The sprint football team saw a near-victory and a slim chance at a share of the CSFL title slip away in a rainy Schoellkopf Field on Friday, falling to Army, 10-9.

The loss was the Red’s (3-3, 3-2 CSFL) third on the season, and the second in a row by three points or less.

The themes of the game were similar to those that have played out throughout the story of the 2009 season: stellar defense and a consistent running game, but a failure to come up with big plays would ultimately leave the Red a bit short. Turnovers in the wet and windy playing conditions also had a key role in the loss.

After a strong start to the individual events portion of the schedule, the women’s tennis team looks to get back on track this weekend in Flushing, N.Y., at the BJK College Invitational. The Red was dominant in sweeping the major awards at the early season Cornell Fall Invitational; however that success did not follow the team to the Army Invitational two weeks ago.

The Red, behind head coach David Geatz, travel to this weekend’s invitational with the mindset that each member of the team will focus on a specific part of their game that needs improvement.

Junior Leah Seyburn stressed the importance of each individual player being able to correct the mistakes that plagued the team at Army.

Following up on the consistent momentum that they have been building over the past couple of years, the men’s and women’s cross country teams will open their seasons today against Army by hosting a head-to-head race at the Ithaca Moakley Course. With strong performances in last year’s Ivy League Heps Championships and some successful individual NCAA qualifiers, the runners are aiming to recapture the Heps title in 2009.

Nevertheless, the Red will be without some of their top runners, including junior Adrien Dannemiller, who is taking a semester abroad in Switzerland, and senior Peter Loy who is out of commission with a knee injury. However, the runners are optimistic about their 2009 campaign regardless of the obstacles that they will be facing.

All three rowing teams had successful weekends, as the Red was able to overpower its opponents in most events.

The heavyweight crew won the Goes Trophy by trouncing Syracuse and Army on Onondaga Lake in the all-important varsity-8 race. The Red also picked up the Stagg Cup for winning four of the five races held on the lake.

The heavyweights have been dominant in the last two weekends. Saturday marked the first time that the Red had lost a race since the fall season. However, the team will have a much tougher test next weekend as it returns to Ithaca for a head-to-head matchup with Princeton and Yale.

Jam it home: Senior Max Siebald scored the game-winning goal against Army this past weekend at West Point, N.Y., with 1:00 left on the clock.

Palesky made 22 saves for the Black Knights (1-2) in an excellent performance, turning away charge after charge by the Red (2-0) offense.

“Their goalie played a great game, we had a ton of opportunities to score,” said freshman attack Rob Pannell.

Check Monday's edition of The Cornell Daily Sun for additional coverage

Men's Lacrosse: Cornell 9, Army 8

The men's lacrosse team walked away from its second game of the season with a tight win against Army. The game winner was a cooperative effort between All-Americans Michael Seibold and John Glynn who combined for the goal that put No. 4/6 Cornell over the top. Siebold scored on a low, hard shot on the army goal from 15 yards out, from an assist by Glynn. The team is now 2-0, continuing its step towards the top.

The sun came out of hiding yesterday, and in an uncharacteristic gesture of goodwill, embraced the men’s lacrosse team with its tepid —but very welcome — rays. While not technically its season opener owing to the team’s dominant, 18-6, win last week over Binghamton, the Red will not have much time to enjoy Ithaca’s spontaneous hot flash, as it will be traveling to West Point this Saturday for what is essentially the team’s first real challenge of the season. No. 4/6 Cornell (1-0) will be challenging the home team, Army (1-1), which is coming off a tough, 17-6, loss last week to No. 1/2 Syracuse. Stick ’em up: Senior captain Max Seibald (42) dodges a Brown opponent during last season’s matchup

This morning, the sprint football team took off for West Point, N.Y., to face CSFL rival Army, with a title-shot and a prominent team record both on the line.

Cornell (3-2, 2-1 CSFL) is coming off a big win against formerly undefeated Penn. Senior quarterback Zak Dentes threw for a season-best 286 yards and sophomore linebacker Clay Hemminger notched a team-high four sacks.

The Black Knights (2-3, 1-1 CSFL) meanwhile, have not played a game in two weeks.

The matchup represents a chance for the Red to achieve, with a little bit of luck, its undisputed season goal: a conference championship.

If the Red can pull-off the win, and if Navy (5-0, 2-1 CSFL) loses its matchup against Penn, the CSFL title will head back to Ithaca.