Sports Shorts
Women’s Ice Hockey Falls to Southern Maine, New England
The MIT women’s ice hockey team began its 2007-08 campaign with a pair of Eastern College Athletic Conference games on the road. The Engineers lost to the University of Southern Maine, 4-2, on Nov. 16 and were defeated by New England College, 11-0, the next day.
The host Huskies jumped out to a 2-0 lead after 10:48 had elapsed. With a two-player advantage, MIT’s Stephanie V. Brenman ’09 connected on a feed by Lauren A. Kazmierski ’11 at 14:51. Southern Maine registered what proved to be the game-winning goal 26 seconds later on a short-handed strike.
The Engineers cut their deficit in half (3-2) early in the second period when Rachel A. Longley ’08 converted passes from Catherine C. Harding ’09 and Brenman for the squad’s second power-play goal. The game would remain scoreless until the Huskies found the back of the net in the seventh minute of the final frame. In net, Maria N. Prus ’10 collected 37 saves for the Cardinal and Gray.
The opening stages of the MIT-New England College game were a defensive battle until the Pilgrims broke through in the ninth minute. New England outshot the Engineers, 14-6, but the visitors did not relinquish another goal during the period.
In the second stanza, the Pilgrims registered four goals during a span of five minutes before adding six goals in the third period. Prus made 28 saves during 48 minutes of action while Julia N. Roberts ’10 stopped 11 shots in 12 minutes.
—Mindy Brauer, DAPER Staff
Geesman is Top MIT Wrestler At Springfield Tournament
Glenn J. Geesman ’09 was the big MIT winner as the Engineers finished 12th out of 18 teams at the Annual Doug Parker Wrestling Invitational, hosted by Springfield College on Nov. 17. Geesman was named Wrestler of the Week by the New England Wrestling Association for his outstanding performance.
Geesman, now 9-0, won the heavyweight championship, taking a 7-4 decision over Jake Taylor of the State University of New York at Oswego. “Glenn won the tournament and defeated the No. 5 ranked wrestler in the country in the finals,” said Wrestling Head Coach Thomas E. Layte. “It is possible he may get ranked nationally.”
Heavyweight Sean D. Jameson ’10 finished third. After losing his first match, Jameson won seven straight matches.
Joseph B. Silverman ’10, at 184 pounds, finished fourth in his weight class, while Grant M. Kadokura ’11 went 4-2, defeating an opponent he lost to in the Roger Williams University Tournament, at 125 pounds.
The Cardinal and Gray’s team score of 52 bested, among others, rivals Western New England College (40.50), Norwich University (36.50), and U.S. Coast Guard Academy (33.50). Rhode Island College won the event with a score of 142.50.
—Mike Stoller, DAPER Staff
Men’s Fencing Posts 4-1 Mark at First NFC Outing
In its first Northeast Fencing Conference competition of the season, the men’s fencing team defeated Tufts University (21-6), University of Massachusetts-Amherst (16-11), University of New Hampshire (21-6), and Boston University (24-3) before falling to Brown University (16-11). Igor Kopylov ’09 paced the Engineers’ efforts by winning 13 of his 15 bouts.
The epee team notched the best record of the day, finishing at 33-12 behind an 8-1 victory over BU and a pair of 7-2 wins over Tufts and UNH. Matt L. Gethers ’09 powered MIT with a 12-2 mark, followed by Jeremy S. Hurwitz ’08 (11-4), Gabriel A. Chan ’09 (8-6), and Javier J. Ordonez ’10 (2-0).
The foil squad compiled a mark of 30-15, including a sweep of BU and 7-2 wins over UMass-Amherst and UNH. Spencer R. Sugimoto’s ’08 tally of 11-3 led the way as Sebastian Castro ’08 posted a 9-4 ledger. Benjamin T. Switala ’09 went 7-6 while Richard C. LaGrandier ’11 notched three victories out of five bouts.
Kopylov’s strong showing helped propel the sabre team to an overall mark of 30-15 as it defeated Tufts (8-1), UNH (7-2), and BU (7-2). Rangarajan D. Nadadur ’10 finished with a 9-3 mark while rookies Maximilian L. Brand ’11 and Nurzhas Makishev ’09 rounded out the group with ledgers of 4-2 and 2-4.
—Mindy Brauer, DAPER Staff
Women’s Fencing Registers 5-1 Mark at First NFC Outing
The women’s fencing team defeated University of Massachusetts-Amherst (23-4), University of New Hampshire (23-4), Boston University (19-8), Wellesley College (16-11), and Tufts University (22-5) before falling to Brown University (19-8) in Nov. 17’s NFC competition. Cordelia S. Link ’10 paced the Engineers’ efforts by winning 17 of her 18 bouts.
Link’s top mark of 17-1 helped guide the foil team to a 40-14 record as it swept UMass-Amherst and posted 8-1 wins over BU and Tufts. Lindley C. Graham ’10 bolstered Tech’s total with a ledger of 13-5 while Chun Li ’08 went 9-6. Jenna G. Caldwell ’11 rounded out the group with a 1-2 performance.
The epee team was just as dominant as it also swept UMass-Amherst and defeated UNH and BU by a 7-2 margin en route to a 37-17 record. Stephanie H. Shin ’10 notched the team’s top ledger at 16-2 while Joanna W. Tong ’08 totaled a mark of 13-2. Zhenya Gu ’08 finished at 3-3 while Nicole J. Koulisis ’08 compiled a record of 4-8.
Sweeps of UNH and Tufts helped power the sabre squad to a 34-20 total. Yuhsin Chen ’08 led the charge (12-6), followed by Laura A. Evans ’10 (11-7), Elena A. Tatarchenko ’11 (10-7), and Jennifer L. Allen ’10 (1-0).
—Mindy Brauer, DAPER Staff
Rifle Posts Convincing Sweep Over Mass Maritime Academy
MIT rifle dominated both guns against the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and established a season-best score in smallbore with a total of 2170 on Nov. 17.
Emily F. Houston ’10 was back in the familiar role of top marksman as the high shooter in both events. Houston set her own season-high in air rifle with a score of 583. Her lowest score among the six target cards was a 95, while she nearly secured back-to-back 100s after following the first perfect clip with a 99.
Joseph K. Lane ’11 finished second in both guns, totaling 566 in air rifle after finishing one point behind Houston in smallbore with a score of 562. MIT defeated the Buccaneers, 2170-1963, in smallbore and 2205-2045 in air.
Jennifer K. Paek ’10 finished just ahead of Sarah R. Miles ’10 in both guns as Tech capped its scoring, while Justine Li ’10 fired a new personal high in air rifle for the second consecutive week with a score of 534.
—James Kramer, DAPER Staff
Army Defeats Pistol, 6,300-6,224
Despite the loss of 10 seniors to graduation, the MIT pistol team registered a solid outing against the U.S. Military Academy Nov. 16–17, falling by a margin of 76 points (6,300-6,224). On the women’s side, the Black Knights defeated the Engineers, 2,674-2,550.
In air pistol, Army claimed the top spot with a score of 558 as Edward S. Huo ’08 tied for second with a 556. Fuzhou Hu ’09 claimed third place (547) while the Black Knights captured the fourth slot with a tally of 545. Bernard J. Arnest ’09 (539) and Daniel Jang ’10 (536) rounded out the Engineers’ contingent as they fell, 2,196-2,178.
Army gained some breathing room in standard pistol, as it posted a 64-point victory (2,111-2,047). The Black Knights paced the field with scores of 538 and 536 while Huo was Tech’s top finisher at 531. The remainder of Army’s scoring squad notched marks of 527 and 510 as Christine T. Hsueh ’10 (523), Hu (505), and Andrew K. Sugaya ’11 (488) tried to close the gap for the Engineers.
In the most closely contested event of the weekend, MIT edged out Army by six points (1,999-1,993) for a win in free pistol. Huo led the way with a mark of 528, which was followed by a 513 and a 509 from the Black Knights. The Engineers extended their advantage on Hu’s tally of 500 while Army posted a score of 491. In the final pairing, the Black Knights shot a 480, but it would not be enough to overtake MIT as Benjamin M. Chang ’10 contributed a score of 466.
Army captured two of the top three spots in women’s sport pistol en route to a 1,618-1,515 victory. Hsueh denied the Black Knights a sweep with a score of 541, 16 points behind the leader and seven ahead of third place. Lihua Bai ’09 and Jenny Liu ’09 completed MIT’s scoring squad with marks of 515 and 459.
Hsueh recorded the Engineers’ second individual victory of the day as she shot a 357 in women’s air pistol. Army’s top shooter placed right behind her while it claimed third place with a pair of 350 scores. Michelle C. Ma ’10 (342) and Liu (336) wrapped up the day for MIT as it fell, 1,056-1,035.
—Mindy Brauer, DAPER Staff
Squash Opens Season With Four-Game Weekend Home-Stand
MIT’s squash team opened its 2007-08 campaign by hosting four matches Nov. 16–18, as the Cardinal and Gray welcomed Northwestern University, Bowdoin College, Connecticut College, and Tufts University to the Zesiger Center. The Engineers dropped all four matches by similar 9-0 score-lines.
Tech, which saw a significant amount of turnover on its roster in the off-season, including the addition of new head coach Seth Packard, stands at 0-4 after the season-opening setbacks.
The Engineers took on Northwestern in the first contest of the season on Nov. 16, and the Wildcats swept all nine matches to secure a convincing victory. George W. Pratt ’10 did his best to prevent the shutout from the No. 5 spot, as evidenced by a tough 9-6, 9-7, 10-8 loss to Northwestern’s Ben Sussna.
Nov. 17 saw the Cardinal and Gray welcome Bowdoin College and Connecticut College, with each match once again resulting in a final score of 9-0 in favor of the visitors. Balaji V. Sridhar ’09 — playing in the No. 2 spot — put up the best fight of the afternoon for the Engineers, pushing Bowdoin’s Andrew Bernard to a 9-3, 9-7, 9-4 decision.
MIT rounded out a long weekend with its fourth match on Nov. 18, as Tufts traveled to Cambridge to face the Engineers. Though Tech was swept, No. 3 Saad Zaheer ’09 pushed his match beyond the minimum three games by playing Kris Leetavorn to a 9-3, 8-10, 9-4, 9-2 score.
—Jeff Lemieux, DAPER Staff