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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2014
PAGE 9B
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SOFTBALL
FILE PHOTO/KANSAN
Sophomore infielder Chaley Brickey looks off towards the batter during the softball game against the UMKC Roos on April 24, 2013. Kansas defeated the Roos 4-0.
Jayhawks face fierce competition on the road
AMIE JUST
sports@kansan.com
Coming off of a competition-packed tournament, the Jayhawks (4-4) are on the road again this weekend for the third straight weekend. Destination: Jackson, Miss. On the plate for Kansas are four different teams over the span of five games.
First up is Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (SIUE) (1-8). Kansas will play the Cougars in the opening game of the tournament. Despite SIUE's record, the team has played some big-name programs, such as Oklahoma State, LSU, Minnesota, Michigan State, Oklahoma, Washington and
Arizona State. The last time SIUE and Kansas met was back in 2010. SIUE won that matchup 5-2. SIUE is the only team that Kansas faces twice, as the Jayhawks take on the Cougars on the first day of tournament play and the last.
(6-4). The Panthers are on a two-game winning streak, demolishing Grambling State 20-2 and clinching a win over Houston Baptist 4-3 this past weekend. Kansas hasn't played Eastern Illinois since 2009 when Kansas hosted the Panthers. Kansas came away with the win that year 4-2.
After the first SIUE game, Kansas takes on the Lions of Southeastern Louisiana (SLU) (2-2). SLU has been plagued by inclimate weather as six of its games have been canceled already this season. The last time Kansas played SLU was in 2012. The Jayhawks routed the Lions 11-0, playing only $4 \frac{1}{2}$ innings.
Opening up the second day of play for Kansas is Eastern Illinois University
Kansas takes on the host of the tournament in the second game on the second day of play. Jackson State (4-6) is coming off a split doubleheader against Belhaven last weekend. Jackson State took the win in the first game 4-3, while losing the second game 0-1. Kansas played Jackson State in 2012, winning 5-3.
Edited by Brook Barnes
OLYMPICS
Russia makes unexpected hockey exit against Finland
SOCHI, Russia — A hockey team loses. A nation mourns, curses and cries.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Russia's men's hockey team suffered a 3-1 loss to Finland on Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the 2014 Winter Olympics tournament, eliminating the host country from medal contention.
For some Russians,
these Winter Games
were about nothing but
hockey. Forward Alexander
Ovechkin half-jokingly
said last week that winning
the Gold Medal was worth
about $50 billion _ the
estimated cost of the entire
Winter Games.
"It sucks. What can I say?" Ovechkin, who plays for the National Hockey League's Washington Capitals, said after the defeat. "No emotions right now."
He added: "We fought until the end to score, but it just hasn't worked for us. We lost our Olympic games. There is no one to blame."
The all-star-packed Russian team was under severe pressure from the Kremlin to the cabbie in the street to win gold and nothing less. But the team struggled in almost all its games, managing nail-biting victories against less-talented Slovenia and Slovakia. They beat Norway in a cakewalk and lost to the United States last Sunday in a dramatic shootout.
The Russian players insisted they felt no pressure playing before their hockey-crazed president and hockey-mad fans, many of whom were banking on Olympic Gold to exorcise the ghosts of the American "Miracle on Ice" at the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Games and the 1972 "Super Series" against a Canadian team of National Hockey League superstars.
Russia never appeared to get its high-scoring game together despite talented snipers like forwards Ovechkin, Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings, and Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Andrew Kuchins, director of the Russia and Eurasia Program at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the hockey team's defeat will disappoint many Russians but shouldn't impact what many Russians feel have been a successful Winter Games for the country.
"It takes some of the luster off, for sure," Kuchins
said. "Despite (President Vladimir) Putin being a hockey fan himself, the larger goal was a successful Olympic games. And I think it's come off pretty well."
At a Russian bar in Krasnaya Polyana, the game was played on a huge screen. A hockey goal sat in the middle of the dance floor and patrons spent the time between periods shooting tennis balls into the net or playing table hockey. Most in the crowd were draped in Russian flags or had their faces painted red, blue and white.
"I just feel empty, disappointed and empty inside. It's hard to say whether this is a maximal or minimal failure. Failure is failure."
"It's very disappointing for us," said a stunned Igor Maltinskii after he watched the game at the bar. "We thought our team would be in the final game. It was very important to all the people who came to Sochi and everybody in the country."
SERGEI BOBROVSKY
Russian goaltender
A Bolshoy Ice Dome that was deafeningly loud before the puck dropped Wednesday afternoon was eerily quiet at game's end. Russian players and silver-haired head coach Zinetula
Bilyaletdinov had ashen faces and stared blankly as the Finnish players celebrated their upset victory.
The game's outcome was maximum joy for Team Finland, which was banking on playing a tired and emotionally drained Russian team that had played four games in five nights.
"I just feel empty, disappointed and empty inside," said Russian goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who held Finland scorelever after he replaced Semyon Vlamov in goal after he surrendered all three Finnish goals on 15 shots in the game's first 26 minutes. "It's hard to say whether this is a maximal or minimal failure. Failure is failure. How can you measure it?"
"We had nothing to lose. We were not supposed to win," said Finland forward Teemu Selanne, who scored his team's second goal to break a 1-1 tie in the first period. "They had all the pressure. I think they were out of gas a little bit, and we tried to take advantage of that, and the game plan worked."
Selanni's tally and goals by Juhamatti Aaltonen and Mikael Granlund were all that Finnish goaltender Tuukka Rask needed to beat Russia. Former NHL forward Ilya Kovalchuk scored Russia's lone goal.
Finland forward Teemu Selanne, left, and Russia forward Alexander Ovechkin (8) shake hands following Finland's 3-1 victory over Russia in a Winter Olympics quarterfinal at the Bolshoy ice Dome in Sochi, Russia, Wednesday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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