More Championship Seasons
Penn crushes Cornell for the Ivy title in football. By Noel Hynd

Alyssa Cwanger/ Daily Pennsylvanian

Five weeks into the past football season, one would have to have looked carefully to find indications of what was to follow. True, Penn had been impressive in wins over Dartmouth and Columbia, but the New Hampshire team and the New York team were both destined to finish in the nether regions of the league standings. When Penn traveled to New Haven for the sixth Saturday of the season and lost a tight game to Yale 27-24, the record for the campaign was a flat 3-3.
    So who knew?
    With four games remaining, all against the more potent squads in the league, there was really only one way Penn had a shot to earn an outright title: win every remaining game.
    Well, why not?
    Having lost in New Haven by three points the previous Saturday, the Penn footballers thrilled a Parents’ Weekend crowd at Franklin field by beating Brown by those same three points. The following Saturday, Penn went to Tigertown and tamed our friends with the orange and black stripes by a score of 40-24. Now things were getting serious.
    Homecoming Weekend brought Harvard to Franklin Field, and again the crowd got its money’s worth (see p. 48). And frankly, for games such as this one, it’s nice to know that there’s an outstanding cardiology unity at HUP. Penn won 36-35, and I guess it goes without saying that the contest was a thriller, with Penn scoring a game-winning touchdown in the closing minutes.
    And yet, all that set up was an all-or-nothing situation against Cornell, which also went into the final Saturday with a 5-1 Ivy record. The Big Red had some added incentive. The game was in Ithaca, and a win would give Cornell their first outright Ivy title. Factor in a bit of a grudge: Penn had won in such situations against Cornell before.
    Can you say, “payback”?
    Can you also say, “No contest”?
    Despite the presence of a highly enthusiastic home crowd at Shoellkopf Field, Penn dismantled Cornell’s title aspirations from the opening kickoff. The Quakers offense opened the game with a 74-yard drive, which lasted 3:43 and culminated with a five-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Gavin Hoffman to junior Adam Keslosky. Then, on the next possession, Hoffman led the Red and Blue 80 yards down the field again and junior Kris Ryan scored his first touchdown of the day, on a 39-yard sprint.
    Cornell was able to get seven points back with 1:21 remaining in the opening quarter. That, however, would be the last time the Big Red would get into the end zone with the game still in reach. In the second quarter, senior Jason Battung caught a 40-yard touchdown pass from Hoffman and Ryan rumbled in for his second TD of the afternoon to give the Quakers a commanding 28-7 halftime lead.
    Cornell threatened to score in the third quarter, but failed to make a touchdown after gaining a first down on the Quaker 10-yard line. Effectively, that was the game. The Quakers came back on the very next possession and drained 7:59 off the clock, driving 99 yards down the field with Ryan carrying in his third score of the day on a four-yard run with 11:04 left. Ryan later capped off his day’s work with his fourth touchdown of the afternoon with a 50-yard burst into the end zone with 7:25 remaining.
    That touchdown, making the score 42-7, was the last nail in the Big Red Coffin, though senior Jason Feinberg added a field goal and Cornell came back for a final touchdown with 1:52 left to play. Final score 45-15, giving Penn their 11th Ivy title overall and their eighth outright title. It was also Penn’s fourth title in the last seven years, as well as the fourth title for coach Al Bagnoli. In case this has a familiar ring to it, by the way, Penn’s last Ivy title was two short years ago when the Quakers defeated Cornell, 31-21, at Schoellkopf Field in 1998. If we keep doing this to them, they’re just not going to invite us back someday.

A few final football notes: Kris Ryan’s 243-yard outburst against Cornell was the fifth-best rushing performance in Quakers history.
    Jason Feinberg became the Red and Blue’s all-time leading scorer with 218 points, shattering the old mark of 210 set by Bryan Keys C’90. Feinberg also ended his career as the Ivy League’s all-time leading scorer as a kicker, and holds all three Red and Blue kicking marks (41 field goals and 95 extra points).
    Junior Rob Milanese broke the Quakers’ single season receptions and receiving yards records with his game-high nine receptions and 117 yards. His 76 receptions for the season broke the record of 72 set by Miles Macik C’96 in 1993, and he also surpassed of Don Clune C’74—whose 891 yards in 1971 was the previous record—with 936 yards on the year.
    Gavin Hoffman’s 330 yards left him 39 yards short of the Ivy League single-season mark; he finished the day with 3,214-passing yards on the season and 5,542 on his Penn career.
    Jason Battung caught for a career-high 93 yards, and his 40-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter was the longest of his career.
    Senior Doug O’Neill finished his Quakers career with at least one reception in his last 29 games and picked up 45 yards on four catches. He also finished his Penn career with 126 receptions (second all-time) and 1,616 yards (third all-time).
    Speaking of championships—as we just were—when the Penn women’s soccer team rolled to a 1-0 victory over St. John’s in early November, the team claimed the ECAC Championship title—their second in four years. Tournament MVP Angela Konstantaras, a senior, led the Quakers. Despite the low score, the game proved to be extremely exciting as play went back and forth in the first half. In the second half, the Quakers came out on fire, dominating play for the first 30 minutes. The game-winning goal came from Konstantaras off a feed from junior Sabrina Fenton. The lone tally of the day—this is soccer, after all—was enough to clinch the championship for the Red and Blue. The win was also the first shutout of the season for sophomore goalkeeper Kathie Hunt. The Quakers ended their season 10-8-1.
    Despite an 0-4 record as of the beginning of December, men’s basketball also has an excellent chance to bring another Ivy title to Penn this year (see last issue’s column). They may be joined by their female hoop partners. In a pre-season ballot, Penn’s women’s basketball team was picked to capture its first-ever Ivy League title in a close vote among members of the local media and the league’s sports information offices. The Quakers finished in first place with 114 votes (including seven first-place nods), just ahead of two-time defending league champion Dartmouth, who received 110 votes (four first-place).
    In her senior year, all-America candidate Diana Carmanico looks to lead Penn past its second-place finish last season. Caramanico led the Ivy League in scoring last season, averaging 24.8 points per game (second in the nation). Second-year Quakers Head Coach Kelly Greenberg guided the Red and Blue to a program record 18 wins (18-10 overall), and a 9-5 finish in the Ivy League in 1999-2000.
    This is really just what the Palestra needs. More noise and excitement.

Noel Hynd C’70 writes on sports for the Gazette.

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