Football win bright spot among many losses
by Jesus Jimenez
After losing two weeks in a row, the football team was the bright spot for Earlham athletics last weekend.
The men’s and women’s soccer teams put up a strong fight, but both fell after a long drive to Allegheny, Penn. Both teams had midweek games, but the men’s score came too late for print. The women lost to the Wittenberg Tigers 1-0 as well. The field hockey team showed some fight after going down 4-0 in the first half, but still lost a 5-2 decision to the College of Wooster. Volleyball again went 1-3 on the weekend. Both cross country teams were in action at the Gettysburg Invitational, but both placed towards the end of the teams; the men came in 21st place of 25 teams, while the women came in 23rd of 28 teams.
Cross Country
Sophomore Jacob Naegeli was again the top runner for Earlham, finishing with a time of 28:42, for 87th place overall. The other top runners for Earlham included senior Evan Fackler (29:36, 138th overall), senior John White (30:10, 180th overall), senior Adam Tobin (30:42, 206th overall) and senior Bokole Braun (31:29, 242nd overall).
Sophomore Sean McGuire, who had run well in most of the meets this season, was unable to run due to illness. Earlham earned 571 points. The top overall runner was sophomore Makorobondo Salukombo from Denison University, with a time of 26:19. Shippensburg University in Penn. won the overall meet with 26 points. Gettysburg College, the host team, came in third place with 107 points.
Women’s Cross Country
Freshman Hannah Santino was the top runner for the women’s team with a time of 27:12, good enough for 112th overall. The other top five for Earlham were sophomore Erin McIlvain (30:24, 232nd overall), junior Caryn Wixom (30:41, 238th overall, senior Emily Doering (31:36, 251th overall), and freshman Noor Balbaky (32:06, 259th overall). The team earned 737 points. Shippensburg also took the women’s race, with 72 points. Gettysburg came in fourth with 139 points.
The next meet for both teams will be the North Coast Athletic Conference championships at Ohio Wesleyan University this year on Oct. 31. The meet kicks off at 11 a.m.
Field Hockey
The field hockey team battled the College of Wooster but fell 5-2. The Scots were up 4-0 going into half time. They scored once more in the second half before the Quaker defense shut them down for the rest of the game. Freshman forward Kate Birdsall added the first goal for the Quakers at the 57:51 mark with an assist from senior forward Cassie Gage. Birdsall returned the favor and assisted Gage at the 67:07 mark for her 13th goal of the season.
Freshman goalkeeper Emily Treece had nine saves for Earlham.
Gage is closing in on some all-time records. With 86 points and 36 goals, Gage is only three points away and six goals away from Margaret Kerrick’s (1983-1986) 23-year long records.
The team also played Wittenberg University on Wednesday, but the score came too late for print.
This year’s Homecoming opponent for the field hockey team will be Kenyon College tomorrow at noon on Matlack Field.
Men’s Soccer
Sophomore midfielder Irhad Strika’s goal at the 88:32 mark was too little too late against the Allegheny Gators last weekend in Pennsylvania. Sophomore midfielder/forward Nicholas Costello had an assist on the play.
The game was tied at zero going into the second half. Early in the second half, Matt Weintraub scored with an assist from Adam Spisak. Only ten minutes later, Chris Brennan scored off a corner kick from James Fulton to put the Gators up 2-0. The goal from Strika came only two minutes before the game ended, giving them too little time to complete the comeback.
The Gators outshot the Quakers 11-4 in the first half and 7-2 in the second. Earlham also had no corner kicks in the second half, and only three in the first, to Allegheny’s six in each half. Junior goalkeeper Jonah Kreniske had four saves for the Quakers.
The team also hosted Wittenberg University on Wednesday, but the score came too late for print.
Women’s Soccer
The women’s soccer team suffered a pair of tough conference losses this week to set their conference record at 2-3. The late goal came unassisted from Wittenberg’s Sheryl Chambers at the 72:47 mark. Earlham received two yellow cards in the contest, one coming to junior defender Allie Zeller at the 72:08 minute, and the other came to sophomore midfielder/defender Evelyn Tandy at minute 87:54.
The team suffered another tough loss at Allegheny last Saturday, also by a score of 1-0. The only goal came much too early in the game, making the loss tough to swallow. Ashley Miller’s goal came at the 39th second of the game with an assist from Georgia Frost.
Junior goalkeeper Megan Holthaus had four saves for the Quaker ladies. Alegheny outshot Earlham 12-5 and held them without a shot in the first half. Each team also had one corner kick in the second half.
The women are now 2-3 in conference, while the men are 1-3-1, with three conference games each, going into Wednesday.
Both teams will host Hiram College tomorrow for Homecoming weekend. The women’s game will be at 1 p.m., followed by the men’s game at 3 p.m.
Football
The football team won for the first time in almost a month, earning their first conference victory of the season 10-7 against Hiram College. The defense teamed up to score the only touchdown, while senior Max Crumley-Effinger added a field goal to the cause. They had scored only a field goal in each of the first two conference games against the College of Wooster and Wittenberg University.
Crumley-Effinger’s 35-foot field goal in the second quarter gave the Quakers a 3-0 lead going into halftime. Later in the quarter, junior linebacker Cale Gulliford’s sack forced a fumble, which sophomore linebacker Collin Draine picked up and returned 25 yards for a touchdown going into halftime. The Terriers scored their touchdown in the fourth quarter, but Earlham was able to hold them back for the win.
Senior defensive back Jacob Carr led the team with 11 tackles, while Gulliford and senior linebacker Adam LaFollette hade nine each. Junior wide receiver Bryant Foreman had 47 rushing yards while senior wide receiver Christopher Owens had two receptions for 35 yards. LaFollete and junior defensive back Austin Manahan each had an interception.
The Quakers are now at .500 with a 3-3 record, but only 1-2 in conference play. They have won every road game, but are still winless at home. Their Homecoming opponent will be Oberlin, a great chance for them to pick up their first home victory. The Yeomen are 0-6, and will be striving for that first victory this weekend. Kick off will be at 1 p.m. tomorrow at Darrell Beane Stadium.
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