SEPTEMBER 22, 2006 SPORTS Soccer Panthers get mixed results on the Rock Josh Lewis Sports Editor After beginning the 2006 season with matching shutouts, the UPEI Panthers men’s and women’s soccer squads held their own against the Memorial Seahawks on the weekend. The men’s team defeated the Seahawks 3-2 on Saturday before losing 3-0 in the second match the following day. The women, meanwhile, took four of six points from the hosts by playing to a scoreless draw Saturday and winning 2-1 on Sunday. On Saturday, the men handed Memorial its first loss of the season as captain Matt Thomson took player of the game honours for the Panthers. The women proceeded to tie the 2-0 Seahawks 0-0, with midfielder Liz McPhail the top player for UPEI. Further details were not available at press time. Sunday, the Panther men suffered their first loss of the year in a 3-0 shutout, with Colby O’Donnell named player of the game for UPEI. Stephen Croft, Christopher White and Memorial player of the game Clinton Edwards provided the scoring, A day after snapping the Seahawks’ modest two-game win streak, UPEI got goals from Tessa Roche and Ashley Caulier — her first as a Panther — to defeat Memorial 2- 1. Striker Allison Frizzell was named player of the game. Sunday, Sept. 10 The Panthers couldn’t have enjoyed a better start to the season if they’d tried. The women delivered a dazzling display of skill in a 10-0 shellacking of the Moncton Blue Eagles on home turf, while the men had an impressive shutout of their own, defeating the Eagles 4-0. THE CADRE @e 10 Blanchard stunned the home crowd with a Striker Janelle spectacular five-goal effort — including four in the first half — in a game UPEI led 8-0 at halftime. McPhail added her first hat trick as a Panther, with Gina Lisi and Cheryl MacLeod rounding out the scoring. The Panthers outshot Moncton by a whopping 16-1. Thomson opened the scoring for the men on a penalty shot in the 42™ minute. After rookie Paul Craig was hauled down in the area, Thomson stepped up and buried the ball in the bottom right corner, just beyond the keeper’s reach. Midfielder Jamie Marchbank added his first two goals as a Panther in the second half and Jonathan Russell also scored. Liam McKenna Contributor Magic Johnson was a special player. His talent was universally recognized throughout the basketball world, and no one could deny his natural gifts for the game. He was destined to be one of the greats, and for that reason the LA Lakers signed him to a 25 year deal to ensure that one of the best athletes in the world remained with their team for as long as possible. The fact that Rick DiPietro, a mediocre goaltender for the New York resigned, cocky like Patrick Roy once was despite the fact that he has never won a playoff series, even puts himself within ten years of Magic’s deal, is ridiculous. The young goalie, who is Kind of a Big Deal not related in any way to former Montreal star Paul Dipietro, signed a fifteen year deal with the Islanders to cement his position as starter for one of the worst teams in the league until he’s 40. In all fairness, it is somewhat safe to assume that the Islanders won’t be in the basement for the next fifteen years. After all, they’re bound to get some good draft picks the way they’ve been finishing the last few years. That way, by the time those prospects have been developing, perhaps DiPietro will have been moulded into a seasoned, skilled veteran keeper. On the other hand, and these seem more likely scenarios, he may get injured, t Recycle your used ink cartridges to help save our natural resources and fundraise for the P.E.1. Humane Society! Be INKredibie! playing for a lousy team, become a plague in the locker room with his superstar attitude or just suck at playing goal. In any of these cases, the Islanders would have an impossible time trading DiPietro, or in the event that he were to suffer a career ending injury, they would be forced to pay out his entire salary. Congratulations, DiPietro. You have just won Charles Wang’s lottery. It certainly must seem that way for DiPietro, who is set for life following the contract, the biggest in league history. One has to wonder: does DiPietro actually believe that he deserves a contract like this? Does he ‘ place himself over other sports greats like Magic Johnson? Does he even put himself above his contemporaries, like Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo? Does he even put himself above someone like Los Angeles’ Mathieu Garon? I know I don’t, and you probably don’t either. The fact that there are people that do that have millions of dollars at their fingertips is frankly disturbing. There is nothing stopping Charles Wang, either. Garth Snow, the official rookie GM, is sitting helplessly on the sidelines as Wang ruthlessly brokers idiot deals like this one. Even the league brass is resigned in their efforts. Wang is a kid in a candy store, and he has more money to spend than you'll probably even make in ten lifetimes. Ill be pretty funny to watch though. Drop -Bernardine Halli front lobby upeienvsotiety@qmaii.com off locations: -MAPUS lounge -UPE! Bookstore UPE! Env. Society