HOOP DREAMS High expectations are nothing new for Cornell's winter athletic teams, but never have hopes been quite so high for the basketball squads. For the first time, the men's team was tabbed as the favorite to win the Ivy League title in the preseason media poll. Cornell's only Ivy championship came 20 years ago, and the 1987-88 title team was honored during halftime at the Big Red's season-opening win over Lehigh. The Big Red returns three starters and 11 letter-winners from the squad that finished third in the league last season, including the reigning rookie of the year, Ryan Wittman '10.In addition, 2006 rookie of the year Adam Gore '09 is back, after missing all but the first game of last season with a knee injury. The Cornell women were picked to finish second in the preseason media poll, their best showing ever. They tied a school record with an 8-6 league mark last season, and this year's team returns four starters.
AUTUMN HONORS The Big Red field hockey team took second in the Ivy League, tying the school record for wins in a season. Four Cornell players were recognized with All-Ivy honors: Belen Martinez '09 was a unanimous first-team pick after anchoring the defense and became the Big Red's first three-time All-Ivy winner since Emily Robb '99. Brenna Gulotta '09 also earned first-team honors after leading the squad with five goals and 14 points. Kate Thompson '11 and Catie De Stio '11 both received honorable mention.
BAD BREAK The Big Red wrestling team was named fourth best in the country in the W.I.N. Magazine preseason rankings, based largely on the return of seven national qualifiers and three All-Americans: Troy Nickerson '09 at 125 pounds, Jordan Leen '09 at 149, and Josh Arnone '10 at 184. But the team was dealt an early blow when Nickerson, who finished third in the nation last year, was sidelined for the season by a shoulder injury.
FORE! The golf team reached new heights this fall, earning a seventh-place regional ranking, ten spots better than its previous high. The Big Red finished in the top three of all four of its tournaments this season, taking first at both the White Clay Creek Scotty Duncan Invitational and the Big Five Invitational and posting a 42-5 head-to-head record in those events. Robert Cronheim '10 was ranked 11th in the region and among the top 300 golfers nationwide.
SWISS MISS Former Big Red hockey standouts Ryan Vesce '04 and Charlie Cook '05 took time from their European seasons to represent the United States on the men's select team at the 2007 Deutschland Cup in Hanover, Germany. The U.S. was undefeated but finished second after losing a shootout to Switzerland in the title game. Vesce was named the U.S. player of the game in that contest after recording a goal and an assist. Cook and Vesce are teammates for HIFK Helsinki in the Finnish National League.
GOOD, EH? Rebecca Johnston '11 was the youngest player on the Canadian national women's hockey team that took first at the Four Nations Cup in November. The undefeated Canadians won the tournament for the 10th time in 12 tries. Johnston also had a goal as the Canadian Under-22 national team swept a three-game exhibition series with the United States in August.
STRONG START Matt Moulson '06 made a quick impression on the National Hockey League, scoring the go-ahead goal in his debut with the Los Angeles Kings. Moulson earned the call-up to the Kings after scoring a team-high five goals in eight games for the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League. He spent all of last season with the Monarchs, collecting 25 goals and 32 assists in 77 games.
Big Game
November 24, 2007
On the Saturday night after Thanksgiving, a sellout crowd of 18,200—almost all of them wearing red—packed Madison Square Garden to see the Cornell men's hockey team take on Boston University. The game was the culmination of a two-year effort by athletics officials and alumni from both schools to renew a rivalry that had faded since 1983, when BU departed the ECAC to join Hockey East. While the New York crowd was tilted heavily in the Big Red's favor, the game was dominated by the Terriers. BU jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first period and kept up the pressure, out-skating and out-shooting Cornell to earn a 6-3 victory. Even so, the entire event was a great success—and talk has already begun about staging a sequel.
FALL TEAMS
Final Records
Field Hockey 10-7; 5-2 Ivy (T-2nd)
Football 5-5; 2-5 Ivy (7th)
Sprint Football 4-2; 2-2 CSFL (3rd)
Men's Soccer 7-9-1; 1-5-1 Ivy (7th)
Women's Soccer 4-12; 0-7 Ivy (8th)
Volleyball 9-16; 6-8 Ivy (6th)