Harvard Varsity Club NEWS & VIEWS of Harvard Sports Volume 50 Issue No. 2 www.varsityclub.harvard.edu September 28, 2007 Harvard Proves Brighter Than Brown at Stadium First night football game in the 104-year history of The Stadium by Kurt Svoboda Assistant Director of Athletic Communications On Saturday, Sept. 22, an historic night at Harvard Stadium took shape as the first night football game was played at the 104-year old monument to college football. Fittingly the Crimson came through with a victory in the 107th meeting between Harvard and Brown – a rivalry that dates to 1893. The reinforced concrete horseshoe had previously seen leather helmets come and go, was the inspiration for the forward pass and had FieldTurf installed to replace the once-famous sod. The story goes that in 1906, when President Theodore Roos- evelt looked for ways to change what had become a brutal game of football, his panel of experts considered widening the playing field by 40 yards to open up the game. But The first night game in Harvard Stadium history took place on September 22, 2007. Over 18,000 they couldn’t, because the stands at Har- fans were on hand to witness the historic event. Peter McLaughlin Photo vard Stadium were set in place. Intsead, the forward pass was approved. Center. They witnessed a rejuvenated student body enjoying foot- Now, 101 years later, the lights are the latest improvment ball under the lights – all a part of history at an institution that has made to the historic stadium. The lights were the last phase of a defined tradition. renovation project that started with the installation of FieldTurf. The Crimson started quickly on the field, driving the ball 80 An inflatable bubble also goes up in the winter to allow teams to yards on eight plays in a span of 3:22 with seniors Liam O’Hagan practice during the offseason. and Corey Mazza hooking up on a 21-yard scoring strike. 18,898 fans streamed into the stadium, into the darkness on O’Hagan would throw for two touchdowns while also the horseshoe end and onto the balcony overlooking the Murr Continued on page 5 Fall Sports Preview Field Hockey (5-2, 2-0 Ivy League) Women’s Soccer (5-2-1, 0-0 Ivy) • The season is only seven games old, but the Crimson has • Solid defense is nothing new for the Crimson, but Harvard is already eclipsed its win total from last season. Harvard is 2-0 in taking its stinginess to a new level lately. The team has not sur- Ivy League play, having posted impressive wins against Penn, rendered a goal in over 476 minutes. 2-0, and Brown, 4-1. • Throw in some timely goals and one hat trick by a freshman, • The Crimson suffered a season-opening loss to Massachusetts and the Crimson has put together a four-game winning streak but responded with a four-game winning streak that ended with made up of 1-0 wins against Boston University, Wisconsin-Mil- a 2-0 loss at No. 4 Connecticut. waukee and New Hampshire and a 4-0 domination of Central • Harvard’s offense has looked like a different unit this season Connecticut State. and needs only one more goal to match its output for all of 2006. • Freshman Katherine Sheeleigh poured in three goals in the Junior Tami Jafar has led the way. She has notched a pair of two- win against CCSU Sept. 21 and two days later against UNH goal games and five total goals to rank second in the Ivy League scored the game’s lone goal in the 75th minute. She was named in goal- and point-scoring. With seven points each, freshman Ivy League Rookie of the Week for her efforts. MaggieClifton McVeigh Dawson (one ‘07 goal, three assists) and sophomore Kris- • Sophomore goalie Lauren Mann has registered five shutouts, tin Bannondspics.com (two goals, four assists) are tied for seventh in the more than twice the number of the league’s second-leading league in scoring. Jafar was the Ivy League Player of the Week goalie in that category. She was named Ivy Player of the Week after scoring twice in the win against Penn. Sept. 17 after totaling 12 saves back-to-back blankings of BU and • Ball movement has has been the key. The Harvard team and UWM. Freshman Gina Wideroff scored the only goal in both of McVeigh individually rank seventh nationally with 2.57 and 0.71 those victories. assists per game, respectively. Women’s Golf Left: Tami Jafar ‘08 and Francine Polet ‘08 cel- • Harvard dominated a 13-team field to open the fall with a 42- ebrating after teaming up stroke win at the Dartmouth Invitational Sept. 15-16. The squad for a goal against Brown. combined for a score of 302-301—603. dspics.com • Junior Ali Bode missed a share of medalist honors by a single stroke, placing second at 74-73—147. She was joined in the top eight of the individual standings by four other Crimson golf- ers. Sophomore Claire Sheldon (76-76—152) and junior Emily Balmert (78-74—152) tied for fourth place. • The Crimson placed third at the Princeton Invitational Sept. 22-23, paced by a second-place showing from senior captain Jes- sica Hazlett (75-77—152). Sophomore Sarah Harvey finished in the top 20 with a 78-81—159 showing for a 19th-place tie. • The Yale Fall Intercollegiate Sept. 29-30 is the first of three remaining tournaments for Harvard this fall. Men’s Soccer (6-1, 0-0 Ivy) Men’s Water Polo (6-1) • Harvard got off to a hot start, winning its first six games and • The Crimson is off to a red-hot start, having won six of its first climbing to as high as No. 6 in the national polls. The Crimson seven collegiate matches. Harvard started off with a 4-0 record opened with a thrilling 3-2 win against Rhode Island on a high- Sept. 7-9 at MIT’s Cambridge Invitational, where the only blem- light-reel goal by senior Matt Hoff then notched wins against ish on the Crimson’s weekend was a 10-9 exhibition loss to the Maine, Providence, Vermont, Boston University and UMass. New York Athletic Club. Harvard started off with wins against • Loyola Marymount handed the visiting Crimson its first loss, Santa Rosa and UC Santa Cruz before outscoring Washington 3-2, Sept. 21 in Los Angeles. Harvard concluded its California & Jefferson and Yale by a combined score of 30-8 in a pair of Sun- trip with a 1-1 tie against defending national champion UC day wins. Senior Chris Ludwick paced the Harvard attack with Santa Barbara two days later. 10 goals, including four in the season opener against Santa Rosa • Sophomore standout Andre Akpan has come on strong with and a hat trick against UC Santa Cruz. goals in five straight games to share the league lead with 14 • Harvard suffered its first loss, 15-7, at St. Francis (N.Y.), 15-7, points on five goals and four assists. JuniorMichael Fucito (10 Sept. 16 but bounced back with an 11-7 win later that day at points) and Hoff (five points), a senior, are tied for sixth and Queens. Senior Michael Byrd and sophomore Spencer Livings- 10th, respectively. ton each tallied five goals on the day. • Fucito scored two goals in a hard-fought 2-1 win at Providence • With a large crowd on hand at Blodgett Pool, Harvard put on Sept. 9. Senior goalie Adam Hahn made five saves in that game a show in its home opener against MIT Sept. 20. The Crimson and a huge late stop in another 2-1 win, against BU Sept. 14. rallied from as many as five goals down in the first half and an • Five of Harvard’s next six games are at home. The lone road 8-5 deficit to start the fourth quarter for an 11-8 win. Livingston contest in that span is the Ivy League opener at Cornell Oct. 6. scored Harvard’s first four goals and had two assists. The showdown with currently unbeaten Brown is Oct. 13 at • Next up for the Crimson is the ECAC Championship Sept. Ohiri Field. 29-30 at Bucknell, followed by a trip to California for five games Oct. 5-7. Sailing Women’s Tennis • With a pair of regatta wins so far on the young season, the • Harvard opened the fall season Sept. 21-23 at the Georgia Tech Crimson women’s team has climbed to No. 2 in the national poll. Invitational, facing competition from Florida State, Georgia, They started out the fall with a 25-point win in the Man Labs Georgia State and the host Yellow Jackets, the defending NCAA Trophy Sept. 8-9 at MIT. champions. • The women followed a week later with a victory in the Mrs. • Senior Stephanie Schnitter had an outstanding weekend, Hurst Bowl at Dartmouth. Junior Megan Watson and freshman playing great matches against nationally ranked opponents. She Meghan Wareham sailed consistently enough to win the A divi- fell to No. 23 Kristen Flower of Georgia Tech 6-1, 7-5, and teamed sion without winning a race. Juniors Roberta Steele and Lauren up with freshman Samantha Rosekrans to knock off Florida Brants won three times to place second in the B division. States ‘s Lauren McFarlane and Jessica Wente, 8-3. Schnitter also • Watson was on her own Sept. 22-23 at the New England fell in a tightly contested match to No.