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(11/10/94 10:00am)
Vin Ferrara knew when he came to Harvard in 1991 that three-year starting quarterback Mike Giardi and all his school records would be gone one day. Ferrara not only knew it, he looked forward to it. He would be the leader of the Crimson. Finally, everything would rest on his shoulders. What he did not know was his shoulders -- his right one, anyway -- would not be as capable of bearing that burden as he had imagined. The injury, sustained in a lacrosse game in the spring of 1992, didn't even seem that bad at the time, but the diagnosis was ominous: torn cartilage. The pain was bearable enough for Ferrara to take a few throws that summer. He soon had to face the fact the ball just would not be going where he wanted it to go anytime soon. That was a difficult proposition for the New Jersey native to comprehend. Ever since he was eight years old, Ferrara had gotten the ball to go wherever he wished. "They stuck me in at quarterback on my little league team because I was taller than everybody else, and I've just been there ever since.?To all of a sudden not be able to play anymore was difficult to take," he said. Playing was out of the question, so Ferrara sat out his sophomore season. After a whole year on the sidelines, Ferrara craved action. He didn't get it. Giardi had already established himself as one of the great quarterbacks in Crimson history. The 1993 season was almost like another year off. "My arm was very weak from the injury and the long layoff, and it needed tons of work to get stronger," he said. "I just didn't get any at all." He attempted only 12 passes during the season, his first dose of varsity competition, and stewed on the bench. Looking back on it, though, Ferrara considers the injury a blessing in disguise. "I've worked on my fundamentals so much more since the injury, which has helped a lot," he said. "Plus, it's given me that extra year." Which was key, because 1994 was a big question mark. As if a quarterback with no starting experience at the helm of a youth-laden offense was not enough, 23-year coaching legend Joe Restic had bid the Crimson farewell at the end of the 1993 season. In his place came former Cincinnati Bearcats coach Tim Murphy, who brought a system featuring traditional dropback passing to replace Restic's multiflex. It is a style of play the redshirt junior is still struggling to get used to. But he was nevertheless pleased with the change. "Coach Restic loved [Giardi], that's the only way I can put it," Ferrara said. "But with the new coach coming in, it wasn't as if I had to replace Mike in coach Restic's eyes. It was a new start for everybody." With a new coach and young players, most figured 1994 would be a rebuilding year. Then came the season opener in New York against an improved Columbia team. Making his first-ever varsity start, Ferrara was 22 of 35 passing for 245 yards and two touchdowns. With the Crimson trailing 32-31 in the closing minutes, Ferrara led an 83-yard march right through the Lion defense. He capped it off with a four-yard run for the winning score with 21 seconds left. For his efforts, he was named the Ivy League's Offensive Player of the Week. "For a quarterback making his first varsity start to have that kind of performance, it helped his confidence and the confidence of the entire team immensely," Murphy said. Inevitably, expectations were raised beyond what they probably should have been. The following week's game against Bucknell brought everyone back down to earth. The Bison confused Ferrara with a variety of different looks, pressuring him into all sorts of mistakes. The result was a 42-23 Bucknell romp despite a huge time-of-possession advantage for the Crimson. Ferrara was disappointed, but he knew such a performance was bound to happen eventually. "They threw a lot of different looks at us and I just wasn't prepared for it, experience-wise," he said. "It's hard to be a senior and not really have played in three years. It's really harder than coming in as a freshman, because you've been stagnant." Once he got significant experience, Ferrara quickly went from stagnant to stardom. Currently he is the league leader in total offense, with 193.6 yards per game. The first-year starter may very well be on pace to be the quarterback on the first-team all-Ivy squad. His league-high two Offensive Player of the Week awards attest to that. The second came two weeks ago at Dartmouth, when Ferrara and company blistered the Big Green. Harvard cruised to a surprising 35-12 win. "Everything just came together," Ferrara said. "It's really a cliche, but whenever everyone around you plays well, you do as well." There are still times when the shoulder gives him trouble, when he throws the ball short and thinks how three years ago he could have put those extra couple of yards on it. But for the most part, he is very pleased with how everything has worked out. Vin Ferrara is playing for a coach he likes in a system he is comfortable with, leading a team on the rise.
(11/02/94 10:00am)
For fans and alumni, homecoming can be the most glorious day of the year. For Penn coach Al Bagnoli, it is something of a pain in the neck. In the locker room after the Quakers' 14-6 win over Yale Saturday, Bagnoli was a picture of exhaustion -- and not just because his team had to struggle to grind out a sloppy victory. He looked like a man who had just been through a whirlwind of a week. Pregame and halftime activities on the field, a delayed kickoff time, the return of ex-players dating back to the George Munger era and the traditional homecoming hype all made it next to impossible for the Quakers to maintain their normal routine. The TV timeouts resulting from the Prism broadcast did not help either. "There's not a normal flow to the game," Bagnoli said. "It's something that becomes a little bit of a hindrance. And there's some added pressure to play well because you have so many people coming back." · The entire Penn defense deserved a game ball Saturday for allowing Yale just one touchdown despite the Elis' numerous forays into Penn territory. Two standouts were safety Nick Morris and defensive end Tom McGarrity. Morris was named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week after racking up 13 tackles, two interceptions and a fumble recovery. He returned his first pickoff 30 yards to set up a Mark DeRosa scoring pass to Miles Macik, which gave Penn a 14-0 lead going into intermission. Morris commended the Quaker front line for harassing the Yale quarterbacks into making poor decisions. "They made things happen," he said. "You have to give most of the credit to them. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time." One of those front-liners was McGarrity. A junior first-year starter, he was inserted into '93 co-captain Dave Betten's spot on the defensive line at the beginning of the year. Replacing Betten, a first-team all-Ivy player, is not an easy task, but McGarrity is coming into his own. His stats for the game -- two tackles and two pass deflections -- do not accurately tell the story. McGarrity was constantly wreaking havoc in the Yale backfield. "Tommy probably played his best game to date," Bagnoli said. "He was relentless. He did a real nice job in terms of penetration and disrupting things." · Morris was the best defensive player in the Ivies last weekend, but he also took center stage for a truly frustrating Penn offensive series. While the Quakers' offense struggled most of the game to grind out yardage, one sequence stood out from the rest. After a Yale fumble deep in its own territory, two pass interference penalties gave Penn first down at the Yale 1. Running back Terrance Stokes, who gained 155 yards on 34 carries, was stuffed for no gain. Then Morris, an ex-quarterback, came in to try to sneak the ball over. He, too, went nowhere. Stokes tried again. Nothing. Morris got another shot on fourth down, but his attempt to go over the top was squashed. But was it really? Morris, and virtually everybody in attendance -- as well as those watching on PRISM -- thought he had scored. "I was in," he said. "The Prism TV tapes showed I was in. I guess it doesn't matter now." · A prime area of concern coming out of the Yale contest is Penn's kicking game. Kicker Andy Glockner missed both his field-goal attempts, from 39 and 29 yards. Had he made either, Yale would not have had a chance to tie in the closing seconds with a touchdown and two-point conversion. Bagnoli did not place the bulk of the blame on Glockner, however. "We just had problems protecting," he said. "Andy could have conceivably still hit them, but it becomes a lot tougher when you're approaching the ball and all of a sudden you see an opposite-colored jersey coming at you." The kicking game breakdowns were just part of a set of problems that contributed to Penn's overall sloppy performance, according to Bagnoli. Problems with so-called "little things" in a variety of phases hindered the Quakers' ability to put points on the board "Maybe you saw it in the kicking game," Bagnoli said. "We didn't do the little things correctly in our two-minute defense -- things we practice an awful lot, that for some reason we just didn't do a good job with. Hopefully, we'll correct them." · Linebacker Kevin DeLuca had 13 tackles against the Elis, including two sacks at the end that snuffed out Yale's final drive. He sat out practice yesterday with a bruised thigh, and according to Bagnoli, his status is currently day-to-day. Bagnoli thinks he will be ready to play this Saturday at Princeton.
(10/31/94 10:00am)
Football squeaks past Yale, 14-6 When it was over, Yale simply had nothing left. Even from the upper deck, the look on the Elis' faces as they trudged off the field was plain to see. It was the look of a team that had given everything and come away with nothing. Penn had a hard-fought 14-6 victory, the 700th win in the program's history. It also marked the Quakers' 18th consecutive victory, the longest streak in Division I-AA and second longest in the nation behind Auburn's 19. Penn takes sole possession of first place in the league, because Brown upset Cornell, 16-3, in Ithaca, N.Y. Yale (3-4, 1-3 Ivy League) threw everything in its arsenal and then some at Penn Saturday at sun-baked Franklin Field. But all the fake punts, bootlegs and daring passes could not overcome the Quakers (6-0, 4-0) at their homecoming party -- the top-ranked defense in Division I-AA just would not allow it. The Penn 'D' bent, but it never broke. Six times the Elis ventured inside the Penn 35, but only once did they come away with even a single point. While everyone contributed to the Quakers blockade, but a few shone. Defensive linemen Michael "Pup" Turner and Tom McGarrity put all kinds of pressure on the two Yale quarterbacks. Linebacker Kevin DeLuca had a game-high 13 tackles, and safety Nick Morris had two interceptions and a fumble recovery to go with his 11 tackles. "I just give Pennsylvania all the credit in the world," said Yale quarterback Kevin Mayer, who replaced an ineffective Chris Hetherington after intermission. "They have a hell of a defense, that's all it comes down to." Yale's final drive was a fitting conclusion to its afternoon of frustration. Behind Mayer, the Elis drove to the Penn 20 with 36 seconds left. But Mayer twice overthrew receivers, and then was sacked by DeLuca on third down. DeLuca got to Mayer again on fourth down, forcing a fumble that nose tackle Chris Johnson recovered, and the issue was decided. "We came up big when we had to," Morris said. "The guys just really came up strong. The look in our eyes -- [a touchdown] just wasn't going to happen." The final sequence marred a solid performance by Mayer, who entered in the second half to throw for 151 yards and lead several long drives. Down 14-0 in the middle of the third quarter, Mayer led a 13-play, 56-yard drive featuring three completions for successful third-down conversions. Running back Bob Nelson took the ball in from three yards out to cut the Quakers' lead in half -- almost. Kicker John Stalzer missed the extra point. Having been on the field virtually the entire third period, the Penn defense showed signs of fatigue heading into the final stanza nursing a one-score lead. "You're tired," Turner said. "But at that point in the game, you really don't have room to be tired. So you just suck it up and play." And while the Elis continued to move the ball in the fourth quarter, they were too often unable to finish what they started. On Yale's first possession of the quarter, kicker John Lafferty missed a 49-yard field goal. Next, the Elis had to punt, and then Mayer was intercepted by Morris. Yale held after that turnover, and regained the ball for its final possession with 90 seconds remaining. After the game, Penn coach Al Bagnoli was just relieved to be done with the whole thing. "No one believed me when I said this would be a tough game," he said. "They made some great plays?. We were never able to get that third touchdown and get up by two scores in the second half." The Quakers should have had three touchdowns by halftime. Up 7-0 in the first quarter after Turner snuck in from less than a yard out, Penn's defense pounced. Johnson blasted Hetherington on Yale's next possession, and the ball popped out. Morris recovered the fumble, and Penn was in business at the Yale 19. But now it was the Elis' turn to spring to life on defense. Yale refused to let the Quakers into the end zone. Four consecutive Penn runs from the Yale 1-yard line were stopped cold. That series seemed to take the starch out of the Quakers attack. Terrance Stokes ran for 155 yards on 34 carries, but more often than not, Penn seemed incapable of grinding out yardage. Quarterback Mark DeRosa was 11-for-23 passing with two interceptions and a 16-yard touchdown strike to Miles Macik in the last minute of the first half that was set up by yet another Morris interception return. The only two sustained Penn drives ended in missed Andy Glockner field goals. "I really don't have an answer for the problems we were having," DeRosa said. "But we better get our act together, or every game is going to be like this. "For now, we're just going to take the win and go from there. Hats off to the defense."
(10/27/94 9:00am)
For more than a few Ivy League coaches and athletic directors, sending the league's football champion to the 16-team Division I-AA playoffs is an idea whose time has come. But that does not mean you should look for an Ancient Eight team in the Sweet 16 anytime soon. At issue is Section I-14/I-B Paragraph D of the 1954 Ivy Group agreement, which prohibits postseason play in all sports. Over the years, exceptions to the rule have been proposed and accepted by Ivy Presidents for every sport except football. Some feel the current situation constitutes a hypocrisy that has to be resolved. "Football is the only sport that discriminates against its athletes by not sending them to the NCAA playoffs," Brown athletic director David Roach said. Even if there is little or no opposition to the idea around the league, the process of getting it approved will be extremely lengthy. It will require a great deal of review before it is even put up for a vote. Not since the decision to make freshmen eligible for varsity competition has an issue of such significance come up in the athletic spectrum. Talks began regarding freshman eligibility at the end of 1990. The athletic directors approved the proposal in June 1991, and the Council of Presidents passed it six months later. It was not implemented, however, until the 1993 season. If anything, the issue of football playoffs is even weightier and could take longer to resolve. "With an issue as major as this one," associate director of the Ivy Group Chuck Yrigoyen said, "you're bound to have a divergence of opinion. People will feel the need to have in-depth study and discussion." The athletic directors could opt to formally raise the issue next spring at their annual May meeting. If approved, it would next pass to the league's Policy Committee, comprised of one dean from each school, and then to the Council of Presidents, which makes the final decision. In theory, all this could be done by June, and the 1995 champion could be eligible for the playoffs. But that timetable is next to impossible, according to most league officials. "There's a lot of lobbying and behind-the-scenes work you have to go through," Penn athletic director Steve Bilsky said. "That could take as much as a year or two. As much as you think some people may believe in the issues, you have to go through the proper channels." "You're talking about three committees of eight people each," Yrigoyen said. "And every one of those people might have a further constituency of some sort." Witness Larry Moneta, Penn's associate vice provost for University life, who became a member of the Policy Committee this year. He intends to consult both Bilsky and the faculty-laden University Council Committee on Recreation and Intercollegiate Athletics, of which he is a member. "I'd like to have a balanced perspective," he said. "I'll probably be swayed by both of them." Much of the behind-the-scenes introspection will involve one of the basic tenets of Ivy League athletics -- maintaining the academic welfare of the student-athlete. Even those in favor of the idea are quick to say their support will be forthcoming only if they are convinced schoolwork would not be jeopardized by the extra games. Were an Ivy League team to make the final, it would add four games to its 10-game regular season schedule and play into the third week of December, final exams time for some Ivy schools. "It's a concern of everyone -- no matter what any coach thinks -- to work it out so players don't fall behind," Columbia coach Ray Tellier said. "It's not the easiest thing to do." The infringements on time spent on academics will be of most concern to the eight school presidents, who in years past have refused to even formally consider extending the season. There are signs the presidents are now willing to listen. According to Bilsky, Penn president Judith Rodin has indicated her support for informal conversations with him. "It's about being a student advocate," Bilsky said, "and she is?.As long as it's not constraining, but rather enriching the education of the student-athlete, I think we should always look to expand opportunities for participation." A second potential deterrent is the concern that Ivy teams are not ready to compete with I-AA powerhouses. For all Ivy schools, virtually every non-league game is against the Patriot League, the only other I-AA conference that does not offer athletic scholarships. Even the best Ivy team might be outmatched against a top-ranked scholarship school. "The disadvantage is that football is the sport with the least national scheduling, so it's not as logical to send the champion into a national playoff," Ivy Group executive director Jeff Orleans said. Penn coach Al Bagnoli thinks steps need to be taken to bring the league up to the level of the top playoff-bound teams before competing against those schools. He cited a better financial aid package and an early signing date, so coaches do not have to recruit in December while the playoffs are occurring. "Once you do those things, you're ready to start talking about competing on a national level," he said. Bilsky has a compromise in mind that might ease trepidation about both missed class time and mismatches against the top national teams. He is thinking of a bowl structure in which the Ivy League champion could take on the champion of, say, the Patriot League. "Would fans want to go to Who-Knows-Where in North Dakota for a playoff game in December or down to Florida for a bowl game?" he said. "It would mean another chance to play, and it would be a championship-type game, just in a different format." There is growing sentiment, however, for the Ivy League champion to have the opportunity to test itself against the nation's elite, especially after Penn finished last season undefeated. Since the league champions in every other sport do, the pressure is growing. "We'll never know how good we can be," Cornell coach Jim Hofher said. "Not unless we get ourselves out of the arena of our own schedules and our own league."
(10/14/94 9:00am)
Columbia is finally above .500 It was in 1985 that Al Bagnoli, then the coach at Union, was a candidate for the vacant head coaching position at Columbia. Soon after his second interview there, Bagnoli decided he could do better. "They didn't have what I thought they needed to be successful on a continual basis," Bagnoli said. "Things weren't quite right." Things were, in fact, very wrong. The Lions were mired in a 44-game losing streak, an NCAA record that started in 1983 and lasted all the way to 1987. The Streak cast a cloud over the program that has not dissipated. Until, perhaps, now. Columbia (2-1-1, 0-1 Ivy League) enters tomorrow's 1 p.m. game against Penn (3-0, 1-0) at Franklin Field with its best shot in years at a winning season. That's a feat the Lions have not accomplished since 1971. Columbia took the first step in escaping the ravaging effects of The Streak in 1989 when it hired Ray Tellier as head coach. Tellier, who had coached against Bagnoli and Union while at Rochester, knew he would find the early going difficult. "I'd heard about the legacy, but you have to like a challenge," he said. "I just thought if we could change some attitudes and get a greater commitment to the program?there was only one place for us to go." Many things contribute to the success or failure of a football program -- financial aid, the budget situation and its relationship with admissions to name a few. Tellier had to work to bring all of these in line, but the toughest problem with which he had to contend was the tradition of losing. That is a big reason Tellier could not come close to doing what Bagnoli did when he arrived at Penn. The 2-8 team Bagnoli inherited when he joined the Quakers after the 1991 season became a 10-0 Ivy League champion in just two seasons. Penn won one more Ivy game last year -- seven -- than the Lions have won since Tellier's arrival. The reason is simple -- Tellier has found it next to impossible to bring in the talent necessary to compete at a championship level. "Our reputation is well-documented, and it doesn't help with recruiting," Tellier said. "A winning season, even just one, would help because then we would be able to talk about more than what we hope might happen with this program. We could tell [recruits] what we've actually accomplished." This year, Tellier thinks, may be the year the Lions take that big step. Somehow, some way, he has a group with the right combination of athleticism and work habits. Since dropping a tough loss to Harvard in the season opener, Columbia has gone undefeated. The Lions tied favored Lehigh only because they missed an extra point in the closing seconds, then dominated Lafayette and Fordham to push their record above .500. Last year, Columbia was 0-4 at this point in the season. Tellier thinks his team is improved at just about every position. The Lions feature a one-two punch at quarterback that is known for keeping teams off balance. If Penn is able to put the clamps on Jamie Schwalbe's passing, Tellier can send in Mike Cavanaugh to run the wishbone option. Cavanaugh has six runs over 30 yards this year. Of all the improvements, the running game may be the most significant. Cavanaugh and backs John Harper and Anthony Jackson key a ball-control offense that has allowed the defense to stay off the field far more than in years past. Despite the substantial improvements, Tellier knows his team has a ways to go before it reaches the level of a championship-caliber team. A team, for instance, like the Quakers. "I have great respect for Penn and all the things they've accomplished," Tellier said. "It's a tall order for us, but we're excited about having the chance to test ourselves against someone this good." The Quakers may have reached the peak of their powers with their 59-8 annihilation of Holy Cross last weekend at Franklin Field. But there is always the fear of a letdown after such a resounding victory, and no one is more aware of that fact than Bagnoli. He spent 10 minutes after practice Tuesday convincing his players. "I don't think they realize that a game like Holy Cross comes about once every five years," Bagnoli said. "But it would be foolish to think that's going to be the norm. We've got to get buckled down." Penn's passing game was clicking on all cylinders against the Crusaders. By the time the starters were pulled at halftime, quarterback Mark DeRosa had completed 23 of 31 passes for 285 yards. Receiver Miles Macik had caught 10 passes for 127 yards without breaking a sweat. The Quakers outgained Holy Cross 432 to 17 in the first 30 minutes. There's no way things will be so easy tomorrow. "Columbia's more physical than Holy Cross," Bagnoli said. "They're older, so they're used to the wars a little bit more. They're more talented." Not too long ago, Columbia wouldn't have compared favorably even with a team as weak as Holy Cross. The Lions have come a long way. Tomorrow's game will be the best indication yet this year of how far they have to go.
(10/06/94 9:00am)
He was named to the first team all-Ivy squad in 1993. Al Bagnoli said there is no one more important to the Penn program. But the best way to describe his ability is this: Pete Giannakoulis is as good at the game of football as he is at the game of life. Both obstacles are simply no match for him. He started as a fledgling football player trying to carve his own niche in one of the very best high school programs in the nation. Then he had to face the fact no big-time program wanted him coming out of high school, and that his grades weren't enough for the top-flight academic schools. So he went through a fifth year of high school. Things still weren't perfect even after he finally made it to Penn. At one point, a radio announcer said Giannakoulis was a liability because he was the shortest lineman in the entire Ivy League. Now he is the best center in the Ivies, a senior and a team captain, yet he still has to cope with always being overlooked on the offensive side of the ball. He is a lineman, and not Terrance Stokes or Miles Macik. Through it all, the Brockton, Mass., native has persevered to become "the complete package -- the way you draw it up to happen," according to Penn coach Bagnoli. He's gotten this far by maintaining an even keel outside the take-no-prisoners attitude he displays between the stripes. Need to find Giannakoulis the night before a road game? Try his hotel room, where the 270-pound behemoth, who specializes in driving opposing linemen into the ground, can usually be found with his laptop computer, checking out stock quotes on the Prodigy network. One moment he's quieting the nerves of first-year starting quarterback Mark DeRosa with a joke or two in the huddle. Then he's taking control of the game, trying to run out the clock, as the Quakers are backed up to their own goal line in the closing seconds at Dartmouth. "He just said, 'Follow me.' I ran right behind him and that allowed us to run out the clock," DeRosa said. "You trust him because he's just got a lot of smarts, plus a combination of toughness and power." Those traits were necessary to survive in Alvin Columbo's legendary Brockton High program. So was the ability to take advantage when an opportunity presented itself. Brockton was ranked No. 1 in the nation, and the offensive line was comprised of players destined for Miami, Michigan and Pittsburgh. But there was a spot open at guard. Though his forte was defensive tackle, Giannakoulis jumped at the chance to play. "That was an unbelievable program," Giannakoulis said. "When we came to practice it was just full-go, everyone hitting each other. The work ethic developed from there, because in order to play at that level, I knew I had to pick it up. I didn't want to take a backseat to anybody." But when graduation came, he was forced to take a backseat. Giannakoulis watched as his teammates took off for the top programs, while only a few Division II and III schools came knocking on his door. The Ivy League looked at his grades and college boards and shied away. Tommy Columbo, the son of the coach, suggested a year at a prep school couldn't hurt. Giannakoulis agreed. A year at Avon Old Farms in Connecticut followed. Giannakoulis got his house in order academically and became bigger and stronger. When it was over, the Ivies wanted him. So did the Patriot League. And the Yankee Conference. "I followed my heart, that's exactly what I did," he said of his choice to attend Penn. "And now I have no regrets whatsoever. It's been a great experience." Most of it, anyway. His first dose of varsity competition came on 1992 opening day at Dartmouth, when he was inserted at offensive tackle against the Jay Fiedler-led Big Green. The worst part of the 36-17 defeat, for Giannakoulis, was when the man he was blocking swatted two of Penn quarterback Jim McGeehan's pass attempts. That led to the remark about Giannakoulis being the shortest lineman in the league, a comment he still hasn't gotten over. It wasn't long before things took a radical turn for the better. The coaches decided to try Giannakoulis at center four games into the 1992 season. Giannakoulis hasn't budged since. "They needed someone for center, and I was like, 'I'll play center, just let me play,' " Giannakoulis said. "I think of all the positions I've played, that's my position. I'm basically a natural at it." Giannakoulis finally reached his peak in 1993. He started every game at center during the Quakers' perfect 10-0 season, anchoring an offensive line skeptics figured would be too inexperienced. By the end of the season, it may have the best in the league. Giannakoulis was first-team all-Ivy. No one really noticed. On Media Day this past August, the press asked for the three team captains. Stokes and defensive end Michael Turner got all the questions. Giannakoulis got ignored. He knows it's simply the plight of the offensive lineman. "If I were a reporter, I wouldn't want to talk to me either," he said. "You want to talk to people who are scoring touchdowns, making things happen on the field. But we know it all starts up front. My coaches respect me. My teammates respect me." That was evident when the team elected Giannakoulis a co-captain prior to the start of the season. The decision was a no-brainer for most of the Quakers. "I think it has a lot to do with consistency," senior guard Dave Broeker said. "He's someone who's performed well over the years. The guys know he'll always be there. No matter what, they can always count on him." Giannakoulis captains a team that is the proud owner of the nation's second longest winning streak. He can even take solace that he is no longer the shortest lineman in the Ivies -- teammate Rick Knox, whom Giannakoulis swears is shorter than his listed height of 6-foot-1, gets that honor. He can do it all on the field, and loves every minute of it. As soon as the buzzer sounds, however, it's right back to Nintendo and watching Saved By the Bell. And, he makes sure to add, studying. He's slated to graduate with degrees in finance and marketing in May. That's more important to him than any accolades he has earned on the field. "Of all the things I've worked for, my proudest moment is probably getting into the University of Pennsylvania," he said. "It will be an even prouder moment when I graduate." It will be a bittersweet moment for his coaches, because they will be losing a true star. Offensive coordinator Chuck Priore had to pause when asked what Giannakoulis means to the team. Finally he said: "We win because he's a winner."
(09/30/94 9:00am)
When Joe Paterno was a football player at Brown, he never got the opportunity to face the great George Munger-coached Penn teams at Franklin Field. Paterno was supposed to start at Brown in 1945, but he enrolled in the armed services instead and didn't make it to Providence until 1946. That season, the Quakers-Bears rivalry was put on hold until 1950, a year after Paterno's graduation. At the time, Paterno said, he was disappointed to miss out on competing within the hallowed confines of the stadium he loved going to as a youngster. But today, looking back on it, he thinks it's just as well. That's because Penn won the 1945 and 1950 games by identical 50-0 scores. Now, as he leads his No. 4 Nittany Lions (4-0) into a 4 p.m. contest tomorrow at Franklin Field against Temple (2-1), Paterno can honestly say all his memories of the stadium are happy ones. "I've got a lot of memories of Franklin Field as a kid, going to games when Penn was a big-time program," Paterno said. "And then as an assistant coach [at Penn State in the 1950s], we had quite a few big games there against George Munger's boys." Penn, which has a bye this week, was losing its status as a national powerhouse in those days, and Penn State won six of the seven games the two teams played -- most of them handily. The last time Paterno stood on the sidelines at Franklin Field, in 1975 against Temple, it was a very different story. The nationally ranked Nittany Lions needed a late punt return for a touchdown to avoid a major upset at the hands of the Owls. This year's version of Penn State-Temple figures to resemble the easy victories the Nittany Lions enjoyed at Franklin Field in the '50s. It could be the biggest mismatch of any two Division I-A teams this year. But anyone who knows Paterno knows he would never admit it. True to form, he said nothing should be taken for granted, especially with three starting defensive linemen out of the game with injuries. "With the injuries, I think our team is aware that someone's got to come to the front," Paterno said. Penn State could probably win this game in its sleep. Expect the Nittany Lions to give the 67-year-old Paterno time to relax and savor his return to the stadium that's given him many fond memories. The winningest active coach in I-A should have the chance to enjoy the experience of coaching in a stadium older than he is. "I'm glad there's still one out there," he said. · Temple's normal home field is Veterans Stadium, but tomorrow's game is at Franklin Field because it was in conflict with the Phillies. Temple had already begun selling tickets when the baseball strike occurred. Tickets are $25.
(09/26/94 9:00am)
Penn holds on for 13-11 victory HANOVER, N.H. -- It had already been a hellish week for the Penn football team. And only a clutch defensive performance Saturday at Dartmouth's Memorial Field kept it from getting much, much worse. After a fire destroyed a chunk of his team's equipment in the caverns of Franklin Field, after his star receiver severely injured his hand in practice and after sitting on a stalled bus in Springfield, Mass., for 90 minutes Thursday night, coach Al Bagnoli had to stand on the sidelines Saturday and watch the Quaker offense struggle all game to churn out yardage. With 90 seconds remaining, it appeared Bagnoli's week would be capped off, fittingly, with Penn's first loss since 1992. But then a Quaker defense that had been making big plays throughout the game came up with the biggest one of all. With Dartmouth just one yard away from the go-ahead touchdown, senior linebacker Pat Goodwillie broke through the line and stopped Big Green running back Pete Oberle on fourth down. After Penn intentionally took a safety, the Quakers escaped with a 13-11 victory. "I'm very proud of the kids," Bagnoli said. "It wasn't pretty. I'm not going to say I'm satisfied with some of the areas of play. But you talk about some of the intangible things, the things that separate the good teams from the not-so-good, this team has them." While the Quakers (2-0, 1-0 Ivy League) were basking in the afterglow of a hard-fought victory, Dartmouth (0-2, 0-1) was left to ponder a second consecutive heartbreaking loss. Down 20-16 last weekend against Colgate, the Big Green was knocking on the door in the closing seconds. Dartmouth was simply unable to punch the ball in the end zone. Saturday's defeat, coming at the hands of the defending Ivy League champions, was even tougher to take. "It's just so frustrating because we had opportunities to win the ball game," Dartmouth coach John Lyons said. "We just made too many mistakes that hurt us on both sides of the ball." As the game drew to a close, it looked as if Penn's mistakes would prove the most crucial. Breakdowns on special teams and on offense in the fourth quarter gave the Big Green a great shot to wipe out a 13-3 deficit. The Quaker lead was a product of two Andy Glockner field goals and a 53-yard scoring strike in the second quarter from quarterback Mark DeRosa to former high school teammate Mark Fabish. With 14 minutes remaining in the game, Dartmouth's Chris Boran fielded a punt at his own 35, avoided a tackle by Penn senior Michael Turner, and took off for the Quaker 23. That led to sophomore quarterback Ren Riley's first-ever collegiate touchdown pass, a 10-yarder to Brian Radics that trimmed the lead to 13-9. But the special teams bounced back on the very next play, when senior Michael Juliano blocked Geoffrey Willison's extra-point attempt. It would prove to be one of the biggest plays of the game, because it meant Dartmouth couldn't tie with a field goal. Penn still could have used some breathing room on the scoreboard, but for the fourth time in five second-half possessions, the Quaker offense went three downs and out. The top two stars particularly had their problems. Junior Miles Macik, DeRosa's primary receiving target, was hampered throughout with a hand injury suffered when it was stepped on Thursday in practice. Senior running back Terrance Stokes was held in check in the second half, when he carried 11 times for just 15 yards. "Unfortunately, today was one of those days," Stokes said. "Luckily, the defense stepped it up and played a great game. That's what teamwork is about -- if one aspect of the game is slacking, the other side of the ball has to pick it up." And defensive coordinator Michael Toop's unit came through with numerous crucial stops throughout the course of the game. The Big Green had a great day on the ground, with Oberle running 32 times for 118 yards, but it had no business coming away with just one touchdown and a field goal. The Quakers forced Dartmouth into three turnovers in Penn territory. Linebacker Kevin DeLuca, who had a huge day with a game-high 19 tackles, also grabbed an interception, and strong safety Nick Morris recovered a fumble near midfield in the fourth quarter. The defense repeatedly made the plays. But it wasn't until DeRosa backed out of the end zone for an intentional safety with six seconds left that the Quakers could breathe a sigh of relief and concentrate on putting the whole week behind them. "Thank God we got out of there with a win," Bagnoli said. "We've scheduled it perfectly with the week off coming up. I'm just going to go sleep on the bus and tomorrow I'm not going to do anything."
(09/26/94 9:00am)
Penn holds on for 13-11 victory HANOVER, N.H. -- It had already been a hellish week for the Penn football team. And only a clutch defensive performance Saturday at Dartmouth's Memorial Field kept it from getting much, much worse. After a fire destroyed a chunk of his team's equipment in the caverns of Franklin Field, after his star receiver severely injured his hand in practice and after sitting on a stalled bus in Springfield, Mass., for 90 minutes Thursday night, coach Al Bagnoli had to stand on the sidelines Saturday and watch the Quaker offense struggle all game to churn out yardage. With 90 seconds remaining, it appeared Bagnoli's week would be capped off, fittingly, with Penn's first loss since 1992. But then a Quaker defense that had been making big plays throughout the game came up with the biggest one of all. With Dartmouth just one yard away from the go-ahead touchdown, senior linebacker Pat Goodwillie broke through the line and stopped Big Green running back Pete Oberle on fourth down. After Penn intentionally took a safety, the Quakers escaped with a 13-11 victory. "I'm very proud of the kids," Bagnoli said. "It wasn't pretty. I'm not going to say I'm satisfied with some of the areas of play. But you talk about some of the intangible things, the things that separate the good teams from the not-so-good, this team has them." While the Quakers (2-0, 1-0 Ivy League) were basking in the afterglow of a hard-fought victory, Dartmouth (0-2, 0-1) was left to ponder a second consecutive heartbreaking loss. Down 20-16 last weekend against Colgate, the Big Green was knocking on the door in the closing seconds. Dartmouth was simply unable to punch the ball in the end zone. Saturday's defeat, coming at the hands of the defending Ivy League champions, was even tougher to take. "It's just so frustrating because we had opportunities to win the ball game," Dartmouth coach John Lyons said. "We just made too many mistakes that hurt us on both sides of the ball." As the game drew to a close, it looked as if Penn's mistakes would prove the most crucial. Breakdowns on special teams and on offense in the fourth quarter gave the Big Green a great shot to wipe out a 13-3 deficit. The Quaker lead was a product of two Andy Glockner field goals and a 53-yard scoring strike in the second quarter from quarterback Mark DeRosa to former high school teammate Mark Fabish. With 14 minutes remaining in the game, Dartmouth's Chris Boran fielded a punt at his own 35, avoided a tackle by Penn senior Michael Turner, and took off for the Quaker 23. That led to sophomore quarterback Ren Riley's first-ever collegiate touchdown pass, a 10-yarder to Brian Radics that trimmed the lead to 13-9. But the special teams bounced back on the very next play, when senior Michael Juliano blocked Geoffrey Willison's extra-point attempt. It would prove to be one of the biggest plays of the game, because it meant Dartmouth couldn't tie with a field goal. Penn still could have used some breathing room on the scoreboard, but for the fourth time in five second-half possessions, the Quaker offense went three downs and out. The top two stars particularly had their problems. Junior Miles Macik, DeRosa's primary receiving target, was hampered throughout with a hand injury suffered when it was stepped on Thursday in practice. Senior running back Terrance Stokes was held in check in the second half, when he carried 11 times for just 15 yards. "Unfortunately, today was one of those days," Stokes said. "Luckily, the defense stepped it up and played a great game. That's what teamwork is about -- if one aspect of the game is slacking, the other side of the ball has to pick it up." And defensive coordinator Michael Toop's unit came through with numerous crucial stops throughout the course of the game. The Big Green had a great day on the ground, with Oberle running 32 times for 118 yards, but it had no business coming away with just one touchdown and a field goal. The Quakers forced Dartmouth into three turnovers in Penn territory. Linebacker Kevin DeLuca, who had a huge day with a game-high 19 tackles, also grabbed an interception, and strong safety Nick Morris recovered a fumble near midfield in the fourth quarter. The defense repeatedly made the plays. But it wasn't until DeRosa backed out of the end zone for an intentional safety with six seconds left that the Quakers could breathe a sigh of relief and concentrate on putting the whole week behind them. "Thank God we got out of there with a win," Bagnoli said. "We've scheduled it perfectly with the week off coming up. I'm just going to go sleep on the bus and tomorrow I'm not going to do anything."
(09/21/94 9:00am)
The Penn-Lafayette contest at Franklin Field was over well before senior cornerback Jamie Daniels' interception return for a touchdown increased the Quakers' lead to 25-0. So that particular play, impressive as it was, did not draw as much attention as what immediately followed. Coach Al Bagnoli had his team try for a two-point conversion rather than send in fifth-year senior kicker Andy Glockner for the extra point. The try was successful, but the decision begged a question given Glockner's failure to convert on two of his four field goals and one extra point. Was Bagnoli giving his kicker time to think about what had been a fairly rough day? The answer -- a definite no -- can be found in the chart. All college coaches carry a chart that tells them when to try for two points, according to Bagnoli. The Quakers went for two points and a 27-0 lead so the Leopards would need four touchdowns, including three two-point conversions, and a field goal. The fact that Lafayette would have been hard-pressed to mount any sort of comeback with 11 minutes remaining was not the overriding factor, nor were the missed kicks. "Andy missed an extra point, which I think he's too good to miss," Bagnoli said. "[But] that decision had nothing to do with Andy. We missed the first one so we were off the correct scoring sequence and had to get it back to an even number." Glockner was well aware of the situation and was not the least bit fazed by the decision. "It was no problem at all," he said. "It had nothing to do with the previous extra points or anything like that. It just depended on the chart they have." If the missed kicks raised any eyebrows, it's because Glockner is coming off an inconsistent 1993 season in which he fell well below the solid performance of 1992. But Glockner isn't overly concerned with the problems he had Saturday and anticipates better things ahead. "There were some things I'd like to take back, but overall it was all right for the first game," he said. "I'll just try to get some stuff down -- work on some spots on the field that I was having a little bit more trouble with. We'll just work to make things smoother and smoother." · With the return of senior offensive lineman Dave Broeker from a knee injury, the Quakers enter this week's crucial game against Dartmouth in an unusual position -- with no major injuries to report. One player who probably won't be competing, however, is junior safety Sheldon Philip-Guide, who is out of action indefinitely until issues surrounding his eligibility are resolved. Bagnoli would not get into what specific issues are involved. He said he did not know when Philip-Guide, who was expected to challenge for a starting spot at free safety this year, would be eligible. "We're working at it as best we can," Bagnoli said, "and whether or not we can get him reinstated?that's out of my control. We're trying." · If there is one play Bagnoli would like to have back from what was otherwise an almost perfect day against Lafayette, it is the one that cost Penn its shutout. Dropping back in the pocket late in the fourth quarter, backup sophomore quarterback Steve Teodecki was an easy target for the Leopard blitz, and in his panic he tossed up a floater that never stood a chance. It was easily picked off and returned for a touchdown. Though Teodecki would have been better off taking the sack, Bagnoli blames himself for putting his playmaker in the predicament. "I'm not sure Steve should have thrown the ball, but I'm not sure I should have called the play," Bagnoli said. "We probably should have done something a little different, especially considering they had blitzed the last three or four plays." · The biggest bombshell to come out of Saturday's game was dropped following the traditional round of toast throwing by the Quaker fans. To the shock of many in attendance, a new and improved toast Zamboni with toast-proof glass was unveiled, joining the traditional Zamboni in mopping up the field. Bagnoli, for one, was puzzled by the addition of the new Zamboni to the Penn cleanup crew. "I don't know," he said. "I thought we had budgetary problems, but I guess not if they're out there buying extra cleanup machines. Someone's lying to us."
(09/12/94 9:00am)
DeLuca tries to fill linebacker void Penn coach Al Bagnoli knows better than anyone the special kind of athlete it takes to play linebacker in the Quakers' 5-2 defense. It is a position that requires an intricate combination of intense discipline and reckless abandon, not to mention flexibility. Lots of flexibility. "If you ever get the consummate linebacker, those are the kids you never have to take out of the game," Bagnoli said. "You don't have to take them out on third and 10 and substitute them for a coverage kid. You don't have to take them out on goal line and substitute them for a run kid. Those kids are hard to find." Last season, Bagnoli had two of them. Senior Pat Goodwillie and '94 grad Andy Berlin formed the core of a dominant defense. Goodwillie and Berlin led the Quakers in tackling, and both were clear first team all-Ivy selections. "We've been blessed with the Goodwillies and Andy Berlins," Bagnoli said. "We've been blessed by some of those players who can do everything." All good things must come to an end, however, and Berlin's departure has left behind a big hole. Senior Kevin DeLuca, junior Joe Allen and sophomore Tim Gage are all hoping to fill the void. DeLuca is slated to start on opening day. But DeLuca only saw limited playing time behind Goodwillie and Berlin the past two seasons. Allen saw all his action on the opposite side of the ball at running back. Bagnoli realizes it will be tough to replace Berlin. "We may need more than one kid," Bagnoli said. "[DeLuca] is a logical kid who's going to do it most of the time, but we're going to have to break it up because I'm not sure there's one kid there -- because of Andy's experience and everything else -- that has that kind of package." While Bagnoli is losing the complete player in Berlin, he has more than one reason to feel optimistic heading into the season. On the one hand are DeLuca and Allen, players who have the tools, if not the experience, and who are just waiting for the chance to make their mark. DeLuca, while lighter than Berlin, is a good runner and pass defender, something the Quakers need at linebacker, because if Goodwillie has a shortcoming, it is as a coverage man. While DeLuca looks good on paper, he hasn't had the opportunity to prove himself. Soon he will. "Now it's [DeLuca's] turn to step up," defensive coordinator Michael Toop said. "He's more than ready for it. Whether he can do it or not, we'll find out in a few days. I have all the confidence in the world in him." DeLuca is ready, but he knows he has a tough task ahead. "I don't really go on strengths," said DeLuca of his strong points. "Everything has to be improved." Then there is Allen, who may be without peer as far as physical specimens go, at least in the Ivy League. He is a 240-pound behemoth who also happens to run 40 meters in 4.6 seconds. That adds up to tremendous shock power, as opposing runners may soon find out. Allen knows too well what linebackers can do to a running back, having spent the last two years in the Quaker backfield. Recognizing the lack of playing time available behind senior Terrance Stokes this season, Allen agreed to return to linebacker, a position at which he excelled in high school. "The guys in college are at a completely different level," he said. "I need a lot of work getting down the thought process, but I should be ready. When you're out there at linebacker, you're out to kill somebody. I like that." Allen must also like the opportunity to learn from Goodwillie, one of just three unanimous selections to the first team all-Ivy squad last year, and the only non-senior. He is the ideal linebacker for the 5-2 formation, roaming the field, filling lanes and making tackles while the five linemen occupy the blockers. If he can bring his pass coverage up to the level of his run defense, he will be just about invincible. He should be getting some attention from NFL scouts this year, and certainly from opposing offenses, but none of that fazes him. Size and strength are pretty hard to stop, especially when combined with tremendous intensity and a love for hitting. "I think we've had so long in this defense that we're used to what's going on and feel comfortable in the position," Goodwillie said. "Tactics only work so much before athleticism and instinct take over." Of which, all the Penn linebackers must have plenty, for they are the hub of a very aggressive defensive scheme. In theory, all action ends with them. "Our job is to stop every offensive play," DeLuca said. Last year, Bagnoli had two players who could do that. He hopes he has that many for the 1994 campaign.
(06/30/94 9:00am)
Sidwell Friends School '92 Chevy Chase, Md. O'Neill was later named the team's permanent coach. An Ivy League championship wasn't in the plans for the Quakers (1-6 Ivy League, 5-10 overall) as the season got under way, but substantial improvement over the previous season's 1-6 league record was, they felt, a realistic goal. A 4-2 victory over Philadelphia Textile in the fourth game of the season, in which Penn completely outplayed the 14th-ranked team in the nation on the road, served only to increase the feeling that the Quakers were a solid team that had the potential to win just about every game on the schedule. As it turned out, however, that game was little more than an anomaly. The true early-season indication of how things were going to progress was the prior game, the Ivy League opener versus Cornell. In that game Penn blew several golden opportunities to score, while on the other side of the ball mental lapses led to defensive breakdowns that allowed a sluggish Big Red squad to slip in for the two goals that gave them the 2-0 win. The Quakers felt their level of play was well below what it could have been. "Right now everyone's frustrated and disappointed in the team and in themselves because we all let down," senior forward Kossouth Bradford said after the game. That game set the stage for a season of frustration in which more often than not the offense or defense, if not both, were out of sync. The only redeeming quality about the Quakers' losses was that none of them was due to a lack of effort. Penn was just too prone to making mistakes on both sides of the ball. "There were way too many times when people on the field didn't do what they were supposed to be doing," Penn assistant coach Brian Kammersgaard said. "We gave up too many goals due to the way people missed assignments. Our performances against Textile and Brown showed us we can do the job defensively. We just didn't do it on a consistent basis." Offensively as well, the Quakers' play was less efficient than it could have been. Nothing frustrates a team as much as blowing scoring opportunities, but that is exactly what Penn made a habit of doing throughout the season. "The forwards who were playing did not take advantage of their scoring chances," sophomore forward Pat Larco said. "With myself, I can remember millions of times where I could have scored but I just mishit the ball or wasn't even able to get a shot off. You can't win games playing like that." The breakdowns on both sides of the ball were all the more frustrating due to the fact that they often spoiled games in which Penn appeared very capable of competing. When the Quakers were able to avoid errors, as in their 1-0 win over 19th-ranked Brown, their overall level of play was able to carry them to victory. But games like that one were not the norm -- for the most part the Quakers were unable to play on a consistently high level throughout games.
(04/27/94 9:00am)
There wasn't any blood to speak of during the four-game Penn-Princeton war they called a baseball series Saturday and Sunday, but there was sweat and tears aplenty. The weekend seemed to last an eternity, but when it finally drew to a close, the Quakers had taken three of four games to place themselves atop the Gehrig Division standings and vanquish the Tigers from title contention. Penn (20-10-1, 12-6 Ivy League) is tied for the division lead with Columbia (16-18, 12-6), which swept four games from Cornell this weekend. The Quakers host the Lions for a doubleheader this Saturday that will decide the Gehrig championship. But Penn can worry about Columbia later. For now, it is basking in the glow of three clutch performances, particularly the two that came Sunday when it seemed Princeton (16-15, 8-8) had momentum in its corner following a dramatic 5-4 victory over the Quakers in the second game Saturday. "We were down both games [Sunday], but we never gave up," Penn first baseman Allen Fischer said. "We showed a lot of guts?.That's the way baseball is supposed to be played." In the seventh inning of that second game Saturday, it appeared Penn was headed for an opening day sweep. Sophomore Mike Shannon's two-run home run in the first inning of game one was the beginning of a long day for Tiger pitcher Matt Golden (1-5), who gave up seven earned runs and 11 hits in four and one-third innings. Golden's departure from the game came too late for the Tigers, as Penn breezed home for a 9-5 victory and junior starter Ed Haughey's fifth win to no losses. Shannon continued his heroics for a while in Saturday's nightcap, this time from the mound. He took a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh, but then an error and a hit put two men on with one out and Chris Samway at the plate. Shannon (1-1) hung an 0-1 curveball to Samway, who wrapped it around the left field foul pole to end the game. "That was a nightmare," Penn coach Bob Seddon said. "That's when our job is biggest as coaches, to help them rebound from something like that. We showed character the way we came back [Sunday]." Samway's dramatics turned out to be just the calm before the storm. Twice on Sunday Princeton had leads before faltering. The opener went into extra innings tied 1-1, thanks to dominant pitching performances by Penn's Dan Galles and Princeton's Dave Kahney. It was a duel of endurance that went to the wire, and Galles (6-2) emerged victorious. He allowed no earned runs through the entire nine innings, while Kahney (3-5) lost a 1-0 lead in the seventh and gave up four runs in the top of the ninth to take the defeat. Junior Sean Turner knocked in two runs in the ninth with a triple, and Shannon rebounded from Saturday's heartbreak with his second two-run homer of the series to seal the 5-1 win for the Quakers. The talk of the game, however, was Galles. "He was super. To pitch as well as he did for nine innings is just outstanding," Seddon said. "He just shut them down entirely. That's two excellent performances in a row he's given us." The nightcap saw Princeton take the early lead again, but Penn simply would not be denied. The Tigers scored one run in each of the first two innings off junior Lance Berger (4-1), but the Quakers rebounded for five in the next three innings. It was a total team effort, with five different Penn players knocking in each of the runs. But you just knew the weekend couldn't conclude without more dramatics. Princeton narrowed the lead to 5-4 in the sixth, with runners on first and third and one out. Kahney, hoping for better luck at the plate than he had on the mound earlier, drilled a line drive to left. Backup outfielder Tim Henwood caught it and hurled the ball toward home as Tiger pinch runner Eric Smallwood tagged up and headed for the plate. Smallwood was out, and Princeton was done. Berger got the win and Mike Martin his third save to conclude a very gratifying series for the Quakers. "We wanted to win at least three games, and we did," Seddon said. "We executed well in all phases -- bunting, stolen bases, defense. Everyone contributed. We worked hard, and it's nice that now we've put ourselves in a position to play for something." That something is the Gehrig Division title, which will be on the line Saturday in the Penn-Columbia doubleheader that gets underway at noon at Bower Field. If one team can win both games, it will be the division champs. Seddon was unsure what would happen in case of a split. The likeliest scenario is a one-game playoff at a neutral site. Penn isn't thinking about a split. The Quakers will send Haughey and Galles, their top two pitchers, to the mound in hopes of silencing the explosive Columbia bats. On the other side, Lions hurler Steve Ceterko will try to repeat his domination of Penn in a 4-1 Columbia victory in a March doubleheader the teams split. "He throws hard, but I think we're better off facing someone who throws hard," Seddon said. "Columbia is playing very well, but so is Penn. We will be ready, you can be sure of that."
(04/27/94 9:00am)
Track and field helped save Kevin Young a long time ago, and now he wants to return the favor. So he's bringing his world-record-setting, Olympic-gold-medal-winning ability from Los Angeles to Franklin Field for the 100th version of the Penn Relays, an event that has always meant so much to the sport of he loves. "In this day and age," said Young, who will be competing in Saturday's 4x400 meter relay race, "the key issue in track and field is development, and when you go to Penn you see development from its core. The key thing is the young, elementary school athlete?.You'll never find someone who just woke up in college as an elite athlete. You have to persevere." The conviction with which he speaks comes from experience. The ride that took him to Olympic gold two years ago in Barcelona began more than a decade earlier when he joined his high school track team as a gangly, uncoordinated teenager just to get a nice sweatsuit to wear. But in truth, track was more than a way for Young to get some extra clothes. It was a means of survival. The Watts section of Los Angeles where Young grew up was a whirlpool of drugs, gangs and bullets that sucked in many of his contemporaries and left them for dead. While other guys used the sordid elements of life on the streets for gratification, Young turned to sports, knowing it would pay off in the long run. "There were guys who participated [in sports] who were far better than myself, but they decided athletics just wasn't moving fast enough for them," Young said. "While they were selling drugs they always seemed to be on top of the world, and now, 10 years after the fact, a lot of them are dead or in jail. That's real sad to see." While other guys seemed on top of the world to Young at the time, he was at the bottom when he started out in track. The suit was nice, but the competition in high school was difficult for Young, who didn't appear to possess the physical tools to be an athlete. All the flak he received from the people in his neighborhood didn't help. Young remembers the guys who would sit in the stands during practices drinking 40s, smoking weed and heaping all sorts of abuse on him. Through it all, Young practiced what he now preaches. He persevered. "At first, I was just sort of comic relief for those guys," he said. "But I got respect in their eyes because I was doing something I wanted to do." What Young did was develop into one of the top hurdlers in the state. His in-seam eventually grew to 37 inches, and he began winning races. In his senior year, 1984, he finished third in the 110-meter hurdles at the California State Prep Championships. But that wasn't quite good enough for him to get any college scholarship offers. Young had to rely on his GPA to gain admission into UCLA. College just wasn't something you did if you were a member of the six-child Young household; you graduated from high school and went looking for a job. So Young was determined to make the most of his special opportunity. He more than made up for problems in the classroom with his performance on the track, where he blossomed in his sophomore year. Not being on scholarship became a blessing in disguise. "At first it seemed like I had been overlooked, but it worked out because I didn't have the claw of the athletic department to deal with," he said. "It helped me grow, be more mature and more accountable for myself?.I learned to run according to the tone of my own body and not how anyone else wanted me to run." No one could have wanted anything more from Young than the performance he gave in the 400 hurdles at the 1986 NCAA Championships in Indianapolis. The previous year he had failed to qualify for the event, and not much was expected from him in his debut. Track and Field News picked him to finish 10th, but Young shocked everyone except himself by finishing a close second. He just kept improving after that, taking first in the 400 hurdles at the NCAAs in 1987 and 1988 and helping the UCLA 4x400 relay team to victories in both years. The only place to go from there was the 1988 Olympic Trials in the 400 hurdles. Young won his race to earn a ticket to Seoul, South Korea, and fulfill the destiny he had possessed since 1984, when Coca-Cola awarded him the "Future Olympian" award. He got goose bumps when he realized he would be competing alongside the stars he had observed training at UCLA, people like Andre Phillips and Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Young had dominated in college, but Seoul was a different story. The media predicted a medal sweep for the Americans in the 400 hurdles, with Phillips, Young and Edwin Moses all in prime contention. But the 22-year-old was unable to live up to the hype and finished a disappointing fourth. "I got caught up in the stresses athletes tend to put themselves under in those situations," he said. "When I took fourth I was pretty despondent, but then I started thinking, 'I just finished fourth at the Olympics.' I started thinking about how I was unproven at UCLA, and how I came out of dodging bullets in Watts. I knew I was very fortunate -- I could have been six feet under." He could have been six feet under, but four years later Young was on top of the world. He improved the consistency of his 13-stride pattern and developed into the world's top 400 hurdler in the months leading up to Barcelona, winning every race he entered in the 1992 European Track and Field season. Still, no one was counting on him to do what he did. Some people said he wouldn't medal, and few even gave it much thought. The husband-wife hurdling duo of David Patrick and Sandra Farmer got most of the attention from the American press. It wasn't long before people were talking about Young. In what may have been the most impressive individual performance of the games, Young got off to such a fast start that it didn't matter when he clipped the last hurdle. He still beat the second-place finisher by nearly a second and shattered Moses' 11-year-old world record with a time of 46.78, the first sub-47-second mark in history. "It's an electric feeling," he said. "You're so turbo-charged it's pathetic. I finally had my gold medal. The fashion I did it in, that felt real good. It was almost like a made-for-TV movie." For that matter, Young's whole life has been worthy of a TV movie, perhaps even one on the big screen. He started out in the dregs of society and became one of the greatest athletes in the world, overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds every step of the way. No one is more aware of the drama of his life than Young himself. "If they can do Cool Runnings," he said, "they can do Kevin Young." It would be a movie all the high school and elementary school kids competing at Franklin Field this weekend would do well to watch.
(04/19/94 9:00am)
Sean Turner looks at his poster of Chicago White Sox designated hitter Julio Franco that reads "Sox Hire Hit Man" and imagines how he resembles the remark. While the Penn baseball team hasn't shelled out any money to land the junior transfer from Stanford, Turner can see a similarity. "It's sort of the same thing," he said. "Penn has brought me in as a hit man in a way -- to come get hits, drive in runs, score lots of runs and basically do whatever it takes to win." Penn coach Bob Seddon probably would pay for Turner's services if he could. As the 1993 season drew to a close, it looked like the end of a glorious era for Penn center fielders. None remained that would be able to continue the incredible run of offensive firepower that started with Doug Glanville's arrival in the late 1980s and kept going with Todd Mascena, and last season with Glen Miller. Then Turner swooped across the country last summer to fill the huge gap in center field and began writing a new chapter in the story of his baseball career. It has already been a remarkable story, but one that Turner admitted might have turned out better. He can take comfort in knowing there is plenty more to be written before all is said and done. You figure he is just too bright and too talented for everything not to work out. The first trait surely comes from both parents, the second from his father. His father enjoyed a brief minor league stint with the Chicago White Sox, and he got his son started in baseball so long ago Sean can't even remember when it happened. A star was soon born. Turner blossomed at Crete-Monee High School in Illinos, grabbing all-state honors as a shortstop once and all-area three times. All sorts of big time baseball colleges came calling -- Stanford, Illinois, Georgia Tech, Notre Dame. The decision came down to Notre Dame and Stanford. It didn't take long for Turner to become a Cardinal. "I thought about Notre Dame because it was closer to my home and I had a bunch of friends playing for the football team there," Turner said. "But I chose Stanford for the mix of academics and baseball. You can't beat that." The baseball turned out to be too good. Stanford has one of the most prestigious programs in the country, having won consecutive national titles in 1987-88 under coach Mike Marquess. Turner soon found the competition for playing time to be somewhat overwhelming. No less than 14 players from the 1992 Stanford team were drafted that June, and Turner agreed to sit out a year because he recognized the futility of trying to crack the regular lineup. He watched from the bench as the Cardinal finished the regular season ranked in the Top 10 nationally and made it to the NCAA regionals at Florida State. Stanford wasn't nearly the same team in 1993. The inexperienced Cardinal suffered through its first losing season since the 1950s, but it was Turner who endured the most frustration. He remained a regular on the bench with just five plate appearances through his entire sophomore season. Though he did see a little time as a pinch runner and defensive substitute in the outfield, Turner began to regret his choice of schools. "As the year was going on, myself and a couple of other players thought that since the team wasn't doing too well, we should be getting more playing time," he said. "We thought we should be able to see what we could do, but we weren't getting a chance. That's when I began thinking about transferring. " Turner and his coaches never saw eye to eye about playing time, but they did agree Turner would be better off at another school. Marquess voluntarily gave Turner his release. "He was one of our most improved players, an inspiration to the other guys," Cardinal assistant coach David Esquer said. "We would have loved to have kept him, but it was the best thing for him. His chances for playing time were more definite at Penn and it had some things he preferred academically." Above all, Penn had Wharton, a big attraction for Turner, and a chance for plenty of playing time in a solid baseball program. Pac-10-powerhouses Arizona and Arizona State were briefly considered, but Turner had settled on Penn. Seddon, who had been a minor player in the recruiting war for Turner, wasn't about to let him get away again. Just to make sure he didn't, Seddon was at Philadelphia International Airport to greet Turner when he arrived. "I pushed to get him in," Seddon said, "because we thought he'd turn out the way he has. He can make all the plays in the outfield, he has a great arm and he's batting third in the order. And not only that, he can run. He's the fastest guy on the team." Turner brought all of those assets and more to a Penn team that was struggling to rebound from a disappointing 1993 season and key losses to graduation. His initial dose of competition at Penn only brought more disappointment. Turner took the summer off to lift weights, and when he arrived for fall training, he was rusty. "I'm sure some of the guys were saying, 'He's from Stanford, but he's not having a good fall,' " Turner said. "But once you start playing, everybody gets behind you." Once preseason practice began it didn't take long for Turner to become one of the guys. Senior co-captain Eddie MacDonald, himself a transfer from Miami-Dade Community College, helped Turner get acclimated. Turner finally began showing the skills that had been virtually dormant since high school. Turner was batting .353 with18 RBIs and a team-leading 10 doubles as of April 18, and the speed for which he is famous had carried him to seven stolen bases in nine attempts. One of the most important contributions has come off the field. Case in point: Penn's season-opening trip to California. Turner enjoyed returning to the West Coast and playing against the high level of competition reminiscent of his Pac-10 days, but the team was down after starting out 1-2. "We called a player-only meeting to get everything together," MacDonald said. "Coming from Stanford, he was a guy a lot of people looked up to. He told us we did have a lot of talent, that we needed to just go out and do the job. A lot of people listened to what he said." The Quakers proceeded to go 7-0 over the remainder of the trip. Turner's speech wasn't just an attempt to lift spirits. One reason he's happy at Penn is the quality of the baseball program, which he believes is higher than a lot of people realize, including his teammates. "That's the big thing about this team," he said. "Some of the guys don't realize how good they are and how good we can be. We have to feel that we are a very good Division I school and understand that." The big question, now, is how long Turner will be around to help the team understand. He has felt since high school he has pro potential, and is eagerly awaiting the day he gets drafted. As a junior, Turner is eligible for the draft. But barring the unlikely event he gets selected this summer, he plans to declare his freshman season at Stanford a redshirt year in order to claim an extra year of eligibility. Then he will have two years to attract the attention of scouts and strengthen his game further. That's if he should need two years. "My expectations are to get drafted before I leave school," he said. "I don't expect it to happen this summer?.I expect to play a lot this summer, work out, get a little thinner, then come back and have a real solid second season. And hopefully, next year will be the year." And then someday it could be Turner whose poster graces the walls of an aspiring youngster's home.
(04/15/94 9:00am)
Parity reigns in the Ivy League's Gehrig Division, with cellar-dweller Penn just one game out of first place. In such a tight race, one big weekend could be enough for a team to take the title. The Quakers (13-9-1, 5-5 Ivy League) are hoping this weekend's series against Gehrig rival Cornell can be the one that sends them on their way to the Promised Land -- Middletown, Conn., and the Ivy League championship series. By the same token, there is absolutely no room for error when the teams are so bunched together. The Quakers must use the friendly confines of Bower Field, where both doubleheaders take place, to their advantage. With another four-game set on the horizon at Princeton, just breaking even won't be enough for Penn this weekend. "These games are extremely important, no other way to put it," junior center fielder Sean Turner said. "It's key that we at least win three. We really should win four, in order to put ourselves in the best position." Trying to put the Quakers in a less-than-desirable position will be Cornell, which has surprised Ivy League baseball pundits with its fast start. Last year the Big Red finished a putrid 3-17 in league competition, but now Cornell is 5-3, 7-10 overall. Penn coach Bob Seddon doesn't think the turnaround is necessarily a tribute to the amount of talent on the Cornell roster. "Cornell this year has turned their program around amazingly quickly, but it's not because they have a lot of great players," he said. "It's because they've made the plays in the field and their pitchers throw strikes." Fundamentally sound teams are always tough to beat, and the Big Red will throw at Penn four starters who led Cornell to a stunning 4-0 record in a pair of doubleheaders against solid Dartmouth and Harvard teams two weekends ago. Cornell coach Tom Ford tentatively plans to start right-handers Matt Herrick and Drew Smith tomorrow ,and James Rothschild and Jared Cottle, another pair of right-handers, Sunday. "We just have to go out and play our game and if we hit the ball like we should it won't be a factor," Seddon said. "I'm just not worried about who's pitching for them and who's playing for them." Seddon is giving some thought to his own pitching rotation in the wake of the 42 runs in four games Penn gave up last weekend to Dartmouth and Harvard. Out is freshman starter Alex Hayden, who was thrashed in the two innings he pitched in a 15-2 loss to the Crimson. Sophomore Mike Shannon takes his place in the second game tomorrow in what will be Shannon's first career start in a league game. Leading off tomorrow's doubleheader is Ed Haughey, who has had his problems despite a 3-0 record. The junior is supposed to be Penn's top pitcher, but his 7.33 ERA does not bear that out. It is absolutely crucial for Haughey to get it together because the first two games may be the most important for the Quakers. "We have to set the pace on Saturday," Seddon said. "Our pitchers have to come to the front. It's tough to beat a team three or four times but we're in a position where we really need those wins." Pitching in games three and four will be juniors Dan Galles and Lance Berger. Berger has been by far the most consistent of the Penn starters with an excellent 2.93 ERA. The Quaker pitchers will go up against a Cornell lineup that Big Red coach Tom Ford readily admits is less than potent. As a team, Cornell is batting .263, which pales in comparison with Penn's .322 average. It is a lineup that fits in with the defense and pitching, in that it does what it needs to do to win. One player who knows how to win is senior outfielder John Tellford, who can do it all from the plate. He tops his team with a .333 batting average, three home runs, three doubles, and three stolen bases. Neither Tellford nor anyone else on Cornell is at the top of Seddon's list of concerns heading into the weekend. Spring Fling, looked forward to by most of the Penn community, is a time of the year Seddon dreads, and he told his team as much after practice yesterday. Seddon has placed senior co-captains Eddie MacDonald and Tim Shannon in charge of making sure that all the players stay away from the festivities for the most part. If the players do keep their heads, there is no reason why they can't take three or four games from the Big Red and put themselves one giant step closer to the Promised Land. "I think we have better baseball players than Cornell," Seddon said. "But that doesn't mean we're a better team. I personally think we're a better team, but we'll see after the weekend."
(04/08/94 9:00am)
The first weekend of April 1993 was when the world came crashing down for the Penn baseball team. It was a weekend that saw a season of promise become a season of heartbreak. The Quakers entered home doubleheaders against Dartmouth and Harvard riding high with a 3-1 Ivy League record. They left in the depths of despair, having dropped all four within the supposedly friendly confines of Bower Field to effectively eliminate themselves from the Ivy title race. Now it is one year later and many things have changed as Penn (12-6, 4-2 Ivy League) prepares to journey to New England for doubleheaders against the Big Green tomorrow and Crimson Sunday. Both Dartmouth and Harvard have lost several key players to graduation, and both struggled last weekend in their first dose of league competition. The Quakers, meanwhile, feel they are a much-improved team in 1994. Still, too many things have stayed the same for Penn coach Bob Seddon not to be nervous as the weekend approaches. Penn once again enters the weekend with a solid Ivy standing. Despite its miserable record, Dartmouth (2-10, 0-4) remains a team with enough solid pitching and has a chance in any game. Mike Tallman dominated Penn last year in a 6-0 Big Green victory, and should be on the mound against the Quakers this time around in neutral Cape Cod. (Dartmouth's home field is still recovering from the New England snowstorms.) "We had trouble with Tallman last year," Seddon said. "We always just seem to have a lot of trouble beating Dartmouth. I don't know what it is. They always have some players." That may be, but Dartmouth's poor record this season is testament to the youth on its roster. Four of the Big Green's starting nine position players were lost to graduation, and Todd Senekar, the team's top returning player, is off to a miserable start with a .219 batting average and only one extra base hit. Hoping to capitalize on Dartmouth's inexperienced lineup will be Penn junior starting pitchers Dan Galles and Lance Berger, who both had rough outings last Saturday against Yale. While Galles struggled through the first four innings only to come back in the latter stages and claim the win, Berger couldn't overcome a fifth inning in which he gave up five runs on the way to a 6-0 loss. "I'm just looking to go out and pitch my game," Berger said. "Every weekend you need to go in with a positive attitude. I'll get a really good idea about what I need to do to pitch well beforehand when I watch [Galles] pitch in the first game. It's something I'm looking forward to." In all probability, the weekend's tougher task will fall on junior starter Ed Haughey and whomever Seddon and assistant coach Jim Wagner select to pitch in the second game against Harvard (4-6, 1-3). While the Crimson's lineup is not laced with powerhouse hitters, it does feature one of the very best offensive players in the Ivies in Mike Giardi. Giardi, a senior who doubled as quarterback of the Harvard football team in his spare time, almost singlehandedly dealt the Quakers two defeats last year, going 5 of 8 with clutch hits in each game. This year he is hitting over .500 through the Crimson's first 10 contests. "Giardi's a good athlete and a good player," Seddon said. "I just think he's a kid you don't want to let beat you, because I don't know how many bats he has around him." Regardless of how much strength the Harvard hitters lack overall, the Penn pitchers have question marks of their own. Haughey struggled last weekend against Brown with a blister on his finger from which he is only just recovering. Meanwhile, the Penn coaches haven't settled on a starter for game two. The candidates are freshman Alex Hayden, who looked impressive against Brown before faltering late, and sophomore Mike Shannon. The Harvard pitching staff features a baseball rarity -- a switchhanded pitcher. Jamie Irving may see action with one arm tomorrow against Columbia, and Sunday with the other versus Penn. If the Quakers weren't familiar with him from the feature Sports Illustrated did on him last year, they know him well enough now. Irving shut Penn down in game one of the doubleheader last season using his right arm. Which arm Penn will be facing this time around is not the most important question it wants answered from a hitting standpoint this weekend. The Quakers should have the edge in talent over both teams, but if they are to utilize that advantage they will need to be more consistent from the plate. Seddon is concerned with the erratic nature of the Penn bats. "We just have to try to put everything together if we can," he said. "We can't just get six runs in one inning and then wait five to get another hit. We've been sporadic all year. And to be honest with you, we're fortunate in some ways to have 12 wins considering we're sporadic." Nothing would do more to dispel both the Quakers' label of inconsistency as well as the demons of 1993 than a four-game sweep. And while that's a lot to ask for on the road, Penn feels it's owed a few. "We should crush them," first baseman Allen Fischer said. "After what happened last year, we're looking to take four of four. If we don't take at least three of four we'll be very disappointed."
(04/04/94 9:00am)
Penn wins three this weekend The Penn baseball team's effort against Delaware Wednesday at Veterans Stadium could have been cause for some concern. But despite the Quakers' apparent lack of concentration and toughness in giving up six runs in the final two innings to lose 7-4, Penn coach Bob Seddon wasn't worried heading into the weekend's pair of Ivy League doubleheaders against Brown and defending Ivy champion Yale. "League games are the only ones that mean anything," he said. "If you're going to go anywhere as far as playoffs, you have to win your league. What you do in the middle of the week doesn't mean anything." The Quakers (12-6, 4-2 Ivy League) showed what they can do when it really counts Friday and Saturday, winning the first three games of the weekend before dropping the finale to Yale, 6-0. While Penn was dominated by Eli pitcher Adam Doherty in that game, the Quaker bats exploded for 24 runs through the first three contests. Big innings were pivotal in each of the wins, as Penn scored eight, five and six runs, respectively, in one inning in each of their victories. "It was just everybody getting a hit," Penn center fielder Sean Turner said. "A hit here, a walk there?.We need to get a bunch of hits and be more consistent throughout the game instead of leading up to one inning for all our hits. But if we do get it, that's fine." Nothing was finer than Penn's six run sixth inning Saturday against Yale (5-10, 10-3) that wiped out a four-run deficit and gave the Quakers their most important victory of the weekend, and probably of the season. Yale reliever Russell Peltz give up two walks, two singles and two doubles after he secured the first two outs with the Elis ahead 5-2. Senior outfielder Dave Goldberg climaxed the inning with a single that knocked in two runs and gave Penn its first lead. One more run gave Penn a 7-5 edge, with three outs to go for the victory. Junior starting pitcher Dan Galles wasn't pretty in wrapping up the win in the seventh, but he got the job done in what was more or less a microcosm of his performance throughout the entire game. Galles hit a batter, gave up a single and threw a wild pitch as Yale narrowed the margin to one. But he used his changeup to strike out two batters, including one for the final out with the tying run in scoring position. "[The changeup] worked really well," Galles said. "It's usually my best pitch, and today it was more effective than normal. It just kept them off balance." It was Galles, however, who appeared off balance in the game's early stages. In the top of the third, six men reached base safely as Yale scored four runs and took a 5-1 lead. But like fine wine, Galles got better with time, as Yale got just three hits after that third inning. Unlike Galles, Doherty was on his game through the entire seven innings of the second contest. The Quaker offense had been building into an irresistible force through the first three games, but it ran into an immovable object in the form of Doherty, who allowed just one hit and two walks for the game. Penn junior starter Lance Berger kept pace with Doherty through the first four innings, but in the fifth it was Yale which exploded for the big inning. The Elis made it 2-0 when Berger overthrew first base going for a pickoff attempt, the second time a Penn error had accounted for a Yale run. Soon Yale catcher Jacob Fournier, who had gotten on base via another error, was singled home. A two-run RBI then made the score 5-0, and the issue was decided. "Berger deserved a better fate," Penn assistant coach Bill Wagner said. "When your defense fails you, that just puts so much pressure back on your pitcher. Those errors really killed us, and their kid no-hit us for five innings. That was the difference in the ballgame." The difference Friday was the Penn bats, which guaranteed a better fate for the Quakers. Brown (1-11, 1-3) jumped out to a 4-2 lead in game one as Penn junior starter Ed Haughey struggled with a blister under his fingernail. Freshman A.B. Fischer relieved Haughey in the fifth and shut the Bears down the rest of the way. Changing the speed of his pitches effectively, Fischer struck out several Bears with slow curveballs. While Fischer took care of business on the mound, nearly every Penn batter contributed at the plate in the bottom of the sixth. Twelve Quakers batted, which actually only quadrupled the number of pitchers Brown had to use in the inning. Eight of those 12 got hits, and eight scored runs as Penn ran away with the 10-4 victory. "It was a good come-from-behind win," Seddon said. "We were down, but then we started to hit the ball?.We did a good job. It wasn't any one guy, it was a total team effort. That really catapulted us through the day." Indeed, the bottom of the first inning of the second game was almost a carbon copy of the eight-run explosion in game one. Brown pitcher Michael Milewski had barely gotten warmed up before the rout was on. Ten Quakers stepped to the plate and five runs scored on five hits. Junior first baseman Allen Fischer (3 for 6, 4 RBI Friday) accounted for three of those runs with a bases-loaded double to left-center that made the score 4-0. "[Milewski] just threw me the pitch I wanted," Allen Fischer said. "It was just one of those days. When the adrenaline's flowing through you like that, you feel like you're on top of the world." Penn freshman starter Alex Hayden looked for a while like he wouldn't need most of those runs, as he shut out the Bears through five innings. In the top of the sixth, however, Hayden's slider began to fail him. Brown catcher Dave Murphy blasted a home run to left. A walk and a base hit later, third baseman Matthew DeFusco hit a two-run base hit to narrow Penn's lead to 6-3. Junior closer Mike Martin relieved Hayden, and ended the sixth without further incident. Though Brown scored another run in the seventh, Martin was able to hold the Bears and give Penn the sweep. Just as satisfying as the victories was the performance of the Quakers' bullpen, as both Martin and A.B. Fischer looked impressive. "Martin came out and did his job," Wagner said. "He shut them down. He's the kid we've got earmarked for [closer]. A.B. Fischer's the guy we've got earmarked for middle relief. They both did their thing today." All the Quakers did their job in the first three games this weekend. And even though Penn finds itself tied for last place in the Gehrig Division despite its 4-2 league record, Seddon knows his team gave him everything it had. "I'm very happy," Seddon said. "We won three out of four. What am I going to do? You win three out of four every weekend, you'll win your division."
(03/22/94 10:00am)
Sunday's doubleheader against Georgetown could be considered one of the first steps of the thousand-mile journey that is the Penn baseball team's season. Now, following the sweep of the Hoyas, the Quakers can only hope the rest of their games are so easy. If they are, the season could turn out to be less of a journey than a joyride. But in all likelihood, Penn will have a far more difficult time throughout the rest of its schedule. The Quakers (8-2) knew going in that Georgetown (5-14) was a bottom-rung Big East team struggling to work its way up with a new coach. Penn wanted to try to put the Hoyas away at the start to avoid any chance of an upset in the later innings. And just as it has throughout most of this young season, everything fell into place for the Quakers. Penn continued its hot streak at the plate, taking advantage of shoddy Georgetown pitching to score early and often. Backed by strong performances by junior starting pitchers Dan Galles and Lance Berger, the Quakers twice jumped out to quick leads and twice breezed home to easy victories, 6-1 and 9-0. "We were in a good groove, making plays in every phase of the game," Penn coach Bob Seddon said. "Everybody was contributing and that's been the secret to our success." Penn's success began with its offensive firepower. The Quakers continued the mammoth hitting they've displayed so far this season in which they've averaged 10 runs in each of their eight wins. Penn wanted nothing more than for that trend to continue, and continue it did. The hapless Hoyas pitchers gave up nine runs in the second innings of both games combined, effectively sealing wins for Penn before the games had hardly begun. In the second contest, Penn's six-run second inning was ignited by several walks as Georgetown struggled in vain to put anything over the plate. With the bases loaded, Penn scored one run via a walk, and a second because of a hit batter, to get the barrage underway. By that time it had already become apparent the Quakers were going to have their way at the plate this day. "They had some bad pitching," Seddon said. "Their pitchers struggled, they had no rhythm at all. They were a mess." The problems Georgetown faced on the mound may, of course, have been a result of a Penn lineup laced with .400 hitters. Merely seeing the statistics of the Quakers' batting lineup on paper must have been a trying experience for the green Hoya pitching staff. Penn even tried some intimidation tactics before the first game began, with Berger howling at the Georgetown players as they warmed up. "After that we knew it was going to be a good day," first baseman Allen Fischer said. "We just destroyed them. There was bad pitching, but we are playing with such confidence right now that we feel we can play against anyone." The Quakers did not suffer from any sort of bad pitching in either game. Galles, picking up where he left off in a strong outing in the final game of the Cal State-San Bernadino tournament last weekend, took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, and a shutout through his entire seven innings of play. Berger followed Galles' seven-inning shutout performance with one of his own. Despite waking up the morning of the game feeling sick, Berger settled into a groove before the second inning was over. By that time his team had given him a lead he was never in danger of relinquishing. "I was pretty pleased with the way I hit the spots with my fastball, even though the velocity wasn't great," Berger said. "Going into the game, [the Hoyas] had been hitting a lot better. But the way I look at it is if I pitch my game and the team plays its game, we'll be fine." Right now the Quakers' play is better than fine. But they realize there is still work to be done before Ivy League play gets underway next weekend. "We're nowhere near our peak because we still have a lot of improving to do," Berger said. "But right now we're playing about as well as we can play." · There is still one game to be played before Penn's opening Ivy games against Columbia Saturday. That comes today when the Quakers host Rider at Bower Field at 3 p.m. Rider is a perennial NCAA tournament team that has had Penn's number in recent years. "We just want to relax and have fun and not pressure ourselves," Seddon said. "We just need to go out and play. I think we'll be looking forward to the game because of the way Rider's handled us so easily over the past few years."
(03/04/94 10:00am)
This weekend the Penn women's basketball team will take on Cornell and Columbia at the Palestra in games that will contain all the usual elements of season-ending matchups between teams whose hopes for a successful year vanished a long time ago. There will be a near-vacant arena and nothing on the line except pride, and perhaps momentum heading into next season. Yet for the Quakers (8-16, 4-8 Ivy League), there is something more involved. Tomorrow night they are going to bid farewell to two seniors who have contributed mightily to the program over the past four years. And when co-captains Julie Gabriel and Katarina Poulsen take the floor for their final game against Columbia (4-20, 2-10), they and the rest of the team will be looking to make sure they go out on a positive note. "Both [seniors] have had tremendous careers here and we will be very sorry to see them go," Penn assistant coach Tina Costello said. "But we'll be focused on the task at hand." The task at hand tomorrow at 7 p.m. for the final game of the season is a Columbia team whose performance in 1993-94 has been nothing less than miserable. The Lions haven't just been losing night in and night out, they've been losing big -- their 10 league defeats have been by an average of 19 points. But the Quakers aren't focused on Columbia's losses. Rather, they remember one of the Lions' two league wins, a stunning 67-60 defeat of Penn back on February 4 in New York that basically shattered the Quakers' dreams of contending for the Ivy League championship. Penn was plagued by rotten outside shooting and never really developed a rhythm on offense. But now, coming off a first half against Princeton Tuesday in which they shot 60 percent to lift themselves to a confidence-boosting 69-54 win, the Quakers feel there is no doubt they are the better team. And they aim to prove it. "It's more pride than anything else because they really broke our back last time," Gabriel said. "It's important that we play tough and show them what we can do because we sure didn't do that when we were up there." Tonight's game against Cornell at 7 p.m. figures to be the tougher of the two contests. After the Big Red (8-16, 5-7) handed Penn a tough 58-56 loss in Ithaca a month ago, it went into a tailspin, losing its next four games. Last weekend, however, Cornell rebounded in a big way with easy victories over Harvard and Dartmouth, two of the better teams in the Ivies. "They shoot the ball very well, but now they're coming into our house, so to speak," Costello said. "We'll just try to give them a good game, to come out aggressively and work to put pressure on their shooters." Cornell's best shooter and leading scorer is forward Keri Farley, who poured in 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds against the Quakers in February. She also sank the two free throws with 30 seconds remaining that provided the margin of victory. The Big Red, however, may have a harder time dealing with the 6-foot-3 Poulsen than Penn will with Farley. No one taller than 6-0 sees significant action for Cornell, which should give Poulsen as well as junior forward Shelly Dieterle an opportunity to pick up where they left off at the end of the first half against Princeton, when the two inside players combined to hit 10 of 13 shots. "We have to play with more desire than we did when we played [Cornell] before," Poulsen said. "All we can do is put it all out there, because there's nothing to lose now." With that attitude in mind, Penn plans to play these games with an eye toward the future. As they say goodbye to their two seniors, the Quakers would also like to get a glimpse of what next year may hold. "Losing Kat and Julie to graduation," Costello said, "it's a good opportunity for some of our players in their junior year to see who's going to step up and be a leader next year." But the team can't lose sight of the fact that before next year comes, this season must be concluded. And for Gabriel and Poulsen, for whom there is no next year, their concentration is on making this last weekend one they can remember fondly. Only after it is all over will they be able to look back on the past four years. "I just had my last practice but it still hasn't really hit me that this is it," Gabriel said. "I don't really feel like that. I probably will after the last game -- that's probably when it will all hit me."
