The Rice Thresher, Vol. 95, No. 12, Ed. 1 Friday, November 16, 2007 Page: 18 of 24
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THE RICE THRESHER SPORTS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2007
Sid, Jones set to meet in Powderpuff final this weekend
by Kushagra Shrinath
THRKSHER STAFF
In the end, numbers are just
that — numbers. And in pow-
derpuff, rankings are apparently
meaningless as well. As heavy un-
derdogs against league juggernaut
Brown (7-2), Sid (6-3) relied on a
tough, physical defense and late
game offensive heroics to earn a
12-6 upset win in double overtime
last Tuesday. In the other semifi-
nal the day before, third-seeded
Jones (6-3) overcame a late rally
by second-seeded Will Rice (6-3)
to win 13-6 and punch their ticket
to the championship game.
The first three quarters of
Brown's game against Sid featured
sloppy play from both teams. Penal-
ties, turnovers and three-and-outs
were the norm, and neither team was
able to take advantage of good field
position, thus resulting in a score-
less tie heading into the half.
Sid, a team that needed help
to sneak into the playoffs on the
final week of the regular season,
made a crucial adjustment in the
second half. Head coach Cassius
Mensah decided to play bump-
and-run coverage, thus slowing
down Brown's receivers at the line
of scrimmage and limiting their
vaunted aerial attack.
The third quarter saw the same
lack of scoring as the first two, but
at the start of the fourth, Brown put
together the first sustained drive of
the game. Brown marched 76 yards
in 13 plays and milked more than
nine minutes off the clock before
junior quarterback Tori Gascoyne
found junior wide receiver Kristen
Hild for the five-yard touchdown
reception. Gascoyne was a per-
fect 9-9 passing for 67 yards on
m
DAVID ROSALES/THRESHER
Sid Rich sophomore Ashley Thompson evades Brown defenders in last weekend's powderpuff semifinal. Sid came from
behind to win the game 12-6 in double overtime and will face Jones in the powderpuff final.
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the drive, and Hild hauled in four
passes for 22 yards on the drive
to give Brown a 6-0 lead with only
two minutes to play.
Sid responded with senior quar-
terback Lindsay Balthrop orchestrat-
ing a quick six-play, 65-yard scoring
drive that took just a minute and a
half. The drive ended with Balthrop
throwing a pass to sophomore wide
receiver Ashley Thompson, who
evaded two Brown defenders and
took it 33 yards to the end zone.
Balthrop, who had been inter-
cepted three times in the game,
made good decisions on the drive
by not forcing passes and scram-
bling when necessary. The senior
completed all three of her passes
on the drive for 48 yards and ran
three times for 17 yards.
Sid could not to convert the extra-
point attempt and the game went into
overtime at 6-6.
In powderpuff, overtime is struc-
tured similarly to college football.
Each team gets a chance to score,
with the ball being placed at the
opponent's 25-yard line. After a
scoreless first overtime, Balthrop
found freshman wide receiver Sa-
lome Vanwoerden open in the flat
on the first play of double-overtime.
Vanwoerden then raced to the end
zone to give Sid a 12-6 lead.
On the first play of Brown's pos-
session, Gascoyne threw a lob pass
that was hauled in for a 13-yard
gain. But a run for no gain and three
straight Gascoyne incomplete passes
sealed Sid's trip to their seventh-
straight championship game.
Sid's history of success has both
weighed down and reinvigorated
this team.
" [Our history has] been a burden
and a blessing," Balthrop said. "We've
had to live up to that tradition, but at
the same time we don't want to be
the team that ends the streak I of con-
secutive championship games]."
Brown head coach Bryan Hodge
was humble in defeat and gave all the
credit to Sid.
"Sid played a great game," Hodge,
ajunior, said. "They were able to slow
us down, and we just couldn't pull the
flags on that last drive."
The other semifinal game was full
of action in the first halt. Will Rice had
the ball twice in the red zone during
the first two quarters — including
a second and goal at the one-yard
line — but was unable to score.
Senior quarterback Theresa
Ring and senior running back
Caitlin Goodrich paced the Jones
offense, but it was freshman phenom
Maria Failla who came up with the
big plays. Failla caught a 37-yard
touchdown pass from Ring in the
second quarter to give Jones a 6-0
lead and also scored on a 52-yard
SOCCER
From page 15
down at the sea of Dynamo orange,
I saw the Texian Army and El Bat-
talion raise flags with the intensity
of actual brigades. I saw your typical
middle-class families joining those
football fanatics in the screaming as
Houston piled on the shots. I saw tens
of thousands of people stay 10,20,30
minutes after the game, raucously
applauding the unmitigated efforts
of their team.
And it got me thinking — where
is this at Rice?
We have a women's soccer
team — a very successful one at
that — but no men's team. Why?
Why has the athletic department
dropped the ball, failed to see the
opportunity, and deprived us of the
fastest-growing sport in America?
Where is the uproar among the
student body?
It's not like it would be
difficult — we have the facility at the
ready. After a couple calls to Nike
for uniforms (yes, I want to support
the Portland economy) and a year
or two to let the program gel, we
could become a legitimate threat
interception return foratouchdown.
With those two scores, Jones took a
13-0 lead into halftime that it would
not relinquish.
"Maria had a great game," Jones
head coach Matt McDonnell said.
"She knew that ]the Will Rice defend-
ers] weren't giving her much space
so she made the adjustment and beat
them on the long pass."
Will Rice was able to score late in
the fourth quarter on a touchdown
run by sophomore Marie McKinnon,
but it was too little, too late as Jones
held on for the win. The victory
avenges their opening week 20-19
overtime loss to Will Rice.
POWDERPUFF FINAL
Jones vs. Sid Rich
(6-3) (6-3)
When: TBA
Where: Intramural Field 7
Playoff history: In 2005,
Sid beat Jones 19-7 in the
championship game to win
its third straight title. In the
2006 semifinal. Jones fell
to Sid 13-0 in a game that
was closer than the score
indicated.
"We had a lot more experience
this time around," Ring said. "The
freshmen came in with only three
weeks of practice for that first game
against Will Rice. Now they've had
over two months [and] the team has
gotten better over time."
The championship game marks
the third straight year Sid and
Jones have met up in the playoffs.
In 2005, Sid blew past an upstart
Jones team 19-7 to clinch its third
straight powderpuff title, and last
year Sid pulled away in the fourth
quarter en route to a 13-0 semifinal
win. This year, Jones beat Sid 6-0 in
Week 5. Since that defeat, Sid has
gone 4-0 and is averaging almost
three touchdowns a game while
limiting their opponents to just six
points a game.
"We're always good under pres-
sure, so we're ready for the challenge,"
Mensah, a junior, said. "1 saw Jones
playyesterdayand [thechampionship]
is going to be a great game."
While Mensah has a zen-like
calm and confidence about his team,
McDonnell takes a more cerebral
approach to the championship.
"Our girls want it more than any-
one else," McDonnell said. "We've
got a lot of seniors on this team and
this is our last chance."
against the other nine Conference
USA teams. Really, it wouldn't be
that hard. I swear.
"But Casey, what about Title IX?
You know, the law saying that the
university needs to demonstrate a
continual expansion of athletic op-
portunities for the underrepresented
gender?" you may ask. Well, I'm not
going to go into that right now—let's
just wait until softball season for me
to give my answer.
Nearly all of my friends, from
academs and S/Es, grew up with
soccer. When they were kids, they
had the soccer moms, the soccer
vans and the Capri .Suns. 'ITiey have
soccer in their veins, and they want
men's soccer to come to Rice.
Hopefully, in the near future,
a bored Rice student can head to
the Rice Track/Soccer Stadium
and catch a glimpse of the future
MLS stars playing right under his
nose. And, hopefully, he will feel as
blessed as I do.
Casey Michel is a Brown College
sophomore and sports editor.
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Whitfield, Stephen. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 95, No. 12, Ed. 1 Friday, November 16, 2007, newspaper, November 16, 2007; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443211/m1/18/?q=%22%22~1: accessed June 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.