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The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/2004/02/05/gotta-have-it-61/)

February 5, 2004

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Gotta Have It

By wpengine | February 5, 2004

The motto for many of us at the start of any new year is “out with the old and in with the new.” As the spring 2004 semester — thanks for the “spring” tease you horrible, horrible people — takes shape, life in the big ITH is no different. Last semester’s classes have become little more than letters on a transcript, friends are coming and going from their semesters abroad, the shelves have been graciously re-stocked with premium reading materials, and of course there’s always the brand-spanking new designer notebook to fill with notes

Fencers Host Tigers

By wpengine February 6, 2004

The Red hopes to ride the home advantage to victory this weekend as the fencing squad faces Princeton University and James Madison University in the Stifel Fencing Salle tomorrow. Last weekend was the beginning of truly tough competition for the Red, which faced the strongest teams in New England at the Brandeis Multi Meet last weekend. This weekend’s matches will be another step up. “Princeton has a tradition of being the best,” said head coach Al Peters. Over the last two seasons, Princeton has triumphed over the Red. However, in the same stretch, Cornell has repeatedly beaten James Madison. The Red hopes to start a similar winning streak against Princeton this year. “We don’t get to see their fencers in the season,” Peters said of Princeton’s squad. “But their fencers back from last year are strong.” Peters, though, believes that his fencers’ experience at Brandeis has prepared them for the tough opposition coming to Ithaca this weekend. “We got back to basics this week,” Peters said. “Their confidence is back.” The Red is halfway through its league schedule and has a 1-2 record so far. A win against a strong foe like Princeton would give the team momentum heading into the final stretch of the season. “On paper, [Princeton is] stronger,” Peters said. Archived article by Olivia Dwyer
Polo Hosts Rivals UVA

By wpengine February 6, 2004

Any athletic team would dream about having two key players join its roster just prior to the most critical stretch of the season. This is true for all teams, unless, of course, that team happens to be one of your chief rivals. Cornell’s men’s polo team will have to deal with this nightmare, as a rejuvenated University of Virginia team rides into Ithaca for a match tomorrow afternoon. The Cavaliers, who almost upset the Red earlier this season before falling 11-9, will enjoy the return of two of their best players, who were abroad for the entire first semester. “This is a fact-finding game for us,” said head coach David Eldredge ’81. “We really don’t know how Virginia will be. They could be an entirely different team.” The players returning to the Cavaliers’ ranks include both the third and fourth best players from last year’s national championship squad. Besides this obstacle, the pressure on Cornell to win has already begun to mount due to a disappointing loss to the Gardnertown Polo Club last weekend. However, Eldredge believes the team has put that game behind it. “It was an aberration last week,” he said. “I don’t expect it will happen again.” With few games remaining before the start of Regionals, the Red will need to take advantage of every opportunity to build its confidence and regain its high level of performance before making a run at the national title. However, Eldredge believes his players are ready. “Its going to be a tough game for us, but [they] will be up to the challenge,” he said. “This game should be a benchmark for where we’re going.” Predicting that the match should offer a fast-paced, high scoring style of play, Eldredge said that the key to a Red victory is for the team to maintain its style of play. “We must play our game, not theirs, in order to be successful,” he added. Meanwhile, the Friday evening game should also feature some nice drama, as the Cornell’s women’s team takes on a Cavaliers squad that nearly defeated the Red earlier this fall. Also, having only played two games since break — easy victories over Yale — Virginia should offer Cornell its toughest test in this late stage of the season. Eldredge’s main concern heading into the match is to see if the Red can break out of its usual pattern of play. Too often throughout the first half of the season, Cornell allowed opponents to stay close during the first half before delivering the knockout blow in the third chukker. Now, the coach hopes that his team will instead create some separation right at the beginning of matches and then continue to widen the gap as the game progresses. “We need to get a fast start and kill the other team in the first half,” described Eldredge. “It will be good for the team to see that we can do that.” Archived article by Scott Reich