AU junior Nick Hendra of the men’s basketball team has been suspended indefinitely.

“[Hendra] has been suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules,” Coach Jeff Jones said in a statement following Saturday’s loss to Lehigh.

AU Athletics declined to comment any further other than Jones’ statement.

The junior from New York City has averaged 9.6 points and 5.6 rebounds this season. He is considered the emotional leader of the team. Hendra was the only player to start every game this season, until he was seen in a shirt and tie at the game against Lehigh.

—TOM SCHAD

What’s important about last night’s 4-1 Washington Capitals victory is not that they scored four goals, but how they scored them.

All of last year there was a call for more “dirty goals” by the Caps. While the pretty goals were fun to watch, almost everyone knew that they wouldn’t bring home a Stanley Cup. In the playoffs, the scrums in front of the net and doorstep goals that win games, just look at the Pittsburgh Penguins who killed the Caps through the whole series with Sidney Crosby doorstep pop-ins.

There may be a change in play style in Washington this year. Last night we saw our typical pretty and amazing Alex Ovechkin goals, but we also saw two side of the net tap-ins from Brooks Laich. Many thought that it would the addition of Mike Knuble that would provide these types of tallies. The fact of the matter is the Caps may have a number of players they can plug into the role.

The fact that the goals were scored on the power play is just icing on the cake. If the team can keep this up they have a show at making it much farther than last year. While it is only one game, the team is certainly showing improvement over last year.

In the waning days of the baseball season most teams are making plans for what they are going to do in October, while a few select teams are coasting to the post-season letting no-names fill their spots against teams that don’t matter. Then there are the Tigers and the Twins, who are scratching, clawing and doing whatever it is people from the Twin cities do in order to get a spot in October.

By all accounts, the Tigers should be running away with the Central. The Tigers have a very strong pitching staff and a lineup that should have catapulted them out of this situation they are having with the Twins. They have an unquestioned ace in Justin Verlander who notched his 18th victory against the Twins. Edwin Jackson has emerged from Tampa Bay Ray obscurity to become a surprise All-Star this season. Granted he’s cooled down a bit, a 13-8 record and ERA well under four is more than anyone could have asked. They also have the boy wonder, Rick Porcello. At just 20 years old, Porcello has built himself up to be baseball’s next big star. Amazingly he can only get better. With another five years under his belt he can reach ace status while still being younger than some rookies.

The Tigers even have a strong bullpen packed with electric arms. Fernando Rodney has only blown one save on the season and Brandon Lyon has been their stud out of the pen boasting an ERA just under three. Who needs Joel Zumaya’s triple-digit fastball? Well, maybe the Tigers. In fact Zumaya’s absence may prove to be a big problem, if Lyon is unavailable in the playoffs and a strong arm out of the pen is needed. In reality though, the bullpen is the least of their problems.

Detroit’s offense has been stagnant to say the least. The season started with a lineup packed with players who could potentially bring the punch, but somewhere along the way they stopped putting runs on the board. Perhaps the offense was lulled to sleep as Verlander threw so many zeros up on the board. Maybe just one or two runs would do the job. Well, that won’t work in the playoffs. Of course that is if they make the playoffs, since the Twins are nipping at their heals.

Curtis Granderson, Magglio Ordonez, Brandon Inge and Miguel Cabrera were supposed to be the powerhouse to this lineup. Unfortunately only Cabrera decided to show up offensively this season. Even Granderson’s 30+ homeruns this year are tainted by the fact that he’s only driven in 70 RBI. He’s also struck out a monstrous 135 times and has a batting average just over .250; an amount that is unacceptable for your lead-off hitter.  Magglio Ordonez has managed a whopping seven homeruns and 44 RBI’s. His abysmal numbers make it clear how the Twins could come fighting back.

The lack of offensive production has let the Twins stay in the race. Every year the Twins seem to have a better club than anyone gives them credit for. They are not stacked with stars and their starting rotation has had to skate by on relatively obscure young players. After Kevin Slowey went down with an injury the team turned to Scott Baker and Carl Pavano. That’s right, Carl Pavano. You know your team’s pitching staff is in trouble when a strong start from Pavano could be the difference between going to the playoffs and staying home.

Like the Tigers, the Twins depended on a small core of players to get their offense going. The difference is that the Twins players have delivered. Almost all of the teams run production comes from the modern day M&M boys, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. Mauer has put up MVP numbers, while Morneau has been his typical 30 homerun, 100 RBI self. The only problem is that Morneau is out for the season with an injury putting a lot more weight on the shoulders of Mauer.

With this major injury Minnesota is going to need to rely on some of its lesser players such as, outfielder Michael Cuddyer and shortstop Orlando Cabrera. With their questionable offense along with a pitching staff that has only one reliable player in their closer Joe Nathan, the Twins are grasping at anything to squeak their way into October.

Detroit has the attributes of a team that should run away with this division. The pieces are there they just have not been working correctly. The Twins lack all the pieces but what the team has is working well together. All it takes is the Tigers to perk up, or the Twins to break down to decide this AL Central race. 

By: Alex Alba

AU Men’s soccer began their Patriot League season with a win over their conference rival Bucknell 3-1 this past Saturday. With its second consecutive victory, AU brought their overall record to 4-3 overall and 1-0 in the division.

The team’s first half performance showed they were not intimidated, even though they were the away team. Sophomore Nick Capus kicked a long-range shot from 20 yards past Bison goalkeeper, Tommy Caso, midway through the first half to put the Eagles on the scoreboard first with junior Daniel Shannon on the assist.

As the half was ending, Junior Mike Worden brought the ball into the goal-box from the right side of the baseline area and was able to put the ball past Caso to give AU a 2-0 lead entering into the half.

“We made a lot of changes along the way preparing for this game,” AU head coach Todd West said after the game.

The Eagles didn’t get comfortable in the second half, as they displayed tough defense, which sustained their lead. In the 82nd minute, AU junior David Menzie struck a difficult angled-shot from mid-range into the Bison’s net. The goal was set up by senior Nidhal Charfi, and increased the Eagle’s lead to 3-0.

The Bison’s Conor O’Brien managed to slip a free kick shot past AU goalkeeper Matt Makowski as time was winding down. Despite a late error by the 2008 Patriot League Rookie of the Year, Makowski withstood the whole game with seven saves. The Eagles were outshot 21-16, but ultimately came out with the win.

“We tried a lot of guys in different places to get success,” West said after the game. “I am thrilled with the way we played [...] I am really happy with the group we have put together.”

The Eagles will finish off their three-game road trip at James Madison University Wednesday in Harrisburg, VA. With a two-game winning streak, on the line the team will look to improve to 5-3.

Courtesy of Flickr user mgrass Hikers can see D.C.'s swampy geography on the Glover Archbold Trail.

On Friday, I set out to try the Glover Archbold Trail, a 3.1 mile-long hiking trail that runs from Van Ness Street, N.W. to the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal and the Capital Crescent Trail in Georgetown.

I reached the trail at its intersection with Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. — located directly across the street from the Berkshire Apartments. I was instantly taken through an urban forest. The trail parallels a stream, the Foundry Branch, for a portion of its duration. Traveling south down the trail is mostly downhill or flat, since the trail travels from near the highest section of D.C., to near the Potomac River.

Unfortunately, I was reminded a few times that I still was in a city because as I traveled down the trail, I had to cross several streets. In addition to Massachusetts Avenue, the trail also crosses Cathedral Avenue, N.W., New Mexico Avenue, N.W., Reservoir Road, N.W. and Canal Road, N.W. The crossings at Cathedral and New Mexico Avenues are fairly straightforward.

At Reservoir Road, cross the street and go to the large, open field. Upon reaching Canal Road (after first hiking underneath a large abandoned railroad trestle) walk to the street but don’t cross it. Hang a left and walk alongside the street for a very short distance — you’ll reach a path to access the tunnel that crosses underneath the busy street.

The other side of the street is the southern trail head. Hang a left to take the Capital Crescent Trail into Georgetown, where you can catch a bus back to campus. Or hang a right, as I did, and follow the Capital Crescent Trail for a few miles.

The Capital Crescent Trail is a flat trail that parallels the C&O Canal (as well as the Potomac River for a section). It’s paved — watch out for the bikers — and is less rustic than the Glover Archibold Trail.

In retrospect, the best way back to campus would be taking the Battery Kemble Trail — a defacto dog park — back to campus (its northern trail head is about a block from campus on Nebraska Avenue, N.W.). I decided to take the Capital Crescent Trail even farther, and crossed the Arizona Avenue Bridge — once a rail bridge and now a trail bridge — and then took local streets back to campus. Beware taking Arizona Avenue, since the lower portion of the street is windy and lacks a sidewalk or ample space for pedestrians.

The whole loop took more than two hours for me to complete and was a nice workout. Happy trails!

Ethan Klapper is The Eagle’s Web Editor.

Saturday’s Bender Blue Out volleyball game against cross-town rival Georgetown University set a D.C. collegiate volleyball attendance record, with 1,813 fans attending, bringing hope to a small program.

This was the third year that the university held the event. Last year’s event had 1,331 fans in attendance and the year before set the original record of 1,513 attendees. While the team still lost, the number of people on hand is encouraging for a small program.

AU is not known for its intercollegiate sports and struggles to get students as well as fans to go to events.  The Bender Blue Out is just one way that the university tries to draw crowds to games. While moderate crowds have attended in the past, this year’s Blue Out shows that there may be an increase in people attending games.

The increase in attendees could be attributed to the success of the men’s basketball team, who made it to the last two NCAA tournaments. By making the tournament, the team has essentially spread the school’s name across D.C. and the surrounding area.

Saturday was only one game, but it shows promise for the department as people notice AU’s other teams. Even though the basketball team has been the hot AU sports story, the volleyball and field hockey teams are the school’s best. As more people find out about the university’s basketball success, they should begin to take notice of our other winning ways.