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BY TARIQ FISCHER and GENEVRA PITTMAN

In print | Published April 28, 2005

As the semester winds to a close, and spring teams hang up their cleats and sneakers for the summer, it is time to take a moment to look back on the times that have made this season memorable. From come-from-behind victories and month-long win streaks to prom dresses and gallons of milk, we count down the top ten moments of the Spring sports season.

10. Golf Drives Through Tourmanet Opponents

The golf team braved harsh conditions this spring to take five of its last six tournaments leading up to the Centennial Conference Championships, beginning on Monday. The domination began with a win at Rolling Green on April 11, in which Ed Goldstein ’07 took the title by six strokes, and the Tide pistol-whipped the closest opponent, Franklin and Marshall, by 18. The Garnet proceeded to take tournament victories at Springhaven, the Rutgers Camden Invitational, Blue Heron Pines East and Stonewall North, its winning streak interrupted only by a third place finish at a Swat Six-Way on April 18.

9. Women’s Rugby Dons Prom Attire

While it will be hard to forget an outstanding try made by Jane Sachs ‘07 after she caught her own kick earlier this season, a bunch of women tackling each other in evening attire can’t be denied a spot in the Top 10. The rugby team took advantage of the extra spectators around for parents weekend and hosted an intra-squad scrimmage, aptly titled “Prom Dress Rugby.” The women traded in their lady-like behavior for scrums and rucks, covering their newly-purchased gowns with mud and turning many an eye at lunch in Sharples following their scrimmage.

8. Men’s Lacrosse First-Years Head to the Barber

The first-year lacrosse players were dreading team pictures. No, the photos themselves were not that frightening, but the traditional mandatory haircut that followed struck fear into even the most hardened player. The upperclassmen broke out the razors and scissors, adorning the new players with exceedingly sketchy haircuts that had to remain for one week. “[Getting my hair cut] was intense; there are no mirrors, so you just don’t know what’s going on — everyone is just staring at your head,” Ivano Ventresca ‘08 said. "Afterwards, everyone else looks at you weird, but you’re still together with the other freshmen." Adam Winegar ’08 and Andrew Bonessa ’08 enjoyed particularly … vibrant … haircuts, while Frank Mazzucco ’08 endured an exaggerated Forrest Gump crew cut. “Mine was actually one of the tamer cuts,” Mazzucco said. The first-years used the experience to bond with the rest of the team. “It was all in good fun,” Ventresca said.

7. The Koichi Experience Takes Campus by Storm

Who knew that participants in this year’s indoor soccer intramural league would learn so much? After a 10-0 record and 106 goals, it is safe to say that “The Koichi Experience” more than earned its championship crown. Why name a team after an infamous exchange student from Japan? “Dude, the kid is so good, and he’s leaving next year, so there’s not going to be another Koichi experience,” captain Adem Kader ‘06 explained. What does the “Koichi Experience” involve? "Every minute you’re with him you learn something — it’s the Koichi Experience!" Kader said breathlessly of his hero. “We had one hard game that I wasn’t sure we were going to win. They were fouling and taking a long time.” Duran Cesur ‘07 agreed. “They played anti-football.” Winning was not enough to satisfy TKE, as the team has grown to be called. Brutalizing the scoreboard became necessary. "It was frustrating that we didn’t dominate them and beat them by 20," Kader said.

6. Women’s Lacrosse Milks the 2005 Season

After a season of ups and downs, the women’s lacrosse team gathered in Wharton basement for a team meeting — and to take care of some unfinished business. After dubbing Katie Crawford ’07 with the strangely lengthy nickname “Katie Crawford Covered in Milk” early in the season, the young squad took great lengths to make the nickname a reality, pouring an entire gallon of milk onto the reluctant Crawford. “Katie Crawford Covered in Milk is amazing,” Rachel Jordan ’08 said. When pressed for further explanation, Jordan would only respond with “AMAZING, I say!” The mystery of the milk may never be uncovered.

5. Frisbee Opens Up Two Big Winning Streaks

Jacob Wallace ‘05 called it “pretty much a par performance, maybe sub-par.” No, he wasn’t talking about his Saturday night, but the Earthworm’s performance this season. The men’s Frisbee team posted not one, but two 15- game winning streaks, one of which is still active as the squad heads into the regionals tournament on May 7. The team is 30-5, making the Worms the winningest team on campus this season. Why does Wallace sound disappointed? Chalk it up to high expectations; so high that Gabriel Rogers famously guaranteed a victory in a non-existent “Worlds” tournament. “I hesitate to say ‘we can’t be stopped,’” Wallace said. “No, never mind … we definitely can’t be stopped.”

4. Mary Mintel Hits For Cycle Against Widener

Mary Mintel ‘05 earned Centennial Conference Player of the Week honors as she led the Garnet in a doubleheader sweep of Widener on March 31. Mintel went into Playstation mode, launching six hits and driving in all four of the Tide’s runs that day as they defeated the Pioneers 1-0 and 3-2. The outfielder hit for the cycle in the doubleheader, tallying two singles, two doubles, a triple and a home run. The Tide pitching staff stifled the Pioneers, as Marianne Klingaman ’07 allowed no runs on just four hits in the opening game and Amy DiBiase ’08 went the distance for the Garnet in the second game, giving up two runs on seven hits.

3. Men’s Tennis Snuffs Out 8th Ranked Team and 7th Ranked Player in the Nation

The 14th-ranked men’s tennis team earned its second win of the season with a 5-2 defeat of Mary Washington, the eighth ranked team in the nation at the time. Jon Reiss ‘07 led the way for the Garnet, defeating the Eagles’ Paul Bristow, the seventh ranked player in the country. Jon Lo ’08, Justin Durand ’05 and Adam Wallwork ’07 both took straight set victories as well, and the Tide won the doubles point on victories by Reiss and Lo and by Brian Park ’06 and Zach Rodd ’06. Clutch wins like this victory have helped the Garnet earn the third seed in the Atlantic South Regional, which takes place on May 7 and 8.

2. Men’s Rugby team proves they know how to score

Rugby is not supposed to be like this. Too. Much. Scoring. However, Tide fans won’t complain when it’s Swarthmore dishing out the pain, which is why the Evil Buzzards clock in at second place with their first win of the season, a prison-yard-esque 61-0 beating of Bucknell. 61-0. Read it again. Imagine the Lakers winning by 200, the Falcons scoring 90 points. This is that bad. “It was the perfect performance — every tackle made, every set piece won, the ball under total control, the nose for the try line — complete cohesion,” coach Brian Sloman said. “They do listen; they have learned; they can do it.”

1. Women’s Tennis Escapes Centennial Conference Unscathed

It must be lonely at the top; the women’s tennis team tops this list and the Centennial Conference standings. And it wasn’t even close. Sara Sargent ‘07 pulled out two game-winning matches against Centennial Conference opponents to help the team take the conference title. Sargent beat Muhlenberg’s Stacy Lipschultz on March 23, 6-1, 6-3 despite an injured ankle and came back from behind to sting Barbara Bee of Franklin and Marshall on April 20, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1. Both matches were the game-winners for the Tide on its path to conference domination. Sargent’s Reggie-Miller-in-the-playoffs clutch efforts pushed the Tide to a Conference-topping 10-0 finish this season. “During a pre-season meeting, our team decided that reclaiming the title of Centennial Conference champions was an important objective,” Sargent said. “My teammates’ drive to win the conference stuck with me for the rest of the season and I am glad that my wins over Muhlenberg and Franklin and Marshall helped us achieve that goal.”

The springtime memories that the Garnet teams created have set the bar high for next year’s squads. Can anyone match the success, tradition and sheer milkiness of 2005? Only time will tell.

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