THREE CLARK TEAMS WILL PLAY IN NEWMAC TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK
Three Clark University teams remain alive to see their respective New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournaments.
Men’s soccer (11-3-2) earned the third-seed and will host sixth-seed Wheaton College in the quarterfinals on Wednesday (6 p.m.) at Granger Field. It marks the fourth straight year the Cougars have hosted a first-round game. Meanwhile, the women’s volleyball (11-13) and women’s soccer team (7-9-1) will have to take their post-season hopes on the road.
Winners of five straight, the Clark men’s soccer team has been on a roll the last couple of weeks. The Cougars have posted 10 shutouts this season, including a 1-0 victory over Wheaton in Norton, Mass., on October 18th. “Right now, our strength is our cohesiveness defensively,” said head coach David Kulik. “Certainly with Peter Wise, who has been a top goalkeeper in the region this year, we’ve been able to figure out how to win a lot of close games against some good teams the last three weeks.”
While Clark has beaten Wheaton twice in the past two years during the regular season, the Cougars haven’t fared well against the Lyons in recent tournament action. Last season, Clark fell to Wheaton, 2-0, in the semifinals and lost by the same score in the 2003 quarterfinal round.
“We are a completely new team,” Kulik said. “This season we start six players that weren’t playing college soccer last year. Yet, we showed a couple of weeks ago on the road that we can be solid defensively, limit chances and find a way to create a couple of good opportunities for ourselves.”
“Hopefully, we’ll do that same thing on Wednesday.”
Entering Wednesday’s game, Clark’s senior class boasts a 44-16-12 overall mark.
Wheaton (9-4-4) is the defending conference champion.
After just missing the tournament last year, the women’s volleyball team returns to the post-season stage as the eighth-seed and has drawn top-seed Springfield College (28-4) in the quarterfinals on Tuesday (7 p.m.). Clark faced the Pride in the first round twice in the past three years, falling both times by a score of 3-0.
“I’m very proud of this year’s team for the improvements we have made as a program this fall,” Coach Mickey Cahoon said. “Earning a spot in our conference tournament this year is a positive step for our team, and an accomplishment that we will work hard to build on.”
Led by six new players, Clark has almost doubled its win total from last year.
Seeded sixth in the tournament, the Clark women’s soccer team advanced to the semifinals by virtue of penalty kick’s (4-3) over third-seed Babson College last Saturday. The Cougars are making their first appearance in the semifinals in three years. They will battle second-seed Wheaton College at host Springfield College on Saturday (5 p.m.). Wheaton also moved into the semis after edging Mount Holyoke College in PK’s (4-1) last weekend.
“Last Saturday showed the players that if they play hard and with confidence, they can play with anybody in the conference,” said Coach Joe Brady. “We’ve got to make sure that we play all out this weekend.”
However, it won’t be easy. The Cougars, who lost to Wheaton 1-0 earlier this fall, has only beaten the Lyons once (2-1 2OT in 1998) since joining the NEWMAC.
No stranger to the tournament, Wheaton has won seven of the last eight conference championships.
“Wheaton has obviously had a pretty rich tradition of winning championships,” Brady said. “It’s a challenge. But, we’re up for the challenge to see if we can play the next day.”
The championship game will be played at top-seed Springfield College on Sunday (3 p.m.).
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COUGARS PARTICIPATE IN HOUR OF POWER RELAY FOR RESEARCH
The men and women Cougar swimming and diving team will join 88 teams (an estimated 5,007 athletes) in the Third Annual “Hour of Power” Relay for Cancer Research this Thursday at the Kneller Pool from 5 – 6 p.m. This will be Clark’s first year participating in the relay. Carleton College (Minn.) started this event in honor of swimmer Ted Mullin, who passed away from sarcoma in 2006.
"Cancer has affected our team over the past couple of years," said head coach Paul E. Phillips, "in fact, this past summer one of our captains, Mike Smith was diagnosed with lymphoma – in the prime of his life. Mike has attacked this aggressively and we are thankful that he will be back - thanks to his positive outlook and an early diagnosis."
"Cancer attacks without predation, but thanks to modern medicine there is hope for many," Phillips added. "Ted Mullin's story is both tragic and inspirational. This represented a great opportunity for us to raise awareness for cancer research and we are proud to be a part of the event."
The “Hour of Power” is simultaneously run across the country. It consists of practice with continuous relays, any stroke, all-out swimming, for an hour, with the objective of keeping all relays in each pool on the same length. Organizing the event in one afternoon adds to the spirit and fun of the relay.
The Cougars encourage students, faculty, staff, family and friends to stop by the pool and watch the relay. There is a suggested $2 donation at the door. All proceeds will go to the Ted Mullin Fund for Sarcoma Research Fund at the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital.
By: Bry’onna Mention, Sports Information Staff
CLARK EARNS WOMEN'S SOCCER NEWMAC HONOR; SMITH RECEIVES FIRST-EVER WOMEN'S SWIMMER NEWMAC NOD
Clark University's Joanna Clark was named the women's soccer New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) player of the week for the second time this season and Erin Smith received the conference's first-ever women's swimmer of the week honor, it was announced on Monday.
In 200:00 minutes of action, Clark allowed just one goal for a 0.45 goals against average and stopped 14 shots (.933 %) in two games for the Cougars. The junior goalkeeper had a stellar performance in the team's NEWMAC quarterfinal round game, where they advanced past third-seed Babson College in penalty kick's last Saturday. She made a career-high 12 saves, netted the decisive penalty kick and then stopped Babson's final PK to help Clark, the sixth-seed, advance in the tournament. Earlier in the week, the Windham, Maine native made two saves in a regular season loss to MIT (1-0).
Clark shared the honor with Wheaton's Melida Alvarez.
Smith, from Carrollton, Tex., led Clark with a combined four wins in two meets last week. The freshman freestyler garnered victories in the 500-yard freestyle (25.99) and 100-yard freestyle (56.69) in Clark's 155-137 win against Babson. She also placed second in the 50-yard butterfly (28.41) to add points to Clark's lead. On Saturday, Smith won the 200-yard freestyle (2:01.99) and the 500-yard freestyle (5:26.66) to power the Cougars past Mount Holyoke (81-59) and Elms College (115-24) in a double-dual meet.
The Clark women's soccer team earned the sixth-seed in the NEWMAC Tournament and will play second-seed Wheaton College in the semifinals at Springfield College on Saturday (5 p.m.). The women's swimming and diving team will be off until Wednesday, Nov. 19 (6 pm), when they will face Bridgewater State College.
CLARK LACROSSE BRINGS IN BEST BEARDS
Men’s lacrosse coach Evan Davis usually prefers the “clean cut” look for his players during the spring season. But all bets were off this fall as eight members of the team participated in Clark University Beard Enthusiasts’ (CUBE), “Octobeard.”
“All of the guys on our team love facial hair,” said sophomore midfielder Sam McAdam, from Portland, Me. “So we all thought it was a good excuse to grow a beard for a good cause.”
Over 60 contestants entered the beard growing competition at Clark in September. Students will get the chance to vote by donating money to the contestant with the best beard on November 6. According to McAdam, the participants will campaign for themselves with a before and after shot in Clark’s University Center.
“Whoever gets the most money can donate it to a charity of their choice,” says McAdam, who, if he wins, will give to either a Crohn and Colitis fund or the lacrosse team’s Americans Supporting Americans (ASA) initiative.
Although seven of his teammates including, his brother Garrett McAdam ’10, Drew Silverman ’09, Tyler Campbell ’09, Shawn Roche ’09, Ben Collins, Kevin Schofield ’11, and Jeff Deluca ’09, are considered stiff competition, McAdam feels good about his chances.
“We had a good turn out of beards,” he says. “The first week, anytime we saw each other we would compare. But I’m feeling pretty confident going into the finals.”
Other categories to vote on are best female beard, most unique, the "maybe next year" effort award, and most massive.
Get out and vote!
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SAAC TRICK OR TREAT FOR CANNED GOOD DRIVE
 This year's SAAC Trick or Treat for Canned Good Drive collected 1,400 pounds of food on Halloween. That's 435 more pounds than last year's effort! They donated the goods to the Worcester County Food Bank.
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The highlights for this newsletter are provided by
Dalya Qualls, Sports Information Director, 508-793-7164.
Email: dqualls@clarku.edu
Newsletter designed by Joe Brady
(Head Women's Soccer Coach/Athletic Web Site Administrator)
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THREE CLARK TEAMS WILL PLAY IN NEWMAC TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK
