The Harvard Crimson :: Commencement 2009

TEAM OF THE YEAR: Women's Soccer
Starting the season with a pair of losses, Harvard wins Ivy title
By ALEX SOPKO
Playing against Columbia in the season finale on Nov. 8, junior defenseman Lizzy Nichols scored on a penalty kick with nine seconds left on the clock in double overtime to give Harvard a 2-1 win and clinch the Ivy League title—and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament that comes with it.

TEAM OF THE YEAR RUNNER-UP: Women's Swimming & Diving

TEAM OF THE YEAR RUNNER-UP: Women's Golf

MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Chris Pizzotti '08-'09
In his final season, Pizzotti cements his placement among Harvard’s greatest
By DIXON MCPHILLIPS
Graduating fifth-year senior Chris Pizzotti is living the high life right now. Having completed one of the greatest Harvard football careers in history, Pizzotti is now vying for a backup quarterback role behind Mark Sanchez with the New York Jets. For a guy who’s been part of three Ivy League Championship teams, this is an appropriate punctuation to an already-stellar career.

RUNNER-UP: Jeremy Lin '10

RUNNER-UP: Colin West '10

MALE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Jeff Cohen '12
By TIMOTHY J. WALSH
If he can replicate the success of his freshman year, Jeff Cohen’s name could become a verb. This season alone, opposing goalies were owned, pwnd, and Cohened 34 times. It is no coincidence that Cohen’s arrival coincided with the best season in the last 10 years for Harvard men’s lacrosse. The freshman’s 34 scores were the most ever for a Crimson rookie, and the ninth-highest single-season total in Harvard history. His 2.62 goals per game placed him third in the conference and eighth in the nation in scoring.

RUNNER-UP: Nico Weiler '12

COACH OF THE YEAR: Ray Leone—Women's Soccer
By DENNIS J. ZHENG
So much for a sophomore slump. In just his second season at the helm of the Harvard women’s soccer team, head coach Ray Leone guided the Crimson to a 10-3-5 record, which earned his squad its first Ivy League championship since 1999 and its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2004. The third Harvard coach in as many years when he took the job before the 2007 season, Leone has brought stability and a standard of excellence to the program.

RUNNER-UP: Brian Baise—Men's Volleyball

UPSET GAME OF THE YEAR: Men's Basketball vs. Boston College—Jan. 7, 2009
Men’s basketball shocks the Eagles with an 82-70 win on BC’s home court
By EMMETT KISTLER
Decade-long drought. 10-game winning streak. Star point guard. Oh, and add to the list the fact that the Harvard men’s basketball team had never won against a ranked opponent since its inception in 1900. There were a number of reasons why it should not have happened. But none of those reasons seemed to matter on Jan. 7, when the Crimson bested then-No. 17 Boston College in Chestnut Hill.

COMEBACK ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Louis Caputo '10
Junior co-captain reinvents style, earns national recognition after weathering a season on the disabled list
By MAX N. BRONDFIELD
Returning from injury has a predictable path—you rehabilitate, take it easy in early contests to shake off rust, and in time hope to return to form. No one has high expectations coming out of the gate. That is, unless you are Louis Caputo.

MALE BREAKOUT ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Ryan Carroll '11
By COURTNEY D. SKINNER
In recent history, the Harvard men’s hockey team has been plagued with question marks in the crease. At the beginning of this season, three untested goaltenders vied for the top position. But despite the historical uncertainty between the pipes, the Crimson seems to have found its answers in sophomore Ryan Carroll.

RUNNER-UP: Harry Douglas '09

FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Beier Ko '09
Top seed receives national recognition for dominance of Ivy League play
By JAKE I. FISHER
Senior Beier Ko has seen it all as a member of the Harvard women’s tennis team. She’s been the eager freshman, sidelined by injury on a team that bulldozed its way to the Ivy League title in 2006. She’s been the veteran on a rebuilding squad that floundered to a 2-17 mark last year. And in 2009, Ko was the leader of an extraordinary story of resurgence.

RUNNER-UP: Becky Christensen '09

RUNNER-UP: Kate Mills '11

FEMALE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Rachel Brown '12
Brown strikes out a record 211 opponents in impressive rookie campaign
By KATE LEIST
On a diamond in Denton, Texas, freshman pitcher Rachel Brown stepped into the circle for the Harvard softball team. It was Opening Day, and Brown had gotten the call. Kansas leadoff batter Stevie Cristoso came to the plate, and before long, was caught looking as the ball sizzled past her for the first strikeout of Brown’s career. The freshman couldn’t have asked for a better start—or an out more representative of her rookie season.

RUNNER-UP: Caroline Vloka '12

GAME OF THE YEAR: Women's Soccer vs. Columbia—Nov. 8, 2008
By WALTER E. HOWELL
The massive crowd was silent for a moment, as incoming co-captain Lizzy Nichols lined up for her penalty kick. As she put cleat to ball, the crowd began to shout. When the shot ripped the upper nineties, it roared. When the swarm of students sprinted onto the field, it became pure bedlam, and deservedly so. Nichols’ penalty-kick goal with nine seconds left in double overtime not only won the game, 2-1, for the Crimson, but more importantly, it secured an Ivy title.

COMEBACK GAME OF THE YEAR: Women's Basketball vs. Princeton—Feb. 20, 2009
With Princeton up, 34-15, at halftime, the Crimson surges back to capture a last-minute thriller
By JUSTIN W. WHITE
On the night of Feb. 20 at Lavietes Pavilion, the Harvard women’s basketball team faced Princeton in a must-win game to keep the Crimson in the running for the Ivy League title. While Harvard’s 54-50 win might appear mildly interesting in the box score, attendants of the game know it to be one of the most remarkable comebacks that any Crimson team orchestrated throughout the year.

COMEBACK TEAM OF THE YEAR: Women's Tennis
Harvard makes an about-face from a year of Ivy irrelevance to dominate its 2009 competition
By JAKE I. FISHER
After amassing a 2-17 record in 2008, the women’s tennis team had nowhere to go but up. And this season, the Crimson (13-8, 6-1 Ivy) surely flew high, soaring to a share of the Ivy League Championship.

FEMALE BREAKOUT ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Christina Hagner '09
By DENNIS J. ZHENG
The most important part of Christina Hagner’s offseason didn’t take place in a training facility or on a soccer field. It was all inside her head. But boy, did it show on the field. One of two players to start all 18 games for the Crimson, Hagner led the team with seven goals, good for fifth in the Ivy League, and was third on the team with 15 points.

RUNNER-UP: Emma Markley '11

Parting Words Provide Choices

A Commencement Choose Your Own Adventure! Good afternoon, ______ (members of the Harvard Class of 2037, Mrs. Edison’s fifth grade class, members of the Parole Board). It is my honor to be here with you at ____ (Class Day, your anti-drug program graduation, my hearing)...

Key Chapters in the Evolution of a Sportswriter

As sports journalists, we get the unique opportunity to explore the pivotal moments in games, seasons, and programs. But no matter the twists and turns, with journalistic integrity on the line we feign indifference, pretending that outcomes don’t affect us even as we affect their perception.

Exposing The Fan Hiding in Press Row

On Senior Night for the women’s basketball team in February of 2006, a freshman covered her first live game for The Harvard Crimson’s sports section. I took my seat on press row alongside the then-chair of the Sports Board, excited by the crowds that were (slowly) filtering into Lavietes Pavilion and the Harvard and Princeton squads exchanging high-fives in their layup lines. Noting my wide eyes, my fellow reporter said, “Remember, you can’t cheer.”

Sport and Literature Provide Lasting Life Lessons

It was the most basic of stories—one of the underdog defying the longest of odds. Sports are usually pretty good for that, actually. In the context of running and jumping, catching and throwing, we often derive some greater meaning out of the athletic exploits we engage in (or, as was the case for me, write about). But sometimes, life can be a microcosm of sports, too.

No Place for Yale In Wally’s World

During my time here at Harvard, I have entered the thunderdome with the best of them. When I went to Yale my junior year, for example, it was also the weekend of my 21st birthday. As soon as I stepped foot off the bus on Friday night until getting back on said bus Saturday eve, I was never a sober boy.

Kirby’s Dreamland Of Sports Coverage

What has been my favorite part of my four years on The Harvard Crimson? Besides the great people on The Crimson’s staff I have met, I also have had the opportunity to watch numerous Crimson sports games. I have listed below the five favorite games I had the pleasure of watching and reporting on.

SEASON RECAPS