Men’s Soccer
On Sept. 30 the Devils lost 2-0 to Gwynedd-Mercy College. They began conference play with a 1-0 loss to Wilkes University on Oct. 3. On Oct. 5 the Devils dropped another close game to Drew University by the score of 1-0 and on Oct. 10 they played to a 0-0 tie after double overtime against Misericordia University.

Women’s Soccer
The Devils lost 2-1 against Widener on Sept. 30. They opened up conference play, against Wilkes University, with a 2-2 tie after double overtime on Oct. 3. On Oct. 6 the Devils lost 4-2 to New Jersey City University and then lost 5-4 against Misericordia University on Oct. 10.

Football
On Oct. 2 the Devils lost their first conference game to Widener University 41-14. They played and lost their second conference game on Oct. 10 to Delaware Valley College 41-17.

Cross Country
On Oct. 10 the men’s team finished 24th out of 27 teams and the women’s team finished 20th out of 24 teams.

Field Hockey
On Sept. 28 the Devils beat Moravian College 1-0. On Oct. 1 they lost to Lebanon Valley College 9-1, but bounced back with a 2-1 win over Vassar College on Oct. 3. On Oct. 6 the Devils lost to Ramapo College 4-1. On Oct.10 they beat Misericordia University 3-2 in a shootout.

Volleyball
The Devils lost to Eastern University 3-0 on Sept. 30. On Oct. 6 they defeated Delaware Valley College 3-0. On Oct. 9 the Devils started playing in the Gallaudet Tournament and lost both matches, dropping the first to McDaniel College and the second game to the University of Dallas. On Oct. 10 they lost the last two matches of the tournament, first 3-0 to Gallaudet University, then 3-2 to the Catholic University of America.

Women’s Tennis
On Sept. 30 the Devils defeated St. Elizabeth 7-2. On Oct. 7 they lost to King’s College 8-1. They also lost 8-1 to Eastern University on Oct. 9.

- Compiled from information on the FDU Athletics Web site, fdudevils.com

Men’s Soccer
On Sept. 2 the Devils lost their season opener 0-3 to Vassar College. They opened the Ramapo Tournament with a 6-1 victory over Berkeley College on Sept. 5 and followed it up the next day with a 5-0 win over Lehman. On Sept. 9 they lost to Ramapo 1-2. Sept. 12 they began the New Jersey City College Tournament with a 4-1 victory over City Tech. They went on to defeat the College of Staten Island 6-0 on Sept. 13, improving their record to 4-2.

Women’s Soccer
The Devils opened the season on Sept. 1 with a 1-2 loss to Stockton. They then started the Centenary Tournament on Sept. 5 with a 0-3 loss to Centenary and followed that with a 2-3 loss to Lebanon Valley on Sept. 6. The Devils got their first victory of the season on Sept. 9 with a 2-1 win over Rutgers-Newark. On Sept. 12 they played William Paterson to a 1-1 double overtime tie, giving them a 1-3-1 record.

Field Hockey
The field hockey team started their season with a 4-1 win over SUNY Oneonta on Sept 2. On Sept. 5 they defeated the College of Notre Dame of Maryland 4-0 to begin the Stevenson Tournament. On Sept. 6 they lost the next game to Stevenson 1-3. The Devils then lost 1-5 to Kean on Sept. 9 and on Sept. 12 they lost 0-3 to St. Joseph’s, bringing their record to 2-3.

Cross Country
On Sept. 5 the Devils started their season at the Delaware Valley Invitational. The men’s team finished 15th out of 17 teams while the women’s team finished 12th out of 15 teams. During the Baruch Invitational the men’s team finished sixth out of 13 teams and the women finished fifth out of 12 teams.

Volleyball
The Devils split their opening season matches on Sept. 2 for the first day of the Buttermaker Tournament. They lost the first match 2-3 to Stevens Institute of Technology and won the second match 3-1 against Hunter. On Sept. 4 the Devils won both their matches with a 3-1 victory over Wentworth Institute of Technology and a 3-0 win over Simmons. They split their matches on the second day of the Emerson/Wentworth Tournament on Sept. 5 with a 0-3 loss to Emerson and a 3-0 victory over Salve Regina. On Sept. 9 they defeated the University of Scranton 3-0. They split the opening of the Muhlenberg Tournament on Sept. 11 by winning the first match 3-0 over Muhlenberg and dropping the second match 0-3 to York College of Pennsylvania. On Sept. 12 they also split their matches first by defeating Neumann College 3-1 and then losing 0-3 to DeSales, giving them an overall record of 7-4.

Women’s Tennis
The Devils lost their season opener 0-9 to Stockton College.

Football
On Sept. 12 the Devils lost their season opener against Alfred on a touchdown pass with 27 seconds left in the game to give Alfred the 33-28 victory. The Devils fought back from a 21-7 halftime deficit to take a 22-21 lead with 1:40 left to play in the third quarter. After two more touchdowns from each side, Alfred began their game winning drive with 2:32 left in the game. Despite the loss the Devils senior quarterback, Bill Winters, was named the MAC Offensive Player of the Week.

Notes from Last Season
Both men’s lacrosse and golf teams finished the season with great success after the last Metro issue was published. The golf team won the Freedom Conference championship for the fourth season in a row, and made their third NCAA tournament appearance. Greg Stockley was named the Freedom Conference Player of the Year for the second time. In men’s lacrosse, the Devils won the MAC tournament by defeating Widener, 8-7, in the finals. They ultimately lost in overtime in the first game of the NCAA tournament to Washington and Lee. The Devils had seven players selected to the first team all-conference, including goalkeeper Alex Kajencki, who was named conference Player of the Year. Head Coach Pat Scarpello was named the MAC Coach of the Year.

Compiled from information on the FDU Athletics Web site, fdudevils.com.

CHRIS NIMBLEY
Sports Editor

Michael Vick is making his comeback to the NFL after serving two years in a federal penitentiary and losing over $200 million for charges of running a dog-fighting gambling ring. When Vick first signed with the Eagles the move concerned many not only in the general public but also in the Eagle fan community.

From listening to talk radio many of the fans seemed more concerned about the possibility of PETA protests at games, but one fan took the Vick signing to a completely different level. According to the Philadelphia Daily News, “One fan is so mad at the Eagles that he is literally selling his loyalty to the top bidder. An item for sale on eBay is headlined, ‘Ex Philadelphia Eagles fan needs a new team to follow.’ It includes the following explanation: ’Disgruntled ex-Philadelphia Eagles Fan is looking for a new team to follow for the 2009 Football Season. Now that they have signed Michael Vick, I have zero desire to follow the Eagles this season, and until he is released from being an Eagle, I will no longer root for them.’”

Now enter Giants Stadium, where the Eagles were playing the Jets in a preseason game on Sept. 3. Just walking through the parking lot there were signs that some people were there in full force ready to unleash their own personal wrath on Vick. In front of one of the main parking gates someone had a hearse all decorated in flowers with a sign that read “Eagles R.I.P. M. Vick!”

Inside the stadium things were relatively quiet at first except for the normal cheering for the Jets players. Once Vick first ran onto the field all that silence changed instantly, as the crowd erupted into a loud chorus of boos. Now, it is normal for an opposing player to get booed, but not like this. This being a preseason game and all, every other Eagles players got virtually ignored; the crowd seemed to be waiting on Vick to enter the game to unleash their venom on him. Throughout the game you could hear periodic chants directed at Vick such as “Who let the dogs out? Vick, Vick.”

Not everyone in the stadium booed Vick; obviously Eagles fans cheered or sat quietly, but there were a surprising number of people wearing Jets jerseys who were cheering for him. They were just drowned out by the much louder boos. When talking to individual fans it was a different story. The number of people who thought Vick deserved a second chance was about 70 percent of those who were interviewed. The 30 percent who did not think he should be back in the NFL had much stronger opinions and much more anger and passion.

There were jerseys that summed up that person’s feelings perfectly. There were many old Falcons Vick jerseys and a lot of Virginia Tech jerseys, where Vick went to college. People wearing those jerseys were all cheering him and showing their support. There were, however, some jerseys that showed their displeasure with Vick. There was a 12-year-old kid with an old Falcons jersey saying “Con-Vick-Ted.”

The young kid, Ryan Gavin, got the jersey from his mom, Debbie. When asked if they felt he deserved a second shot and if he has paid his debt to society, Debbie Gavin answered, “Hell no, he is an a—— and he deserved to be punished more. He doesn’t deserve the right to be able to make millions of dollars or be praised and cheered. Maybe it’s just the dog lover in me, but I think it’s disgusting what he did.” Ryan echoed his mom’s answer. There was a second son, Jeff Gavin, 14, who disagreed with his mom and brother but all he would say was, “I don’t like what he did, but I think he deserves a second shot.”

There were others who agreed with Debbie and Ryan Gavin. One Jets fan, Andy Raines, said, “He doesn’t deserve to be back. He should have a lifetime ban. He lost the right to play in the NFL.” The people who disagreed with him being allowed back pretty much all said similar things; simply put, they thought what Vick did was disgusting and there was nothing he could do to redeem himself. There was only one Eagles fan interviewed who felt that way; others were glad Vick got another chance, but were more worried about how he was going to fit in to the team.

One Eagles fan said, “I wish he went to another team; I just don’t know how he fits in with the team.” Jermaine Reed, another Eagles fan, said, “Hell yeah he deserves another shot; he’s just not with the right team.”

Others disagreed. One fan, Josh Eagen, said, “I’m glad he is getting another shot and he probably won’t get much playing time, but he is with the right team with Andy Reid and [Donovan] McNabb, they will help him down the road.”

A Giants fan named Brian Anderson said, “I don’t agree with what he did, but Donte Stallworth killed someone in a DUI and got 20 days in jail, Leonard Little killed someone in a DUI and got another DUI years later and never got more than a four game suspension, so yeah as much as I don’t like him being on the Eagles he deserves to be able to work and football is his job.”

A Jets fan named Kathy Mitchell said, “As a player Vick is a great talent. As a person I think it’s terrible what he did, but he paid his debt to society. As long as he doesn’t get in any more trouble I’m fine with it.”

Former FDU tennis coach Scott Veith returned to FDU after two years to coach the men’s and women’s tennis program.

Veith coached the men’s tennis team from 2004 to 2006 and led them to two Freedom Conference Tournaments. Jim Henry, sports information director, said that Veith left for a job as head coach of the New York/New Jersey Revolution, a professional indoor football team based in Morris County.

In September of this year, Mike Eineker, the former women’s basketball and tennis coach, left to coach at Ramapo College. With Eineker’s departure FDU was in a bind: women’s tennis was mid-season and women’s basketball season was only a couple weeks away. Conveniently, Veith was no longer coaching the NY/NJ Revolution, and he came back to FDU to coach the women’s tennis team for the first time. An opening came up for the men’s tennis coach position and Veith filled that as well.

At the time this story went to press, Veith could not be reach for comment.

Bill Klika, director of athletics, said that Veith came on board about a week after Eineker’s departure. “We were really without a coach for about a day,” said Klika.

Klika is very pleased with having Veith coaching both teams. “This will give us a lot of flexibility because both sports have non-traditional seasons,” said Klika.

Women’s tennis runs from the end of August to the end of October and men’s tennis goes from February to May. This would allow for the men’s and women’s tennis squads to practice together when their seasons overlap.

This year, the women’s tennis team went 2-7 under Veith after they dropped one game with Eineker. They finished the season out with a 2-8 record. When Veith coached men’s tennis, they went 10-5 (2004), 6-7 (2005), and 15-5 (2006), according to FDUDevils.com. In 2005 and 2006, the men’s squad went on to the Freedom Conference Playoffs, winning the finals in 2006. In 2006, Veith was named the Conference Coach of the Year.

DAN LANDAU
Photo Editor