on," Leisman said. "We really tried not to focus on that day to day and Alanna helped us a lot. I don't think it affected us as much as it could have." Another thing that could have made the season much worse for the Quakers was Brooke Jenkins' ongoing injury problems. Jenkins tore her right anterior cruciate ligament for the second straight season but missed just one game -- the Quakers' 15-1 loss at Temple on April 1. After passing a strength test later that week, Jenkins was able to return to the Penn lineup for the April 5 game against Notre Dame. The junior co-captain risked further injury to the ligament by coming back and is scheduled to have surgery today to finally repair the injury. "I'd given up the whole season before [in 1998]," Jenkins said. "I like lacrosse too much to give it up again and I figured if something happens, it happens." Jenkins hopes to return for the fall field hockey season in addition to her senior lacrosse go-'round. Senior co-captain Leisman, however, will not be back at Penn next spring. Surprisingly, her brightest memory of the season comes from the Quakers' 17-3 loss to Princeton on April 21. "I felt great after the Princeton game," Leisman said. "We really came together on all parts of the field and I'm really proud that that was my last moment on Franklin Field. We played a great team and played them tough." Unfortunately for the Quakers, playing tough was not enough to put more wins on the board this season.
(04/21/99 9:00am)
The 105th Running of the Penn Relay Carnival Last year, the Penn Relays attracted a record 820 high schools to Franklin Field for three electric days of competition. This year, the world's largest high school track meet is even bigger, as 853 high schools will be participating in events starting tomorrow at Franklin Field. The Penn Relay Carnival expects to draw 10,848 pre-collegiate athletes, yet another record, from 22 states and nine foreign countries. While only a handful of those athletes will leave 33rd Street with medals, they will be the main providers of entertainment for the weekend's crowds. "In my years, I've learned that the majority of the people are here to watch the high school athletes," said Bob Burdette, the Relays' secondary schools chairperson. "That's beyond even the featured individuals like the Michael Johnsons or the Marion Joneses. And the very good college teams like Arkansas and Villanova draw a certain amount but the regular Joe track and field fan is out there to watch the high schoolers." There will be plenty of action for such fans to watch as over 50 percent of the events at the Penn Relays will feature high school tracksters. Perhaps the most intriguing high school event will be the 4x400-meter relays. On the boys' side, five teams from Jamaica -- Munro College, Kingston College, Camperdown, Calabar and last year's champion, St. Jago -- are expected to outshine their American competition. Jamaican teams have won 11 out of the last 20 4x400-meter boys' relays at the Carnival, while Americans have taken the rest. St. Mary's High (Berkeley, Calif.) has posted the best time among the American teams attending, 3:13.79. Lawrence (N.Y.) and Campus Magnet (New York City) are also hopefuls among the Americans. The girls' event should be a much closer duel between American and Jamaican teams. Jamaica's Vere Tech won the event nine straight times from 1986-94 but American teams have taken three of the last four. Long Beach (Calif.) Wilson has taken two of those titles and Philadelphia's William Penn grabbed the other relay crown for the Stars and Stripes. The home crowd should enjoy rooting this year for Gratz, which may have the best chance among Eastern teams against Wilson, which returns all four runners from last year's national record-setting squad. Wilson established an American mark last year in California with a blistering time of 3:36.32. Wilson's best time so far this year is 3:42, so St. Jago might be favored, having posted a time of 3:38.92 earlier this spring. St. Jago is also the defending champion in the event. "The 4x4 final is certainly a highlight," Burdette said. "The Americans are rooting for an American team, maybe with the Californians rooting against the East Coast and the other way and the Jamaicans out making noise for their teams. "There's also a lot of concentration on the Philly race because it's their turf and that's a race for who can go home and brag about their turf in the city." A new event on the high school level this year is the discus. Not many people will see the competition as it is held on the grass beyond the rightfield fence of baseball's Bower Field, behind Franklin Field. Those who miss the discus throw could miss the establishment of a longstanding record, as one thrower, Terrence Glover of Hamilton Grove, N.J., is well ahead of his competition on the way to West Philadelphia with a personal-best throw of 204 feet. "204 puts him about 15 feet above anyone else in the meet," Burdette said, "and he's probably about six to eight feet ahead of anyone in the nation. There's a lot [like that] that gets overlooked around Relays." With over 10,000 athletes competing in the high school division alone, track fans will certainly have their hands full trying not to overlook any of this weekend's many events.
(04/21/99 9:00am)
The Penn women's lacrosse team has had some trouble getting motivated for games against the nation's elite teams this season, so it comes as bad news for the Quakers that the fourth-ranked team in the latest IWLCA poll visits Franklin Field at 7:30 p.m. But the Red and Blue's visitor tonight is more than just another top team. It's Princeton. After suffering a 20-2 shellacking at the hands of Dartmouth on Friday night, the Quakers (1-10, 1-4 Ivy League) have been re-energized by both their visitor and this week's practices. "Yesterday was really constructive," said Penn assistant coach Alanna Wren, who has been leading the Quakers for over a month and a half since the team petitioned for the removal of head coach Anne Sage. "And we took it light on Sunday, doing some stuff that reminds you of why you play lacrosse, not just having them sprint every two minutes." The game will be the first tangle with the Tigers (10-2, 4-0) for Penn's freshmen, who are eager to get out onto the field. "It's exciting playing Princeton," Penn freshman Ella Masson said. "We all know that we have nothing to lose and this is our last home game and this is Princeton. We're just ready to pull it together and apply everything that we've learned in practice." The last home game of the season marks the Quakers' last chance to avoid a winless season at Franklin Field. With Penn feeling motivated, the Tigers will not be looking past tonight's game, especially given the rivalry's past. "You can't take any team lightly at this time of year," Princeton coach Chris Sailer said. "In 1993, we were one of the top-ranked teams, came down there and lost to Penn. We know that they have good players and they'll be ready to play." In 1993, Wren was a freshman on the Quakers squad which bested the Tigers 7-6 for Princeton's only loss of the season. "It's probably the best memory that I have in sports," Wren said. "It's a lot like [that] now. The odds obviously aren't stacked in our favor but I hope that this opponent will motivate the team. If you can't get up for Princeton, there's a problem." Without the normal problem of finding motivation this week, the Quakers have been free to work on a plan to defend against the prolific Princeton attack which, led by Cristi Samaras' 33 tallies, has put 138 goals in the net this season -- the second highest in the Ivy League. Penn's 61 goals scored rank as the lowest total in the loop and its 141 goals against are by far the highest of any Ancient Eight squad this season. "It's a toss-up as to whether Samaras or [Dartmouth's Jacque] Wetzel is the best attacker in the country," Wren said. "But the defense also has to shut down their [other] scorers." The Quakers have their work cut out for them tonight but Penn will take the field aware of what will be needed to pull off the upset. "It'd be really nice to beat them," Penn junior co-captain Brooke Jenkins said. "We have to go out tomorrow knowing that we have nothing to lose and they have everything to lose, so we just have to give it our best."
(04/19/99 9:00am)
On Friday night, a band called Clowns for Progress took the stage at the Palestra to kick off the Spring Fling concert. Around the same time, it seemed like the Penn women's lacrosse team was finally about to make some progress of its own, just down 33rd Street. The Quakers' glimmer of hope faded, however, as they fell 20-2 to No. 10 Dartmouth. Penn (1-10, 1-4 Ivy League) started its game against the Big Green (8-1, 5-0) with an intensity that has been lacking all season at Franklin Field. Penn patiently cycled through its attack while Dartmouth's defense was somewhat tentative, as the Quakers held the ball for the first 3:30 -- making it hard to tell which team had just one win and which had one loss. "We were on," Penn junior midfielder Lee Ann Sechovicz said. "I think they probably weren't expecting us to come out like that and they weren't pressuring as hard at the beginning, so we could kind of move around on the attack." Penn's attack retrieved the rebound of junior co-captain Brooke Jenkins' shot off the post just 1:38 into the game and instead of rushing another shot as they have been prone to doing this season, the Quakers looked for a better opportunity. The Red and Blue moved the ball through the attack until Traci Marabella found such a chance. Unfortunately for the Quakers, Dartmouth goalie Ellie Leahy managed to stop the shot and the Big Green snapped into action. A mere 25 seconds later, Dartmouth was celebrating the first of its 20 goals and the Quakers were on their way to tying a team record with their 10th loss of the season. "[That goal] leveled us," Sechovicz said. "That's something we have to get over. When [another team] scores, we're down, and we need to be able to bounce back. It's hard." Jenkins scored Penn's first goal with 21:28 remaining in the first half to make it 3-1, but the Quakers would not get any closer. Things have not been hard lately for the Big Green. Dartmouth's 20-goal output was its second such performance in a row, as it walloped Vermont 21-1 in its most recent game. Friday's game marked the first time that Dartmouth had scored 20 goals in back-to-back games since 1975, when the Big Green pounded Worcester State and Keene State. "This was really the first game we've played for 60 minutes," Dartmouth coach Amy Patton said. "I think we were very, very patient, and that's something we've been looking for." Patience is something that Penn has also been looking for. After the opening sequence, however, the Quakers were not able to find anything of the sort. "I think that we freaked out when they pressured us a little bit," said Penn freshman Jenny Hartman, who scored the Quakers' second goal of the game with 0:34 remaining in the first half. "I think we also knew they were a good attacking team and if we gave them chances they would score. Our plan was to possess the ball." Penn had a lot of trouble sticking to that plan against Dartmouth, which won its eighth straight game. The Quakers' inability to execute their game plan was particularly disappointing to Penn assistant coach Alanna Wren, who has been leading the Quakers for over a month and a half since the team petitioned for the removal of head coach Anne Sage. After most games since then, Wren and the team immediately come together around the Quakers bench to discuss what happened in the game. Friday night, there was no such conference, as Wren had nothing to say. "I'm just tired of telling people the same old thing and never having anything change," Wren said. "Set a game plan and no one implements it -- as a coach, that's one of the most frustrating things because that's the only control you feel you have." Princeton, which currently holds the No. 5 national ranking, will visit Franklin Field on Wednesday night for the Quakers' final home game of the season. It will be the last chance for Penn to avoid going through an entire season without a victory in front of the home crowd.
(04/15/99 9:00am)
Traci Marabella and Amy Weinstein scored the Quakers' only goals. The Penn women's lacrosse team came into last night's game against No. 11 Rutgers knowing it would need to turn in a near-perfect performance to notch its second win of the season. The Quakers' actual play, however, fell far short of that standard, and the Scarlet Knights left Philadelphia with a 15-3 triumph. "It was just a breakdown on every single part of the field," Penn senior co-captain Jenni Leisman said. "It's really frustrating." The Quakers (1-9) are now just one loss away from tying the team record for losses in a season, originally set in 1986 and matched in 1991 and 1992. Of Penn's final three opponents, two are ranked -- the season's final opponent, Brown, had been ranked also until being replaced by upstart Cornell in this week's IWLCA poll. "We have to go back to the drawing board," said Penn assistant coach Alanna Wren, who has been leading the Quakers for nearly a month and a half since the team petitioned for the removal of head coach Anne Sage. "We have to go back to getting the players to understand what the game plan is gonna be and then having them implement that game plan, and not just freelancing, hoping that it's gonna work." Against the Scarlet Knights, very little worked for the Quakers, especially on defense, as 10 Rutgers players put the ball in the cage, led by sophomore Jill Penrose's hat trick. "I think our team is very unselfish," Rutgers coach Anna Marie Vesco said. "That's the way we like it, having six or seven scorers instead of one or two." While the Quakers had seven players score at Columbia in the season's lone win, only two players -- Traci Marabella and Amy Weinstein -- could add tallies to the board last night. Marabella's goal came 2:42 into the game, tying the score at one. At that point, it seemed like the Quakers had a shot at pulling off the upset, but the momentum was short-lived. "We got the ball down in our attacking end and that was a big positive because we usually have trouble doing that early in the game," Wren said. "But it was just that one goal, and we spent a lot of time in our defensive end after that and they just scored goal after goal and our defense couldn't get it together." In fact, Rutgers would score nine times before Penn could add to its total again. After Marabella bounced a free position shot past the net, the ball cycled to Weinstein, who scored the first of her two goals with 24:58 to play in the game. Unfortunately for Penn, the game was already out of reach. Weinstein herself found little solace in the fact that she scored two goals in the game, disappointed by both the outcome and her own performance. "I don't think that's really reflective of how I played," the sophomore said. "We just need to realize that in games like this we don't really have anything to lose, so we should go out and give it all that we have because nothing bad can happen if you give it your all." It also did not help the Quakers that Rutgers answered the early game-tying goal within 18 seconds to advance their lead to the margin that would stand for the rest of the night. "We had practiced how to defend them and what we were supposed to do," Leisman said. "We didn't do it and they started scoring, and that got everyone down, and then there were midfield transition problems again, and the attack wasn't working right." On a night where nothing worked right for Penn at Franklin Field, everything was going as planned for the Scarlet Knights, who won their sixth straight. "We were flat for the first couple of minutes," Vesco said. "I think we just started building momentum after that. We started connecting a couple of passes and our flow got going a little better." With three more tough games left to play, the Quakers can only hope to find some flow of their own.
(04/14/99 9:00am)
Tonight at Franklin Field, two women's lacrosse teams will take the field fighting to save their seasons. For Penn (1-8), the 7 p.m. contest is the first of four games against nationally ranked opponents. The Quakers must win at least two of the contests in order to avoid compiling the worst winning percentage in team history. No. 11 Rutgers is having an opposite season to the Quakers. While Penn's 1-8 start represents the worst in team history, the Scarlet Knights' 8-2 record is the program's best ever. Rutgers has won five straight games, including impressive victories over No. 7 Georgetown and perennial powerhouse Syracuse. Despite their strong play, the Scarlet Knights know that each game is a must-win if they are to secure the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament bid. Thus, they must regard everyone -- even the struggling Quakers -- as a serious threat. "We're ranked 11th and they only take 11 to the NCAAs," Rutgers coach Anna Marie Vesco said. "We can't afford a loss from here on in. If Penn comes out strong and beats us, we lose all hope of going to the NCAAs. That's our motivation." The Quakers, meanwhile, will be trying to play spoiler to the Scarlet Knights' strong season. "[That's important to us] because basically we have nothing to lose by going out and playing tough," Penn freshman attacker Jennifer Hartman said. "[We'll be] going for the win like we always try to, especially because Rutgers is having such a good season and it would be nice to upset someone." For Penn to beat Rutgers, as with every other team remaining on the schedule, the recipe is simple: be supremely confident and execute every aspect of the game perfectly. "I know it would be nice [to beat Rutgers]," said Penn assistant coach Alanna Wren, who has been leading the team for over a month since the team petitioned for the removal of head coach Anne Sage. "We have played them tough in the past and any one of these four teams it would be good to play tough and come out with an upset. But we just have to give everything and play our best." Penn does have some reason for bringing confidence into tonight's game. With the exception of a lopsided loss against Temple, in which top scorer and co-captain Brooke Jenkins did not play due to injury, most of the Quakers' best efforts have come against their toughest foes, such as the opener against Yale. "Rutgers' overall team speed isn't as high [as Yale's]," Wren said. "But they have a lot of smart, aggressive players." One thing that contributes to the Scarlet Knights' game savvy and aggressiveness is their experience, another factor that distinguishes them from the young Quakers. Rutgers has 11 seniors on its roster, including attacker Amanda Mazzarella, who notched a hat trick in Saturday's win at the Carrier Dome. Because the Scarlet Knights have so many older players who will likely have a mental edge, Penn will need to turn in an excellent physical performance in order to pull off the upset. "Just doing one thing well isn't going to cut it, so every aspect of our game has to be exceptional," Wren said. "With Columbia, [it was possible to] be confident that just some good shots could win the game. With these four [teams to close the season], it's a different story." The Quakers can also help their chances by coming out with a full head of steam tonight. Penn has been outscored 64-26 in the first half of games this season but has played much closer in the second half. The Quakers trail their opponents 42-30 after the break. Penn's lone win at Columbia was one of the two games in which Penn led or was tied at intermission. The Scarlet Knights are faced with a different situation. They have trailed or been tied at the half just twice; one of those games was a 13-7 loss to No. 6 Princeton. In Rutgers' other defeat, against No. 12 Old Dominion, the Scarlet Knights led by just one when the first half ended. "We're known for playing a great first half and then slacking off," Vesco said. "We want to pretty much play our game for a full 60 minutes." For as much as the two teams that will face off tonight are different, they both have similar game plans -- playing with full intensity throughout the game and executing properly are still the biggest keys for both.
(04/12/99 9:00am)
After earning their first win last week, the Quakers played below their ability in an 11-5 loss to the Crimson. On Thursday, the Penn women's lacrosse team's victory at Columbia gave the previously winless squad some much-needed confidence. Seven players scored for the Quakers in New York and the team had every reason to believe that it could go up to Harvard this weekend and come away with a win. The Crimson (3-6, 1-2 Ivy League) had other plans for Saturday afternoon's game, and handed Penn its eighth loss of the season. Only two players -- freshman Traci Marabella and junior co-captain Brooke Jenkins -- put balls in the cage for Penn (1-8, 1-3), and the Quakers came back to Philadelphia with an 11-5 loss. "A bunch of people took shots but just weren't lucky," Jenkins said of the Quakers' lack of scoring diversity. "Some of our shots were off-angle and at the side of the cage. Alanna [Wren] is working at getting us at a good angle and shooting low." For Wren, who has been leading the Quakers for over a month since the team petitioned the Athletic Department for the removal of head coach Anne Sage, it has been a constant struggle this season to get the team to take better shots. On Saturday, however, shot selection was not the only problem for Penn, which trailed 5-2 at halftime. In losing to Harvard, the Quakers played down to their opponents' level. The same problem cost Penn games that could have helped to build their confidence level against Stanford, Boston College and Notre Dame. "When we've played teams like that, we've hesitated," Penn sophomore attacker Annie Henderson said. "And when we have nothing to lose, we play better. We have a tendency to play up against teams like Yale but also to play down. Harvard was not that much better than us. If we didn't win, it should have been a closer score." The root of that problem for the Quakers may lie in their intensity level. In the midst of such a frustrating season, many players have gone through a sort of doldrums, with a lower level of intensity. "I think it varies every game," said Marabella, whose hat trick brought her season scoring total to 8 goals. "There are times when I've gone out there not into it. A lot of people just get sick of losing, and everyone goes through that and has a game where they don't really seem to care. Harvard was a beatable team but three or four people can't really win a game." The Quakers will need to play "up" for their final four opponents of the season. Penn will face only ranked teams the rest of the way -- Rutgers, Dartmouth, Princeton and Brown. "Rutgers, Dartmouth and Princeton will be very tough," Jenkins said. "Brown is a lot like Harvard and I hope to see some positive results. On Saturday some people played well and others didn't. We need to raise the intensity level and it's something that we've been looking for all season. Sometimes it's hard to still be intense and I feel like I need to be more intense." In fact, Jenkins may be one of the only members of the team whose intensity level has been consistently high. She leads the Quakers attack with 15 goals, just four below her career high, set in 1997. Since her freshman season, she has torn her right ACL twice and her two goals on Saturday showed that she has now adjusted to the bulky leg brace that she will be wearing for the rest of the season. "[Brooke is] so consistent, and we need that," Marabella said. "Otherwise, we would be lost. She's out there every game to win, and this was really one of the first games where I was like I really want to win this game, and it's so much more fun like that." In order to avoid compiling the lowest winning percentage in team history, Penn needs to have a lot "more fun" in two of its final four games by putting wins on the board.
(04/09/99 9:00am)
The Penn women's lacrosse team stopped an 0-7 start to the season with a 10-8 victory at Columbia. NEW YORK -- Before the Penn women's lacrosse team faced Columbia yesterday, the public address system at Baker Field was blaring Bruce Springsteen's song "Glory Days." The Quakers have not had many of those this season but yesterday was a big one. Under a cloudless sky, the Quakers (1-7, 1-2 Ivy) put a halt to the worst start in team history with a 10-8 victory over Columbia (5-4, 0-4). The Lions, now in their third year as a varsity program, have never won an Ivy League contest. "I give a lot of credit to Penn," Columbia coach Celine Cunningham said. "We didn't look at them as an 0-7 team, we looked at them as an Ivy team and it could have gone either way. We executed pretty well but it just wasn't enough." By beating the Lions, Penn avoided a record eighth consecutive loss. Earlier in the week, Penn senior co-captain Jenni Leisman said that a loss to Columbia would be "devastating" to the team's confidence and season. The Quakers were aggressive from the opening draw, and jumped out to a 2-1 lead less than five minutes into the game. But they were a bit too aggressive and began making mistakes. Penn assistant coach Alanna Wren, who has been leading the Quakers for over a month since the team petitioned for the removal of head coach Anne Sage, yelled from the sideline trying to get her team to relax. The team listened but relaxed a little bit too much, allowing Columbia to score three of the next four goals to take a 4-3 lead with 4:23 to go in the first half. "You say relax and they can take it one way or another," Wren said. "They can be relaxed and have confidence or be relaxed and make mistakes. I think that they took it the wrong way there for a couple of minutes, and it was a little scary." Penn came back, however, and at halftime the score was tied at five. After the intermission, it was a different Quakers team on the field -- the Red and Blue displayed a newfound confidence and scored the first four goals of the second frame. "[The players] decided at halftime that they just really wanted it and that it was a new game," Wren said. "That's where their intensity and drive kicked in. They [showed] the ability to dig down and pull it out." Penn took control of the ball off of the draw to start the second half and never looked back. After drawing a foul deep in the offensive zone, co-captain Brooke Jenkins brought her team-leading total to 13 goals with a scorcher from the right side of the net. "We knew that we needed to step up and put them away," said Jenkins, whose goal was her first while wearing a large knee brace to protect her torn right ACL. "I'm very happy that a lot of players are getting more confidence, too, like Amy Weinstein. We need to have all seven players on our attack be a threat so that they can't focus on any one player." Weinstein's hat trick led the Penn attack today, in which seven Quakers scored. Columbia also had good offensive balance, with Sara Brubaker's hat trick leading four Lions scorers. Columbia's balance, however, actually helped Penn concentrate on defense. "It was a goal of ours to stop their attack, and we worked hard to do it," said Penn sophomore Sara Evans, who stepped up from the defense spot to score her first goal of the season. The Quakers' hard work finally did pay off yesterday. At the final whistle, all of the players rushed out onto the field and celebrated before the postgame handshake with the Lions. They then lined up and sang "The Red and Blue" -- all with ear-to-ear smiles. "We needed this so badly," Leisman said. "It's good to know that after seven losses, we can win a game. I think that everyone out there just really wanted it." The Quakers are already much more confident for tomorrow's game at Harvard (2-4, 0-1). Penn has beaten the Crimson two seasons in a row. "Now the ball is rolling," Penn midfielder Lee Ann Sechovicz said. "We're psyched." "I think it's huge just to have a win," Wren said. "It's great to have some confidence, with the fact that it was away [and] that for the freshmen it's their first big trip. Harvard's going to be a tough one but with this game going as well as it did, I think that'll make it a lot easier."
(04/08/99 9:00am)
The 0-7 Quakers face Columbia, which has never won an Ivy game. Off to the worst start in team history, the Penn women's lacrosse team will have its best opportunity yet to turn things around this afternoon. At 4 p.m., the Quakers will be in New York to face Columbia at Baker Field, five miles north of the school's Manhattan campus. The Quakers (0-7, 0-2 Ivy League) finally have some confidence heading into today's game, as Columbia (5-3, 0-3) has not won an Ivy League game in its three years as a varsity program. "Things are looking good for tomorrow," Penn midfielder Amy Weinstein said. "I think that getting our first win will boost our confidence. [The biggest key] will be coming out from the start and letting them know we're not going to just stand back and let them do their thing." For the Quakers to get off to a good start, they will have to be especially aggressive on the attack in the early stages of the game, peppering the Columbia cage with shots. "Hopefully tomorrow we'll be able to put it all together," Penn senior co-captain Jenni Leisman said. "We want to go out there and dictate the flow right away, score the first few goals and prevent them from scoring." So far, that is exactly what Penn's opponents have been doing to the Quakers. Through seven games, the Penn offense has netted 41 goals while the Quakers have surrendered 87. One of Penn's biggest problems has been shot selection. "We're going to have to take advantage of our opportunities," said Penn assistant coach Alanna Wren, who has led the Quakers since the team petitioned the Athletic Department for the removal of head coach Anne Sage over a month ago. "We need to work on our shot selection and hopefully put some balls in the cage early on." With the season more than half over, the Athletic Department has still not made a decision on Sage's future. The Quakers will once again try to get their first win without their official head coach on the sidelines. The Quakers have certainly had problems in the early parts of games this season, falling behind 4-0 or worse in five of their seven losses. "If we hustle 100 percent of the time, we have a good chance of beating them," Penn junior co-captain Brooke Jenkins said. "We've had a tendency to start out slow and finish harder, but by then we've already dug ourselves into too big of a hole. If we play hard the whole time, we'll be fine." Jenkins, who leads Penn with 12 goals, is also now feeling "fine." Today will be her second game back since being diagnosed with a torn ACL. Jenkins did not score and was noticeably slower than normal while wearing a bulky leg brace on Monday night against Notre Dame. That was her first day with the brace, however, and she has displayed more mobility in practice as the week has progressed. "It was tough that her first day with the brace was a game day," Wren said. "She's starting to look more comfortable moving around. The team has a lot more confidence when she's out there, too." Despite her improvements, Jenkins will be no surprise to the Lions. "Having worked with Brooke before, at camps and stuff, I know that she's just a smart player," Columbia coach Celine Cunningham said. "Her speed wasn't her best thing, so we still have to make sure to keep a good eye on her." It may be difficult for Penn to figure out whom to keep an eye on today. No Lions player even averages two goals per game, the number that Jenkins has achieved this season. Columbia's balanced attack means that Penn will have to play good overall team defense. "It's always a challenge on defense making sure that we keep our communication open and work together," Leisman said. "If we don't, any team can get through and score a few goals. "We're all looking forward to [this game], and we're definitely capable of [winning] and I think that if we don't win, it will be nothing but a flaw in how we play. That would be a big setback for us for the rest of the season." The Quakers will need confidence going into the rest of the season because after Saturday's game against Harvard, Penn closes the season with four nationally ranked opponents. "Getting our first win will boost our confidence," Weinstein said. "I think that if we get a win [today] and show ourselves and everyone else that we can do it, then we can maybe turn it all around."
(04/05/99 9:00am)
If the Penn women's lacrosse team is going to avoid an 0-7 start, it will need to shut down Notre Dame's potent offense. The Penn women's lacrosse season is becoming a race against history. Tonight at Franklin Field, the Quakers will have one shot to lunge for the tape and avoid entering the wrong side of the annals of Penn athletics. It could be tough for the Quakers (0-6) to avoid becoming the first women's lacrosse squad at Penn ever to open a season with seven straight losses. Notre Dame (4-2) -- which visits Penn tonight at 7 p.m. -- has won its last two games in convincing fashion, beating Connecticut 18-6 on March 28 and knocking off Villanova 15-9 on Saturday. The Fighting Irish are not only hot, they seriously outgun Penn. The top two scorers for Notre Dame, Lael O'Shaughnessy (26 goals) and Courtney Calabrese (17), have combined for 43 goals in six games this year. The Quakers have only tallied a total of 37 goals and they will be without leading scorer Brooke Jenkins (12 goals), who tore her right ACL last week and will likely miss the remainder of the season. "We're going to have to have hard work on defense," said Penn assistant coach Alanna Wren, who has been leading the team since the players petitioned for the removal of head coach Anne Sage before the season. "Notre Dame has a girl that averages five or six goals a game and we've basically got to approach that and control it at the defensive end." It has now been one month since Sage left the team but the Athletic Department has still not made an official decision regarding her future. To avoid tying the 1992 team with a record seventh straight loss tonight, the Quakers will need to contain more than just O'Shaughnessy and Calabrese. Notre Dame's Kerry Callahan (14 goals) and Kathryn Perella (11 goals) are also scoring threats. One way to control the Irish's weapons will be for the Quakers to keep the ball themselves and get it up to the attack with good midfield transition. Thursday, in a 15-1 loss at Temple, Penn had its best performance of the season in that department. "The midfield transition improved a lot [at Temple]," senior co-captain Jen Leisman said. "We need to try to bring everything together." Bringing everything together will also include the attack, which will not have its leader, Jenkins. Her absence leaves Amy Weinstein as the leading goal scorer for the Quakers with six, followed by Leisman and freshman Traci Marabella with four apiece. "The attack is controlling the ball [better than at the beginning of the season]," Marabella said. "But no one has had the confidence to go to the net. We just have to not be afraid to miss. We need to not get into that." If Penn's overall performance level continues to rise tonight, the Quakers will have a good chance at their first win of the season tonight. With winnable games on the road later this week at Columbia and Harvard, a win tonight could be just the boost that Penn needs. Another important thing for the Quakers to do is to come out strong. In four of this season's six losses, Penn has fallen behind by five or more goals to start the game. "It's not going to be easy," Wren said. "[We cannot] get into a hole early and try to dig ourselves out. [This] is going to be a huge game for us and it could be a real turning point if we can win it." The Quakers hope to turn their season around tonight. Having gone through so much difficulty already, the team will have every right to be satisfied with a strong finish. "We had a lot of adversity at the beginning," Leisman said. "It's frustrating and we just have to try our hardest. Hopefully we can all eventually feel good about it."
(04/02/99 10:00am)
The Quakers played without Brooke Jenkins, who tore her right ACL. The Penn women's lacrosse team finally got its midfield transition play in order yesterday, but the Quakers still could not avoid falling to 0-6 -- their worst start since 1991. Freshman Traci Marabella scored the only goal for Penn, as Temple (2-5) hammered its crosstown rival, 15-1. Nicole Ross tallied six goals for the Owls, and goalie Iris Alvarado stopped 10 Quakers shots at a soggy Geasey Field yesterday afternoon. "The defense played real well," Alvarado said. "I think that I've been in a slump for a little bit, and this game meant a lot to me." The Temple defense was key to the game's outcome, as Penn had better possession of the ball than it has had all season. "The defense did a much better job pressuring the ball," Temple coach Kim Ciarrocca said. "We got to a lot of balls well today. That was a big factor." Despite the Owls' aggressive play, their advantage on ground balls was only 19-18. But the Quakers, playing without leading scorer Brooke Jenkins, were unable to finish despite managing to create some of their best offensive opportunities of the season. The junior and co-captain was instructed not to play after an MRI yesterday morning revealed at least a partial tear in her right ACL. Jenkins missed all of last year after tearing the same ligament in last season's opening game. "[The pain] is not that bad," Jenkins said. "It was just hard not to play. I'm not sure about [my future] playing status." Without Jenkins, the Quakers' outlook was bleak yesterday. Her presence was missed both as an offensive force and as a leader. "Brooke's our captain, and she really is the heart and soul of the attack," Marabella said. "She's working hard every single minute of every game, and it was really difficult today." Penn's situation was not helped by the fact that Temple scored first. The Quakers seemed to fall into a "here we go again" mentality, and the Owls became the fourth team in six games to put the Red and Blue down by five or more goals to start. In fact, the Quakers trailed 12-0 before they scored their only goal. "It's the same old problem where we get ourselves into a big hole, and spend the rest of the day trying to dig out," said Penn assistant coach Alanna Wren, who has been leading the Quakers since the team petitioned for the removal of head coach Anne Sage before the season. "We just have to try to address the attack about how to step up without Brooke. Monday night [against Notre Dame] could be a real turning point if we can work hard in the next few days for that game." The Quakers will have to come together on the attack against the Irish, as their one goal today was the lowest output for Penn in a game in eight years. "We're struggling," Penn senior Jenni Leisman said. "It's going to be good to have a couple of practices and a day off before our next game. It's been a tough week and a half, and I think everyone's ready to turn it around." Part of that turnaround could be Melissa Rantz. The junior goalie replaced starter Christian Stover with 17:12 remaining in the first half and the Owls leading 7-0. She came up with eight saves for the Quakers. "Melissa had some wonderful saves," Wren said. "She does tend to get overly anxious when she has to do something with the ball. It would be great to have her have a complete game -- both stopping the ball and clearing the ball. She did a nice job in there today." On the other end of the field, Alvarado thought that the win would "build a little bit more confidence" for the Owls, who had been throttled by some of their opponents. Confidence is also exactly what the Quakers need. "Today, more than any game, the attack controlled the ball," Marabella said. "But no one had the confidence to go to the net. It's just a mental thing, and it's really hard to get back. Last year, in high school, confidence was never an issue. I knew I was going to score every time I had the ball. From being so confident to having almost none at all? but if we can put together all the good things we've been doing in one game, it would be huge. We really need that confidence." Confidence may be the next aspect of the game that Penn needs to improve upon. The Quakers have made strides with their midfield transition, the aspect of the game which killed them throughout March. "I thought our midfield transition was much better today," Jenkins said. "People were making smarter passes, but we still need to work on being patient."
