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The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/2002/10/16/red-splits-at-ecac-tourney/)

October 16, 2002

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Red Splits at ECAC Tourney

By wpengine | October 16, 2002

In the first round of action at the ECAC women’s tennis tournament on Saturday, eighth seeded Cornell defeated the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers, 4-0.

The Red jumped out in front early by winning two of three doubles matches.

The team of sophomore Akane Kokubo and senior Nicole Chiu won 8-7 at the No. 1 doubles spot, followed by sophomore Erika Takeuchi and freshman Liying Wang winning at the No. 3 spot, 8-3.

The Red kept its early lead safe by sweeping all three singles matches.

Kokubo and junior Laura Leigh Tallent won their matches at the first two singles spots in straight sets, while Takeuchi needed a third set tiebreaker to win her match at the No. 3 spot.

Sunday’s match against Brown proved to be a tougher test. Inclement weather forced the match to be played at Columbia University, as the original site, the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, was deemed unplayable.

Despite the change in scenery and the Red’s momentum coming off Saturday’s win, the Bears prevailed by a score of 4-2.

Kokubo and Tallent each had straight-set victories in the first two spots of singles action over Victoria Beck and Alex Arlak, who as a pair, were named to the All-Ivy second team last season.

Yet Brown managed to pull out the next three singles matches, along with two doubles matches, winning by scores of 8-0 and 8-3.

The one bright spot in doubles play was Kokubo and Chiu’s win at the No. 1 spot by a score of 8-3 over Beck and Rachel Williams.

The Red’s next competition will be Oct. 25-29 at the ITA Individual-Regional Championships held in Boston. Then the squad will have a long break before opening its dual meet season against Colgate on Jan. 25.

Archived article by Chris Mascaro

Related

M. Lax Scrimmages in Fall Charity Tournament

By wpengine October 17, 2002

The men’s lacrosse team kicked off its fall season at the fifth annual Price Modern Lacrosse for Leukemia Tournament on Oct. 5th. The tournament, started by current University of Maryland head coach Dave Cottle, is held every year at the McDonogh School in Owings Mills, Md. to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Since the tournament’s inception, it has raised over 500,000 dollars from sponsorships and donations. During the day each school was assigned an honorary team member, a young child that has been diagnosed with leukemia. Cornell’s newest member was a young boy, Tyler, who followed the players around and joined the team in its huddles. Although Tyler may have received a signed helmet and jersey from the Cornell players, the players received so much more from Tyler. Senior tri-captain Ryan McClay explained, “I think it’s the best thing we do all year. When you see little kids that realistically aren’t going to have the opportunities that we have, it really makes you thankful.” With Tyler cheering the players on, the Red scrimmaged powerhouses Towson, Loyola and Johns Hopkins. Despite a strong effort, the team did not play as a cohesive unit, something both head coach Jeff Tambroni and McClay attribute to a lack of team playing time. Tambroni compared Cornell to its opponents, stating, “In terms of our athletes I think we match up with every one of them. In terms of our lacrosse players I believe we match up with every one of them. In terms of our progress and development in the fall, that was probably where those teams were a little farther ahead and it showed. “Anytime you graduate 10 guys and you bring in seven new ones, there is a completely new chemistry on the team, and it’s going to take a while to develop and certainly down there it showed that we are not nearly where we want to be but certainly much further along this year than we were last year.” Overall the team was “average” on both ends of the field. It did not capitalize on some possible key transitions and made some mental mistakes. McClay was not worried, however. “You have to put it in perspective,” he explained. “You want to go down there and play well because that is what you worked all fall for, but when you look back on it, it doesn’t mean anything. I think that we understand that
U.S. Soccer Head Coach Arena '73 Reflects on C.U.

By wpengine October 17, 2002

Though the 2002 World Cup is over, don’t think that the members of the U.S. National Team can take things easy. Several players are hitting the peak of their European seasons, while others are working hard to better their MLS teams. Also hard at work is their coach, Cornell graduate Bruce Arena ’73 . Arena came to Cornell from Nassau Community College in 1971. Throughout his four years of collegiate competition, Arena was three times an All-American in soccer and lacrosse. His defensive skills helped lead the 1972 Cornell soccer team to the NCAA semifinals, earning him the defensive MVP award along the way. He first began his coaching career here at Cornell while still an undergraduate. He began his work in the spring of 1973 as the men’s freshman lacrosse coach. The fall of 1973 saw his beginnings with soccer, as Arena worked with the Red’s goaltending unit for the next two seasons. Arena then went on to coach men’s soccer at Virginia, where he recorded 15 winning seasons and five NCAA titles. More recently, Arena won the Major League Soccer cup twice as the coach of the D.C. United. He also earned Coach of the Year honors for his efforts. 1996 provided Arena’s first international coaching appearance, as he led the U.S. Under-23 National Team in Olympic competition. In 1998 he was named head coach of the U.S. Men’s national team. While an earlier plan set 2010 as the goal for producing a competitive U.S. soccer team, Arena was able to pool his resources and speed things up a bit. However, he is the first to admit that there were many tangible differences between other World Cup competitions and the one held in 2002 — primarily MLS. “I think we can attribute our development to the fact that we have a pro soccer league, so we have more players to choose from,” he said. Compared to previous years, when the U.S. team was composed of collegiate players, the 2002 World Cup was different. Half of this year’s U.S. players were from MLS, and the other half from European leagues. Though extremely pleased with his team’s play, Arena doesn’t dwell on the past, particularly the uncalled handball during a quarterfinal match with Germany. “Those things happen,” said Arena. “The referee in my opinion probably didn’t see the play. I moved on immediately after that game. There’s nothing we can do about it.” One thing Team USA’s coach will do, however, is try again. Some of his current starters will be too old to return for a cup run in 2006, so Arena has already returned to actively scouting talent. Still, don’t count out players such as Eddie Pope or Claudio Reyna. Arena feels that both players still have plenty of time left where international play is concerned. As for Arena’s future with the U.S. team, he is currently in negotiations for another four-year cycle. However, the upcoming contract may be his last. “I imagine that would probably be the end at that point,” said Arena. “Very rarely do coaches do more than four years at this level.” What will he do with his free time after 2006? Arena has expressed interest in coaching overseas. Then again, he could end up at Pebble Beach. The decorated coach and player said that if he were involved in any other professional sport today, it would be golf. “The way golf is today, I’d love to be a professional golfer. It’s just the technology and the skill of the players today — I think it’s pretty remarkable.” Despite an interest in golf, Arena does not regret any of the decisions he has made, noting that he has been “very satisfied” with his opportunities. He also looks back fondly on his time at Cornell. Still, Arena’s most prominent memories are not necessarily tied to the playing field. “I look back at my experiences at Cornell and Ithaca and enjoy them greatly,” he said. “I think what I enjoyed the most were the people that I met from different parts of the country and world. It was really an education in itself.”Archived article by Matt Janiga