Sports Features

MLB preview: American League outlook

As the 2008 Major League Baseball season gets underway, it is time to see which teams have the chance to play in October and which ones will see their seasons fade away like the last firework on the Fourth of July. In the first of a two-part series, we will first examine the teams looking to grab the American League pennant from the defending World Champions, the Boston Red Sox.

This week in Eagle sports

VARSITY SPORTS Saturday, April 5 Lacrosse vs. Virginia Tech (1 p.m.) Monday, April 9 Lacrosse vs. U. of Richmond (3 p.m.) CLUB SPORTS Friday, April 4 Men's rugby vs. George Mason University (7:30 p.m.) April 4-5 Women's rugby @ The Cherry Blossom Tournament Saturday, April 5 Crew @ JHU Invitational Baltimore, Md.

Play ball: Opening day in the USA

Is Major League Baseball's opening day a special day in this country? Why, of course it is. It would be un-American to say otherwise. One could produce a sizeable list of Rockwellian clichés to paint a fair picture of what the first day of the season is all about.

A place to call home for D.C.'s Nationals

D.C. finally has a permanent home for its baseball team. Three years after relocating to D.C. and 36 years since they had a home stadium to call their own, the Washington Nationals played their first game at Nationals Park on Saturday. The cold and breezy late March day could not keep 20,000 of the Nationals' faithful fans from getting a sneak peak of their team in the new stadium, 24 hours before the park's nationally televised grand opening.

Navy sinks comeback for women's lacrosse

A late comeback attempt by the women's lacrosse team was not enough to avoid a one-goal loss to the Navy Midshipmen on the road Tuesday afternoon, 13-12. From the opening face-off, Navy controlled the match. An 8-0 scoring run by the Midshipmen in the first 22 minutes of the game left the Eagles in a large hole.

Lacrosse drops another game

The women's lacrosse team tallied another loss Saturday, coming up short to Stony Brook 14-12. From the start, it looked as though the Eagles were the stronger of the two teams. Coming onto the field, Eagle senior midfielder Brittany Finnegan scored within the first two minutes of the game.

This week in Eagle sports

Fennell sets AU record in 5000m

Senior Brendan Fennell set a new AU track and field all-time record in the 5000-meter race as he and his fellow Eagle teammates competed at the adidas Raleigh Relays at North Carolina State University over the weekend. Fennell captured the 5000-meter race with a time of 13:51.

Men's soccer wins pair of exhibitions

The AU men's soccer team played a pair of spring exhibitions this week, winning both 1-0 against Georgetown University and the semi-pro squad Real Maryland. In the game against the Hoyas, Luis Martinez converted a penalty kick following a foul in the penalty box against junior teammate Anthony Moy.

Glenn, Cannon earn all-American honors

Senior Josh Glenn and sophomore Mike Cannon earned all-American status due to their respective fifth and sixth place finishes in the NCAA National Wrestling championships held over the weekend. Glenn, the defending national champion in the 197-lb. weight class, saw his bid for back-to-back titles end when he lost in the semifinals to University of Maryland's Hudson Taylor 9-6.

Women's lacrosse falls to Mason

The women's lacrosse team snapped its season-long four-game winning streak Wednesday afternoon, losing to the No. 12 ranked George Mason Patriots 15-7 at Jacobs Field. Despite a hat trick by senior attacker Jackie Lane, the Eagles fell behind right from the opening whistle and were unable to ever catch up.

Eagle fans enjoy men's b-ball game despite final score

In its first-ever NCAA tournament appearance, the AU men's basketball team lost 72-57 to the Tennessee Volunteers at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Center Friday afternoon. Despite the loss and the 13-hour Scenic Tour bus ride down to Alabama, Eagles fans said they believed the trip was well worth it.

Fennell captures 1500m title at Navy Invitational

Senior Brendan Fennell took home the 1500-meter run title this past weekend when the men's and women's track teams competed in Annapolis, Md., at the Navy Invitational. Fennell won the race with a time of 3:50.33, nearly two seconds ahead of his closest competitor, Andrew Hanko of Navy, who completed the race with a time of 3:52.

This week in Eagle sports

SATURDAY, March 29 Track vs. Maryland (10 a.m.) at University of Maryland Invitational Women's lacrosse vs. Stony Brook (1 p.m.) at Stony Brook Track at Raleigh Relays (all day) at Raleigh, N.C. TUESDAY, APRil 1 Women's Lacrosse vs. Navy at Navy (5 p.m.) Annapolis, Md.

Something special: A season to remember

The men's basketball team's run to the NCAA tournament , to say the least. It's a vast understatement to say they've come a long way from their home opening loss to Fairfield last November. In that game, the team looked like a squad that had just lost four of their top-five scorers and three of their top-four rebounders from a year ago.

WNIT loss concludes women's season

The women's basketball team had their season end on a sour note as the team fell at the final second to Villanova 53-52 in the first round of the WNIT last night. Despite strong efforts put out by seniors Liz Hayes and Stephanie N'Garsanet, scoring 14 and 13 points respectively, the team was unable to pull through in the end.

Alabama-bound team looks for win

The men's basketball team boarded their plane yesterday with the hopes of coming back with a new title: NCAA champions. Despite doubts from basketball fans - according to the Facebook NCAA bracket only .3 percent of people who filled out the bracket picked AU over Tennessee -the optimism shown by head coach Jeff Jones and starting players Derrick Mercer, Garrison Carr and Brian Gilmore seemed to suggest otherwise.