Know that song, "The Final Countdown," by Europe? The one with the cheesy synthesizers that, believe it or not, came out 20 years ago?
Well right now that song must be blasting in the heads of 37 Brown female student-athletes scattered across the Northeast.
The women's basketball and ice hockey teams picked up this winter where the Ivy champion football and men's soccer teams left off last semester. While the men's soccer team got an NCAA Tournament bid despite missing out on the conference's automatic bid, neither winter team will be so lucky. The Ivy League is too weak in basketball, so an at-large bid is out of the question. The ECACHL is too strong - with three teams in the national top 10 - for the Bears to count on getting a ticket to the eight-team national tournament without winning the conference champion's bid.
The basketball team, currently in Connecticut preparing for tonight's playoff game with Dartmouth, already has a share of the Ivy League title. Some may consider them unlucky for losing the Tuesday-night coin flip that gave Princeton a bye in the three-team playoff. But it's also a blessing: if the Bears can beat both teams, nobody can say they benefited from playing a tired team.
It's high time that the first Ivy League team to appear in the women's NCAA Tournament way back in 1994 returns to the Big Dance. That year, Brown also received the Ancient Eight's automatic bid in a playoff win against Dartmouth. That year, the Bears had to face the Rebecca Lobo-led University of Connecticut Huskies, and actually held a second half lead before Geno Auriemma's team got its act together and won 79-60.
The competition this weekend will be fierce, as the three Ivy Champions predictably dominated the All-Ivy teams, hogging all five first-team slots (Princeton center Becky Brown and forward Meagan Cowher, and Dartmouth guards Angie Soriaga and Jeannie Cullen join Hayes) in addition to two second-team bids (Princeton guard Katy O'Brien and Colleen Kelly '06) and one honorable mention (guard Ashley Taylor of Dartmouth). Princeton even got guard Jessica Kelly on the All-Rookie team. Noticeably snubbed was the two-headed center of Christine Schaper '09 and Herald Sports Staff Writer Amy Ehrhart '09, but it seems filling in for first-team All-Ivy grad Holly Robertson '05 doesn't matter for much these days.
On the ice, the women's hockey team, currently holed up in Canton, N.Y., for the ECACHL Final Four, has its own set of do-or-die games this weekend. Unfortunately, the Bears will have an uphill battle to win their conference for the first time since 2001-02. If they beat Princeton Saturday, they will likely have to face top-seed St. Lawrence Sunday on the Saints' home ice.
How does that happen, you ask? Why isn't the final four being played at a predetermined neutral site like it was before? Well, the ECACHL had the brilliant idea this offseason of having the women's final four at the home rink of the top remaining seed after the first round - meaning, had the top two seeds, St. Lawrence and Princeton, lost, these games would've been played at the Meehan Auditorium. According to the conference's media guide, this was intended to attract more fans to the event.
Never mind that there is a logistical nightmare for a second or third seed that will have to schedule these games within a few days if there's an upset. Not included in the media guide is that the home team at this event now has an absurd home-ice advantage - an unacceptable bonus in this stage of the season.
The format change is curious, considering the other two major women's hockey conferences have more equitable formats. Hockey East holds its final rounds at a different arena each season, like the ECACHL used to. The Western Collegiate Hockey Association is holding its third straight tournament at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, but that's because the Golden Gophers' Ridder Arena opened just three seasons ago and the Twin Cities location is easier to get to than alternatives like Duluth.
While the Ivy League can be ham-handed at times - the football league's champion being ineligible for the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs is a prime example - at least it would never be inept enough to set up a format like this.
Anyway, back to the Bears. Much like the women's basketball team, the third-seeded Bears have relied on their defense all year. One of the keys to victory this weekend, though, will be receiving some offense from skaters other than Hayley Moore '08 and Keaton Zucker '06 to go along with that stingy defense. While O'Hara Shipe '08, Nicole Stock '09 and Stacy Silverman '08 combined for a usually superb .934 save percentage and 1.82 goals against average during league play, the worst totals in those statistics among the four teams left are .925 and 1.91, so that defensive advantage is negated.
Still, don't doubt the team formerly known as the Pandas' ability to beat the nation's top teams. Earlier in the season, they handed then-No. 5 University of New Hampshire one of its two losses all season, and its only one in regulation. The Bears have gone 1-3-2 against the remaining three teams, splitting with third-seed No. 5 Princeton, tying fourth-seed No. 8 Harvard twice and getting swept by top-seed No. 2 St. Lawrence. The team also has playoff experience in St. Lawrence's Appleton Arena, upsetting the Saints in game one of their three-game first-round series last season.
Neither Brown team has an easy match-up, but with their seasons on the line, don't expect the Bears to go down without a fight. But for now, let the tacky synth hook play while we enjoy the drama.
One final note for those who are unable to attend the playoff games this weekend: All four possible games will be carried on the radio via the Internet. Brown Student Radio will broadcast the basketball games on 88.1 WELH and www.bsrlive.com, while the Brown Sports Radio Network will have all four games streaming on the Web, links to which will be on Brownbears.com.
Sports Editor Chris Hatfield '06 will call the action at this weekend's women's basketball games on Brown Student Radio with Herald Campus Watch Editor Stu Woo '08.
