Well, after a little bit of a layoff the club beat is back in business. With only two club sports (water polo and hockey) in action over the last two weeks, there haven’t been tons of things to let you in on, but here at the Argus we’re all about quality over quantity.
With that in mind, it is my great pleasure to report that, two weekends ago, Cardinal water polo went to Rochester, New York with last year’s D-III club title in tow and returned home with the 2005 edition. After an impressive regular season that included wins over nationally ranked Williams, Dartmouth, and Yale, the team went into the DIII finals as an overwhelming favorite to defend its title. As was the case all season though, things proved to be extremely difficult.
The Cards began the weekend by downing Rochester Institute of Technology, 14-7. Despite the big margin of victory, the team struggled to find a consistent flow. This theme would continue to ring true throughout the tournament. In the second round, the Cards had even more trouble and squeaked out a win over McAlester College, 8-6, thanks in large part to a combined five goals by Dan Devine and Matt Brownstein.
Later that day, in the semifinals, the Cards found themselves treading water against Trinity. In the end, the Cardinals found themselves back where they were a year ago after a 5-4 victory: in the title game against NYU.
Because of the team’s struggles throughout the tournament up to that point, “It appeared that NYU was actually favored in the contest,” according to collegiatewaterpolo.com (which has an excellent article on the Cards conquest in Rochester by the way).
Despite the adversity, the Cards took a 2-0 lead in the middle of the second quarter and never looked back. Despite a valiant effort by NYU, the Cards ended up with an 11-7 victory.
So with water polo done for the season, there aren’t too many club sports left to report on. Club volleyball has gotten underway, spearheaded by Josh Atwood ’08. Anyone can come out and play. As of now, the team has been practicing for a few weeks and will play some games in the not too distant future.
Then there’s hockey. We’ve had some solid practices of late in preparation for our game against University of Vermont on Friday at 9:30, here at Freeman so you should definitely come and check that out. Yours truly will not be there, as I’m heading home early for Thanksgiving, but I don’t think that will effect the level of play too drastically.
As for the future of the column, if I’m neglecting any club sport that is currently or will soon be in action don’t hesitate to drop me an email. Also if you have any questions about club sports or any other sports related stuff for that matter, feel free to ask. With only hockey and volleyball going on until spring, I could definitely use some more stuff to throw into the column. For any club athletes out there who want to let something be known about their teams or sports, I could likely facilitate that.
Anyways, everybody be sure to have a great thanksgiving and I’ll see ya next time.
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