Thursday, November 4, 2004

* Senator John Kerry conceded the 2004 presidential race to George W. Bush on Wednesday afternoon. Declaring victory, President Bush said “America has spoken and I’m humbled by the trust and the confidence of my fellow citizens. With that trust comes a duty to serve all Americans, and I will do my best to fulfill that duty every day.” Late Tuesday night, the Kerry campaign had refused to concede the election, instead sending Senator John Edwards out at 2:30 a.m. to say that there were still ballots that needed to be counted in Ohio. But on Wednesday, as the possibility of winning seemed increasingly dim, Kerry made the decision to concede, telling supporters that “America is in need of unity and longing for a larger measure of compassion…I pledge to do my part to help bridge the partisan divide. I know this is a difficult time for my supporters but I ask you–all of you–to join me in doing this.”

* The Republican party also made gains in the United States House and Senate on Tuesday. Notably, the Senate minority leader, Tom Daschle of South Dakota, lost his seat to Jim Thune, a former congressman. In the wake of the defeat, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada said that he had enough support in the Senate to be its next minority leader. Reid currently serves as the minority whip in the Senate, the party’s second in command. Though it was earlier predicted that Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut would try to gain the leadership role, he has now thrown his support to Reid.

* Hungary announced on Wednesday that it would pull troops out of Iraq, making it the latest in a series of countries to do so. Though Hungary only had 300 troops stationed in the war-torn country, the prime minister said that it would pull out by March because “to stay longer is an impossibility.”

*****

Nobel Laureate Dr Thomas R. Cech lecture: “RNA Enzymes and the Origin of Life”
Science Center 101, 4:30 p.m.

Chris A. Strickling, Ph.D lecture: “Mouthing Off, Staring Back: Killing the Inspirational Cripple”
Kohlberg 115, 4:30 p.m.

Muslim Students Association
Kohlberg 226, 4:30 p.m.

OH!pening Show
Kaori Kitao Student Art Gallery (Qub), 6:30 p.m.

Swarthmore Christian Fellowship
Kohlberg 230, 7:00 p.m.

Homeland Securities and Civil Liberties Peace Forum Panel
Science Center 101, 7:30 p.m.

French Film Festival: Jean de Florette
LPAC, 7:30 p.m.

Diya Week Movie Showing: “Summer in My Veins”
Intercultural Center, 9:00 p.m.

Model UN (SIRO) Meeting
Kohlberg 115, 9:00 p.m.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

by Andrew Quinton
Gazette Reporter

The streak is over. 11 years of membership in the Centennial Conference went by without a single playoff appearance for the Swarthmore men’s soccer team as the team compiled an 18-79-2 conference record over that span. Things changed in a big way this year, and the squad finished the regular season with a 6-2-1 conference record and is finally playoff-bound.

“I have always believed that this program had the potential to be successful and make it into the playoffs,” said 2003 all-conference goaltender Nate Shupe ’05. Shupe may have found himself questioning that faith after his sophomore year since the team had won but a single conference game during 2001 and none during the 2002 season. While insisting that Garnet soccer has always been marked by passion and effort, Shupe credits this season’s increased win total to “our discipline and precisely calibrated focus on what we have to do in order to succeed.”

A large influx of talent also didn’t hurt the Garnet cause. While the team had to enter battle this season without the help of Brendan Moriarty ’04 (who scored the lone goal in last year’s huge upset win over Johns Hopkins), nine talented freshmen entered the program. Despite the loss of J.P. Faunes ’08 to a broken collarbone in the season’s first match, several freshmen played key roles throughout the season. Michael Bonesteel ’08 led the team in scoring with 6 goals and 3 assists. He was often partnered at the forward position by Brandon Washington ’08, who showed great versatility and excellent ball skills as evidenced by his 3 goals and 6 assists. Brendan Grady ’08 played the full 90 minutes on the backline game in and game out and was a big part of a defense that allowed only 10 goals in the 17-game season. Patrick Christmas ’08 also played a huge role as a starting inside midfielder. He was nearly always able to distribute the ball to the open man, a vital ingredient for consistent ball possession.

The Garnet is seeded 3rd in a 4-team bracket, and will thus play 2nd-seeded McDaniel in the first round. On October 23rd, the two teams battled to a 0-0 tie at Clothier Field. “I think we were a little unlucky not to score against them the last time we played. So I think if we play as well as we did last time, the score will take care of itself,” says Kirk Ellison ’05, the team’s all-time leading goal scorer. Outside midfielder Matt Schiller ’07 is also optimistic. “We definitely made chances last time so we should be alright. We just need to work hard.” The statistics bear this out, as Swarthmore held an 11-8 advantage in shots and forced Terror goalkeeper Andrew Wu to make 4 saves to Shupe’s 1.

The crowd at Saturday’s win over Haverford was forced to witness the ugly sight of star forward Andrew Terker ’06, who is tied for the team lead with 6 goals, leaving the field with an ankle injury. Fortunately, one of the team’s strengths all season has been its remarkable depth. With the starting lineup for most games containing three or four freshmen and only one senior departed from last year’s squad, there are always former starters beginning the game on the bench. Many players also have the ability to play multiple positions, increasing Wagner’s options. With Terker out for the Haverford game, Schiller spent some time at forward and looked comfortable, noting that he “hadn’t played forward since last fall, but it’s fun up there. I’d definitely want to play up top again.”

One wild card in the match may be the playing surface. Johns Hopkins is playing host to both first round games, and the artificial turf on its Homewood Field is “is not unlike the old turf that covered the playing surface at Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium. It is very thin, almost like carpet, and is an extremely fast playing surface.” The Garnet, unlike McDaniel, played at Hopkins earlier in the season and thus may have an easier time adapting to the new surface. The experience of playing on artificial surface that covers Clothier Field may also give the Garnet an edge.

If Swarthmore wins Friday night’s match, it will play in the championship game on Saturday against the winner of the match between #1 seed Johns Hopkins and #5 seed Muhlenberg. The Mules won the right to face Hopkins by defeating #4 seed Franklin and Marshall 1-0 in overtime. If Muhlenberg wins, “we will host it (the championship game) here in front of our awesome, undefeated fans,” explained Wagner. If Hopkins wins, the team will return to Homewood Field for the championship match. The Garnet beat Muhlenberg 2-1 in overtime behind Terker’s two goals on October 9th, but lost a tough 1-0 match to the #2-ranked and undefeated Blue Jays. In regards to the potential rematch with Hopkins, Wagner notes that “of course we will consider the possibility but not in preparation for Friday’s match. We want to play our match, our style, and set the tone. If we do that, Hopkins will have to beat us on Saturday.”

The fans, who have indeed showed up in record numbers this season and have yet to witness a Garnet defeat, have the opportunity to support the team in Friday night’s game. As reported in Tuesday’s Gazette, a fan bus will leave the gym at 4:45 p.m. on Friday. Game time for Swat is 7:30 p.m. with the Johns Hopkins-Muhlenberg game preceding it at 5:00 p.m. To reserve a seat on the bus, contact Marian Fahy (x8213/mfahy1) before noon today to reserve a seat. This game is a historic one for Swarthmore soccer. Paces will still be there when you get back; go out and support the team!

*****

The women’s swim team defeated Widener 121-82 yesterday at Ware Pool. Franny Zhang ’08 and Jennie Lewis ’08 led the squad to victory with two individual wins each as well as taking the 200 freestyle relay with the help of Sarah Cotcamp ’07 and Whitney Nekoba ’08. Cotcamp, Katie Schmidt ’07, Michele Hom ’07, and Kathryn Jantz ’05 won the 200 medley relay. Also winning was Katherine Reid ’05 in the 1,000 freestyle. Swarthmore will look to continue its winning ways in their Centennial Conference opener on Saturday at Ware Pool. The Garnet face McDaniel at 2:00 p.m.

*****

The Garnet men lost to Widener by a final score of 124-81 in their first swim meet of the season. The 200 medley relay team of Anders Taylor ’07, Andrew Kozco ’07, Mike Auerbach ’05 and Jason Horwitz ’07 won their match, the first of the day, to give Swarthmore an 11-6 lead. But the Tide lost 9 of the remaining 10 matches, with Ben Morgan ’05 picking up the other win in the 500 freestyle. The team opens the Centennial Conference season on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. against McDaniel.

*****

Today:
There are no contests scheduled for today.

Tomorrow:
Men’s soccer vs. McDaniel at Johns Hopkins, 7:30 p.m.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.”
–Voltaire

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