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By Josh Martin, Sports Editor

he Ryder Cup came to a
Tessin last Monday in

what will always be considered
a classic that will go down in golf
history. The four day event was
considered the longest in history,
coming right down to the wire in the
12" match that saw a battle between
European Graeme McDowell and
American Hunter Mahan. It marked
the first time since 1991 that the cup
was decided by a final singles match
between the two players.

It was quite a build up leading
to the final minutes of play with a
comeback from the Americans with
the youngest on the team. 21 year old
rookie Rickie Fowler gave his team
hope of pulling off an improbable
comeback when he won his final
three holes to halve his match against
Edoardo Molinari. Fowler was indeed
impressive, rolling in a 15 foot birdie
putt on the 17" green to extend the
match and then making an 18 footer
on the final hole to stun his opponent.
Zach Johnson then finished off a
3-and-2 win over Padraig Harrington
to even the score at 13 apiece.

This all led to an intense singles
head-to-head battle between Mahan
and McDowell. McDowell had a
birdie on the 16" hole which he
claimed was “the best putt [of his]
life”. It set a very high bar for Mahan

18

Ryder Cup Classic

who desperately needed a huge effort
on the 17" in order to come back.
However he unfortunately didn’t come
through, hitting a short tee shot, a
flubbed chip, and a putt from off the
green that wasn’t exactly close.

So with that being said, the
Europeans took the 2010, 38" Ryder
Cup at Celtic Manor in Wales with a
final score of 14 % to 13 % to reclaim
the title after losing in Valhalla two
years ago to the U.S. The end result
had McDowell being swarmed by
his teammates, fans and media in an
outstanding win, full of smiles and
joy while at the other end, Mahan
in devastation holding back tears of
defeat while walking away.

“That birdie on 16 was huge,”
said Mahan, struggling to hold back
his emotions. “He just beat me today”.
Mahan was strongly supported by his
teammates despite the loss, which
was throughout a team effort that isn’t
solely up to one player to take the
blame for everything. Phil Mickelson
couldn’t have said it better himself,
“We came within half a point. But we
could look anywhere throughout those
28 points for that half a point”.

The winning team celebrated right
after their match on the balcony of
the second floor in their clubhouse,
spraying fans below with champagne
while yelling and having the time of
their lives. The 2010 Ryder Cup will
be one to remember for years to come.

 

Royals soccer is dominating

By Josh Martin, Sports Editor

he Douglas College Royals,
both the women’s and men’s

soccer teams, were busy
over their first weekend of October
with back to back games against the
Kwantlen Eagles. The men’s team
has continued to dominate in the
BCCAA league so far this season and
have made a name for themselves
with their last two wins, scoring 14
goals while blanking their opponents
from the scoreboard in both contests.

The Royals have solidified
their first place position in Group
A with a sparkling record of 6-0-0,

a plus/minus of + 29 and 18 points.
They are currently sitting ahead of
the second place team, the UNBC
Timberwolves, by five points and to
top it off the Royals have two games
in hand.

On Saturday, October 2, they
came out with a bang, absolutely
dismantling the opposition with
a final score of 9-0. That score
was completely lop sided and the
Kwantlen Eagles knew that, hoping
that perhaps they would come out
with a better result in there next
match on Sunday against the Royals.
Unfortunately for them they didn’t,
their shots didn’t find the net and the
Royals swept them with yet another
blowout, except this time it wasn’t
as bad with a final score of 5-0 at the
end of 90 minutes of play.

Vito Iacobellis opened the
scoring, while Donald Kambere
finished with a hat-trick and Sahil
Sandhu added another. Sandhu still
remains second amongst league
leaders in total goals scored with nine
for the season in six games while
teammate Reynold Steward is seeded
comfortably at the top position with
11 goals.

Goalkeeper Dillan Fogliato has
been impressive so far with only four
goals against in 405 minutes of play
in his five games, and is placed in
second position amongst goalies in
the league with a 0.89 GAA. With
those two devastating knock-outs, the
Royals took the number one spot in
national rankings.

The women’s soccer team
didn’t have as much luck on their
Saturday match, losing to the Eagles

at Newton Athletic Park by a score of
3-0. On Sunday however, Douglas’
Stephanie Russo made it 1-0 just
before half and they managed to keep
Kwantlen at bay for the remainder of
the game.

Stephanie has four goals in six
games and is in fourth spot in scoring
behind league leader Alexa Kennedy
of UBCO who has seven goals in
seven matches. The Sunday shutout
marked goalie Aja Aguirre’s third
blanking of the season. She now has
only four goals against in five games
and 540 minutes of play with a strong
0.67 GAA.

The Royals are still holding on to
third spot in Group A with a record of
3-2-1 and 11 points.

In other related news, the
Royals softball team became the first
Canadian school ever to compete
in the NWAACC Fall classic and
showcase tournament in Portland
Oregon. With Douglas College being
the first Canadian school to do this,
they hopefully broke the seal for
other Canadian schools to perhaps
cross the border and also partake
in the NWAACC sometime in the
future.

Stephanie Russo