After knocking off Case 7–2 on Saturday, the 16th-ranked Maroons were points away from toppling third-ranked Wash U Sunday. Even with the 5–4 loss to the Bears, though, Chicago is feeling good about its closest match with Wash U over the past decade.

“If we would have beaten Wash U, that would have been the biggest win on the men’s side by far since I’ve been here,” head coach Marty Perry said. “The men did well; it’s looking like they have some potential this year.”

The narrow loss to the Bears came on the heels of a strong win over Case a day before. With six matches already under their belts, the Maroons were much more match-tested than their opponents—Wash U was in its first weekend of competition—but the Bears have historically dominated the South Siders.

Chicago has never taken more than three doubles and singles matches from Wash U over the past decade, and last season the Maroons fell to the Bears 8–1 in the UAA tournament. On Sunday, Chicago was confident as it began singles play trailing 2–1.

“I felt good about having one point after doubles,” Perry said. “I told the guys ‘We played them [at Bally’s] and almost got swept a couple of years ago. We’ve got one point, so let’s use it.’”

From there, the Maroons stayed right with the Bears. Third-year Will Zhang and second-year Jan Stefanski dropped the top two spots, but a solid middle of the lineup pushed Wash U to the brink. First-year Dillon Klincke and second-year Jonathan Alexander took wins at three and four, while third-year Troy Brinker had a comeback win at the fifth spot.

For the Maroons, however, the first match to be played actually decided the game. With his singles match starting during doubles play, first-year Harrison Abrams had chances at the six spot but couldn’t pull out the win, and fell in the third set. That allowed Wash U to withstand Chicago’s charge later on in the afternoon.

“That was a pivotal match…. If we had won that, Troy Brinker’s match would have decided it, and that’s a guy I would really want the match to come down to,” Perry said.

Even with the sting of coming close and falling short, Zhang sees this weekend as a sign of things to come.

“We probably could have performed a little better, but it definitely shows we have a really solid lineup,” he said. “We’re looking pretty strong right now.”

Things seem to be coming together for a Chicago squad that has gone through some growing pains early on in the season, with two transfers and two first-years still acclimating to the team. Alexander has been the most productive newcomer thus far, going 7–3 in singles, but Chicago has relied on all four new contributors at times this season.

As the squad moves forward, it will be looking for more consistency, something that should help close the gap between the Maroons and teams like Wash U down the road.

“It’s taken some time to get that team mentality that you have to bring it every second you’re in a match,” Perry said. “We have to get everyone going into that mentality where, from warm-up to when we’re done, you’ve got to go 100 percent…. Our schedule’s not that easy, so it’s imperative that we put our best foot forward every time we play.”

The Maroons return to action for another test when they travel to 21st-ranked Kalamazoo on Sunday.

This feature may or may not work.  Since the blog has a much smaller staff than the newspaper (i.e. it’s pretty much me and Jordan), this feature will likely depend on what story the two of us are covering.  But, we’ll see how it works and what we can do to make it better.

Today’s Extra is a little bit weird because the entire story that should have gone into the paper didn’t, so really that whole thing could be in here.  But since I finished it with spacing concerns in mind and we posted that version on the Maroon website, we’ll just have to go with it.  You’ll probably want to check out that article before reading on.

Anywho, for today’s paper, I had some nice talks with second-year Moe Bahrani and third-year Arthur Baptist about the Chicago Duals and what’s going on with their roster.  Here are a couple of things that didn’t make it into the article but probably should have.

You know that old thing about not making excuses?  It started becoming a cliché hundreds of years ago, when King George reportedly didn’t make any excuses after losing the Revolutionary War.  But really, what isn’t a cliché these days?

Anyway, the men’s track team is doing its best to not make any excuses, and I thought Moe actually had a really good way of putting it: ”Every team has injuries. It’s not something where you can say, ‘Oh, we’re hurt.’ At the end of the day, no one cares.”

Pretty simple, but I thought that really captured the whole issue. When the Chicago Bears lost Brian Urlacher this year, the fans didn’t all of a sudden forgive them for being horrible.  That’s just the way it goes.

Fortunately, the men’s team is still ranked eighth in the country, and they’ve got a bunch of guys coming back.  Hopefully injury problems are a thing of the past come time for UAAs.

At the same time, though, it’s not necessarily injuries that are keeping these guys out right now.  Moe’s been keeping himself out because of a higher goal: He wants to dominate at the stacked Whitewater meet next weekend, so he’s pacing himself.  You should hear him talk about that race.

“I was the last guy out of nationals [for cross country], and so I went and talked to Coach Hall, and I told him I’m national caliber runner, and the only way I’m going make nationals is if I run the 5k at Whitewater…. So I sat down with Coach Hall and told him I really wanted to focus on that race because I think can hang with them, and he agreed.”

For Baptist, it’s more an issue of taking care of injuries to focus on performing well long-term (and maybe not with a single meet in mind).  He’s got outdoor nationals in mind, specifically, and it’s just tough to run at the level he wants to run at for two full seasons.  Last year that caught up with him, and he tore his hamstring, forcing him out of the outdoor season completely.  This year he’s easing into it to make sure that doesn’t happen again.

Another part of the story that I wish had gone into the article was Moe’s discussion of UAAs. That’s another thing where you can tell just by the tone of his voice how much he wants to avenge last year’s three-point loss.

“Last year with losing conference, it still bothers me. Last year we went into conference the heavy favorites; if we just did what we were supposed to do, we would have won easily…. I don’t know what everyone else’s mindset is, at least my mindset, the first thing I think of when I get to practice is we’ve got to win conference…. It should all come together. We’re not going to be the overwhelming favorites this year I don’t think, but that’s good for us. We need that motivation. We need to be the Emory of last year.”

The whole story got me thinking about why track (and cross country and probably swimming too) is a unique sport.  When you’re hurt, it doesn’t help the team to rush back or to compete injured.  You’re just not going to do as well as a healthy runner or thrower or swimmer.  In basketball, you can play through ankle injuries because quickness or lift aren’t the only parts of the game.  A jumpshot can make you valuable even if you’re slowed by injuries.  In running, that’s just not the case.  If you injure your ankle, you’re probably not going to win.  The sport doesn’t have much pity.

Was this interesting? Helpful? Worth the time?  Let us know your thoughts by commenting or emailing in at gomaroons@gmail.com.

The ladies had quite a bit to ponder this week, as they set season lows in points, field-goal shooting, assists, and rebounds against Wash U.

But a good crowd at the Ratner Center and some inflatable palm trees made the difference Friday night, as the women topped NYU 71–61.  Well, some all-around quality basketball might have played a role, but just in case, let’s make those palm trees permanent.

The first half was ugly in a lot of ways, and it showed on the scoreboard.  The Maroons walked into the locker room down by three at 32–29, and the reasons were many.

They missed 12 layups in the half.  That’s the way you lose a lot of games, and that’s the way they lost just last weekend in St. Louis.  Now, of course some of those were contested, but they need to convert on more of those opportunities once teams like Rochester and Case come around.  Six of those misses came in the last six minutes of the half, a stretch over which a 26–17 lead turned into a 32–29 deficit.

They didn’t dominate the boards. Now, the numbers weren’t awful here, but again, this is a part of the box score the Maroons need to reign supreme.  They went into the half trailing 23–21 in the rebound battle.

You put those two together, and you’ve got the ingredients for another loss.  The offense just looked lost at the end of the first half, and it was worrying.  NYU started hitting some jumpers, got some threes to go, and went into the half looking comfortable.

Aaron Roussell must have had a hell of a halftime speech, because a different team came out of the locker room in the second half.

As the half got started, the change was palpable.  NYU couldn’t get into any kind of rhythm, and that’s a direct credit to the tough defense Chicago was applying.  NYU’s possessions to start the half went like this: turnover, missed three and missed layup, missed jumper, turnover, missed three and missed jumper, turnover.  They didn’t score for the first 4:25 of the period, and that opened the door for Chicago to bounce out to a quick 15–2 run.

Case closed.  After shooting 28.6 percent in the first half, Chicago shot 38.5 percent in the second.  That’s not a great mark, but when you hold your opponent to 27.8 percent shooting in the second half, you’re going to make things easier.

Overall, it was just a tenacious defense coming out in the second half.  Molly Hackney had two disgusting rejections on NYU’s leading scorer Grace Carmen, and the Maroons were in the passing lanes for all of the last 20 minutes.

It clearly wasn’t the kind of offensive performance you’d hang your hat on, but it was good to see some rhythm on offense and some intensity on D.  Good way to sweep the loss to Wash U a little bit further under the carpet.

Straight assassin
Usually 4-for-12 shooting isn’t going to jump off the page, but Jamie Stinson played a really nice offensive game.  It seemed like she was hunting for the rim a lot more than we usually see, and the result was a career-high 13 points.  She was also following her misses, a good reason why five of her six rebounds were on the offensive end.

Hack attack
We saw some vintage Molly Hackney on defense.  There was one play in particular where NYU was inbounding, and I think she got screened off of Carmen, giving Carmen a seemingly clear look at the basket from about five feet out.  And then Hackney came swooping in at the last second and rejected it like her name is Mt. Mutombo.  She collected four blocks on the night and did a really nice job of containing the usually offensive minded Grace Carmen, who scored six on the night.

Who said free throws were free?
Boy, 47 free throws?  That’s two shy of a school record, and it’s great to see from a struggling offense.  But they missed 20 of those.  The missed free throws and the missed layups were definitely worrisome.

Extras:
Chicago Recap
NYU Recap
Box
Statistics

The University of Chicago Men’s Basketball (6-5) closed out the non-conference schedule in heartbreaking fashion on Saturday afternoon at the Ratner Athletic Center, losing a close contest to the Milwaukee School of Engineering Raiders (6-6). The game was a tale of two halves that saw MSOE erase a 14 point first-half deficit to secure the two point victory, 64-62.

The Maroons looked good in the first twenty minutes of play, employing a balanced attack and moving the ball well. Milwaukee pressured the offense with a full-court press early in the first-half which was handled well. Each time down the court the Maroons let their offense develop, passed the ball and hit on 58% of their field goals.

Milwaukee was only able to convert on 32% of their field goals in the first half and committed 9 turnovers. The defense of the Raiders worked well down low, but their ball movement on offense was lacking, prompting head coach Brian Miller to pull his entire starting roster from the court at one point.

At the end of the first half the Maroons held a comfortable 37-23 lead.

Milwaukee came out hot to start the second half, going on a 10-2 run to cut the lead to 6 at the 16:41 mark. The Maroons seemed to slip into some of the bad habits that have dogged them early in the season by depending too much on the three-point shot, having prolonged scoring droughts and committing sloppy turnovers.

Chicago committed 10 turnovers to Milwaukee’s four in the second half, and for the game only hit on 4 of 16 shots from behind the arc. Even as the Raiders got into foul trouble late in the game, the Maroons still relied on the outside shot instead of pressing the basket and looking for the foul.

The last field goal for Chicago came on Marek Kowalewski’s layup with 3:42 remaining that knotted the score at 59-59. But down the stretch the Maroons were unable to convert any buckets except for hitting three of their final four fouls shots, suffering their first home loss on the season.

For the game, the Maroons’ leading scorer was John Kinsella who finished with 11 points, three assists and two rebounds.  Milwaukee was led by Bennett Deacon and Austin Meier, who each scored 18 points. The Raiders out rebounded the Maroons 27-24.

Whether it was due to the big half-time lead lulling them into complacency in the second half, or the fact that Milwaukee just wanted the game more, the Maroons need to right the ship going into the start of conference play.

The Maroons open up the conference schedule on Saturday, January 9^th in St. Louis against Washington University (9-1).  The Bears are coming off back-to-back Division III National Championship seasons.  Chicago will be looking for their first road win of the ’09-’10 campaign.

Goal scorers:

44′ Jackie Short (KZoo)
83′ Allison Hegel (Chi) off Brooke Bontz’s rebound
105′ Sarah Loh (Chi) from Bontz

The Maroons had strong advantages in possession, pressure on net and set pieces all day, but they had trouble getting many shots on frame. Chicago had over 15 corners on the day, according to Kalamazoo’s broadcasters.

Chicago is now 5-1-0 on the year, just a notch worse than their 5-0-1 first third in 2007.

Upcoming soccer matches on Go Maroons LIVE:

Sunday, Sept. 20—Men’s soccer vs. Aurora at 2 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 23—Women’s soccer vs. Wisconsin–Stevens Point at 4 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 26—Women’s soccer vs. Aurora at 1 p.m.

It’s 1-1, with Centre scoring in the seventh minute and Chicago answering in the ninth. There was a 23rd-minute injury for Centre that forced them to change formations (to a 3-5-2). Chicago coach Scott Wiercinski was sent off in the first half.

It’s hard to get updates on Chicago’s side—including who scored—but it sounds like it’s been back and forth and that the Maroons were able to pressure the Centre goal.

We’ll keep updating at twitter.com/gomaroons.

If I did that, I’d be lying to all of you, and if my mother raised me to be anything, that most certainly is not a liar (although my dad has been known to say “It’s ok to lie as long as you don’t cheat”).

North Park (3–0) certainly isn’t to be overlooked right now. They exploded out of the gates last Tuesday, beating Wisconsin Lutheran (1–3) 7–0 in the season opener. They outshot Lutheran 56–1 in that game, with five different players scoring. They also beat Lake Forest (1–1), a .500 club that took Chicago to double overtime last year. In three games, they’ve allowed zero goals on just nine shots.

At the same time, we have to look at those numbers in context. North Park’s opponents have a combined record of 2–6 right now, and thinking more long-term, they’ve never made the NCAA tournament (although that might be because Wheaton plays in the CCIW).

Perhaps most noteworthy is that Chicago is undefeated against North Park. Just saying that might not sound great, since the Maroons are undefeated against 26 different teams altogether, and most of those are teams we’ve played once of twice. But we’ve played North Park 10 times. That’s 10–0 since 1995.
Last year, the Maroons beat the Vikings 3–0 as part of that absurd stretch at the end of the season when Chicago won six straight to get to the national tournament.

This year, the South Siders are playing them in a different part of the year with different expectations. Still, things are certainly looking up for Chicago. The Maroons are ranked 15th in the country (the last time the team played North Park, Chicago wasn’t ranked at all), and they’re coming off a 5–1 shellacking of Babson (1–2) over the weekend.

Hard part? Probably not yet. That’ll really come toward  the end of September, when Wheaton comes to town and things start to have some playoff flavor. Today Chicago will be playing to protect a perfect record on the season and an undefeated streak 14 years in the making.

Opponent players to watch

Everly Ban, M: The first-year from California has made an immediate impact for North Park, scoring three goals thus far. She’s also second on the team with 20 shots, and two of her shots were game-winners.

Sarah Hansen, F: In her second year, Hansen has notched two goals (both against Lutheran) and leads the team with 24 shots, 19 of which have been on goal.

He probably just hopes his team will focus their scoring on their opponents’ net.

Chicago (1–0) scored all three goals in Tuesday’s 2–1 victory over Augustana (0–1), setting themselves back with an own goal in the first half before knocking in two scores in the second to win the season opener.

“Whatever sort of fashion you win in, it’s a great way to start the season,” Wiercinski said.

A defensive miscue in the 10th minute had opening day looking much like last year, when the Maroons found themselves fighting back from a deficit too often for comfort.

“I didn’t think we had a whole lot of energy and whole lot of tempo to our game…. I was really expecting a little bit more in terms of the energy and just the excitement to play from the first whistle,” Wiercinski said. “But having that said, once we made a big mistake and went down a goal, I thought that the guys did a good job of finding that energy and playing really well in the second half and really forcing the tempo in a much better way in the second half.”

Chicago controlled the ball throughout the game, outshooting Augustana 26–5, and keeper Steve Baron had to defend his net just once throughout the afternoon. The Maroons, playing in a new 4–4–2 formation, a shift from last year’s 4–3–3, tallied nine shots on target along with an 11–0 advantage in corner kicks.

Chicago struggled to convert in the first half, with Augustana keeper Mike Dolan’s five first-half saves protecting the Vikings’ lead. Meanwhile, Wiercinski said his team moved the ball too slowly and didn’t make enough good passes on the attack.

“I think it was just a little bit of nerves, maybe a little caution in the sense that nobody wanted to make a mistake, all those types of things, but I felt like we just didn’t really force the tempo,” Wiercinski said. I thought we kept the ball pretty well but we didn’t really go anywhere with it.”

Trailing 1–0, the Maroons struck in the 65th minute, with midfielder Kenzo Manners assisting forward Edgar Friloux just to the right of Augustana’s net. Dolan got a hand on the ball, but Friloux’s shot had enough English to spin into the net.

Just two minutes later, Manners made a steal at midfield with plenty of breathing room, launching a deep pass to the right side, where forward Alex Clifford finished easily.

“Two fantastic assists. Edgar maybe got away with one and Alex’s finish was fantastic, but Kenzo really made it happen with his two passes,” Wiercinski said. “Kenzo’s very, very good on the ball. He’s technically very sharp and he can deliver balls pretty much where he wants them, and as long as we get guys anticipating that those balls are going to come, we can be pretty dangerous coming out of the midfield.

The Maroons have now won four consecutive home openers, and their positive start means a winning record for the South Siders for the first time since mid-September of last season. Chicago also had the pleasure of playing with a healthy roster, something that wasn’t true all of last season.

“Last year we had a lot of injuries and had some guys that we were missing…. I think it’s in many ways it’s the same personnel that we had last year, just new expectations and new energy to do more,” Wiercinski said. “We’re not satisfied with the way things went last year, and we’re excited to start things off on a good foot this year.”

Returning their top five players in points from a season ago, the Maroons also caught a glimpse of their younger players, with midfielders Steven Chase and Danny Hahn playing substantial minutes.

“Danny Hahn really was consistent and dangerous in getting forward,” Wiercinski said. “He was maybe the most consistent player top to bottom for his minutes because he was reliable with the ball, he got forward, and he provided some dangerous services to teammates.”

The Maroons head to Dominican (1–0) next, playing the Stars at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Notes: Defender Gabe Iatarola suffered an ankle injury in the first half. He was carried off the bench during halftime, but Wiercinski said the injury wasn’t serious and Iatarola might return this weekend…. Chicago superfan Top 50 was in attendance, part of a crowd of about 80 people…. GoMaroons commentators Sean Ahmed and Emerald Gao are back for another year of Maroons sports. Ahmed was reportedly heard to call the diving header defender Rashad Masri’s “specialty.”

And, of course, announce the winners of our annual All-Maroons poll. You can go ahead and read those here, but definitely grab a hard copy of the paper as well, because it’s got some pretty sweet illustrations that you’ll probably enjoy (think ‘bobbleheads’). Hopefully we’ll have some PDFs of those pages up eventually, so those of you who aren’t on campus can take a look at the design and the pictures as well.

Probably sometime over the next couple weeks, when our finals schedules permit, Jake and I will post some reflections on this year’s sports. But at as a preliminary, I just want to say that it has been a ton of fun to follow along. I know Jake and I and the other Maroon Sports folks have really enjoyed it, and we’re already looking forward to 2009–2010.