Junior rewrites record books
I’m not trying to turn this into an Ithaca sports blog, but something else happened on the South Hill this weekend that deserves some coverage. Junior Chelsey Feldman of the women’s soccer team became the program’s all-time leading scorer in the Bombers’ 4-1 win against Stevens Institute of Technology on Saturday.
Feldman netted a hat trick in the game, which is a noteworthy accomplishment on its own. The fact that she did it within a seven-minute span is just plain ridiculous. She now has 87 career points in 46 career games. She has 10 goals in seven games this season, and is on pace for well over 20 goals this year, which easily crush the team record of 14 for a season. Her 34 career goals are one shy of the team record. Her 18 assists are six shy of the team record.
I think you get the point. Feldman is without a doubt the finest female soccer player Ithaca has ever seen. It can be argued that she is better than Sandor Szabo ‘66, who holds the majority of the men’s soccer records (80 career goals, 35 goals in a season, 180 career points, 78 points in a season). While Feldman likely won’t approach those eye-popping figures, she will finish her Ithaca career as the record holder in countless categories. After all, she’s only seven games into her junior season. Scary.
Cardinals clearly cream of the crop
After watching a good majority of today’s Ithaca-St. John Fisher football game, it was abundantly clear that the Cardinals are just as good, if not better than last year. I was not surprised in the least that Fisher easily handled the Bombers. I was, however, surprised at how easy they made it look.
At this rate, Fisher will go undefeated and again challenge for the National Championship, while Ithaca is in serious jeopardy of snapping their streak of 37-straight winning seasons. They could easily lose to Springfield, Alfred and Cortland, meaning they would finish the year at 5-5.
These are clearly two schools going in two very different directions. Hat Trick will have much more to say about Saturday’s games soon. I just had to write about the ugliness I witnessed earlier today.
Monday Morning Quarterback
This weekend Hat Trick had the opportunity to travel up to Alfred, N.Y. for a little getaway. One thing that become immediately clear to me Saturday afternoon - the Saxons are good this year. Really, really good.
Alfred destroyed St. Lawrence 49-19, one week after blowing past Thiel 34-7. For you math lovers, Alfred has outscored their opponents 83-26. That’s a pretty ridiculous point differential. Skeptics will be quick to point out that the Saxons’ next game comes against reigning co-Empire 8 champion Springfield College.
However, the Pride are coming off a bad 33-30 loss to Montclair State, and don’t appear to have the same magic as last year’s squad. Chris Sharpe is still a beast, but Springfield simply lost too many starters on defense for Sharpe to compensate for. If Alfred does get past Springfield, as I expect them to, they won’t face another tough challenge until their final game of the season at St. John Fisher. At this point in the season, the Empire 8 looks to be a two-team race between Fisher and Alfred, which pretty much no one would have expected three weeks ago.
Some other things I learned this weekend: Read more
New rankings released for soccer
It’s pretty late right now and Hat Trick needs some sleep, but I wouldn’t leave you soccer fans hanging. Check out this week’s various polls and post your thoughts. Happy Wednesday.
Monday Morning Quarterback
So it rained this weekend - a lot. There was even an hour-long rain delay in the Ithaca-King’s football game. OK, so the game was technically delayed because of nearby lightning, but seriously, the weather was crazy.
But being stuck inside isn’t always a bad thing. Case in point: Saturday and Sunday were a sports fan’s dream. College football all day on Saturday and the return of NFL Sundays. I spent the majority of my Saturday watching the Ithaca-King’s game on TV, safely away from the rain.
Some thoughts from that game: Knowing that St. John Fisher pounded King’s 49-7 in the opening week, Ithaca should have beat the Monarchs by a lot more than 13 points. I know, I know - a win is a win is a win. But this doesn’t bode well for the Bombers. They welcome Fisher to Butterfield Stadium in two weeks, and if they hope to pull off the upset win, they’d better start taking care of business. They’ll get a good test this coming Saturday in Hartwick, which sports one of the nation’s top offenses, not to mention arguably the top all around player in the country in Lindy Crea.
Click to read my other thoughts and musings from the wild weekend that was: Read more
The return of Hat Trick - seriously
So I’m finally back after a rather lengthy hiatus. My apologies. Though, for what’s worth, I did have an interesting and eventful summer. But I’m back and settled in on South Hill, so it’s time to get back to the D-III sports.
If you’re like me, you love September for a range of reasons: coming back to campus, the beginning of fall or, most importantly, the start of the college football season. Last Saturday provided a lot of interesting match ups across the D-III board. Rather than look back on last week’s games, I’ll look ahead to some of this Saturday’s notable match ups.
12th-ranked Christopher Newport at 4th-ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor: Any time two top-25 teams face off, you know it’s going to be a competitive game. Christopher Newport defeated Rowan 23-17 in their first game, while Mary Hardin-Baylor’s season begins with this game. Players to watch: Sophomore running back Tunde Ogun (Christopher Newport) and senior running back Jarvis Thrasher (Mary Hardin-Baylor).
18th-ranked Augustana at 24th-ranked Baldwin Wallace: Another match up of top-25 teams, this game figures to be just as close. Augustana is coming off a 65-0 drubbing of MacMurray last Saturday. Baldwin Wallace, like Mary Hardin-Baylor, will be opening their season this Saturday. Players to watch: Senior quarterback Ryan McGinnis (Augustana) and junior wide receiver Matt Lepley (Baldwin Wallace).
Check back on Monday for my thoughts on this weekend’s games in the debut of Hat Trick’s Monday Morning Quarterback.
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