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November 22, 2000 Sports Ball
hog Women's
soccer makes best of second chance Sports Web Exclusives! Matt Golden's From the Cheap Seats column Ball
hog Junior linebacker Chris Roser-Jones is the only Tiger who wears a protective neck roll with his uniform. The roll attaches to his shoulder pads and pokes out from the top of his jersey, making Roser-Jones easy to spot. But it's his nose for the ball, not style, that has caught the eye of Princeton football fans. The 6-foot, 210-pound linebacker has come up with eight turnovers for the Tiger defense in eight games this season. Roser-Jones plays every down on defense and leads the team in interceptions (6), pass deflections (16), fumble recoveries (2), and tackles for a loss (8). He says, "The guys were joking that my neck roll was attracting the ball." Roser-Jones grew up in State College, Pennsylvania, the home of Penn State, which has a tradition of producing great linebackers. He says, "I think every kid who grows up in State College has dreams of playing for Penn State. But as a senior, I wasn't recruited that much." So Roser-Jones came to Princeton, which is developing its own version of "Linebacker U," with six All-Ivy selections at linebacker in the last 11 years. Roser-Jones could continue that tradition. He was named Ivy Defensive Player of the Week for his two interceptions against Brown and led the league in interceptions in early November. He has also made the Ivy Honor Roll twice. Despite the sturdy linebacker's best efforts, the Tigers dropped out of the Ivy title race by letting successive games slip away - a thriller at Cornell on October 28 and a home loss against Penn on November 4. In both games, Princeton (2--6, 2--3 Ivy) held the lead in the third quarter thanks to opposition miscues. But the Big Red and the Quakers prevailed because the Tigers returned the favor, making fatal mistakes. In Ithaca, Princeton and Roser-Jones fought back from an early 11-point Big Red lead to gain a brief second-half advantage. In the third quarter, Cornell fumbled away a punt, leading to a Cameron Atkinson '03 touchdown run. On the Big Red's next possession, Roser-Jones tipped a pass that junior Bob Farrell intercepted. But Tiger quarterback Jon Blevins '01 was picked off on the following play. Roser-Jones bailed out his QB by intercepting a pass himself and returning it to the Cornell seven-yard-line. Atkinson ran for his second touchdown on the next play. With a two-point conversion, Princeton had an 18--14 advantage. Roser-Jones ended Cornell's next drive when he sacked Big Red QB Ricky Rahne, forcing a fumble that Roser-Jones also recovered. But Princeton's next three drives resulted in a punt, an interception, and a Blevins fumble. Meanwhile, Cornell scored 11 points to take a 25-18 lead with 1:56 to play. Enter fourth-string quarterback Brian Danielewicz '02. He completed seven of eight passes, including an acrobatic 24-yard touchdown catch by sophomore Chisom Opara with 11 seconds left to bring the Tigers within one. But kicker Taylor Northrup '02, who had made all 16 extra point attempts this season, slipped on the turf and missed the point-after try. The result was a heart-breaking, 25--24 loss. The following week against Penn, it was another last-second play that was equally devastating for the Tigers, except the play came at the end of the first half. Danielewicz became Princeton's fourth different starting QB and scored twice on short runs to help build a 24--6 second-quarter lead. Roser-Jones had an interception early in the second quarter and set up one score by recovering a fumble. But as the half wound down, Penn QB Gavin Hoffman quickly drove the Quakers to the Princeton 39-yard-line, where he threw up a Hail Mary pass as time expired. Roser-Jones tried to knock the ball down at the goal line, but Quaker Doug O'Neill caught the deflection at the seven-yard-line and dodged into the end zone. The momentum had shifted. In the second half, Penn scored on five of seven possessions, pressured Danielewicz into two interceptions, and outscored the Tigers 27--0 for a 40--24 victory. After the game, head coach Roger Hughes said, "We were a little bit deflated [by the Hoffman last-second, TD pass]. I thought we were still in control of the game at that point, but certainly they did a nice job of capitalizing on the momentum that they generated with that play." Princeton is now assured
of its fifth straight season without a winning record and must look
toward next year. On the bright side, Hughes has three experienced
quarterbacks and, of course, Roser-Jones to handle the ball. By Phillip R. Thune '92 Phil Thune is a frequent contributor to PAW.
Women's
soccer makes best of second chance Julie Shaner '01 had some business to attend to before they closed the books on her brilliant collegiate athletic career. The standout midfielder has been a four-year mainstay for the Princeton women's soccer team, but she had fallen short in pursuit of her ultimate goal: the Ivy League championship. The play of tricaptain Shaner, a Mid-Atlantic region All-America and All-Ivy selection last year, has again been instrumental to Princeton's success this season. That's nothing new for the two-sport star, who is also a two-time All-America selection in women's lacrosse. A heralded recruit in both sports, Shaner led all freshmen in points scored on the soccer field in 1997, earning second-team All-Ivy accolades. In lacrosse that spring, she distinguished herself as well, winning Ivy League rookie of the year honors. Head women's soccer coach Julie Shackford says of her team sparkplug, "She has an extremely high level of energy out there, not to mention one of the quickest first steps I've seen. Julie is a playmaker. She is able to see things so well as they unfold." Shaner and her Tiger teammates sported a 12--4 overall record and a 5--1 Ivy mark that put them at the top of the Ivy standings heading into their season finale. But earlier the Tigers had been locked, once again, in a duel with perennial nemesis Harvard (4--2 Ivy) for league supremacy. Both teams had identical league records heading into their critical October 20 showdown, a game that would give the victor control of the Ivy title race. The Tigers, who had not won an Ivy championship since 1982, suffered their only league loss that day, dropping a 2--0 decision to the Crimson. The victory gave Harvard an all-important tiebreaker advantage and could have proved fatal to Princeton's championship dreams. "That was a frustrating loss," Shackford says. "Even though going into the game we were the team to beat, we played with a little deference to Harvard." Shaner agreed, saying she and her teammates gave Harvard too much respect during the first half. "We didn't realize they were gunning for us, that we were the team to beat, and we were caught on our heels." And by the time the Tigers recovered from their daze, the Crimson had claimed a two-goal advantage that proved insurmountable. According to Shackford, the complacency her team exhibited during the first half of the Harvard game was a recurring problem. "We needed to [play] with greater urgency," Shackford said. Once fading quickly, Princeton's championship hopes were renewed when Harvard dropped a 2--0 decision to Dartmouth on October 29. Back in control of their own fate, the Tigers notched a 2--0 win in a crucial league game against Cornell on October 28. Princeton then met Pennsylvania on November 4 in the season finale. A win would clinch a tie for the league championship with Darmouth. The Tigers were determined to take advantage of their second chance, and Princeton emerged with a 1--0 victory. Because the Tigers beat Dartmouth in the regular season, the Tigers receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Shackford, pleased with her team's resolve, was happiest for the seniors, saying, "My seniors helped to build this program into national prominence. In doing so, they went through a lot of growing pains, and I want them to get all the credit they deserve." Shaner echoed her coach's thoughts, saying, "I really [wanted] to go out with that Ivy champs ring, and so [did] the rest of the seniors." With Brown and Dartmouth each sporting 4--1 league marks, the Tigers couldn't have afforded another letdown against Penn or Cornell - although it was possible, based on its strong season, that Princeton could have received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament without winning the Ivy championship. That was the case last year, though the University of Hartford eliminated Princeton in the first round of the tournament. But as it turned out,
the Tigers took the decision out of the selection committee's hands.
Given a second chance at the championship, Princeton cashed in with
flawless play down the stretch. By Patrick Sullivan '02
Men's Teams Football Soccer Water Polo Basketball Hockey Squash Swimming Fencing Wrestling
Women's Teams Volleyball Basketball November 24--25 at
Oregon State Beaver Classic Hockey Squash Swimming Fencing *if team qualifies · Records current as of Nov. 6 |
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