CHS Alumni Game 2007

After several years of terrible Thanksgiving weather, including rain, ice, sleet, snow, and 40-mph winds, it seemed that 2007 would be different. The weather in Maplewood at 5 pm was a balmy 69 degrees. But by 7:45, the time most of the active team assembled at the lot, the weather had taken a turn for the worse. In the dark, the temperature dropped down to 45 degrees, and the swirling winds picked up. They would change direction several times over the course of the game, but they never abated. By 8:15, several alumni could be seen up and throwing - mostly younger players like Evan Padget, '05 (Colorado), and Stephen Panasci, '06 (NC State).

As alumni and parents drifted in, murmurs spread through the crowd. Where was Joe Barbanel, '72? When he finally showed up, with his bright silver hair in stark contrast to his old-school red RPI jersey, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief and got ready to begin the game. The alumni huddled together around 8:45, and there was a noticeable void in the circle without iconic line-caller Spencer Rosengarten, '88. But Bill Blatcher, '82, stepped up to the plate this year and called out a first line that stretched over 28 years. Joe Barbanel, class of 1972. Dave Paris, class of 1980. Doug Wolski, class of 1984. Larry Anouna, class of 1987. Benny Haim (ex-NC State/Rutgers), class of 1998. Anthony Nunez, class of 1998. Matt Kushner (ex-NYU), class of 1999. Noticeably missing were alumni from the late 70's and early 90's.

The first line suffered from miscommunication errors and were just not fast enough to keep up with all seven players on the active line. Captain Brian Walter, '08, scored the game's opening goal, and two more followed in quick succession. The first alumni line went down, 0-3, under intense pressure from the actives. The second line was made up of 2000 and 2001 graduates - Emilio Panasci (Pike) and Shawn Murphy from 2000, and Raj Prasad (Black Molly), Ari Steinberg, Aryeh Cohen-Wade, Ben Sprung (Tandem, 2005 college national champion with Brown), and Amit Simha from 2001. Although this line was used to playing together, they too fell victim to the active team. The actives brought out their zone for the first time, and Brian Walter gobbled up any deep throws that came his way. They game had only just begun, and already it looked out of reach for the alumni, down 0-6.

The third line brought out five of the homeschooled alumni CHS has used in the past: two Yates's (Mike, '02, and Tim, '05), two Cincottas (Joel, '02, and Nick, '03), and one Cooney (Eddie, '05), along with Ed Frowley (Boston University), '03, and Jake Levine, '05. After surrendering a seventh straight point to the actives where Walter torched Cooney deep, the alumni finally got on the board with Jake Levine's short endzone cut and catch. An emphatic spike followed, and yells from the sideline of "He didn't even play in high school!" dogged the actives as they walked back to the line. The alumni managed to get a D and then another goal, and at 2-7 the alumni might have held hopes of starting a comeback.

The next line in was what remained of the CHS team that got 2nd place at Easterns in 2005, missing notable players Campbell Morrissy (Colorado), '05, currently in Australia, and Michael Johnston, '05, currently in Wisconsin. The line still had former captain Evan Padget, Michael Rubin (Maryland), '05, Travis Volpe, '05, Jaryd Emmens, '05, Ryan Thompson (Stanford), '06, and Stephen Panasci. The 7th was Eric Cooney, '07, and the team came down strong in a straight-up man defense, trying to deny the huck. After several turns by both teams, the alumni turned the disc over by their own endzone and paid for it, going down 2-8. Off of the ensuing pull, Eric Cooney was replaced by Jesse Moy (Skidmore), '07, and Columbia came down in a hard zone defense, exploiting the wind in the faces of the alumni. After a lot of swinging on their own goalline, the alumni turned it over and found themselves receiving at 2-9, in the small endzone. As the pull came down, Thompson tried to stop the disc with his foot, but a gust of wind pushed the disc into his foot before it hit the ground, giving the actives the disc on the goalline. But Thompson got redemption as he stalled Sam Cohen-Wade, '08, and the alumni quickly turned the disc over against Columbia's zone. But Emmens got a big D on an ill-advised hammer and the alumni began to work the zone, finally turning the disc over in the opposite endzone - but getting it right back on the line. Thompson to Padget for the goal, 3-9.

With an uneven number of players, the alumni turned to mixed-generational line to close out the half. Eric Cooney and Jake Barreiro, '07, were joined by Barbanel, a late-arriving Ed Summers, '72, Paris, Wolski, and Anouna. Despite Barbanel forcing a turnover as the "chase" mark in the alumni zone, the actives got the disc back and scored, and then their own zone forced a quick turn. At half the score was 11-3, actives. In the absence of a rousing Rosengarten halftime speech, talk quickly turned to which "kill line" should be put in the game to help drag the alumni back. Padget, Nunez, and Haim all collaborated on the line and finally decided to bring out Mio Panasci, Prasad, Ben Sprung, Joel and Nick Cincotta, Padget, and Thompson.

Receiving out of the half, the kill line patiently worked the disc against the active team's zone and punched it in. But the next two points did not work nearly as well, and a rocket hammer from Captain Zander Padget, '08, to Brian Walter, just barely beat out a fast-closing Joel Cincotta. On the ensuing offensive possession, once again turnovers close to their own goal hurt the alumni. After going 1-2, that "kill line" headed to the sidelines talking strategy, and the next "bomb squad" headed to the line. Nunez, Prasad, Frowley, Rubin, Stephen Panasci, Eric Cooney, and Moy tried to bring back the deficit. But the line had communication issues, and a couple of turnovers on dumps doomed the alumni. A bulleted huck from just outside the scoring endzone was almost caught by Moy in the brush by the train tracks, but the pass fell incomplete. Again, the line went 1-2 and down 5-15, the alumni began to mumble on the sidelines about reaching double digits. Also on the sideline, Joe Barbanel, Benny Haim, and Jake Levine could be overheard discussing the "Joe Barbanel" facebook that the two younger alums had set up in honor of his performance at last year's alumni game.

The next line was the same as the first line out of halftime, except with Matt Kushner replacing Raj. The actives came down zone again, and Thompson's scoober over the top was dropped by Joel Cincotta, giving the actives the disc only a couple feet out of the endzone. Heading back to the line, the alumni agreed that working the disc against the zone was pointless if cold hands and muscles would just give the disc to the actives with a short field. But the actives came down in man, and the alumni took advantage, working the disc up the open side until Thompson hit Kushner in the front of the small endzone to claw another point back. 6-16. On the last point for their line, the alumni's straight-up defense forced turnovers and missed throws by the actives, and the alumni scored a second-straight goal for their second break of the game. 7-16.

Was a comeback mounting? Blatcher opened up the rotation a little, letting Anouna, Haim, Volpe, Frowley, Tim Yates, and Emmens back into the game, while giving late arrival Brett Druck, '04, his first PT of the night in his jeans, dress shirt, and sweater. After Frowley picked up a big D in the alumni zone, his huck to Benny Haim looked a sure goal, until Haim stumbled in the endzone and fell to the ground, with the disc landing agonizingly close. The actives took advantage and scored, but another D by Frowley set up a short field for the alumni on the ensuing possession. It was a perfectly thrown inside out backhand from Anouna to Druck that raised the spirits of the alumni and kept the deficit under 10. 8-17. The line's last point once again found the disc on their hands in the endzone, but Frowley couldn't hold on to an ill-advised and partially D'ed pass up the line. 8-18.

Another split-generation line found themselves on the line, under pressure to score at least once to let another line play afterwards. Barbanel and Summers represented the 70's, and they were joined by Prasad, Steinberg, Aryeh Cohen-Wade, and Amit Simha (all 2001) and Judith Garder (Rutgers), '07. While the alumni's zone caused a few turnovers, the actives' swarming man defense pressured Summers and Prasad into turnovers. However, on their second point, the line assured at least one more line would take the field. After a quick turnover by the tracks by the actives, Barbanel picked up the disc. His teammates rushed past him into the endzone, but on stall 7 he threw an inside-out backhand (while forced forehand) straight into the waiting arms of Prasad. Their run ended after Brian Walter gobbled up a huck meant for Judith, eliciting a chorus of boos from the sidelines, and the actives took a 20-9 lead.

The line called on the sidelines was "Dave Paris, class of 1980! Plus 6 others!" He was joined by Nunez, Emilio Panasci, Joel Cincotta, Mike Rubin, Evan Padget, and Ryan Thompson. Some members of the sideline called for Evan to come off for Vanessa Low (Rutgers), '05, but Evan refused and stayed on the field. We received and worked the disc, eventually resulting in a blistering Panasci huck to both Padget and Thompson, who had outdistanced their defenders. The alumni stayed alive for another point. After an excellent pull, pinning Josh Cincotta, '08, in the corner of their endzone by the tracks, the alumni cup stymied him, and as he tried to break through the cup, Thompson got his fingers on the disc. It skidded across the pavement to Nunez, who looked off his first cutter but hit Joel on an upline cut to bring the alumni tally to 11.

The next point of the game may have been its longest. The alumni threw a 1-3-3 zone, with Thompson chasing the disc, a wall of 3 players, and 3 players further downfield. The actives were patient, with Tim Morrissy, '09, Josh Cincotta, and Zander Padget smoothly working the disc with lots of high backhands and around forehands. Joel Cincotta got several D's for the alumni, but Thompson and Panasci gave the disc back with hucks to a well-covered Evan Padget, as Brian Walter gobbled up the less-than-perfect throws. Eventually, after a long goalline stand, the alumni defense finally caved and the actives were able to punch in the final goal for a 21-11 win in slightly more than two hours, for one of the shortest alumni games in recent memory.

The active team was notable for their high energy and sideline presence throughout the entire game, including rushing the field after many scores, and combating alumni heckles with barbs of their own. After the game, brothers and parents greeted each other, friends said their goodbyes, and another alumni game was in the books. That makes the overall record 24-11-1 in favor of the alumni, with two games unaccounted for. A string of 38 consecutive alumni games, and one of the best alumni networks in the country. Hopefully, the next two years will see more alumni presence, with the 40th anniversary of the team and then the 40th anniversary of the alumni game.

Five alumni played four lines, tying for the most points played at 12. Only Joel Cincotta scored more points than he gave up (7-5), and Evan Padget and Ryan Thompson were 6-6. Emilio Panasci was 5-7, and Raj Prasad was a woeful 3-9.