For many of the student body, fall break is a time to take a visit back home, catch up on sleep, or gallivant around some national forest on OTL’s budget. For our ever-working athletes, however, fall break is one of the most crucial points of the season, and they will be spending their time remaining in their place of competition: be it a course, a court, a pool, or a pitch.Fall sports are around the halfway point of the season, and the race for the SCIAC post-season berths rapidly is heating up. Meanwhile, as the weather takes a turn to the cold, winter sports begin to look conditioning in the eye to prepare for their season.
So, for all of you that are like me, and managed to find a way to NOT take advantage of all the great OTL trips, this is a perfect weekend to get your fan on. Trust me.
The headliners of the weekend are obviously the twin CMS match-ups by men and women’s soccer. Unfortunately, the teams scheduled the games at the same time – 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, so you will just have to go ahead and choose.
The men will play away, and the women will attempt to protect their home pitch. Both teams lost in their first meeting with CMS by a goal, so look for some pointed attempts at revenge. The men’s team will be especially hungry, as they need to win by at least a goal to retain the golden boot – the trophy kept by the rival that wins the season series (ties default back to last season’s winner).
Later on Saturday, after you have digested two victories against CMS, hit up the home football game against La Verne at 7 p.m. for some desert. La Verne has yet to win a game this year (0-4) and managed to net just 87 yards rushing on the season. The Leopards have also been outscored by a combined total of 141 – 47. So what am I telling you? Go to this game. The Sagecocks will be hungry after the big loss against Cal Lutheran, and La Verne is the perfect opponent when you need a punching bag.
Unfortunately both Men’s Water Polo and Women’s Volleyball will be playing off campus for the weekend, but that doesn’t mean you can’t wish them the best of luck. The newly minted 20th-nationally ranked Men’s Water Polo team will be meeting with Caltech and Chapman on Saturday. Volleyball will be playing at the Cal Lutheran Fall Classic.
Finally, we have the first opportunity to see how SCIAC stacks up for cross country. On Saturday, Men’s and Women’s cross country will be racing at the SCIAC multi-duals at La Mirada Park. The top teams will get vital points towards winning a league title.