Weekly Sports Roundup (4/15-4/21)

As the semester winds to a close, many of Yale's sports teams are competing in some of their final games of the season, and results included some unexpected losses and some major upsets. The men's lightweight crew team fits the latter category: after winning the varsity race against Dartmouth for the first time since 2009, the Bulldogs took home the Durand Cup, which is named after Loyal Durand, a former Yale rower and coach. The team returns to the water next weekend, when they compete against Harvard and Princeton for the Goldthwait and Vogel Cups at the annual H-Y-P regatta.

In other sports news this week (information from Yale Sports Publicity):

Women's Golf

After ending the first day of the Brown Invitational at the top of the leaderboard last Sunday, the Bulldogs continued their impressive performance and claimed the tournament. The team finished with a +28 (604), emerging victorious by 17 strokes over second-place Seton Hall, which finished at +45 (621), and third-place Harvard, which finished at +47 (623). The season is coming to a close for the Bulldogs, who compete in the Ivy League Invitational this week.

Men's Golf

The results were just as promising for the men's golf team this weekend. Although the Bulldogs finished the first day of the Century Intercollegiate in fourth place, the team stepped up its game on the second day of competition and eventually took home the tournament. Yale's score of 600 was three strokes clear of Rhode Island, which finished at 603, and 10 strokes clear of Dartmouth, the nearest Ivy competitor. 

Men's Heavyweight Crew

In the past three years, the Bulldogs took home the Blackwell Cup, and this year was no different. The men's heavyweight crew team defeated Columbia and Penn in the varsity eight on Saturday, finishing first by a margin of more than six seconds. Yale's four also won its race, defeating Penn by more than 11 seconds. The Bulldogs compete against Cornell and Princeton for the Carnegie Cup this week.

Women's Tennis

The No. 35 Bulldogs' second-last conference game brought the team's first Ivy loss of the season. The women's tennis team (16–3, 5–1 Ivy) fell to Harvard 5–2 in Cambridge, Mass. on Sunday. But the team defeated Dartmouth with a score of 5–2 earlier in the week, and still stands a chance of claiming a share of the Ivy League title if it beats Brown on Saturday. Columbia currently sits at the top of the Ancient Eight standings, with a 6–1 Ivy record.

Men's Tennis

Last week brought similar results for the No. 57 men's team, which also fell to No. 22 Harvard and beat Dartmouth with the same scores as the women. The Bulldogs (17–6, 3–3 Ivy) currently hold the fourth-place spot in the Ivy standings, behind first-place Harvard, and Princeton and Columbia, which are tied for second place. The team hosts Brown for its last game of the season on Saturday.

Men's Lacrosse

The No. 12 Bulldogs started the week strong: they added a fifth victory to their winning streak when they defeated Stony Brook on Monday with an overtime score of 11–10. But No. 4 Maryland proved too strong an opponent on Saturday, and the Bulldogs (8–4, 3–2 Ivy) lost the game 8–7. Currently tied with Princeton for second in the Ivy League, the Bulldogs take on Harvard on Saturday—their final game of the spring.

Women's Track and Field

Last week was an eventful one for the women's track and field team, and the Elis did not disappoint. At a meet in which Yale teamed up with Harvard to take on Oxford and Cambridge last Tuesday, six athletes earned top spots, and the Yale-Harvard team defeated the British visitors with a score of 38–11. Seven athletes went on to compete at the Larry Ellis Invitational, hosted by Princeton on Friday and Saturday, and two athletes made personal bests at the meet.

Men's Track and Field

The men's team competed in all the same events as the women's team, and the Bulldogs saw similar results. They finished with a team score of 13–6 at the Harvard-Yale vs. Oxford-Cambridge meet, with several athletes earning top scores, and the Bulldogs set a number of personal records on day one and day two of the Larry Ellis Invitational at Princeton. The busy schedule continues for the Bulldogs, who face four straight days of competition starting this Thursday, when they head to Philadelphia for the Penn Relays.

Women's Crew

The No. 11 Bulldogs competed against one of the Ivy League's other top teams this week, but the regatta ended in a loss for the Bulldogs. Princeton, ranked seventh in the country, won all five races at Saturday's Yale-Princeton regatta, retaining the Eisenberg Cup. The Bulldogs return to the water on Saturday, when they race Radcliffe on the Charles River in Boston.

Women's Lacrosse

In one of their last three games of the season, the Bulldogs added a fifth conference loss to their Ivy record. The women's lacrosse team (7–6, 1–5 Ivy) fell to No. 20 Cornell with a score of 13–7 on Saturday. As a result of their performance against the Bulldogs, the Big Red secured the this year's fourth and final Ivy League playoff spot. 

Baseball

In a week of five matches, the Bulldogs only managed to add one victory to their lackluster record. The baseball team (9–25, 6–10 Ivy) defeated Dartmouth 2–0 on Sunday, but lost in three other matches against the school, with scores of 9–1, 7–3, and 5–0. The team also fell to Sacred Heart with a score of 3–2 on Wednesday. Four games against Brown remain ahead of the Bulldogs before the season ends.

Softball

The Bulldogs' last victory grows more and more distant: As of Sunday afternoon, the softball team (8–32, 3–13 Ivy) has lost 11 straight games. The team lost to Sacred Heart with scores of 8–0 and 15–6 on Wednesday, fell to Dartmouth with scores of 10–1 and 10–8 on Saturday, and then went on to be swept in two Sunday games against Dartmouth, which is currently first in the Ivy League's north division. Eight games remain for the Bulldogs this season.