Football: Have run, will travel
Gridder gang beats Fordham, 9-7, and Holy Cross, 21-7, but is trouble on the horizon?
AFTER NOTCHING two wins in two weeks, the football team (2-1 overall, 0-1 Ivy) must still prove its mettle. Will Princeton ride out each week to triumph, as did Paladin in the 1950s Western, Have Gun Will Travel? Or will ugly wins become uglier defeats when the team ventures onto the home turf of the Ivy's toughest teams?
We now know the Tigers' characters: An aggressive pack of linebackers and defensive linemen, with a talented (though not invulnerable) fleet of secondary defenders. A good special team, anchored by two flawless kickers. And finally the erratic offense, upon which the fortunes of Princeton's season probably hang.
On September 27, Princeton eked out a 9-7 win over Fordham that should not have been as close as it was. The defense dominated with an aggressive, blitzing style that neutralized the Rams' passing game and controlled the field. (Matt Evans '99 helped by pinning the Rams deep with his record 49.2-yard punt average.) The squad also came up with a clutch stop after a fumble by kick returner Damani Leech '98 and an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty gave Fordham the ball at the Princeton 30-yard line. After four tries at getting a yard or two, the Rams punted from back at the 39-yard line.
Meanwhile the offense was struggling. Two of its drives fizzled inside the Fordham 20, making the Tigers settle for 32- and 36-yard field goals from placekicker Alex Sierk '99 and a 6-0 lead at halftime.

GIURATO BREAKS OUT
In the second half, tailback Gerry Giurato '00 took over, gaining 131 yards behind the excellent play of his young line, including scampers of 25 and 36 yards. But two fumbles at the Fordham 14-yard line, one by Giurato and one by fullback Mike Clifford '98, kept the score at 6-0. (Despite an ankle he said was only 80 or 90 percent healthy, the surprising Giurato finished the day with 191 yards rushing and 44 yards receiving.)
After Clifford's fumble, which came with two minutes left in the third quarter, Fordham began to dent the vaunted Princeton secondary, hitting for a gain of 20 against cornerback Leech, for 22 against strong safety Tom Ludwig '98, and for 22 against cornerback Gerry Wilson '00. The Rams passed for the game's only touchdown at 13:43 in the fourth quarter and tagged on the extra point for a slim lead, 7-6.
Princeton responded, driving from its own 16-yard line to the Fordham 30. But then its prodigal senior quarterback, Harry Nakielny, tossed an interception to Ram cornerback Shane McAndrew. It was a low point for Nakielny, who struggled in his second start after a year away from football, tossing pass after pass behind receivers or into the ground. He ended with only 15 completions on 29 attempts and 138 yards. Coach Steve Tosches, who had hoped the veteran would anchor his team's offense, instead had to start worrying about his quarterback's ability to make plays. "[Nakielny] needs to be stepping forward and following through [on his passes]," said Tosches after the game. "The passing game needs to improve for us to do anything offensively."
Nakielny was able to redeem himself a little after Princeton's defense stopped Fordham from capitalizing on the interception. He completed four of five passes to bring the Tigers within field-goal range. Sierk nailed a 42-yard field goal to put Princeton back on top, 9-7.
With 2:51 to play, Fordham had one more shot to win, and the defense, uncharacteristically, gave it half a chance this time. The Rams moved the ball up to Princeton's 35-yard line, mostly with passes, but had to try a 52-yard field goal after three pass attempts fell short. Fortunately, the kick fell short as well, and the Tigers held on for their first win.

A STEP BACK VS. HOLY CROSS?
The defense was again solid at Holy Cross on October 4, leading Princeton to a 21-7 victory in Worcester, Massachusetts. It eliminated Holy Cross's weak running game (the Crusaders ended up with minus 4 yards rushing) and limited its passing game to 195 yards with five sacks and an interception.
Nakielny was much improved in the first half, throwing for 119 yards, a touchdown, and a two-point conversion. But Tosches must continue to worry about the offense, which could get only 53 yards rushing and 57 passing in the second half. The coach said the offense "reverted" back to making the mistakes it had versus Fordham: "The first 30 minutes, I was very happy with the offense. In the second half, did we take a step back? We didn't make a step forward."
For Princeton to ride off into the sunset with a happy ending this season, its offense must improve. The potential is there: The offensive line is generating a powerful, if fitful, push for the run, and even an unhealthy Giurato has been good, despite his two fumbles. Nakielny has shown a good passing hand at times, and Tosches called him "much improved" after the Holy Cross game. The defense, which has been generally excellent so far, may be challenged in coming games. If the secondary begins to break down, as it did a few times in the last two weeks, the Tigers' effective blitzing game will stop. Tosches's margin of error may be his superb kicking game, in Sierk and Evans, who can win the battle of field position almost by themselves, giving Princeton an important edge.
--Paul Hagar '91

Volleyball seeks focus after shaky start
ERRORS HAVE PLAGUED Princeton's usually strong volleyball team so far this season, leading the Tigers (7-4 overall, 3-0 Ivy) to lose matches against teams they probably could have defeated. "Athletically we can beat them, but we aren't playing the kind of volleyball we need to do that," said team cocaptain and middle hitter Lowen Cattolico '98. "We've been inconsistent . . . Sometimes we work that out during a game, but other times we have trouble keeping our focus as a team."
In a frustrating, 3-0 loss at Seton Hall on September 24, that lack of focus seemed especially clear. Princeton practically conceded the first game, falling 15-1, then allowed the Pirates to get early leads in the second game, 12-4, and in the third game, 11-6. The Tigers rebounded but fell short in both, losing 15-13 and 15-12, respectively. They struggled especially with their serves, hitting too many long or into the net. Cattolico said the team's serving woes were "a huge problem," tagged her own serve as "awful," and added, "We need to get beyond this and make serving a weapon." Princeton's kills weren't much better against Seton Hall, as key hitters were "horrible," according to coach Glenn Nelson, now in his 16th year at Princeton: "Our errors were way up there," he said afterward. "Give Seton Hall credit, they took away all our rolls and dinks, but tonight you didn't see what this team can do." According to Cattolico, inconsistency and lack of focus were also main reasons the Tigers lost to Yale, 3-1, and Rutgers, 3-1, after having beaten Towson, 3-1, in three matches at the Rutgers Tournament on September 26 and 27. (Because it came in a tournament, the loss to Yale didn't affect Princeton's Ivy record.)
An improved bench should help the Tigers as they head toward the all-important Ivy Tournament, from November 14 to 16 at Yale. In 1996, Princeton's six starters--Cattolico, cocaptain and outside hitter Ayesha Attoh '98, setter Melissa Ford '99, outside hitter Rose Kuhn '99, outside hitter Stephanie Edwards '98, and middle hitter Erika Hansen '00--played most of the time. This year Nelson regularly uses 10 of his players.
In early October, the team still had plenty of time to pull together. A victory at Penn, 3-0, on October 1 opened its Ivy slate with a win. Two days later the Tigers beat Yale in New Haven, 3-0, and won a tough, five-game match at Brown the next day, 3-2.
Cattolico was confident her team would play well down the stretch: "All our matches from now on are important, every one of us knows that," she said after the Penn game. "It's flowing better for us now than it was two games ago, and we're going to keep improving as the season progresses."

Young water polo wades into season
WE ALL NEED to show some patience with this team," said water-polo coach Paul Nelson, sounding as though his own were wearing thin. The coach's squad was about to head off to a tournament at Bucknell on September 27 and 28, carrying a 5-2 record and the burden of Nelson's expectations. "We're an extremely young team [the Tigers lost four players to graduation, including captain John Haller '97], but I don't think that excuse is going to last much longer," he said. "We haven't put together a half of good water polo yet."
Fortunately, what the team has done so far has been good enough, for the most part. Princeton (7-8 overall, 3-4 S. Div.), starting three freshmen, dropped its opening game to Richmond, 9-5, on September 13, but rebounded to edge Johns Hopkins, 9-7, later that day. On September 18 the Tigers won a key Collegiate Water Polo Southern Division matchup with Villanova at DeNunzio Pool, dominating the two overtime periods and scoring three goals to the Wildcats' none to win, 12-9. Nelson was pleased with the "high emotion" win, which was paced offensively by Chris Gratian '01's five goals. Goalie Greg Stoll '00 anchored the defense with a stellar effort, racking up 13 saves, including a one-on-one stop that kept Villanova from pulling ahead with 1:40 left in the fourth period. At the Navy Open in Annapolis, Maryland, the next weekend, Princeton beat Boston College, 13-8, fell to Navy, 12-5, then routed Harvard, 11-4.

BIZARRE BRUTALITY
The weirdest contest of the season saw Princeton defeat Fordham by forfeit on September 24. The match will go in the books as a 5-0 Tiger win, but the score had been 14-6 in favor of Princeton until the visiting Rams went (with apologies to the USPS) completely postal. In under three minutes, Fordham committed one brutality foul and two major brutality fouls. After that, the referees called the game, instituting the official forfeit score. "We'll go through an entire season and see zero brutality calls," said Nelson. "To see three in two and a half minutes . . ." he trailed off incredulously.
At Bucknell, Princeton overwhelmed Salem-Teikyo, 21-7, but lost to Bucknell, 8-7, and to Slippery Rock, 17-8. The Tigers started a home-stand October 3 by beating Harvard, 14-2, but then lost to Queens College, Brown, St. Francis, and Massachusetts. Princeton ended its regular season at George Washington on October 11, then played at the Claremont College Invitational in California on October 18 and 19. This weekend the Tigers will host the Collegiate Water Polo Southern Division Playoffs at DeNunzio Pool.
--Rob Garver

Del basket Italiano: Basketball faces pros and former friends on tour
THE MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM traveled to Italy in August, playing nine games against professional squads from Italy, France, and Switzerland. The special trip gave Princeton a chance to test itself against strong competition and gave coach Bill Carmody a chance to determine who'll fill the holes left in the lineup by graduation--especially the one left by guard Sydney Johnson '97. The Tigers played nine games over the 18-day trip, opening with a 76-72 loss to the Montecatini Wolves, in which forward Gabe Lewullis '99 scored 25 points. Then the team got a 86-83 overtime win over Don Bosco in Livorno, behind 26 points from center Steve Goodrich '98.
A highlight was a 78-76 win over Gorizia, whose roster includes Johnson. Guard Brian Earl '99 scored 26 points in that game, hitting 6-of-6 three-pointers, and Lewullis netted the game-winner with just 10 seconds left. "I was happy they got the win," admitted Johnson, the former Tiger captain, after the contest. "I know that team is going to be successful."
In the end, the Tigers returned from "over there" with an almost meaningless 4-5 record, but Carmody judged the trip a success since it gave players who didn't get much playing time last year some experience: "We learned a lot about who is going to help us this year," he said. Mason Rocca '00, who ended the trip with four consecutive double-figure performances, may turn out to be Goodrich's backup at center. Classmate Phil Belin, who sparkled against Don Bosco, making all five of his three-point attempts, is a potential replacement for Johnson. The Tigers start the 1997-98 season with the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey, facing Texas on November 11.
--Rob Garver

Light Football's Tom Murray starts 20th year
Coach tom murray took over as head of lightweight football in 1978, the same year Frank Navarro began leading the heavies. Since then Murray has labored, with little recognition and only intermittent success, to guide a program in which perseverance has usually counted more than power. The coach considers that time well spent, and on a sunny September afternoon, sitting on a bench outside Caldwell Field House (with the concrete skeleton of the heavyweights' new home rising in front of him), he explains why: "There's no glory, no crowds, no money," he says. "The kids who play this sport do so strictly because they love it."
A part-time coach, Murray teaches physical education at Princeton High School before heading across town to the university. Once there, he coaches a brand of football unlike that of his "heavy" counterparts. In some ways his instruction resembles that of a high-school coach, mostly because (forbidden by league rules to recruit players) Murray has to fill his lineups by potluck and the force of passive attraction. "I feel a lot of anxiety and anticipation, wondering who's going to show up every year," he admits. He teaches the game, from scratch, to walk-ons who've never played before and works on converting running-backs and quarterbacks, who make up the bulk of his experienced players, into linemen. As a former offensive and defensive tackle at the Peddie School and the University of Delaware, Murray clearly enjoys the latter.
Although Princeton has struggled in recent seasons and dropped its first game of the year to Cornell, 20-29, Murray hopes his team "will turn the corner soon." Among his past successes are a 33-14 victory over one of the league's two powerhouses, Navy, in 1993, as well as a 25-25 tie of Army (the other league power) at the Anthracite Bowl in 1989, a season in which the Tigers had four straight shutouts. What keeps Murray in the game, however, is simple fascination: "The way people just fall in love with things, I fell in love with this sport," says the coach. "I intend to stay on as long as Princeton will have me."

Scoreboard and Highlights
Football
(2-1 overall, 0-1 Ivy)
W vs. Fordham, 9-7
W at Holy Cross, 21-7

M. Cross-Country
(4-0 overall, 2-0 Ivy)
H-Y-P Meet
W at Yale, 17-51
W vs. Harvard, 17-56

W. Cross-Country
(3-1 overall, 1-1 Ivy)
Iona Invit.Ð8th
H-Y-P Meet
W at Harvard, 35-69
L vs. Yale, 35-33

Field Hockey
(7-0 overall, 3-0 Ivy)
W at Dartmouth, 1-0
W at Delaware, 5-3
W vs. Yale, 7-1

M. Golf
(0-0 overall, 0-0 Ivy)
McLaughlin Invit.Ð3rd

W. Golf
(0-0 overall, 0-0 Ivy)
Princeton Invit.Ð1st

Ltwt. Football
(0-2 overall, 0-2 ELFL)
L vs. Cornell, 20-29
L at Penn, 0-15

M. Soccer
(4-2-0 overall, 1-0-0 Ivy)
Loyola Tourn.
W vs. Loyola, 1-0 (2ot)
L vs. Geo. Mason, 0-2
L vs. Rider, 0-2
W vs. Adelphi, 3-2

W. Soccer
(4-2-1 overall, 1-1-0 Ivy)
L at Dartmouth, 1-2
W at Lehigh, 4-0
W vs. Yale, 2-0

M. Tennis
(2-1 overall, 0-0 Ivy)
Princeton Invit.Ðindiv.
ECAC Team Tourn.Ð5th
W vs. Army, 4-3
L vs. Penn St., 3-4
W vs. Providence, 6-1

W. Tennis
(0-0 overall, 0-0 Ivy)
Cissy Leary Invit.Ðindiv.
Penn State Invit.Ðindiv.

W. Volleyball
(7-4 overall, 3-0 Ivy)
L at Seton Hall, 0-3
Rutgers Invit.
W vs. Towson, 3-1
L vs. Yale, 1-3
L at Rutgers, 1-3
W at Penn, 3-0
W at Yale, 3-0
W at Brown, 3-2

M. Water Polo
(7-8 overall, 3-4 S. Div.)
W vs. Fordham, 5-0
Bucknell Invit.
W vs. Salem-Teikyo, 21-7
L at Bucknell, 7-8
L vs. Slippery Rock, 8-17
W vs. Harvard, 14-2
L vs. St. Francis, 16-6
L vs. Brown, 3-4
L vs. Queens Coll., 4-12
L vs. Massachusetts, 2-6

Highlights
M. Cross Country: Swept top 4 spots at H-Y-P meet. Field Hockey: Ranked 7th in 9/30 national poll. Attack Melanie Meerschwam '01 named Ivy Rookie of Week 9/25 for her 2 goals & 1 assist against Lafayette. Football: John Amburgy '01 first center ever named Ivy Rookie of Week 9/29 for his performance in Fordham game. M. Soccer: Midfielder Chris Halupka '99 scored with 25 seconds remaining to cap Tigers' 3-goal, second-half rally over Adelphi. W. Soccer: Midfielder Julie Shaner '01 & forward Aimee Reyes '00 each scored 2 goals in win over Lehigh; Shaner added an assist.