Let’s begin with the mighty Wesrugby squad, which had a nice year and a strong finish to the season. Highlights included beating Williams 12-8 and recent triumphs at the UVM “Ruggers Against Rape” tourney. The team lost to the UMass A team, one of the top five teams in DI rugby, but also put a whooping on Danier (of Canada) 19-5. Last weekend they exacted some revenge against UMass by obliterating its B team 35-10.
As far as individual achievements go, four players (Maggie Star ’06, Aurora Maoz ’06. Nora Connor ’07 and captain Molly Dengler ’06) were selected for the CT Collegiate All-Star team and won a couple of games last Sunday at the Northeast All-Star tournament. Dengler and Maoz scored the first two tires for Connecticut. More accolades may be on the horizon, as these same players are awaiting notice of selection for the Northeast Regional Under-23 team.
“The team came together on and off the field to form an unstoppable rugby machine that will be a force to be reckoned with next year,” Dengler said. “This season, we truly accomplished our goal of playing smarter, fitter rugby and it showed. With all of our wins from this season, we have a strong base for improvement next year. The team will move down to DII and plans on kicking some major booty.”
If you, or any future frosh you may meet next year, are interested in playing next year, contact Rae Kaplan ’07 (rskaplan@wes).
Next up: men’s water polo. Bit of a slow end to the year for the team, as the fall is the main season. They won a scrimmage against URI a while ago. And last weekend they had an alumni game at Amherst, which was just a fun little shoot around tourney. If you want to get involved with the only water polo team Wes has to offer, Mike Pepi ’07 (mpepi@wes) and Matt Brownstein ’07 (mbrownstein@wes) will be the captains.
Club soccer’s been doing some things too. When the weather’s been nice, they’ve gotten some practices in on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The weekend before last, the team hosted Conn. College and Dartmouth in a three-team tournament. The day began with a 4-0 triumph over the former guest. Gazah Govati ’06 punched in two goals, one off a beautiful rip from outside the box. I wasn’t there, but I’m sure it was sick considering Mr. Govati scored two ridiculous late goals against my B-league intramural team (one of which was from way out and glanced off my inner thigh), keeping us a perfect 0-4 on the season. The game against Dartmouth didn’t go as well, though the team came back from a 3-0 deficit to lose 3-2.
Despite the setback, captain Jeff Clewell ’06 was quick to complement his team.
“These two games were the best I’ve seen club play since it began my freshman year,” he said. “I would have liked to get a few more games in this semester, but it’s been busy. I’ve been really pleased with the turnout and commitment that our players have made to Club Soccer and I’m sad to be leaving the team after graduation.”
The team is taking a bit of a hit as they’re losing 10 seniors, but Clewell is confident in the talent of the team’s younger players. Joseph Feldblum ’07, my good friend and roommate, will be taking over the captainship next year, so if you’re looking to get in on club soccer, try him at jfeldblum@wes.
One last plug before I go. After losing a whole lot of seniors this year, men’s club hockey could really use some reinforcements. The returning players are a good group of guys, and the commitment isn’t very big at all. So if you’re a hockey player, and I know there are a lot of you out there, please do give it some consideration. There is no such thing as not good enough to play Wes club hockey (as evidenced by yours truly), so don’t let that be an excuse. Definitely shoot an e-mail to Dan Austin ’07 (daustin@wes) or Tim Horgan-Kobelski ’07 (thorgankobel@wes) if you or anyone you know would like to play.
Sorry if I left anyone or any teams out of this final issue of the club beat, at least for a while. Best of luck to all you graduating seniors, particularly my friends and teammates Luke Basta, Josh Drian, et al.
Thanks for taking a few minutes out of your day and taking a walk with me on… The Club Sports Beat.
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