The team got a chance to compete in a “sprint meet” tonight against Western Illinois; the 200- and 500-yard freestyles were the only individual events longer than 100 yards, and many swimmers got to swim in what head coach Marc Long called “off events.”

After a brief ceremony for the team’s three seniors, the Hawkeyes certainly appeared to enjoy themselves. The Black and Gold claimed victory in every event on the way to a 133-60 win over the Leathernecks.

Top performers of the night included senior all-American diver Veronica Rydze, who completed a front three-and-a-half pike — a dive which only a few divers in the country can do, according to diving coach Bob Rydze — on her way to posting scores of 343.50 and 325.28 in the three- and one-meter events, respectively.

Senior captains Daniela Cubelic and Danielle Carty had a hand in three victories each in their final regular-season dual as Hawkeyes; both helped the 400-yard medley and 200-yard freestyle relays to victory, and the duo claimed first place in the 50-yard freestyle and 50-yard backstroke, respectively.

The Hawkeyes will get the next week and a half to recover for the Big Ten Championships, which will be held at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center on Feb. 15-18.

-by Tork Mason

There’s strength in numbers — unless the team on the other side of the court happens to be That Team.

That Team (1-0) decimated the Honey Badgers (0-1), 62-37, in the opening game of the co-rec intramural basketball season at the Field House, even though they spent the majority of the game with one fewer player than their opponents.

An error with the online registration sidelined That Team’s sixth player and they had to play with five — but That Team was required to always have at least one player on its bench, so the teams played four-on-four for the first two minutes of the game. The Honey Badgers were then allowed a fifth player for the rest of the game, but couldn’t break through That Team’s zone defense.

“We made it really hard for them to score,” That Team’s Blake Schneden said. “We used a four-man zone and it didn’t look like they had any shooters. Our girls really stepped up and made some clutch 3s, too.”

Schneden, a manager for the Iowa women’s basketball team, led the attack with 19 points, and every That Team player scored at least 6.

“We crashed the boards hard,” he said. “When I got a rebound, I went right back up with it and took a lot of fouls. I went to the line a lot, but I didn’t make many free throws. It’s something I should work on.”

While Schneden was able to pinpoint a flaw in his game, the Honey Badger players said they didn’t do much right at all.

“Did we do anything well?” Honey Badger player Drew Ketelsen asked, laughing. “We got good shots and good looks. They just weren’t falling. We also need to work on our defense, moving the ball around, and shooting with the girls.”

Honey Badgers hadn’t played a game together before their game against That Team, and some players didn’t even know each others’ names; they said they met each other through random friendships and drinking together. Getting to know each other both as teammates and as people was therefore one of the Honey Badger players’ goals before their next game.

“Some friendships are taking a toll,” Honey Badger’s B.J. Harkin said, laughing. “We had some hostility build up in that game between players, especially between Drew and I, but I think we’ll face the adversity and win a few games.”

More than 130 teams registered for intramural basketball in Men’s, Women’s Co-rec, and Fraternity divisions. The teams are split up into five-team divisions where each side plays every other squad in their division once. The two teams with the best record after the four games advance to the “A” playoff bracket and the third-place team advances to the “B” playoff bracket.

Schneden felt That Team can only get better going towards the future, especially when they get to play with five players like every other team.

“This was a good start for us,” he said. “We played well and if we can continue, we’re going to go far.”

The Go Hards had revenge on their mind and something to prove from the beginning of Monday’s match against Pi Kappa Phi in the Bubble.

The Go Hards, formerly known as PWB, hadn’t scored in their previous game and needed to beat Pi Kappa Phi in order to advance to the intramural playoffs.

They did just that with a 6-3 victory.

“This name is better luck for us,” Go Hards captain Sasha Abdalla said with a chuckle when asked about his team’s name change.

Phi Kappa Phi had just enough men to play the game, which meant a lot of playing time and no substitutions for its members. The Go Hards took advantage from the start, and wore down Pi Kappa Phi with a combination of aggressive play on both ends of the field and substitutions at almost every dead ball.

Newcomer Talib Alsammarraie was the bright spot for the Go Hards, scoring the team’s first goal off a throw-in. Alsammarraie took advantage of an open goal when Pi Kappa Phi’s goalkeeper chased after a ball and gave his team a 2-0 lead minutes later.

Pi Kappa Phi wanted nothing of that, and retaliated by matching the Go Hards’ tempo and scoring off a steal despite the defensive efforts of the Go Hards.

“We were surprised by [Pi Kappa Phi] at the beginning of the game,” Alsammarraie said.

Abdalla scored again before the end of the first half to give his team a 3-1 lead entering the break. This effort was not enough for Alsammarraie, who used halftime to rally his team and encourage his teammates to score more goals. The offensive mindset showed consistently through the game, with the Go Hards attempting shots on goal on almost every offensive possession. The weakness of some attempts and strong play by Pi Kappa Phi’s goalie made the game remain close throughout.

The two-goal deficit did nothing to stop Pi Kappa Phi as the second half began. The fraternity came out in the second half matching the Go Hards’ tempo, and once again brought the lead to one. The Go Hards defense began to falter, and the tempo seemed to shift towards Pi Kappa as the second half progressed.

Alsammarraie was visibly frustrated, and called out his teammates to improve their defense before taking the troubles into his own hands. Close to Pi Kappa’s goal with nowhere to go, he found an open teammate to his right and assisted the ensuing goal to give his team more breathing room.

“It was all teamwork,” Alsammarraie said. “Everyone played a very clean game. It felt good.”

Pi Kappa once again brought the game close, but a 2-0 run by the Go Hards afterwards sealed the win.

The exhausted Pi Kappa Phi players were disappointed with the loss, and said they knew their small roster had been outplayed.

“We didn’t pass enough and didn’t play like we should have,” Pi Kappa Phi member Steve Krause said. “They wanted to win more.”

The Minutemen (2-0) lived up to their name in a 4-0 blowout over Quinn Storage (1-1) on Monday at the Bubble.

The team scored its first goal with just under a minute left in the first half and then scored two goals within a minute of each other to open scoring in the second. Quinn Storage barely had time to blink before they were buried in a hole they couldn’t climb out of.

“They scored with a minute left, and it kind of took the life out of us,” Quinn Storage captain Cheyne Reiter said. “Then they got an early header in the second half and the game kind of just slipped away.”

Quinn Storage only played together for the first time in a practice session on Sunday, because their win came on a forfeit last week. Reiter, who said he decided to play intramural soccer after a concussion took him out of competitive play, said the team is a loose collection of friends, some of whom haven’t played the sport since middle school.

“We have to learn to maintain a formation,” the captain said. “I try to tell them ‘Hey, you’re a midfielder. Stand over there,’ but in the heat of the game it can be hard to understand. We competed well, but they’ve got more soccer players.”

The difference in talent level could be seen often during the game. Minutemen repeatedly passed the ball behind the Quinn Storage defense for attacking opportunities; the team fired off 27 shots. Despite scoring two of his team’s goals, Minutemen player Kyle Owen said it was the effort from every player that brought the team a victory.

“It was a solid performance from everyone,” Owen said. “We had high team chemistry and we really came through tonight.”

Conditioning and communication seemed to be the key concepts Quinn Storage players were missing. Players never got a solid feel for making substitutions and were often in the game without a break or waiting on the bench for 10 minutes at a time. Miscommunication reached its peak in the second half, when a Quinn Storage player received a yellow card for running onto the field as a substitute without informing a referee and without replacing a player on the field.

Quinn Storage is headed to the playoffs despite the in-game struggles, and Reiter said he’s optimistic his team can get a better result in its next game.

“Anything can happen in the playoffs,” the junior said. “We’re going to play around a few more times as a team and we’ll be ready whenever our playoff game comes around. We’re not taking anything too seriously.”

The Minutemen were looking towards the playoffs as well; they’re sure to be one of the favorites since they haven’t allowed a goal yet and have scored 8 times in two games. Minutemen captain Jared Cohen said he and his teammates are more than prepared to face any challenge in the playoffs.

“Whoever’s playing us next better get ready,” Cohen said. “We’re ready to score more.”

Strong play and an organized effort pushed Persia to a 3-2 victory over Sigma Pi on Wednesday night in the Bubble.

The match was marred by poor officiating, though. Many calls were missed, and several players said it seemed the officials were not even paying attention to the match.

Maysam Takapoo, an Iowa research faculty member, said that he felt the referees weren’t “into the game.”

“The officials did a very poor job,” Takapoo said. “They need to be paying attention, blow the whistles with some force to show that they can control a game when it is needed. They also need to know the rules on key plays.”

The play in question occurred near the end of the match as Persia goalkeeper Alireza Mofidi grabbed a corner kick in front of the net. Mofidi was outside of the keeper’s box, which resulted in an indirect kick; while the players knew this, the officials did not. Both teams yelled about where to place the ball, and play stopped for around five minutes before everything was straightened out.

But the officiating problems didn’t stop Persia and Sigma Pi from putting on a show.

Mofidi played well in goal, as he made a series of acrobatic plays with the game on the line.

“He was definitely our MVP of the night,” Takapoo said. “Even my parents who came to watch said they enjoyed seeing him jump around and stop ‘those hard shots.’ He kept us in the game when we went down an early goal due to some defensive issues, but we rallied and prevailed.”

Persia was shut out for the first half, and entered the second down a goal. Persia scored back-to-back goals within four minutes of each other, but Sigma Pi answered in the 33rd minute to tie the game.

Persia striker Foad Khoshouei scored his second goal of the game with a minute remaining to put his team up for good.

“They definitely outplayed us,” Sigmi Pi’s Taylor Boegel said. “It was a little intimidating to see Persia in full soccer gear with jerseys on before the game, while we had on basketball shorts and old shirts. But I thought we played surprisingly well against them, but they just came through at the end when I thought we had a chance after tying the game.”

Sigma Pi walked off the pitch after the game, but Persia stayed and formed a circle. Takapoo walked his players, congratulating each one before walking over and hugging his parents after a hard-fought win.

Just Can’t Get Enough just couldn’t get a goal.

The team lost to Man Dimes, 4-0, despite firing 28 shots — including 11 that slapped the goalkeeper’s mitts and four that smashed against the goal post — in an intramural soccer match Wednesday in the Bubble.

Man Dimes scored three of their goals on fast breaks and one off of a misplay by Just Can’t Get Enough keeper Ben Kisner; he mis-handled a slow-rolling ball for the second goal of the game.

“They were a good club,” Kisner said. “We just had first-game jitters — and honestly, I think it was just because we’re really out of shape.”

The game was the first soccer action Just Can’t Get Enough had seen since winning their fall soccer league earlier in the year.

Man Dimes are no strangers to championships themselves — they won the intramural flag football championship earlier this fall — and listed several factors for their victory.

“We were always moving and we didn’t try to run any fancy plays,” said Man Dimes’ Andy Amendola, who scored two of his team’s goals. “We had more endurance than them and a greater love of the game.”

The game easily translates to the indoor stage, with a few minor changes. The field and goals are much smaller than normal, and keepers are not allowed to throw or kick the ball in the air past midfield. Goalies also have an out-of-bounds line on both sides of the goal that they are not allowed to cross unless they have the ball.

Just Can’t Get Enough players said the smaller pitch made the game quicker than outdoor matches, and that they adjusted their game accordingly.

“We were really scrappy out there,” Tyler Geppert said. “We went right at the goal, which I thought would be a good strategy for soccer — but then we got caught off guard on their fast breaks.”

Geppert also said the game could have been very different if one of their many missed chances had found the net earlier in the game.

“We must have hit four posts in the game,” Geppert said. “If just one of those goes in, we’ve got a totally different game. It’s so much easier playing from a 2-1 score than 2-0.”

Man Dimes, who have been playing together since junior high school, had plenty of shots of their own in the game — they hammered 21 shots — but some players said they still felt they had room for improvement as the season goes along.

“We weren’t really good at passing the ball,” Amendola said. “Our ball movement wasn’t very good. But based on this game, I think we’re going to win it all.”

Despite being on the wrong end of the 4-0 blowout, Just Can’t Get Enough players said they didn’t see much of their game that needs to be fixed.

“We’re not going to change much for the next game,” Geppert said. “We just have to have better finishing and attack better. This game was a hiccup. We rarely lose, and we’ll definitely come back to win our next game.”

Trevor Davis had an open field before him and a determined look on his face as he drove towards the goalie, the only person left in his way.

He pulled his leg back as the ball continued to roll, and blasted the ball past the apparently stunned goalkeeper to increase his team’s lead late in the second half.

His team, the Minutemen, rolled past PWB, 4-0, using a combination of skill and teamwork to start its intramural soccer season on a positive note.

“We had good team chemistry,” Davis, a sophomore, said. “We passed a lot and had a lot of good opportunities, but we still have to work on finishing.”

Both teams got off to a slow start, playing with short passes and slow tempos as they tried to determine each other’s strengths and weaknesses. But the Minutemen became more aggressive after numerous possession changes, using an increased tempo on both sides of the field to keep PWB from creating successful plays or scoring looks.

PWB employed a different tactic. Each time a member of PWB would drive down the field, he would stop and slow down the flow of the game in order to set up slower, closer, passes. Minutemen had none of this, and used its speed to stop PWB from forming any type of rhythm at all.

PWB had difficulty with its possessions near the goal from the onset of the match. Some shots lacked enough force to get past the Minutemen’s goalie; others soared over the frame of the goal.

The Minutemen took advantage of these shots multiple times; after a ball flew over the net, the Minutemen used the ensuing goal kick to drive down the field and pass to Davis, who scored the game’s first goal.

The team continued to use PWB’s slower pace and ball-handling to its advantage, and handed its opponents a 2-0 deficit by halftime.

PWB launched a more aggressive defensive effort towards the end of the first half and consistently through the second, but could do nothing to slow down the pace set by the Minutemen.

Davis scored again off a fast break in the middle of the second half, and the Minutemen scored the game’s final goal just seconds after the referee announced a minute left in play.

“Everyone was unselfish and passed well,” Minutemen captain Jared Cohen said after the victory. “It was a good first game and practice. Everyone played their roles.”

Goalie Austin Kazarian agreed, stating that the team chemistry kept the Minutemen together throughout the match.

Sasha Abdalla, the captain for PWB, appeared to be keeping his head up despite his team’s blowout loss.

“We’ll try to bounce back next week,” he said. “We’ll regroup and practice now that we know the style of play.”

PWB’s Samir Michael may have put it best, though, when asked about preparing for the team’s next game.

“We’re going to get the next one, 5-0,” he said.