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Where's the campus spirit? Not at UNF
David Johnson
Sports Editor
This just in: There's no school spirit on campus.
I know, I know, that's not news. Everybody knows that.
I was pretty sure before, but being the scientific guy that I am, I had to conduct an experiment to be sure.
In the Sept. 11 issue of the Spinnaker, I printed a column and a coupon telling people they could earn $1 just by watching the volleyball team crush another conference opponent.
"Cheer for UNF and make the sports editor $50 poorer," I said.
Nobody listened.
Not a single person brought the coupon to the game, and I still have most of that $50 in my book bag. I'm using it to buy lottery tickets periodically.
By the way, when I win, you're not getting any.
You had your chance.
In fact, you've had numerous chances to watch the University of North Florida's successful athletics teams.
It's an oddity when a UNF team doesn't finish with a winning record, but you probably wouldn't know that.
I've come to the
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David Johnson
Sports Editor
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conclusion that most students on this campus will probably never care about Osprey sports.
The real problem is, we don't have 13,000 Ospreys at UNF.
By my calculations, we have 5,000 wannabe Gators and 3,000 wannabe 'Noles. After you subtract the other wannabe fans, we're left with a couple thousand real Ospreys (and that might be generous).
You know who supports UNF's sports teams? That's right, other UNF players, coaches and athletics staff. And not many others.
Barely anyone attended the volleyball team's Oct. 22 match against Barry University, the defending national champions.
But the softball coach, the women's basketball assistant coach and numerous players from UNF's teams were in attendance.
The team lost a heartbreaker in five sets if you were wondering. After the Ospreys stormed back to force the deciding game, a rocking UNF Arena could have made the difference. You never know.
And we may never know what our teams could do with great fan support.
Save your talk about us not being Division I.
Remember these words: No reclassification, no football team, no playoff success will ever change this Osprey apathy.
It will change when average UNF students start calling themselves Ospreys. That's a long day coming.
Kudos to those who support Osprey spirit. Praise goes to Student Government and Wackadoo's for organizing Spirit Bash and to students like John Sapp and Eric Ross who displayed their Osprey pride in most unusual ways at the bash.
The most praise should go to the UNF teams who not only work hard to create a winning product, but also support each other when no one else does.
The day when they don't have to be their own biggest fans will be a great moment in UNF history. I just hope I'm alive to see it.
Sports Editor David Johnson can be reched via email at spinnakersports@yahoo.com.
Shutout leaves Presbyterian blue
UNF junior scores twice in 2-0 win Oct. 27
By Tony Delmond
Contributing Writer
The University of North Florida men's soccer team controlled the field in a 4-0 shutout of Presbyterian College Oct. 27.
Junior Facundo Videla scored the first point eight minutes into the game, assisted by freshman Chris Crider.
Crider threw the ball in from 30 yards out on the left side, and Videla put the ball in the goal from inside the crowd of Blue Hose defenders.
With 15:29 remaining in the first half, freshman Victor Duncan dribbled past three defenders on the left side and scored with a hard kick past the goalkeeper.
"We knew we had the game at the end of the first half," Duncan said. "We let down for a few minutes, but we got back up."
Returning for
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UNF men's soccer player James Upton tries to outrun at Presbyterian College player during the Ospreys 4-0 win Oct. 27.
Photo by Robert Davis
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the second half with a 2-0 lead, the Ospreys did not threaten early.
Videla scored his second goal of the game with 16:42 left on a hard kick straight at the goal. Duncan and sophomore Tony Alteri recorded assists on the play.
Galiano followed up the point 30 seconds later with a quick kick into the box, but an offsides call voided the goal.
In the final three minutes, senior Mike Haake got the last goal of the game on an assist from junior Jason Farrell. This goal marked the first of Haake's UNF career.
Junior goalkeeper Blake Baldwin recorded his fifth shutout of the season. He has seven for his career, which places him at second on the Ospreys' all-time list.
"It's not hard to get shutouts when the defense is strong," Baldwin said. "Our defense played really well, not giving up a lot of shots."
UNF coach Ray Bunch offered an explanation for Presbyterian's lack of enthusiasm.
"[Presbyterian] played yesterday afternoon," Bunch said. "They ran out of steam."
The win improved UNF's record to 7-3-2 with two regular season games remaining.
Galiano said he is looking forward to the games ahead, considering the work to be done in preparation.
"We have to work on skills and fitness to get ready for the tournament games," Galiano said.
The main focus now is just to get people healthy, Bunch said.
The game against Flagler College Oct. 24 was canceled due to rain. The teams played the first half of the game and were tied 1-1 when the match was called off.
The Ospreys will play their last home game of the regular season against Embry-Riddle University at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 30.
Contributing writer Tony Delmond can be reached via email at uspinnak@unf.edu.
Jaguars' losses feel expansion
Jaguars lose third in a row; Texans get first road win Oct. 27
By David Johnson
Sports Editor
The Houston Texans created a special teams' miracle, but Mark Brunell's Hail Mary was not answered.
Jabar Gaffney's lateral to Aaron Glenn on a punt return was the key play in the Texans' game-winning drive to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 21-19 Oct. 27.
Jacksonville beat Houston in nearly every statistical category other than the score.
"I don't think we do anything to inspire each other," Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin said. "There's no continuity when you don't make some first downs."
Coughlin was referring to
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Jaguars saftey Donovin Darius (jumping) attempts to pressure Texans quarterback David Carr. The Texans rallied in the fourth quarter to hand the Jaguars their third loss in a row.
Photo by Robert Davis
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Jacksonville's inability to string together first downs in a sustained drive, but the Jaguars converted 18 first downs, six more than their opponents.
The Texans improved to 2-5 and earned their first road victory in franchise history.
It was the Jaguars' third loss in a row after starting the year 3-1. Jacksonville has lost all three of its divisional games.
"We've got to find a way to come fight back," Coughlin said. "We're 3-4 and we were 3-1. It doesn't get easy obviously."
Jacksonville led Houston in total yards, passing yards, rushing yards, time of possession and third-down efficiency. The Jaguars also had fewer penalties and turnovers than the Texans.
One statistic Jacksonville did not lead was field-goal efficiency. Newly acquired kicker Tim Seder converted one of three field goals, missing attempts from 50 and 35 yards.
"When you get a chance, you have to produce," said Seder, who was signed Oct. 23 to replace Hayden Epstein.
Houston kicker Kris Brown converted two of his three attempts including the 45-yard game winner with 2:11 left.
Glenn set up Brown's field goal by taking Gaffney's lateral and returning it 47 yards with 3:05 remaining.
Gaffney received a punt from Jacksonville's Chris Hanson, ran backward 4 yards then turned and threw the ball across the field to Glenn. Hanson made the touchdown-saving tackle.
"The situation
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Jaguars defensive tackle Marcus Stroud stuffs the Texans offense. Jacksonville dropped to 3-4 on the season.
Photo by Robert Davis
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was perfect for them," Coughlin said.
Everyone's attention had been diverted by wide receiver Micah Ross's dropped ball on third down, he said.
Coughlin said the distraction set up an ideal chance for the Texans "to pull something off."
The Jaguars had more than two minutes to answer the Texans score, but no timeouts.
After Brunell was sacked on consecutive plays by Houston linebacker Kailee Wong, he heaved a Hail Mary pass from the Jaguars 48-yard line.
Jacksonville wide receiver Bobby Shaw was open at the goal line, but the ball was deflected at the last moment, and Shaw could not adjust to make the catch.
Brunell said he thought nobody on the offense could have been proud of their performance, including him.
Coughlin said the offensive line did not protect Brunell well enough.
"He was not comfortable," Coughlin said. "He took too many hits."
Brunell was sacked five times, but Coughlin said his quarterback was hit several times on other plays.
The Jaguars will travel to the Meadowlands to face the New York Giants at 8:30 p.m. Nov. 3. It is Jacksonville's only prime-time game of the season.
The Giants were 3-3 heading into their game against the Philadelphia Eagles Oct. 28.
Sports Editor David Johnson can be reached via email at spinnakersports@unf.edu.
Streaking along
Women's soccer extends nation's longest home winning streak to 19
By Francine King
Contributing Writer
The University of North Florida women's soccer team finished its regular-season home schedule Oct. 26 with a 1-0 win over the University of South Carolina Spartanburg.
The win extended the Ospreys' home winning streak to 19, the longest in the nation.
Senior forward Erin Wiggins scored the only goal of the game off a rebounded shot from junior forward Becca Williams with 36 minutes remaining in the first half.
"It always makes me feel good [to score], but it's especially nice, being senior day," Wiggins said.
Wiggins said beating Spartanburg was especially satisfying, because they won the conference last year.
"We let them
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USC Spartanburg's Shannon Gaston (left) and UNF's Erica Anderson race for the ball. UNF beats USCS 1-0 Oct. 26.
Photo by Robert Davis
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beat us [last year], so it's good revenge," she said.
"We got knocked around a little bit, so it was a little hard for me," she said. "It was a rough game. It was very physical, but we held out."
Wiggins leaves UNF this year with several records to her credit. She has the most career starts with 66 and holds the career record for shots with 200 going into the Spartanburg game.
The three other graduating seniors are defender Laura Hamilton, midfielder Cecily Noblit and defender Valerie McEvoy. Noblit redshirted due to an injury last year, so she is completing her fifth year at UNF. Williams also has the opportunity to graduate this year, although she still has eligibility, but she has not decided.
"It's a big day for them [the seniors]," coach Mike Munch said. "Erin scored a winning goal, and all of them played well, so that's the best type of senior day you can have."
Munch said the team needs to get back into the rhythm of playing in its last two games before the playoffs.
The Ospreys will play the University of North Carolina Pembroke Nov. 1 and Barton College Nov. 3.
Contributing Writer Francine King can be reached via email at uspinnak@unf.edu.
Runner crushes conference record
Cross-country teams gear up for South Region meet Nov. 9
By Caron Streibich
Staff Writer
Close finishes are tough.
One-point losses are even tougher.
In the 12 years of the Peach Belt Conference's history, there has never been a PBC cross-country meet finish as close as Oct. 26 in Florence, S.C.
The University of North Florida women's team, on the brink of capturing this year's PBC title, fell by one point to Kennesaw State University 28-29.
On the men's side, Zepherinus Joseph broke the 8,000-meter conference record by more than 45 seconds. Joseph's record-setting performance led the men's team to a second-place finish.
UNF women Laila Laursen and Romy Krueger placed third and fourth in respective times of 17 minutes, 40.35 seconds and 17:59.15 in the 5,000-meter course.
"Our runners had scored before their fifth girl finished, but since Kennesaw had the first and second spots, it hurt us in the overall scoring," Krueger said.
KSU earned the first, second, fifth, eighth and 12th place spots, while UNF captured third, fourth, sixth, seventh and ninth.
Julia Downes placed
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Jerry Reckart (above) placed fourth for UNF at the PBC cross-country meet Oct. 26.
Photo by Caron Streibich
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sixth in 18:08.50. Jenn Ford finished seventh and Sara Kofoed was ninth. Nicole Posey, who earned PBC Freshman of the Year honors, was 10th overall in 18:46.25. Laura Magee finished in 19:04.95 to finish 13th.
The seven UNF women each captured All-Conference honors.
"The team's goal is to go to nationals," Krueger said. "We are so close, and we were so close last year."
The men captured second place, 19 points behind first-place KSU with 42 points, despite a record-shattering performance by Joseph.
Joseph broke the 8,000-meter course record at the PBC, finishing in 24:06.70, almost 50 seconds faster than the old time of 24:53.86. Joseph also won the 8,000-meter race at the PBC in 2000.
"It was a good course, but in the trails there were exposed roots, so I had to be careful, and running on the asphalt wasn't that good either because my spikes kept sliding around," Joseph said.
UNF's second finisher was Jerry Reckart in fourth place with a time of 25:05.20. Ronnie LaGuerre was 11th in 25:46.40. Jason Powers and Zach Starr finished in 14th and 15th place, respectively.
"Regionals will be much more competitive, but I don't want to go out there and kill myself with nationals two weeks later," Joseph said.
Both teams will travel to the NCAA Division II South Region meet Nov. 9 in Huntsville, Ala.
Staff Writer Caron Streibich can be reached via email at uspinnak@unf.edu.
Ospreys rebound from five-set loss
By David Johnson
Sports Editor
After losing a five-set match to the defending national champions, the volleyball team got just what it needed.
Take two conference wins and call in the morning.
The University of North Florida rebounded from a loss to Barry University Oct. 22 with a pair of conference sweeps Oct. 25 and 26.
Senior middle blocker Lauren Westervelt led a 3-0 win over the University of South Carolina Spartanburg with 10 kills and 12 digs.
The following day against Lander University, Westervelt and sophomore middle blocker Jackie Struck recorded 10 kills each in another 3-0 win.
Sophomore setter Valerie Martinez recorded 38 assists.
Martinez
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The volleyball team swept a pair of PBC games Oct. 25 and 26. UNF defeated USC Spartanburg and Lander University.
File photo by Justin Rakitin
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was the Peach Belt Conference Player of the Week.
A UNF player has won the award four weeks in a row. Senior Kristen Jansen won the award after Struck earned the honor two consecutive weeks.
"We played well," coach Bryan Bunn said. "We were fired up against Spartanburg, then we let down a little against Lander."
Bunn said he was happy with both wins as the team prepared to travel to the University of Tampa Oct. 29 for a key regional match.
"If we beat them, we still have a shot of hosting the region," Bunn said.
UNF has never won at Tampa, according to the sports information department.
"It's huge," Bunn said. "It's totally mental. Physically, we can definitely play with Tampa."
After the Tampa match, the team will return home for five PBC matches before traveling to Aiken, S.C., for the PBC tournament Nov. 15-16.
The conference home stand will begin with Francis Marion University Nov. 1.
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Wednesday, October 30, 2002