Experience, youth clash on field
By RACHEL BIBER
Sports Writer
On Sunday afternoon an atmosphere of excitement will be sustained at McGlinn fields where Welsh and B.P. are set to battle in order to claim stake to play in the season finale of interhall football at Notre Dame stadium.
The fourth seeded Welsh Whirlwinds hope to assume the spoiler role by knocking off the top-seeded B.P. Babes when they face-off this weekend, which will require solid play by the Whirlwinds on both sides of the ball. Welsh co-captain Katie Rak has not doubt that her team is up for the challenge.
"We are pretty prepared," she said. "We've been trying to keep our intensity up all week."
Welsh's focus for this weekend will be to play up to their level and give their maximum effort throughout the entire game.
"If [B.P.] beats us, we will go out with our heads held high," Rak said. "But if we beat ourselves, there is going to be some pretty unhappy people."
B.P. has not allowed for defeat throughout the entire season and has no intentions of letting up during this weekend's semifinal matchup. The Babes are mentally prepared for the game, and have proven that they are physically capable of blowing out any opponent.
"We are excited for the game," B.P. captain Katie Leicht said. "We've been working hard all year long and we think it will pay off."
As usual, B.P.'s powerful offense, led by quarterback Jenny Choi, will pose a tremendous obstacle for its opponent. The key to a Welsh win hinges on its capability of shutting down the Babes offense and taking control of the ball. The Babes, however, have other ideas in mind.
"Everyone seems really pumped," B.P. coach Kevin Shannon said. "The confidence is up. We're definitely looking forward to the game, and if we play to our level no one is going to beat us."
A quick attack by the Whirlwinds might serve to spark an upset of the Babes, especially if the Babes exhibit a similar first half performance as they did last week, when they struggled to play up to their potential. They turned around in the second half in their win against Walsh, but they might not be able to escape with a win against Welsh by displaying the same laxity in the first half of Sunday's contest. Leicht knows that her team will face a tough opponent this weekend.
"We haven't played [Welsh] all year," Leicht said. "We don't know a lot about them, and we think it will be our toughest game so far."
The Whirlwinds also put in a weak performance in their first half performance last week, but came back with a vengeance when they rolled to a 24-8 victory against Badin by putting together a strong aerial attack.
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All Sports Stories for Friday, November 5, 1999
