GW Soccer Reaches A-10 Championship

For the first time since 1992, GW’s Varsity Men’s Soccer team will play in the Atlantic-Ten Conference Championship. Last Sunday saw the team continue its undefeated home record, securing a 1-0 victory over Duquesne. The finals of the A-10 Conference, to be held this weekend, will be the last shot for Coach George Lidster, who is retiring after 24 years the University, to win a championship.

Senior Yoni Berhanu scored Sunday’s crucial goal, a 25-yard free kick in the 72^nd minute that earned Coach Lidster his 200^th win. Yoni has scored 3 out of 4 goals in GW’s last few matches, adding to his impressive record within the A-10 [10 goals and 23 points] and his overall career record [19 goals and 52 points] that places him just outside the programs overall top-10.

Berhanu and Coach Lidster have both received recognition within the Atlantic-10 Conference, securing both the 2011 Atlantic-10 Men’s Soccer Coach of the Year and Midfielder of the Week award this season. This is the third-such award for Berhanu, who in 2008, was named the conference’s Rookie of the Year.

The defeat against Duquesne marked a considerable turnaround for GW men’s soccer; the team began the soccer pre-season ranked 13 out of 14, but is now ranked the number two seed at this weekend’s championship. Seniors Berhanu, Mike Burke, Brice Carr and Jake Davis had a similar experience their freshman year, having to win one of the last games in order to qualify for the A-10s and hope to bring home the championship title in their final year.

A link to a free live video streaming of Friday's match can be found at GWsports.com. Weather permitting all five matches will also be streamed through the A-10's online home.

--Alida Wuenscher

CI Briefs

Welcome CI-ers. From DC’s unique culture to Colonial basketball games to plenty of politics both on and off campus, we hope you grow to love GW as much as we do. If you’re looking for somewhere to fit in, stop by the WRGW tables at the CI student org fair. We’d love to meet you and if you’re interested in broadcast journalism, we want you to join our team! Just give us your email and we'll get you on the air in the fall. If you miss us at the fair, don't worry. You can email me at wrgwnewsdirector@gmail.com to let me know you're interested or to ask any questions.

Now on with the news!

• President Emeritus Stephen Joel Trachtenberg will sign copies of his book Big Man on Campus: A University President Speaks Out on Higher Education at Politics & Prose (5015 Connecticut Ave., NW) on Friday (tonight) at 7pm. Trachtenberg's new book is about the current state of higher education. With more than 30 years of experience, Trachtenberg helps to reveal what goes on behind the scenes of running a university.

• Comedian Robin Williams will headline this year's Colonials Weekend, University officials announced last Friday. Williams will perform at the Smith Center Friday, Oct. 17 and Saturday Oct. 18 at 9:30 p.m. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. July 8, and cost between $57 and $150, according to a news release. Peter Konwerski, assistant vice president for SASS, told the Hatchet that Williams was the "first and top choice" for Colonials Weekend.

• Women's basketball coach Joe McKeown, resigned this month after 19 years in Foggy Bottom to become the women’s basketball coach at Northwestern. McKeown announced his decision June 9 in Evanston, Illinois. "I just felt like I had been at GW for 19 years and I was very fortunate to have a great run there," McKeown told the Hatchet. "But Northwestern came after me and really emphasized the potential for women's basketball there, being in the Big 10." McKeown’s autistic son was a significant factor in his decision to move. Although McKeown’s contract was extended through 2014, Director of Athletics Jack Kvancz said there was no buyout in the move. Kvancz said he will begin the search for a new coach immediately and hopes to finish it as soon as possible.

• Pops Mensah-Bonsu is back in Dallas to try out for the Mavericks. While Pops was recovering from a knee injury that kept him from playing most of his senior year at GW, he played in 12 games during his rookie season with the Mavericks in 2006-07. After a stint playing abroad in Italy, he’s hoping for another shot at the NBA.

• A recent GW grad is already making a name for herself – as Miss DC. Kate Marie Grinold won the May 31st contest and will go on to compete in the Miss America Pageant in January. The Miss D.C. pageant awarded Grinold a $5,000 academic scholarship and she will now have the opportunity to compete for more scholarship money in the Miss America Pageant. The competition will be held in Las Vegas, and contestants will be filming a reality television show about the Miss America pageant this fall.

• GW's wireless network has expanded throughout the Marvin Center. Ronald C. Bonig, vice president and chief information officer, said, "This move gives the university community the flexibility to work throughout the campus and remain connected to our wireless network." This is part of a university-wide initiative to expand wireless connectivity throughout the Foggy Bottom Campus. The next buildings to receive wireless installations are the Academic Center, Media and Public Affairs Building, Old Main, Ross and Tompkins halls, and Fulbright and Thurston residence halls.
  


• Hillary Clinton suspended her run for the White House in DC last week. She spoke to 3,000 people at the National Building museum. Arriving 45 minutes late, she pledged her support to competitor Barack Obama saying, “So today, I am standing with Senator Obama to say: Yes we can.” Obama will be confirmed as the Democratic nominee at the Democratic National Convention in Denver later this summer. Photo courtesy GW student Kat Overland.
  

• Friday the 13th was full of confusion in DC as a massive power outage crippled the center of the city. The outage was from the PEPCO substation in Chinatown and knocked out power for 30 blocks, including three metro station, for nearly three hours during the morning workday. Also, in a seeming unrelated event, two fires broke out in Metro Center station caused by smoldering stud bolts and while the station was only closed briefly, they added major delays to the morning rush. In fact, Metro had its share of problems last week. Besides Friday’s red line disaster, the orange line was affected three times last week, stranding commuters after a train derailed last Monday and then trains having to single-track around kinks in the line caused by the excessive heat near the West Falls Church stop. Investigations are underway for both the power outage and metro’s derailment.

• If you’re in DC this summer, a few new restaurants in our area are worth checking out. There’s a new Spanish tapas spot in Georgetown – Bodega. It’s open 11 during the week and until midnight on the weekends and boasts traditional Spanish tapas, much like Jaleo in Penn Quarter. Also new in the Georgetown area is Tacklebox, a lobster shack. From the same owners as Hook, Tacklebox is located next door in the old Georgetown Baglery. They offer affordable seafood and for all of you New Englanders – Lobster Boil pots to go. And finally, former Top Chef contestant Spike Mendelson will be flipping burgers at his family’s new restaurant, Good Stuff Eatery which will open later this month. Located at 303 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, it’s only a few blocks from the Capitol South metro stop. Burger prices will likely range between $5.50 and $7.95. The Mendelson family has plans to open 50 nationwide over the next decade.

- Mallory Thompson

Coach Joe's 500th Win!

GW Women's basketball head coach Joe McKeown became the 34th Division I women's basketball coach all-time to reach 500 career victories while playing against Duquesne at Palumbo Center Saturday night.

McKeown, who won 68 games at New Mexico State from 1986-89, improves to 432-151 in his 19th season at GW.

Below is an except from WRGW Sports Director Frank Dale's blog.

"When I was a young reporter in my first season of covering GW basketball, I was sent on a Friday-Sunday road trip with the women's team at Duquesne and at St. Bonaventure. While it was exciting to head out on my first road assignments, the prospects of a seven-hour Greyhound ride (during which I was offered drugs twice) and visits to Pittsburgh, PA and Olean, NY in early February dampened the joy just a little bit.However, looking back on it now, it was the best decision I've made in my time at WRGW. For those of you who don't know, McKeown and the rest of the players and coaches on the women's squad treat us like members of the team when we're on the road with them. Whether it's coordinating travel or paying for the occasional meal, we have been spoiled by McKeown's crew over the last few years.Anyhow, it was a Saturday night in Olean when we were invited to watch the coaching staff break down some film of St. Bonaventure in preparation for the following day's contest. It was a pretty cool experience. Then, once all the coaches had left, McKeown sat with the two WRGW underclassmen, both of whom he barely knew, and talked about basketball and life for about two hours. As I have said in the past, most of it was off-the-record, but it was a conversation I'll never forget.

Including the time I spent reporting on high school sports for various publications in northern Massachusetts, this is my eighth year covering athletics. In all of that time, I have never encountered a coach like McKeown. He calls the team's beat reporters by name, answers the tough questions with class, and has never once disrespected a journalist. He's the type of coach, educator, and person you'd want your children to be around.

As a journalist, I've learned a lot from McKeown in my nearly four years here, and not all of it has to do with my profession. Whether it's the way he talks about and treats his family or the work he does with Autism awareness, there is a lot to commend. It has been an honor following McKeown's squad for the last few years and I look forward to hopefully continuing to do so deep into March. Congratulations, coach. 500 victories couldn't happen to a better person."