8B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MLB
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28. 2009
Yankees clinch AL East title by beating Red Sox
NEW YORK — Andy Pettitt and the New York Yankees wrapped up the AL East title and home-field advantage throughout the postseason with a neat bow, beating the Boston Red Sox 4-2 Sunday for their 100th win of the season.
Hideki Matsui's go-ahead single in the sixth inning energized the damp fans and put them on notice that a party was coming. The first real celebration at the new Yankee Stadium began with a most familiar scene — Mariano Rivera on the mound, closing out another clinching victory.
Catcher Jose Molina leaped up from behind the plate even before Rivera had fielded
Jacoby Ellsbury's soft comebacker for the final out. The Yankees swarmed Rivera on the first-base side of the mound while players in the bullpen streamed in.
Nick Swisher wasted no time putting on an AL East Champions hat. The crowd responded with a standing ovation as the Yankees began walking off the field, with captain Derek Jeter at the front and several teammates pulling on gray championship T-shirts.
The Yankees won their first division title since 2006 and, after missing the playoffs last year, let loose with wild champagne sprays in the locker room. Several players wore goggles to protect against the sting.
Associated Press
Swimming in the wheat
Adam Buhler/KANSAN
Presented By
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
From left, Shannon Gurlie, Patricia Nelson, Joy Bunting, Cora Powers, Brittany Potter, Morgan Johnson, Allison Ho, and Ana Kuehler wave the饥饿 after a second quarter touchdown. The swimming and diving team, along with potential recruits, took the front row of the student section and painted "Go Kansas Jawhawk!", on themselves.
SOCCER
Jayhawks lose one but bounce back
BY JOEL PETTERSON jpetterson@kansan.com
Kansas' campaign to win the Big 12 title started on a sour note Friday with a loss to Oklahoma State, but the team rebounded to gain its eighth victory of the season against Oral Roberts University on Sunday.
Kansas (8-2-1) began Big 12 play with a 3-0 loss against defending champions Oklahoma State (7-4-0). The Jayhawks desperately wanted revenge for a bitter overtime loss last year, but the Cowgirls proved to be too much for them once again.
Oklahoma State scored first when senior Bridget Miller beat two Kansas defenders and put the ball in off the post. The first half ended with a slight edge for the Cowgirls in shots as they tallied six to the Jayhawks' five. It was the first time this season that Kansas had given up the first goal in a game.
In the second half, several defensive miscues contributed to two
"We were ready to play, but we just didn't really show it," said freshman midfielder Shelby Williamson. "It took us awhile to get going."
Follow Kansan writer Joel Peterson at twitter.com/j_petter.
more goals against the Jayhawks. Oklahoma State added its second goal eight minutes into the second half. The Kansas defense misplayed a free kick from midfield and the ball fell to Oklahoma State's Kelsey Langdon, who finished an easy goal.
Jerry Wang/KANSAN
Senior forward Monica Dolinsky tries to dribble the ball past a South Dakota defender. Dolinsky received a red card before being ejected from the game on Sunday.
The Cowgirls completed their scoring in the 76th minute, when Katie Richardson retrieved a goal kick from her own end and slotted the ball into the near side of the goal.
"We made those two mistakes and obviously we got punished for them," coach Mark Francis said.
Kansas upped the pressure in the second half, putting up 10 shots to finish the game leading 15-13 in shots. But no matter what they did, they couldn't beat the stiff Oklahoma State defense.
"I don't think we created tons of really clear-cut opportunities,"
Francis said. "A lot of the shots that we took were from a long way out; it wasn't like we got a whole lot in-range that gave us a chance to finish."
It was a harsh beginning to conference play for a team that had previously suffered only one narrow loss.
"We hadn't had a loss like that this season, so it was kind of a shock for all of us," said Williamson. "We didn't play as well as we should have."
However, Francis downplayed the importance of the disappointing result.
"It was just the first game; we've got nine conference games left," he said. "I think our loss doesn't affect us badly as far as still having an opportunity to win the conference."
The layhawks completed their road trip to Oklahoma with a high-scoring victory against Oral Roberts University (3-5-0).
Sophomore Emily Cressy scored her sixth goal of the season just 21 seconds into the game, breaking the team record for quickest goal set last week by junior Rachel Morris with her 23-second goal.
Kansas scored again in the 17th minute when Williamson scored her third goal of the season off a cross from Monica Dolinsky.
The Golden Eagles responded in
the 31st minute with a goal from senior Natalya Manyan, but Kansas finished the half with one more goal from Williamson in the 45th minute to give the Jayhawks a 3-1 advantage at the break. Williamson played all 90 minutes in both games this weekend and had a breakout game on Sunday with her two goals.
In the second half, Dolinsky and freshman Sarah Robbins added two more points in the 67th and 90th minutes, while Oral Roberts scored two of their own goals, both on penalty kicks. Dolinsky received a red card and was ejected from the game in the 74th minute after she received two yellow cards for a harsh tackle and her reaction after the play.
"Shelby had a really good weekend," Francis said. "It's good to see her getting involved with the attack."
"She'll be out, but that just means there'll be an opportunity for someone else to step up," said Francis. "We've had kids do that all year with injuries, so I'm sure someone else will step into that spot and do well on Friday."
The red card means Dolinsky, a captain and senior leader, will not be able to play in Kansas' game next Friday against No. 10 Texas A&M.
Edited by Alicia Banister