- The women's soccer Panthers enjoyed terrific triumphs to start the month of October after a difficult three games to end September, going 1-1-1. All that changed in a mere two games, as the girls wasted a University of New Brunswick team 5-1 and continued with a 5-0 shutout win over Moncton.

The wins, however, did not come.as easily as the scoreboard would make it seem. After trailing 1-0 for the first 39 minutes, the women brought down the house with an incredible three goals in a span of about four minutes. Meredith Cameron, Janelle Blanchard, and Liz MacPhail were responsible for the outburst, each of them scoring on a hapless UNB keeper. The first half would end at a score of 3-1, but the women were far from finished. Krista Maclnnis finished a pass from Ellen Gaudet by bulging the twine in the 63rd minute, and Janelle Blanchard sealed the fate of UNB in the 83rd minute with her second notch of the game. UPEI clearly owned the pitch that day, outshoot- ing UNB 16-1.

UPEI headed into a match against Moncton unexpectant of a close game, but perhaps just as unexpectant of a monster blowout. Meredith Cameron followed up her strong play against UNB with a fantastic natural hat trick, with her first two goals coming at the 31st and 44th minutes of the first half, giving the Panthers a 2-0 lead heading into the second. Cameron completed her natural hat trick in the 64th minute, making the most of a penalty kick awarded to her. Following Cameron's lead, Gillian MacLean and Allison Frizell exchanged the glory of scoring by feeding each other passes in the 90th minute for MacLean and less than a minute later for Frizell.

It's all becoming ho-hum for the women, who are now boosted into first place and are well on their way to the most successful season in franchise histo- ty. Make sure to go out and cheer them on for their next home game, Saturday, October 30th, versus Dalhousie.

Mens's Soccer Panther's Winning Streak Grinds to Halt

For all of the luck that the women's Panthers were having, the men just weren't able to maintain the incredible level of play that they had reached in the month of September. The men would open October with two consecutive losses

-at the hands of Dalhousie by a score of 2-1, and a much more humiliating defeat

compliments of Memorial, losing 4-0.

It was quite a different scenario for the men, who have been renowned throughout the league for their uncanny scoring prowess. The first game was eerily reminiscent of a loss to Dal in the semifinals last year, when UPEI held an early lead that they eventually lost to an overpowering Dalhousie squad. So too was the case on the 2nd of this month, when Nathan Beck opened the scor- ing for UPEI at the 5 minute mark. The Tigers waited until the end of the half to strike back, when a Dal midfield ripped a shot that rang off of the crossbar and dropped in past UPEI keeper Andrew MacCormack as injury time wore down. As the second half progressed and the defense tightened at both ends, the men saw hopes of victory dashed in the 80th minute on a brilliant Dalhousie play. Despite a breakaway in the dying minutes, Musa Kargbo was denied on UPEI's only chance to tie the game up.

If the men were looking to bounce back from the close loss, they were searching in the wrong place when they met Memorial. The men were slaugh- tered in all aspects of the game, particularly in the first half, after which they trailed 3-0. It was penalties and a lacklustre defense which was to blame for the loss, a strange and new experience for the men, who until this point had enjoyed a six game winning streak. Expect them to bounce back during their next three game road trip, and be on the lookout for their next game at home, October 30th against Dal.

(Additional soccer info from upeipanthers.com)

Random acts of violence have no place in pro sport; Athletes harming athletes, fans should face consequences

WASHINGTON (CUP) - Behold, the sounds of baseball: the joyful screams of fans rooting for their team, the whooshing as the bat slices through the air, looking for contact. The sharp crack as bat meets ball.

Or -- depending on which game you were at -- it may have been the fearful screams of horrified fans, the swishing of a folding chair being launched into the box seats near right-field and the violent cracking of Jennifer Bueno's nose.

At a game in Oakland on Sept. 13 an “alter- cation" -- the details of which are still being hotly con- tested -- occurred between Oakland A's fans and the Texas Rangers' pitching staff. Texas reliever Frank Francisco threw a folding chair into the stands. The chair struck one man on the head before colliding with 41-year-old Bueno, breaking her nose.

Replays of the incident must have been broadcast hundreds of times already, but few are looking at this as part of the bigger picture. :

Altercations like Francisco's are occurring with increasing frequency throughout the sports world.

Players getting into fights with fans, players getting into fights with coaches, players getting into fights with one another.

Sportsmanship has degenerated to the point now where it's not even a fight anymore; altercation has come to mean a blatant attempt to take out the other player -- often when they least expect it.

The case of Todd Bertuzzi, the Vancouver Canucks’ right-winger suspended at the end of last season and charged with assault, comes to mind. In retribution for Steve Moore's hit on Canuck Markus Naslund in a previous game, Bertuzzi skated calmly behind the Colorado Avalanche centre before punch- ing him in the side of the head and sending him face- first to the ice. The incident left Moore nospitalised with three fractured vertebrae and amnesia, in addi- tion to post-concussion symptoms and multiple facial lacerations. His hockey career may have come to a brutal and sudden end.

Yet, Bertuzzi pled not guilty when brought up

_ on assault charges, perhaps hoping he would be able

to hide behind hockey and use his sport as his excuse.

4f | decide to go ice skating this winter and | decide to punch a fellow skater in the back of the head and throw him to the ice, breaking his neck in the process, you'd better believe that I'm going to be brought up on charges, just like Bertuzzi. The only

difference is that any sane, rational person -- if any sane, rational person would break another's neck -- would accept the consequences of his actions. Nobody would expect to get off scot-free after such an “altercation” -- especially if, for some odd reason, thousands of people and numerous video cameras saw the whole thing.

Violence runs rampant in the world of profes- sional sports, but because it's seen as part of the action, little is done about it. Small fines are levied, slaps on the wrist are occasionally distributed -- but certainly little legal action ever takes place.

Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield’s ear off. Dennis Rodman kicked a photographer right in the . . . telephoto lens. Pedro Martinez dropped Yankee's bench coach Don Zimmer.

Yes, players take risks when they step onto the playing surface. Football players expect to be tackled; hockey is a contact sport; baseball players expect to be hit with errant pitches from time to time; even basketball players expect to get an elbow every now and then. But nobody expects the type of vio- lence that goes without legal repercussions in sports.

Professional athletes must not be allowed to hide behind their sport as an excuse for their vio- lence. We've truly lost the nature of the game when players and fans alike must fear these random acts of violence.

UPEI Cadre October 12, 2004 page 19

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