32 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(11/20/13 6:57pm)
Fresh off a two-weekend bye period following its East Coast Rugby Conference (ECRC) regular season title, the Middlebury College Rugby Club (MCRC) roared to a 57-3 demolition of Empire Conference champion Stony Brook on Saturday, Nov. 16 in the opening round of the American Collegiate Rugby Championship Division I playoffs. The win sets up MCRC to host perennial Division I powerhouse Penn State University in a national semifinal this Saturday, Nov. 23 in what is undoubtedly a watershed moment in the history of the Club.
MCRC’s victory over Stony Brook also marks the first postseason game that Middlebury has won at the Division I level since moving up from Division II three years ago, with the lopsided result being a source of pride for head coach John Phillips. He believed that his team had been overlooked all season and that Saturday sent shockwaves through the rugby world.
“I just knew by watching game tape of Stony Brook that they didn’t know who they were facing when they got us,” Phillips said. “I thought that we could beat them by 30 points, but I never imagined a 57-3 win. That is the most satisfying win that I have ever had. I have won a National Championship and we beat Northeastern last year, but I have never seen the boys so excited after a game. We sent a message. Experts wrote us off, but I just let the team do the talking. It was magnificent. I said to the boys before the game ‘go for the jugular.’ Afterwards I said, ‘I told you to go for the jugular, but you ripped their throats out!’”
Assistant coach Ben Wells also pointed to the fact that the win proved that the infant ECRC, a conference only in its third year of existence, is on the rise.
“Two years ago Northeastern was the ECRC champ and they lost in the first round to Stony Brook. Last year we won the league and were knocked out by St. Bonaventure, also the Empire champions,” said Wells. “So, our fledgling conference had not done that well collectively on the national stage, but we really felt like we were on a different level this year. We wanted to travel down there and prove it.”
A large reason behind the impressive score line at Stony Brook was the impressive play of MCRC’s forward pack, an area in which the club has enjoyed dominance all year long. Team points leader and inside center Jake Feury ’16 mentioned the addition of forwards’ coach Junior Tuiqere as a major reason for the elevated level of front pack play this year.
“The forward pack has been working with Junior this year and he’s been focusing mostly on scrummaging and line-outs,” Feury said. “As a result, our forwards have dominated every team we’ve played in the scrum and I think they stole about 90 percent of Stony Brook’s scrums. Every play they’d go out there and blow the other team over. It’s a combination of the techniques they’ve been learning from coach and their brute strength that made a huge impact on the game.”
The team also played on Saturday without standout Laird Silsby ’15 due to an elbow injury, a player whom Phillips and Wells characterized as the MVP of the league. Silsby’s status for this weekend’s game remains questionable, but the team is hoping he can suit up for Penn State from injury.
“We were really upset when we found that Laird couldn’t play, as he’s been a huge asset to our team all year and he’s worked really hard to get this team where it’s at,” Feury said. “We are really excited at the fact that he might be able to come back this weekend, but we are fully confident in our roster and we are fully confident in every player we have stepping out on the field.”
Wells echoed Feury’s words, saying that the team will be ready either way.
“One thing we always talk about as coaches is ‘squad,’” Wells said. “We are a club of 45 kids coming out to practice regularly throughout the fall and 20 more on campus supporting it. When you hold the other team out of the try zone and to only three points in a national quarterfinal – it takes the whole team to do that.”
Turning the attention to this coming Saturday’s match up with Penn State, a palpable excitement is evident amongst MCRC coaches and players with the Nittany Lions coming to town.
“I mean this is huge. It’s bigger than big. It’s Penn State coming to Middlebury College – a Division I program playing a Division III school. This game is bigger than the national championships that we won in 2007 and 2009,” Phillips said. “I am praying for snow. I think that’ll even the field out.”
Wells also struggled to put the game in perspective.
“It puts us in another echelon of college rugby. It would be like Middlebury football hosting Penn State – it’s a reasonably comparable comparison and it’s totally absurd. It almost doesn’t even compute,” he said. “If you had told me even three years ago that we’d be hosting Penn State in a national semifinal, I wouldn’t have believed you.”
Phillips pointed to mental preparation as the most important factor this week for his side.
“If we get our mental preparation on track we’ll be alright. Physically we are there, but mentally it’s like, ‘we’re playing Penn State.’ That’s a huge mental block,” he said. “This is like Rocky. The boys have to believe they can do this. If they believe it, we have a fighting chance.”
Win or lose on Saturday, however, this MCRC season has helped catapult the club into the national spotlight. With its move to Division I three years ago criticized for being foolhardy, Wells asserts the trajectory of the club is in good shape.
“The way that we dismantled Stony Brook and now that we have Penn State coming to us, it puts us in the conversation of the elite in the country,” he said.
Feury echoed Wells’ remarks.
“The MCRC is extremely excited and proud to be able to host this semifinal game, especially against a team of Penn State’s caliber,” Feury said. “We have never faced a team in 15s of this level before, and this will be a great test for us as a program. If we want to keep moving up, getting national exposure and promoting Middlebury as an elite program, we need to keep going out there against the best teams.”
In another of the contest’s intriguing storylines, Fuery’s brother Blaze enjoyed a stellar campaign for the visiting Penn State side, but tore his ACL three weeks ago and thus will be relegated to the sidelines.
“He’ll be out there doing what he can – he’s the captain of the team so his leadership will still be shown,” Feury said. “He will be doing everything he can from the sidelines and we hope him a speedy recovery.”
The match kicks off at 1 p.m. on the rugby pitch. On the other side of the playoff bracket, Bowling Green coming off a bye faces Kutztown (83-17 winners over West Virginia.) Penn State downed Clemson in a 27-26 thriller on the road last Saturday.
(10/30/13 5:23pm)
On the final week of its regular season schedule, the Middlebury College Rugby Club (MCRC) traveled to Boston College on Saturday, Oct. 26 with the hopes of securing an unbeaten record and knocking off the only side to beat the Panthers last season. In yet another dominant display in the club’s impressive season, MCRC battled gusty conditions to down the Eagles 35-15 and to cement a 6-0 regular season record.
Despite the win against BC, the Panthers had already secured their second straight East Coast Rugby Conference championship following a 78-22 thrashing of the University of Albany the previous week on October 19. By virtue of the club securing a “bonus point” – or an additional point in the conference standings by scoring four tries in a win – in each of its first five wins of the season, MCRC distanced itself enough from second-place American International College through only five games.
For co-captain Ben Stasiuk ’13.5, the title-clinching win against Albany offered little distraction to the team as it prepared for BC.
“We didn’t even really mention winning the conference at all in our practices or meeting leading up to the game,” he said. “Actually winning the conference last week was kind of anticlimactic – we just checked Twitter feeds online of another game and realized that we won. I think everyone, after losing to BC last year, was 100 percent focused on that game. Last year was a devastating loss and, in terms of preparation, winning the conference didn’t faze us. I think we all felt like we would not have won unless we beat BC and had a perfect season, which we did.”
Assistant Coach Junior Tuiqere also touched on the importance of the BC contest to the side.
“The current seniors had never beaten BC, so they had this urgent drive to beat them for the first time,” Tuiqere said. “Their sense of urgency and desire to [beat BC] pushed the whole team to accomplish this goal.”
Last November, the Eagles handed the Panthers a 13-11 loss and derailed MCRC’s potent offense in the process. On Saturday, however, Stasiuk pointed to several factors that allowed Middlebury to dominate the contest.
“Overall our team is better this year than we were last year especially in our forwards, where we are bigger, stronger and well-disciplined compared to last year,” Stasiuk said. “Similar to last year, we got railed pretty hard with 15 penalties in the first half. Last year we got really frustrated, and we didn’t make the changes necessary to adapt to the ref to change the game around. This year in the second half, especially in the scrum, we adjusted to stop getting the penalties and allow ourselves to score some points. We also didn’t anticipate the change of pace in last year’s game. BC is a very ‘crash ball,’ attacking team and we weren’t as ready for it last year as we were this year. The week before the game we practiced defending forwards game oriented rugby and we played well.”
Tuiqere also pointed to penalties as a decisive trend in this year’s game.
“We started out the game by allowing BC to dictate the pace of the game as we were ‘trying too hard’,” he said. “As a result we made some silly errors and infringements that led to penalties. During half time we adjusted our game plan to go back to basics and do all of the little things correctly. This showed in our second half performance.”
Co-captain Allan Stafford ’13.5 offered another explanation for the change in results.
“I don’t think BC’s team was as good this year as they were last year,” Stafford said. “Their tackling last year was amazing while this year we broke through a lot of tackles. This year we are just a better team overall, all the way through.”
That assertion is highlighted in the team’s point differential on the season, far and away the most lopsided in the conference. The Panthers, with 305 points in six games on season and only 74 points against, boasted both the league’s most potent offense and stingiest defense. By comparison AIC, the league’s next highest-scoring side, put up 170 points.
Furthermore last year’s team, while finishing as 5-1 conference champs, played a number of games decided by two points or less. This year, MCRC never won by less than 16 points.
A quick glance at the ECRC’s individual scoring leaders tells part of the story, as the top three scorers in the conference come from Middlebury. Jake Feury ’16 finished with a whopping 110 points (including 13 tries), while Adam Schreiber’s ’14 43 points and Stafford’s 40 round out the leaderboard.
As the team shifts its focus to a the national tournament that kicks off on November 16, Assistant Coach Ben Wells reflected on the undefeated regular season and its implications for MCRC’s place in D1-AA.
“I think that two straight ECRC championships, which means back-to-back trips to the National playoffs, shows that we belong in this division, which a lot of people disagreed with when we made the move in 2011,” said Wells. “Every time we participate in a national tournament it helps with our recruiting as many high school rugby players have never heard of Middlebury.”
“The trajectory for the club is straight up,” Stasiuk said. “Some great young leaders on the team have us on a path of greatness for a while.”
(10/16/13 5:56pm)
As construction continues on the new squash center and field house set to transform Peterson Athletics complex into a top-level NESCAC facility, a large amount of emphasis on the sparkling new, $46 million project has been placed on energy efficiency and sustainability.
The nine-court squash center, opening next Saturday, Oct. 26 and the 110,000 square-foot field house boasting a 200 meter six-lane track and turf practice field, set for its unveiling in October 2014, both are on target for LEED gold-level certification from the U.S. Green Building Council – making them the only other buildings on campus besides Hillcrest environmental center to attempt the rigorous classification.
While certain trade-offs were made in the planning and development stages between low impact, locally sourced materials and ones that satisfied quality requirements to host athletic events, College project manager Mark Gleason said that every product was vetted for environmental sustainability, within reason.
“We look at a couple things: environmental impact and maintenance,” said Gleason. “We want to find materials that are low impact on the environment but that also don’t require a whole lot of maintenance.”
“Both of the projects are registered with LEED, and that guides a lot of the decisions in terms of materials,” he added. “We try to stay local within reason, but in general that’s what we’re trying to do: meet the 500-mile radius. For concrete and steel that’s easy to do. For siding, sometimes not as easy to do.”
The two spaces will feature numerous energy efficiency features, including natural light (or day lighting) through a skylight and windows in the squash center, two “clear stories” and glazing on the entire western concourse of the new field house. The new buildings will provide enough light during the day making electric lighting unnecessary.
Other materials, from an eventual green roof on the squash center to insulation and high-efficiency LED lights in both buildings point to a decision-making process focused on low impact materials.
One caveat, Gleason said, was that the Athletics department demanded the use of ASB squash courts – a product only manufactured in Germany.
“The squash courts come from Germany and there’s no way around that,” he said. “Given that, we have to find other things that are sourced closer to Middlebury.”
“Your squash court options are very limited,” Quinn said. “That’s not a real challenging decision — it’s not a huge list and you feel like you’re making a huge sacrifice.”
Gleason also pointed out the largest achievement in terms of energy efficiency for the project: taking down the Bubble – an inefficient heat and resource drain, not to mention an aesthetic eyesore. The new field house set to replace it, according to Gleason, will use half the energy of the Bubble despite being twice the space.
The footprint of the new facility was also intended to save green space at the College, something Gleason said was a priority for the committee who ultimately made the site decision.
“The College’s master plan showed that anyways, but it was good practice to look at its impact in a different location, from aesthetics to an environmental standpoint,” he said. “Putting it where it is now, from an environmental standpoint, is probably best because that area was not a green area before.”
Another, perhaps unintended, consequence of the new projects will be the removal of student parking from the Kenyon area. The spaces will become Faculty/Staff or event spaces. This will divert athletes who used to park in the lot to use other means of transport or become creative with their parking decisions.
“Right now there is no assigned parking in that lot – there wont be any student assigned parking out there,” said Gleason. “A lot of athletes used to drive to practices, but I think we are trying to discourage that now as part of the ‘Greening Athletics.’ Now people park in the tailgate area behind the stadium, but I think that’s still a long walk to the building.”
“There wasn’t an intentional decision to limit parking, but I have been trying for several years now, along with others to change the culture with driving down here,” Quinn said. “It’s not congruous with what you’re coming down here to do, whether you’re a varsity athlete, faculty, staff or student. I would like most of our parking to be event and visitor parking, just culturally.”
Gleason said that he is happy with how the project turned out, but also pointed to the fact that the LEED certification is not the “be all end all” for sustainability.
“It’s hard to say when you’re talking about your buildings to other schools and athletes that have interests in green buildings,” Gleason said. “It’s hard to say that your building is ‘green.’ You can say that, but prove it. Prove the building is LEED certified – only a third-party can certify that. We will be able to say we have a LEED gold squash center for what it’s worth. Some people will completely discount it but others think it’s really important.”
The new squash facility has a soft opening early next week and a firm opening scheduled for Oct. 26. Shortly after the firm opening, the courts and an adjacent spinning room should be available for student, faculty and staff use.
Additional reporting by DAMON HATHEWAY '13.5
(10/16/13 5:34pm)
Coming off a bye week and sitting atop the East Coast Rugby Conference at 3-0, the Middlebury College Rugby Club (MCRC) set its sights on a tilt with University of Connecticut (UConn) this past Saturday, Oct. 12 to keep pace in its quest for the conference’s top spot and a trip to the postseason. The Huskies did not prove to be much of a threat to MCRC, as the Panthers converted a staggering 12 tries en route to a 93-6 victory. Jake Feury ’16 once again led all players in scoring with four tries and two conversions, while nine other MCRC players also got in on the scoring act. The 93-point scoring output from the Panthers more than doubled the point total put up by any other team in an ECRC match this season.
Coming into the contest against a struggling UConn side, the club viewed the contest as an ability to send a warning shot to other teams in the country.
“We wanted to go into the game with the idea of sending a message – UCONN is historically weaker than other teams in the conference, but that didn’t mean we wanted to take them lightly or rest any of our key players, who all played the majority of the game,” senior advisor Dusty Attwood-Dupont ’13.5 said. “We just want people to think either: that was a hard game we just played against Middlebury or we still have to play Middlebury. ”
Fullback Allan Stafford ’13.5 echoed Attwood-Dupont’s remarks.
“It was important to send a message because we want other teams to look at the score and be afraid to play us,” Stafford said. “It’s a mentality thing: we want the other team to think we’re the best team out there. I wouldn’t say we ran up the score, but we tried to do a lot of things that we did in practice that week and put them into the game.”
While the side started things off strong in the first 20 minutes, the first half’s second portion left something to be desired for MCRC.
“We put a few quick tries on the board and then I think got complacent. In the second half of the first half we started playing a little slower, we got lackadaisical and had a few stupid penalties in the breakdown and around the ruck,” Attwood-Dupont said. “What you don’t want to see, especially playing a team like this, is us playing down to them, and I think we did that for 15 or 20 minutes in that first half.”
All things considered, however, the Panthers were handily in control for most of the contest. The dominance came in large part because of strong play from back row players Ben Stasiuk ’13.5, Griffin Jones ’16 and Laird Silsby ’15.
“When you have Laird, Ben or Griffin, who are all large, athletic players going up against small wings and centers on UConn it’s easy for those three to break the line and keep moving the ball through and we did that successfully,” Attwood-Dupont said. “In our second half we were able to put together a team effort – it allowed the back line to get the ball, move it into our athletic forwards’ hands and run onto UCONN players, which were clearly not up to the challenge especially later in the game.”
MCRC certainly pulled away late in the game, converting more than 60 points in the second half to ignite the route. Besides the leading scorer Feury, were Stafford (two), Sam Schwarz ’14, Stasiuk, John Hawly ’14, Jones, Silsby, Alex Ruocco ’14 and Madison Stebbins ’14 also put tries on the board.
The Panthers take on the University of Albany this Saturday, Oct. 19, another team struggling to gain points in the standing and sitting just one spot above UConn.
For Stafford, now is no time to get complacent for his club.
“We are going to approach Albany the same way we approached UCONN. We are going to practice the same, do the same amount of fitness and not change anything. Saturday is the ‘be all end all,’ just as it is every week and we are going to make sure the team knows that,” he said. “The attitude will come top down from the coaches and the captains and we will make sure no one is joking around. If you are joking around, you are not going to play.”
Following this Saturday’s game, MCRC heads to Boston College on Saturday, Oct. 26 for a game that will likely determine ECRC’s automatic representative to the D1-AA National Tournament. The Eagles defeated Middlebury 13-11 last season.
(09/25/13 8:30pm)
With only six conference games on its regular season schedule, the Middlebury College Rugby Club (MCRC) knew that an automatic berth into November’s DI-AA National Tournament – granted to the first-place finisher in the East Coast Rugby Conference (ECRC) – would likely be determined by a series of competitive games early in the year. After downing the University of Massachusetts in week one, MCRC hosted an up-and-coming program in American International College (AIC) this past Saturday, Sept. 21, in a pivotal early season clash. Despite battling blustery winds in the opening half, MCRC opened up the game in the second frame to cruise to a comfortable 37-12 victory, thereby taking sole possession of first place in the ECRC standings with four games remaining.
AIC turned many heads in the rugby world after upsetting Northeastern in its first match, and as one of the only DI-AA programs in the country with varsity status, it had MCRC’s full attention as it prepared for the contest.
“We did a lot of extra conditioning and a lot of contact because we knew that they were going to be a big physical team,” Griffin Jones ’16, flanker, said. “As much as it was a high intensity match, we tried not to get too panicked. I think it paid off at the game – we were all in good shape. We just played a pretty basic kicking game and tried to control the field because they very much rely on big plays – big hits and long runs.”
Forwards Coach Ben Wells also noted that AIC was on his radar.
“[It is] a rapidly improving program, and [its] win over Northeastern last week certainly sent a message,” Wells said. “However, we have to focus on ourselves during the week, and we did just that.”
One thing MCRC could not control was the weather on Saturday, as heavy winds that battered the rugby pitch had a large impact on the run of play. Despite electing to play into the wind in the first half to gain an advantage in the second, the difficult weather put a damper on the team’s first half strategy.
“It was tough kicking into the wind in the first half, which was tough because coming in we definitely wanted to kick a lot,” Jones said. “We decided that we wanted to kick a lot for position and try and pin them back into their own half, but the wind made that a challenge in the first half. The ball hung up in the air and we couldn’t clear it, which gave their guys a chance to get under it.”
Wells also addressed the weather as an obstacle to the team’s play.
“Early in the first half we tried to kick our way out of our end a few times and the wind just absolutely knocked down the ball, so we adjusted to more ball-in-hand to gain territory,” Wells said.
This “ball-in-hand” in approach was facilitated in large part by the club’s dominant front line, which put in another bruising performance against AIC.
“We’re lucky to have some incredibly talented forwards right now, and they’ve all been playing together for at least a year or two, so they’re really coming together,” Wells said. “It’s a huge lift for our whole side when we dominate scrum after scrum, and it can also be really demoralizing for the other team. We are lucky to have really intense competition for spots, as there is a whole slate of guys behind this starting front eight that is fighting hard to crack the line-up. We have guys who played in the National Championships last spring who didn’t even make the bench this past week. That’s how much internal competition we have right now.”
Besides the front line, Jones also pointed to a slew of first-year players making an impact early in their MCRC careers. More than that, however, the arrival of players to MCRC with prior rugby experience has helped solidify the program’s direction.
“It’s definitely good knowing that we can count on the younger guys, namely Julien Miller ’17 and Max deJong ’17 to fill into skill positions during big pressure games like AIC,” Jones said. “Across the board, especially with my class and the class below me, the club is beginning to be built with players that have rugby experience before college. It’s definitely nice to have a young core of players with extensive experience.”
The new crop of players differs from the team’s two captains, Ben Stasiuk ’13.5 and Allan Stafford ’13.5, who had never played rugby before college.
At the game’s final whistle, Jones, Stasiuk, Stafford and Laird Silsby ’15 recorded tries, while Jake Feury ’16 continued his scoring spree by leading MCRC with 17 points, including one try and three penalty kicks.
Silsby also distinguished himself with stellar play on Saturday, drawing extensive praise from both Jones and Wells.
“Silsby is off to an unbelievable start,” Wells said. “He’s doing absolutely everything and he’s doing it faster and better than most of us have seen here at Middlebury. He’s an incredible athlete and is one of the hardest working and fittest guys of the team and has really developed as a complete rugby player. It’s been really fun to watch him play rugby this year.”
Jones also noted that Silsby has been a player who really emerged this year. He said that Silsby was a dominant leader last year, but brought his game to a whole new level this year, especially at AIC where he played the best Jones had ever seen him play.
On Saturday, Sept. 28, MCRC plays an away contest at Northeastern, the 2011 conference champion and perennial challenger to the Panthers.
Northeastern is a part of the three-way bottleneck tie for second in the conference standings, as the Panthers have eight points to Northeastern’s four.
“I think that if we beat Northeastern, which we can, that going into the bye week with three very big wins is what we need to do,” Jones said. “Pretty much every game is a playoff game and we cannot afford to lose.”
While the men fared well against a conference foe, the Middlebury College Women’s Rugby Club (MCWRC) faltered in its opening conference tilt against Bowdoin in a rematch of last season’s New England Small College Rugby Conference (NESCRC) title game. The Panthers, while only down 10-5 at the half, were unable to overcome inexperience and some nerves, falling 25-5 at the hands of the Polar Bears.
Molly Benedetto ’14 said a lack of game experience hurt MCWRC on Saturday.
“After 11 [graduating] seniors, rookies and vets alike have really had to step up,” Benedetto said. “Our starting line-up for this weekend included seven rookies, two of which were playing in their first game ever. Three other rookies also joined us as substitutes and made their first appearances on the field.”
According to Benedetto, going down 10-0 in the game’s first 30 minutes may have been a result of this inexperience.
“In the first half of the first half, we were messy and panicked, not controlling the ball,” she said. “After Bowdoin scored their second try, we calmed down and controlled the tempo, forcing Bowdoin to play our game.”
MCWRC was further hurt in the second half after fly half Sarah Kravitz ’16 sustained a leg injury early into the frame, meaning the team had to further adjust its line-up. Bowdoin pulled away with 15 second half points while the Panthers were held off the scoreboard.
The club returns to action next week with the first home game of the season against Williams on Saturday.
(09/18/13 11:48pm)
Looking to build on a successful run in last season’s Division I-AA Rugby Championship, the Middlebury College Rugby Club (MCRC) opened its fall 2013 campaign by playing host to the University of Massachusetts (UMass) on Saturday, Sept. 14. Despite not cracking the UMass try zone until late in the first half, the Panthers managed to pull away with four tries and a penalty kick to secure a 28-12 victory, placing them on good footing to start the Eastern Collegiate Rugby Conference (ECRC) season.
A festive atmosphere surrounded the rugby pitch on Saturday — something forward Ben Stasiuk ’13.5 says is a welcome addition to the Middlebury rugby culture. The student pep band and a sizeable group of supports greeted MCRC for its season-opener.
“I think that was arguably the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen in a game at Middlebury,” Stasiuk said. “I think that it’s our move up to Division I and our presence on campus; overall we’ve worked to have a good, strong presence and support for the team has grown because of it.”
Fullback Allan Stafford ’13.5 echoed Stasiuk’s comments.
“Based on our four years here, [crowd support] has grown a lot,” Stafford said. “As a player, it definitely makes an impact to hear a lot of crowd noise that makes for a 16th-man atmosphere.”
On the field, one of the most noticeable changes in the fall 2013 edition of MCRC is the bruising play of the forward line. In the team’s two tune-up games during the Granite Cup at Dartmouth on Sunday, Sept. 8, and again this past Saturday, the Panthers’ beefed-up front line impressed Stasiuk.
“We are massive compared with years past,” he said. “We actually have the biggest front pack I’ve ever seen at Middlebury. A lot of guys took our summer fitness program very seriously: Cliff Alexander ’15 dropped weight and got really fit while Charlie Kunze ’15 (a former defenseman lineman on the football team) switched full time to MCRC.”
While the front line played a strong game, transition to the speed players on the outside wings was one area that Stafford found fault with after the win against UMass.
“We weren’t getting a clean ball out to 10-man Adam Schreiber ’14 and we were also having a lot of trouble getting it wide,” said Stafford.
That said, Stasiuk spoke to the team’s decreasing reliance on the speedy backs as MCRC demonstrated physical dominance in the contest.
“It’s a different game now,” he said. “Traditionally, we relied on our backs to get most of the job done in terms of scoring points. Now that we have this new pack and some relatively new spots in the backs, our game has shifted to the point where it’s more forward-oriented and we’re using our forwards more offensively than we did in the past.”
Despite the commanding score line, Stafford believed it could have been a more lopsided result.
“We were in control the whole time, but we just made it harder on ourselves and had trouble finishing,” he said. “We could’ve easily scored two or three more tries given that we made several mistakes in front of the try line.”
Stafford, however, was satisfied with his team’s methodical win. By virtue of scoring four tries in the game, MCRC also received an additional “bonus try point” in the ECRC standings — something that could take on additional importance if the season comes down to the wire. Last year, Middlebury clinched the ECRC regular season crown over Boston College (BC) after securing more bonus points than BC.
The impact of the bonus try earned on Saturday may become apparent in late November and early December of this year, as a change in MCRC’s conference format this season will see the team competiting for a potential National Championship then, instead of in the spring in years past.
Next Saturday, Sept. 21, MCRC faces off against American International College (AIC) — one of the four Division I-AA programs in the nation with a varsity program.
On the women’s side, the Middlebury College Women’s Rugby Club (MCWRC) romped to a 79-5 victory against St. Michael’s College B-Side on Saturday, Sept. 14, in a tune-up game for the start of the New England Small College Rugby Conference (NESCRC) season next weekend at defending conference champion Bowdoin.
In fact, Bowdoin was the team that eliminated Middlebury by a score of 10-5 in the NESCRC last November, thereby taking the conference’s automatic bid into the Divion II National Championship in the spring. For captains Emily Duh ’14 and Sarah Minahan ’14, the game at “St. Mike’s” was a chance to regroup before NESCRC play.
“After graduating nine seniors last spring, we were ready for this to be a rebuilding year to train new players,” said Duh. “Going into the St. Mike’s game, we were really just looking for a strong base to build our season on. That being said, we were impressed with the strong offensive, and especially with how our rookies played.”
Seven different players recorded tries for MCWRC, with Duh converting the kick on eight of the team’s 11 overall tries.
“We have a lot of talented players on the team, and had tries coming from a variety of players in many different positions,” Minahan said. “Notably our centers, Stevie Durocher ’15.5 and Duh accounted for 41 points between the two of them and I’m definitely excited to see the rest of their seasons. We also had a number of players scoring their first career tries, always a great way to start the season.”
Next week against Bowdoin, the team looks to build upon the positive strides they made in last November’s defeat.
“Bowdoin has a talented team, but we’re feeling confident about the players we have and our ability to play well together,” Duh said. “We’re going to work on holding our defensive line and making great tackles this week in practice, and with that I think with that we’ll be ready for a great game this weekend.”
(09/12/13 1:17am)
The young talent of the Middlebury Cycling Club was on display over Labor Day Weekend, as three underclassmen Panther bikers delivered impressive performances in the Green Mountain Stage Race, held from Friday, Aug. 30 through Monday, Sept. 2. Sam O’Keefe ’16.5, Kai Wiggins ’16 and Zachary Isaacs ’16 competed in the grueling, four-day affair that featured four separate race “stages” held on several courses all throughout the Green Mountains. The event most notably included a 67-mile endurance race through the “App Gap,” an arduous and heavily vertical trek crossing the spine of the mountain range near Mad River Glen ski area.
In particular, O’Keefe’s performance in the Class 4/5 category of the event headlined the successful weekend for the Middlebury riders. O’Keefe, after posting a 16th-place finish in the opening time trial leg, rode to a sixth-place finish in the second stage, finishing nearly even with the stage leaders. In day three and four, however, O’Keefe dominated the field. In the “App Gap” stage on day three he earned a second-place finish before winning the final, 16-mile “Burlington Criterium” stage that included a victorious jaunt through the city’s downtown.
Nate Beatty ’13.5, president of the Middlebury Cycling Club for two years, spoke to the impressive performance of the Club’s up-and-coming member.
“I am very impressed,” said Beatty. Sam is a terrific athlete and I’ve ridden with him for a while now. It’s really exciting to go out with these guys who are fresh and young on the team and see them perform, particularly in a race like [that.] Especially the ‘App gap” section, where you’ve been riding for 60 or 70 miles and then all of a sudden you have to do a brutal climb, it’s very encouraging to see that guys are doing well.”
More than his talent, however, Beatty appreciates the attitude O’Keefe has contributed to the Club.
“I think that there can be an attitude in cycling, particularly in road biking, that turns people off from the sport,” said Beatty. “[Sam] exhibits natural talent and has a drive to succeed, but also has a laid back attitude is very encouraging to others and has been trying to pull his friends into the sport.”
O’Keefe, who has been an avid “Cyclocross” and mountain bike competitor for seven years, is now looking towards establishing himself on the road bike circuit. Therefore, despite finishing eighth in last year’s Cyclocross under-23 national race, O’Keefe competed in the lowest class (4/5) within the road bike ranking system because he has yet to accrue the ten road race starts needed to advance. “On one hand it’s cool that I won, but on the other hand I can’t race where I think that I should be yet [because of the regulations],” said O’Keefe.
As he continues to climb in the rankings of road racing, O’Keefe also entertains the possibility of racing professionally one day. “In the back of my mind [going pro] is my goal,” said O’Keefe. “A lot of people say you can’t be really good if you go to school and a lot of people don’t go to school to be professional. I’m just trying to do the best I can and see what happens after I graduate.”
All three Middlebury underclassmen participants – O’Keefe, Wiggins and Isaacs (the latter two racing in the competition’s category three) – represent a surge of enthusiasm into the Cycling club from its younger members, a group that Beatty is quick to point out is nothing new on Middlebury’s campus.
“It’s been confirmed by a couple of people and we have it on our website that the cycling team has graduated more professional athletes than any other varsity team at Middlebury and we’re the oldest team, besides the baseball team, at Middlebury,” said Beatty. “Yet, we are not a varsity sport because the NCAA doesn’t have cycling.”
Instead of competing in the NCAA, Middlebury riders race in the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Circuit. The club continues to build its base of riders and establish itself as a recognizable group at Middlebury, with Beatty imagining participation along the lines of the College’s successful Rugby clubs or Ultimate Frisbee program.
“We’d like to be able to provide the resources for students who want to come race at elite levels to do so,” he said.
For young racers such as O’Keefe, the terrain in Vermont is one of the biggest draws to the College’s cycling program as it continues to grow.
“For cycling, I think one of the big things about Middlebury is its location – it could not be more perfect for training and riding with friends,” said O’Keefe.
(05/09/13 3:51pm)
As the spring semester winds down, the 2013 Middlebury Solar Decathlon team’s work is just beginning. Twenty-one team members, comprised of students and recent graduates, are set to begin work the day after Memorial Day (May 28) to complete the design and construction of the InSite house before an “East Coast” showing set for the first weekend in August. The house will then be dismantled into shippable panels before it travels by rail for reassembly during the competition in Irvine, Calif. in early October.
Constructing the house is only one of the goals for the summer, however, as the team also faces a mountain of logistical tasks to prepare the house to compete in the competition. These range from developing informational materials for tours during the two-week public exhibition phase of the contest to deciding whether or not to drill microscopic holes into the house’s windows so that they don’t crack because of pressure change while traveling over the Rocky Mountains en route to Irvine.
Despite the seemingly endless list of tasks, however, Cordy Newbury ’13 is satisfied with the work that has been done thus far.
“We have done remarkable work in beginning the construction and waterproofing the house; we have also raised three fourths of our project budget and we have set up strong outreach outlets,” said Newbury. “This summer we will have much more time to dedicate each week, meaning we will be more efficient in our work and be able to expand our outreach efforts. Keeping up with the construction schedule will be our biggest challenge as well as preparing for our upcoming deliverable on public exhibition materials.”
One of the ways the team has dealt with complicated logistics is to have certain students become “experts” in particular areas. Rita Croce ’14.5, one of the students here for the summer working on construction, has spent her semester becoming the team’s lead on window design and installation.
“Before this semester I worked out the outreach team and was not involved at all in construction and design,” said Croce. “I got some drawings that a kid had worked on before me, and had to work to understand them by talking to people and watching YouTube videos. When I started to draw them, I started to learn what all that gibberish meant. Then, after starting to build them you learn ‘oh that line means this’ and it all starts to make sense.”
Croce also sees window installation as being one of the largest challenges for the team moving forward.
“I think that windows will be a big challenge because the installation will be detailed and logistics can be a bit of a nightmare,” she said. “This includes shipping and packing the windows in boxes to be shipped to Irvine.”
More than just the house itself, team logistical coordinators also have to prepare for the dozens of Middlebury students that will travel out to the competition. This fall, students can participate in one of four one-week shifts to construct, display and then de-construct the house during its stay in California.
As time counts down to the competition in Irvine, the team has its work cut out.
(05/01/13 8:00pm)
After a two-year march to return to the national stage, the Middlebury College Rugby Club (MCRC) traveled to Pittsburgh this past weekend, April 27 and 28, for its first shot to compete in the Division I-AA national tournament. The four-team bracket in Pittsburgh pitted Middlebury against St. Bonaventure, Dartmouth and the University of Pittsburgh with the overall winner advancing to the national semifinals in Bowling Green, Ohio.
Despite a strong showing by MCRC in the weekend’s first game, the round of 16, the Panthers dropped a heart-breaking contest to St. Bonaventure by a score of 29-28. After being eliminated from the tournament, the Panthers downed Pittsburgh on Sunday 20-7 in the final match-up of the season to determine national rankings for next season.
The weekend was a significant one in the history of MCRC, as it was the program’s first ever trip to the tournament at the D1 level. Graduating senior Luke Dauner ’13 touched on the team’s emotions prior to the games.
“We were all pretty excited to be on that stage, playing with the best college rugby teams in the country,” said Dauner. “We were very proud, as the first MCRC squad to be there, but we weren’t thinking about past years or of the success we had in DII. We were focused on 2013 and the job we had to do; we wanted to prove that we belonged there.”
A large adjustment for MCRC has been the increased level of play at the Division I level since the team started competing there in the fall of 2011. The competition was even fiercer during the tournament than the normal intensity that the team is used to coming up against.
“The level of play was more intense and more physical,” he said. “Being in Division I for a couple years now, we were used to the increased competition, but it was on another level in the playoffs.”
Saturday’s game against St. Bonaventure started off well for Middlebury as the team opened up a 13-5 lead on the Bonnies by halftime. MCRC then pushed that advantage to 18-5 before St. Bonaventure responded with 19 unanswered points to take a 24-18 lead with only 13 minutes left on the clock.
The Panthers were not done yet, as a try followed by a penalty conversion swung the game back into Middlebury’s favor at 28-24 with three minutes left. A final try by the Bonnies, however, sealed the final score at 29-24.
Dylan Whitaker ’13, one of the team’s two captains, pointed to mistakes as the team’s weakness in the loss.
“Our biggest weakness in the game was continuing to give up penalties, costing us field position and forcing us to exhaust ourselves on defense and long drives,” said Whitaker. “Our offense was able to execute at all points in the game though, regardless of the pressure, which I think speaks to the character and caliber of our players. Refusing to be cowed or disheartened by a deficit showed the heart of every man on the field."
For Dauner, the loss was particularly tough to stomach given that it was his and several other seniors’ last shot at a national championship ring.
“It was one of the toughest losses I’ve ever been a part of. We controlled most of the game, but in the end we gave up a few too many penalties, and St. Bonaventure capitalized on those mistakes,” he said. “Everyone was pretty torn up, especially for the seniors for whom it was their last shot at a ring. However we had a game the next day and we had to move on.”
The next day, MCRC – missing six injured players from the contest on the day before – defeated a Pittsburgh team that had lost to Dartmouth the day before. In the final collegiate rugby game for four seniors, including Dauner, Whitaker, Nate Brown ’13 and Don Song ’13, MCRC battled rainy conditions to ride 20 points from Jake Feury ’16 to cement the 20-7 advantage.
“After a devastating loss the day before with a lot of injuries, we turned it around and played our hearts out, and it made me incredibly proud,” said Dauner. “We were obviously very bummed that we didn’t move on to the final four, but we were able to show everyone that we came to play, and that we belong in Division I. The team was in high spirits for the bus ride home.”
The Panthers will return to action this fall in East Coast Rugby Conference play.
(04/25/13 12:31am)
After completing a successful campaign this past fall, the Middlebury College Rugby Club (MCRC) will travel to Pittsburgh, Pa. this coming Saturday and Sunday, April 27 and 28, to compete in the Division 1-AA Rugby National Tournament.
By virtue its 6-1 record en route to capturing the East Coast Rugby Conference (ECRC) championship in the autumn, MCRC received an automatic bid into the 16-team tournament slated to begin this weekend at four sites around the country. The Panthers will square off against St. Bonaventure, the Empire conference champion, in the Round of 16 on Saturday. With a win, the following day the team would face either Dartmouth or the University of Pittsburgh in the tournament quarterfinals.
The trip marks MCRC’s first appearance in the tournament at the Division I level, as the squad only recently made the leap upwards from Division II in the fall of 2011. After falling short of national qualification in ECRC competition that fall, however, the team swept through competition this past autumn (dropping only a close contest to Boston College) to secure its spot in the top-flight tournament.
For Allan Stafford ’13.5, a veteran from the team’s runs in the Division II tournaments in the spring of 2010 and 2011, the new level of competition has not changed the team’s outlook on their chances in Pittsburgh.
“We have a pretty new team from the team that lost in the national championship game against Wisconsin-Whitewater my sophomore year,” said Stafford. “The older kids are trying to share their experiences with the younger ones. Given that it’s Division I, we expect the competition to be a lot tougher, as it has been all year. However, we have not changed our preparation in any way before we go down there.”
Teammate and Co-captain Ben Stasiuk ’13.5 touched on the differences in competition level in D1.
“Working as a unit and not relying on individuals is very important when playing high-quality teams,” said Stasiuk. “Our forwards will be going up against some very big packs so we need to be aggressive and physical, with supporting our players in offensive situations always on the forefront of our minds.”
Stafford pointed to several new faces to the national tournament that he expects strong performances from in Pittsburgh, including eight-man Laird Silsby ’15 and first-year prop Cole Baker ’16 – a product of rugby powerhouse Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C. Jake Feury ’16 is another first-year who, after joining MCRC following football season in the fall, is set to play at outside center this weekend.
When asked about the team’s chances to win it all, Stafford described his team’s strong focus on its ultimate goal.
“I think we definitely look at ourselves as capable of winning it all,” said Stafford. “Our success in the fall is ancient history. We saw Dartmouth in the preseason, so we know what some of the competition looks like.”
Stasiuk agreed that the team was not looking to rest on its laurels.
“We are making history as we go and will look at any result as a success,” he said. “That said, we are an extremely competitive group of guys and we have our eyes set on the national title. For the seniors on the team, we are returning to the field in Pittsburgh where we lost the national championship game in 2011. We still feel the sting of that loss.”
The overall winner of the weekend advances to Bowling Green, Ohio for the national semifinals and championship in May.
(04/21/13 8:10pm)
As the 2013 Middlebury Solar Decathlon team continues its construction on the InSite house in Ridgeline parking lot, the “Solar D Update” presents the second half of its preview of October’s competition with a look at the next five contests that comprise the 10-event decathlon. Last month, past and current team members weighed in on the event’s first five contests: Architecture, Market Appeal, Engineering, Communications and Affordability. This week, team members round out the discussion of how they think InSite will fare in Irvine, Calif.
Comfort Zone – Teams must control the temperature and humidity of the house at acceptable levels during the decathlon. Full points are awarded if the house temperature stays between 71-76 degrees while humidity stays below 60 percent.
Hot Water – Here, the teams must undergo several “draw periods” in which they have 10 minutes to produce 15 gallons of water that stay at an average of 110 degrees to receive full points.
Joseph Mutter’s ’15 take: “The system(s) supplying hot water for the competition is fairly simple: we will be using a 40 A.O. Smith Gallon Electric Water Tank in combination with an ECO 11 Tankless Water Heater. The process for deciding what our hot water system would look like came down to how we wanted to pitch one of our “five points of InSiteful Architecture,” which is “Centralize Energy Systems.” We want our hot water to be produced as quickly and as effectively as possible, especially when we are at the competition where we are being measured on how responsive our system is to produce water at 110 degrees fahrenheit within 10 minutes. Ari Latanzzi ’13 and Isaac Baker ’14 have been heading the research behind the hot water and water systems, and have been working with electrical engineers and specialists in developing a system that is specific to our needs and wants. This is necessary because the solar panels on our solar pathway will be providing all of the energy for our home, thus forcing us to be finicky with the selection. With our system we not only focus on the performance aspect, but the affordability and availability for all that will learn about it during the competition.”
Ari Latanzzi’s ’13 take: “For the competition, we have to draw 15 gallons of water from our shower in 10 minutes, at an average temperature above 110 degrees Fahrenheit. We can have up to three consecutive draws, and we might have to run the dishwasher simultaneously. These are the two tasks that require hot water, so we had to design a system that would satisfy the demands of the hot water draws and dishwasher tasks. We originally planned to heat our water with solar flat plate collectors that would heat glycol, which would then run through coils in a tank and transfer the heat to the water. However, several studies revealed that it is more efficient and cost-effective, especially in northern climates, to heat water with photovoltaic electricity. Also, we were having difficulty placing the collectors around the house based on shadowing and the constraints of the solar envelope. We looked at several different products (electric resistance water heater tanks, water tanks with heat pumps and tankless electric water heaters) and spoke with several engineers before deciding upon an innovative solution that saves space, energy and money. The 40 gallon AO Smith Conservationist hot water tank works to keep its contents at a constant temperature (at about 140 degrees Fahrenheit to discourage bacterial growth), but if the tank is being drained faster than it can heat water, the outgoing water will run through an EcoSmart ECO 11 tankless water heater which will raise the temperature as much as needed to maintain a constant incoming temperature of 140 degrees when it reaches the water mixer.
It is our plan to drain the water tank in the summer and only use the tankless water heater on demand, which will encourage more responsible energy and water consumption.”
Appliances – Teams must run a clothes washer and dryer, dishwasher, freezer and refrigerator all to specific levels of efficiency.
Mutter’s take: “We are using a Bosch condensing dryer that runs on electricity. Typical dryers require an exhaust vent for heat to be released out of the system, but since we are using a penalization design method, in addition to our tight thermal envelope, we wanted to keep the energy demands and productions as centralized as possible. We did not want to make any thermal breaks in the floor panels that would disrupt the thermal performance and structural integrity. The appliances that we are using will be monitored for their energy consumption and offsets through the Building Management System (BMS) interface, which is currently being developed by Noah Bakker ’15 and Brendan Scully ’13. These appliances can and will be controlled by the BMS and will be able to communicate essential information to the inhabitants about what needs more attention through elaborately detailed updates. During the selection process of the appliances, I worked alongside Ellie Krause ’14, design lead, to identify what fit and, more importantly, complemented the aesthetics of the interior. We researched non-energy intensive appliances that reduce the energy consumption load of the house, which equates to less stress on the solar panel system.”
Home Entertainment – This contest includes an array of requirements, including interior lighting, cooking performance, home electronics (TV and computer) and hosting a dinner party and movie night for other teams at the decathlon.
Latanzzi’s take: “The home entertainment contest is important to demonstrate the livability and functionality of our home and also to provide a forum for engaging with decathletes from other teams. We believe that the design of our integrated public space will enhance the social aspects of these home entertainment events by allowing interactions between the kitchen and living and dining areas. The open floor plan allows for more freedom of movement and congregations of comfortable groups.”
Energy Balance – Perhaps one of the more significant event of the competition, the teams must produce as much energy during the competition (through solar panels on the house) as they consume from the electrical grid.
Lattanzi’s take: “We need to produce more photovoltaic energy than our home consumes during the course of the competition. In order to accurately size our solar array, we worked with Karen Walkerman of Second Law in Burlington to develop a digital energy model that reflects the insulation, ventilation, and appliances of the house, along with the projected energy consumption related to the Irvine climate and contest demands. Our most accurate model projected that we would consume 699kWh (kilowatt hours) if the competition were a month long, so I used the online tool PVWatts to determine how many solar panels would produce enough energy to exceed this consumption. Our 26 Lumos LSX 240 Watt panels (6.24 kW array) should produce around 740kWh.”
(03/20/13 9:00pm)
Following a 4-9 season that saw last year’s Middlebury men’s lacrosse team fail to qualify for the NESCAC tournament and record its first losing season since 1990, this year’s season is off to a far more auspicious start. The team improved its record to an unblemished 3-0 with an 11-4 win on the road at Connecticut College on Saturday, March 16.
Earlier in the week, the squad romped to an 18-12 victory at home against Springfield on Wednesday, March 13.
With last season’s underwhelming results in mind, sophomore Joel Blockowicz ’15 spoke of his team’s attitude during this early part of the campaign.
“We are all aware of the amount of talent on the roster and the potential we have to be a very successful team,” said Blockowicz. “After a very disappointing season last year, the guys understand that nothing is going to be handed over to us. The dynamic at practice has become much more competitive and upbeat with guys really trying to make each other better. To me, this is the most important aspect of being a great team. Also, I think the seniors and captains have done a really good job laying out our goals and expectations for the season.”
Despite the Panthers’ offensive dominance, the Camels built an early 2-1 lead by the end of the first quarter. Andrew Metros ’13 opened the scoring for Middlebury 5:31 into the game before Conn. College responded with two unassisted tallies at the end of the period.
The home team added another goal to extend its lead over Middlebury to 3-1 with 13:45 remaining in the second quarter.
From there, however, the Middlebury offense kicked into high gear. Metros added his second of the game with 8:59 to go before first-year sensation Jon Broome ’16 tied the game at three with his ninth goal of the year on an extra-man opportunity for Middlebury. Stew Kerr ’13 recorded the Panthers’ final goal of the half with 26 seconds left, putting them ahead 4-3.
To open the scoring in the second half, Mike Giordano ’13 found a helper from George Curtis ’14 – again on the man-up – with 8:59 remaining. After another Camels’ goal with 7:06 on the clock in the third, Middlebury controlled the game.
Broome scored his second of the game to close out the third quarter before Blockowicz, Metros and Kerr pushed the lead to 9-4 with 7:05 left in the game. Then, Brian Ayers ’14 and Broome piled it on in the game’s last 1:30 to cement an 11-4 win.
With his hat trick, Broome has now recorded at least three goals in his first three college lacrosse games. He is now tied for second in the NESCAC with 11 goals on the year, behind only Ian Deveau’s (Colby) 12.
Harrison Goodkind ’16 reflected on his team’s performance in the win.
“For this game especially, being able to win 11-4 after being down 3-1 in the beginning of the game shows our team’s mental toughness and level-headedness,” said Goodkind. “Also, for our defense to come back after an unacceptable game against Springfield and hold Conn to only four goals is huge.”
Blockowicz is excited about the team’s chances headed into the teeth of the NESCAC schedule.
“I think the first three games have shown our team potential,” said Blockowicz We have shown we can win in many different ways with strong defense, a balanced offense and great communication and goaltending. When we are playing our best lacrosse it has become apparent that many teams cannot hang with us.”
The Panthers take on conference foe Wesleyan at home this Saturday, March 23, before facing Hamilton and Bowdoin over spring break on March 27 and 30, respectively.
“As we get deeper into the season it will be interesting to see if we can have this explosion and consistency throughout the whole game,” said Blockowicz. “The goal is to be playing our best lacrosse in May.”
(03/14/13 4:00am)
The 2013 Solar Decathlon, hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy Oct. 3-13 in Irvine, Calif., is a competition challenging 20 student teams from universities all around the world to construct the most affordable, reproducible, energy efficient and attractive solar-powered home.
Middlebury fields only one out of nine returning teams to the competition, which includes a diverse field of contestants ranging from Norwich University in Vermont to Czech Technical University in Prague.
While this year’s Middlebury team is, in large part, a new group of students constructing an entirely different home, why Middlebury received its second straight invitation to partake in the Decathlon was partly because of its strong performance in the 10 judged contests that make up the bulk of the competition. Officials judge the 20 houses in each of these 10 contests, with each contest score ranging between zero and 100 – totaling a final score out of a thousand (discounting any point deductions for rule violations). Middlebury’s 2011 entry in Washington, D.C. — the Self Reliance house, now located by the entry to the Kevin P. Mahaney ’84 Center for the Arts parking lot — surprised all of its competitors by posting a fourth-place finish, especially given that Middlebury was the only liberal arts college in the competition. Middlebury’s final score of 914.81 put it behind only the University of Maryland, Purdue University and Victoria University (from Wellington, New Zealand) in the final rankings, and received top marks in the Market Appeal, Communications and Home Entertainment categories.
In order to get a better idea of what exactly happens during the Decathlon, this week’s update will break down the first five competitions featuring some thoughts from past and current Middlebury Decathletes:
Contest 1: Architecture
A jury of architects reviews each team’s drawings, construction specifications and presentation through an on-site evaluation. A few components include incorporation of lighting, overall comfort and house connection.
Wyatt Komarin ’12: “The architecture contest is perhaps both the most prestigious and challenging category. With Self-Reliance, I think we were successful in that we took our team’s mission statement very seriously, using it as a guiding ‘thesis statement’ throughout the design process. We [applied it] at all scales of design, from the overall building form and landscape, all the way down to the plates on the dining table.”
Ellie Krause ’14: “As liberal arts students and as members of Middlebury College, we approach our decisions not only on a technical level but also considering their environmental and social implications. Some exciting features [in inSite] include: 1) The Solar Path: an elegant solution for homes without south-facing roofs and a place to shade competition-goers in line to tour our home. 2) The Green Roof: now that the solar panels are off of the roof it is open for alternate use, like plants! InSite is the first home in Solar Decathlon history to have a completely green roof! 3) The Exposed Steel Frame: In order to ship InSite across the country and minimize it’s carbon footprint the entire home needs to fit into train shipping containers - which means we need to build it out of panels. These panels are held together and supported by a steel frame that will be visible within the home and show visitors the story of how it was constructed. 4) The Siding: Amongst shiny plastic-covered homes, InSite will be sporting beautiful siding made of reclaimed barn wood from a farm just down the road.”
Contest 2: Market Appeal
A jury of homebuilding professionals considers the following three factors in giving this score: livability, marketability and buildability. Within these, components such as curb appeal, craftsmanship, value and ability to reproduce are considered.
Peter DiPrinzio ’13: “Market appeal is a tricky category because it is relative to the market you pick, which for us was a young, New England family of four. With a constraint of a 1,000-square foot house, we had a significantly tougher time designing for four rather than two or three, but we made sure every design decision fulfilled the needs of our target client: a family. Over and over, we heard kids and adults (even [President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz] and his family) on the National Mall say, “I think that I could live here.”
Cordy Newbury ’13: “When people walked into Self-Reliance throughout the competition, we would regularly hear people exclaim, “I would want to live here!” The 2011 team blended beautiful design to include a comfortable feeling. We expect to do well again this fall because we are building a house that we believe families will want. Other teams have very technologically advanced or modern designs, however these are not affordable nor are they practical. For both Self-Reliance, and now InSite, we factor in cost, usability and aesthetics to create a home that anyone could imagine themselves living in.”
Contest 3: Engineering
Here, teams strive to achieve functionality and efficiency of house systems — ventilation, air quality and thermal balance — as well as to incorporate innovative engineering designs.
Jack Kerby Miller ’14: “Self-Reliance chose conservative, easy-to-understand mechanical systems that could be easily serviced and repaired, rather than replaced. These systems also often encouraged the manual adjustment of the house’s inhabitants rather than a high-tech automated controls that were liable to break or fail over decades of use. Two interesting innovations include a forced-air heating system that is flexible enough to use geothermal and an air-to-air heat exchanger to provide heat and air conditioning while siphoning off condensation to be stored and used to water the houses plants.
“In most ways, InSite has adopted the same strategies for heating and cooling systems as Self-Reliance, at least in principle if not in name. InSite will feature a new system of automated louvers that will help implement a passive ventillation strategy using the tall chimney structure.”
Contest 4: Communications
A jury of communication professionals evaluate the teams’ final website, public exhibit materials, narratives, audiovisual presentations and on-site presentations. Self-Reliance’s score of 90 took home the top slot in 2011.
Newbury: “As liberal arts students, we are great at talking to people and presenting our ideas. In 2011 this came through in our communications walk-through to the jury, as well as in our presentation materials, video-walkthroughs and website. In 2013, our website is well-designed and has regular updates to keep content fresh, while our other communications materials will be just as successful and aesthetically appealing. We also host events that inform the college and community, and we believe that spreading our message through direct events is crucial to our success in the communications contest. In addition, we are also pushing the envelope in terms of Educational Outreach and Social Media Presence in 2013. We have a dedicated education team that goes to elementary, primary, middle and high schools to present lessons on InSite and sustainability. It has been really important for us to reach out to many age-groups to not only spread the word about InSite, but to also encourage environmental consciousness from an early age. The work that the education team has done will play a pivotal role in making our team stand out among others in Irvine, because its efforts go above and beyond the competition requirements.”
Contest 5: Affordability
This contest is very explicit: the team receives full marks from a professional cost estimator if the house has an estimated construction cost of $250,000 or less. Houses above $600,000 get zero points, while between those two numbers is the zero to 100 scale.
DiPrinzio: “Up until the 2011 competition, the Solar Decathlon had a fatal flaw: it lacked any controls on price and affordability. The 2009 winner was team Germany, who built an $800,000 solar bachelor pad. It was a cube covered in far more solar panels than was necessary for the competition and was financially and logistically impractical, but the judging formula deemed it the winner. The affordability category in the 2011 competition radically changed the designs submitted. It put a $250,000 limit for full points in the affordability competition and a sliding scale for more expensive designs. [Affordability] made designs more modest and practical for the situations they were designed for.”
Finally, one parting thought from Komarin: “We were out on the deck [of the 2011 entry] as a woman walked past us in the crowd in front. She stopped, turned to her friend as she pointed at our house, referred to it a “black stallion,” and then just kept walking. That was awesome.”
(03/07/13 5:00am)
In its mad dash to complete the 34 panels set to comprise the InSite house in the 2013 Solar Decathlon competition, the Middlebury team, while somewhat familiar with construction and carpentry, needed some outside help. Enter Lance Waterman, a Middlebury-born contractor and University of Vermont graduate, with his chocolate lab named Jasper. In order to get all of the panels done in time for the house’s first fabrication period (that is, putting together the panels in a sort of “test run” before shipping them by rail to Irvine, Calif. for assembly during the competition in early October) slated to take place during spring break later this month, the team has turned to Lance to expedite the panel construction process. While students on the team are tasked with developing and finalizing the plans and are also involved actively in panel construction, the team will lean heavily on Lance to ensure that all 34 panels are made in a manner that fits the project schedule. Construction of the panels began at the end of January, and the inside of his barn just 5.1 miles away from the College out on Weybridge Street (pictured behind Lance and Jasper) looks like an industrial lumber yard as the project is in full tilt. I caught up with Lance earlier this week chat about InSite.
Middlebury Campus: Why did you decide to get involved with Solar Decathlon?
Lance Waterman: I was invited to help finish the construction of the 2011 Solar Decathlon project, and the opportunity to work with the students [this year] is truly fantastic – a very ambitious, motivated bunch of people and on a neat project that you just don’t run across every day. So often, real budget and payback analysis and things limit projects, but a project like this, where it’s more about trying concepts and showing some of the cutting edge stuff that most people wouldn’t put in a house this size, is neat.
MC: What has been the most rewarding moment thus far?
LW: Meeting the different students. There’s a couple of students in my interaction with the project, [namely] Brandon Gell ’16 and Kate Eisemann ’15, that seem to be doing a lot of heavy lifting. I know that [Gell], for example, wanted to build, and in order to build someone has to draw the plans. So, he took it upon himself to learn the CAD program and draw the panels, which is just an enormous task. [While] Kate does management … and people throw everything at her and she manages to organize it – it’s amazing. As I was getting involved in it, people would say, ‘Hey, have you met Kate yet?’ and after the third or fourth person said that I started wonder ‘Who’s this person?’ Those two seem to just put it together. To meet people of that caliber is super fun.
MC: What has been the most frustrating moment thus far?
LW: The frustrating part only would be that the students are generally trying to learn a whole knew language: construction. In most construction projects where you build something, you frame it, you rough in plumbing and you rough in wiring, and there’s all these opportunities to get something fixed. You have all the walls and you lay out the circuits and if you need to add another wire, you add another wire. For InSite, trying to figure out which things I don’t know and the students don’t know about these panels’ specifics is sometimes challenging, because they know more about how overall it’s going to be put together. So, trying to identify the unknown is really the only frustrating part. It’s a whole different language and it’s a whole different way of looking at things. [It’s] certainly not a “keep me awake” frustrating part. There’s not one of those.
MC: With all that has to go on before the competition in October, do you think the team will have the house it wants at the Decathlon?
LW: It’s an evolving target, because you have a high turnover group and students of different ages coming in and out of the project at different times. Students who are involved in it in the very beginning aren’t involved in it at the end. So, you don’t have as much continuity and if a student conceives of an idea in the beginning and they leave and someone else picks it up, then their idea might just not end up in the final house. And, likewise, you have students coming on that want things in the house that, realistically, to realize that in the house you would’ve had to have them built in ahead of time. So, there will be pieces that won’t make it through, but the student group is certainly not one mind and different people are fascinated with different things.
MC: What do you like about the InSite design?
LW: Coming up with a whole design for a house that fits in shipping containers and is shippable that way: that is unique. They are making this house so that it ships by rail, and I think that’s one of the neatest things in the house. Overall, it’s cool that [the team] has a compact house that showcases a lot of technologies. There’s a lot of steel that goes into the frame, and there’s a lot that’s got to come together.
MC: What has been the biggest challenge for the project?
LW: It’s a small team with a big project, and people sign on and have no idea how big of a project it really is. When crunch time comes and people have other obligations, the biggest challenge is going to be that it needs to stay fun and challenging and not overwhelming. You don’t want the group of people who worked on this thing to, when [they] see each other in a year or five years, just go “Oh my god we knocked heads so bad” and look the other way. So the biggest challenge is keeping it fun and making people glad they did it.
(03/07/13 1:07am)
Coming off an upset win in the quarterfinal round of the NESCAC tournament against Amherst, the men’s hockey team traveled to Brunswick, Maine for a shot at reaching the program’s second consecutive NESCAC title game. Despite getting within two goals of Bowdoin on Robbie Dobrowski’s ‘15 third period goal in the conference semifinal game on Saturday, March 2, Middlebury fell short of the Polar Bears 4-2, cutting short its bid for the NCAA tournament for the third consecutive year.
The Panthers entered the game against Bowdoin hoping that the Polar Bears might struggle to find their offensive rhythm early on, as they did the week before in their 5-3 quarterfinal win against Hamilton. Bowdoin needed a three-goal third period to get by the Continentals, considered to be the weakest team in the tournament field.
Bowdoin, however, bested Middlebury goalkeeper Mike Peters ’15 twice in the first period on a pair of goals from forward Danny Palumbo. Already trailing after Palumbo’s first, the Panthers conceded with just 39 seconds remaining after a nifty passing play from a trio of Bowdoin players to head into the first break down 2-0.
Head coach Bill Beaney spoke about the effect of the demoralizing last-minute goal.
“If you take a hard look at the game, the goal that really hurt us was the goal with 39 seconds left in the first period,” said Beaney. “I thought we played a poor first, and if we could’ve come out down only one goal it would’ve been a morale victory.”
In the second period, Peters put together a string of solid saves at the four-minute mark before Bowdoin broke the away team’s defense once more to stretch its lead to 3-0. This time, Daniel Weiniger intercepted the puck at the Panther blue line before beating a Middlebury defender to finish a snap-shot past Peters 7:29 into the period.
Beaney touched on the difficulty of being three goals down at that point in the contest.
“In the second, our goal was then to come out and get it back to one goal, we had two good looks [early on] and couldn’t convert,” he said. “They got another one and [3-0] is a tough lead to overcome.”
Even though the shot tally remained even through much of the game, with Middlebury’s 17 third-period shots actually giving the Panthers a 34-29 game advantage, Bowdoin frustrated the Panther attack through much of the game.
This changed at the 16:27 mark of the second when All-NESCAC second-team selection Robbie Donahoe ’14 broke through the Bowdoin line late in the period, putting home a rebound off an initial shot from Mike Longo ’14. Down two goals at the end of the second, Beaney called on his team to repeat a similar performance from earlier in the year.
“Basically what we said is, ‘in November we were down 4-2 in the third and we came back to tie 4-4,’” said Beaney. “I told them it was no different now than then. It seemed as though every time we got one they countered with one, though, and we could never get it back to a one-goal game.”
Bowdoin opened the third period by notching a goal at 3:42, before Middlebury’s Dobrowski, with an assist from Max Greenwald ’16, cashed in on a flurry of action in front of the net to make the score 4-2.
Then, with 10 minutes left to play, Middlebury earned a final chance for a comeback in the form of a two-man advantage on a pair of Bowdoin penalties. The Panthers failed to convert on the opportunity, going zero for three on the power play overall in the game.
“I thought that was going to be our opportunity to get back into the game. We had a couple of good lucks and I thought that the puck was in the right place, but we weren’t able to execute,” said Beaney. “You need some luck on the power play, and we didn’t get a whole lot of it on that one. I think that had we gotten one there it would’ve changed the game going forward.”
To finish the game, Polar Bear goalie Max Fenkell stopped 16 of 17 shots in the third period to put Bowdoin in the NESCAC finals with a 4-2 win.
The next day, Sunday, March 3, Bowdoin skated to the NESCAC championship with a 2-1 win against Williams, who defeated Trinity 4-2 in the other semifinal the day before.
The Panthers are now left to face another offseason of work to get Middlebury back to the NCAA tournament. Not since Middlebury lost to Plattsburgh State in overtime three years ago in January 2010 has the team seen NCAA tournament action.
The Panthers will look towards a bevy of returning talent, including NESCAC Rookie of the Year Matt Silcoff ’16, who finished the season with 11 goals and 13 assists, and All-NESCAC second team selection Donahoe to do the job next year.
“There were a number of games this year where Matt was best player on the ice for either team,” said Beaney. “If he can take a step back and put in some work in the offseason, he really could become one of the great Middlebury players. While, I thought Robbie on Saturday up in Maine was the best player on the ice, period – he was all over the ice making plays and creating chances.”
Beaney also pointed to the coaching staff’s frustration over Louis Belisle ’14 not receiving an all-NESCAC selection after his stellar play this year, both on offense and defense.
As the season came to an end on Saturday, graduating captain Mathieu Castonguay ’13 is confident the team will have a number of players returning to leadership roles.
“There is a ton of firepower returning to the team next year and I think that Peters can be proud of what he accomplished [in net] towards the end of the season,” he said.
Peters is also proud of how is team performed towards the end of the year.
“I think that the team really stepped it up at the end of the year,” said Peters. “I think that we have a lot of talented first-years on the team who now have gotten acclimated to college hockey and we will look to them to be more consistent contributors next season.”
Panther faithful now begin the eight-month wait for puck drop in November 2013.
(02/27/13 11:27pm)
Heading into this past weekend’s NESCAC tournament quarterfinal matchup against Amherst on Saturday, Feb. 23, the Middlebury men’s hockey team did not have recent history in its favor.
Middlebury was 0-5 in its last five games against the Lord Jeffs heading into last Saturday’s contest, including a 5-3 loss just a week before and a close, 4-3 defeat in last year’s tournament title game. In fact, not since a 4-1 regular season win in January 2011, 25 months before, had the Panthers bested Amherst.
Despite Amherst’s recent series domination, Middlebury used four unanswered goals, including two in the third period by Louis Belisle ’14, to hold on for a 4-3 win and advance to its 13th NESCAC semifinal game in 14 seasons. The Panthers are slated to take on the number-seven Bowdoin Polar Bears this Saturday, March 2, for an opportunity to compete in the program’s 12th NESCAC title game.
Even though the Panthers had some recent struggles at the hands of Amherst, head coach Bill Beaney said his team was prepared for the challenge.
“I think that of the five games we lost to them, if you take away the empty net goals, you had five one-goal games that could’ve gone either way,” said Beaney. “You have to believe in yourself and keep doing the little things. I also can’t tell you that we played better this past Saturday than the previous one.”
Belisle echoed his coach’s outlook on the matchup.
“We knew that we’re going to play a fierce Amherst squad, and that all the returning players still remember the loss in the final game last year,” he said. “We were in a bit of a slump against this team in the past few years, but we were not going to let them end our season two years in a row.”
Both teams opened the game playing solid defensive hockey. After remaining knotted at zero for the game’s first 16 minutes, Amherst’s Andrew Kurlandski jammed a rebound past Middlebury goalie Mike Peters ’15 to give the home team the 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
Even though his team played strong defense, Belisle talked a little bit about his team’s slow offensive start.
“We played a strong first period, but we seemed to be hesitant to go forward and attack with numbers in the offensive zone, and [Amherst] capitalized on a turnover,” he said. “Starting the second period we applied pressure on them, attacked with speed and created odd man rushes. We took control of the game and imposed our rhythm.”
Captain Chris Steele ’13 also mentioned how Peters kept the team in the game in the second period.
“Mike Peters was great in the net for us, especially in the second period,” said Steele. “He made a bunch of saves that kept us in it and the team rallied around that. Knowing that Peters was on top of his game allowed us to impose our style of play on Amherst for a large part of the game.”
The turning point for the Panthers came at 6:54 of the second period, when Robbie Donahoe ’14 converted on a four-on-three power play opportunity with assists from Matt Silcoff ’16 and Ronald Fishman ’16. Then, after several impressive saves from Peters to keep the game tied, Robbie Dobrowski ’15 scored off an Amherst turnover at the 13:24 mark.
Beaney spoke to the importance of Peters’s play and Dobrowski’s go-ahead goal in the second.
“The big difference was our goaltender Peters played well and in my opinion won the game for us in the second period when Amherst had a number of opportunities that he stopped,” said Beaney. “He didn’t give second chances and anticipated where the puck would be and was huge in that regard. On Dobrowski’s goal, Trevor Pollock ’13 did a great job forechecking, knocked a puck loose onto the stick of Dobrowski – a positive goal for us.”
In the third period, Belisle took over the offensive load to seal the game for Middlebury. He struck first 3:24 into the frame when he took a feed from Evan Neugold ’16 and buried a wrist shot in the top left corner of the net. Then, after holding Amherst out of the net for the next 12 minutes, Belisle beat the Amherst goalie with a low five-hole shot, finding helpers from Dobrowski and Silcoff.
Belisle said he was happy to help his team with the two goals.
“It was very important for the team to come out strong in the third period, and put the game out of reach early,” he said. “We swarmed them right from the drop of the puck, and I was able to take advantage of great plays made by my teammates. Those were undoubtedly two of the most important goals of my Middlebury career, and they came as a result of a relentless effort by the team. Our main goal was to win the game, and this is what I am most excited about.”
Beaney also spoke highly of his junior’s clutch performance.
“[Belisle] led the way, and the goals were huge,” said Beaney. “He has really come on from a scoring perspective since we moved him back to defense. He has to be one of the, if not the, top-scoring defenseman in the NESCAC. Playing from the back allows him to attack with speed and to create a lot of opportunities. We nominated him for a NESCAC all-star selection, and he has been one of our top three or four players this year.”
Belisle, with his 13 goals and 10 assists, along with Silcoff, with 11 goals and 12 assists, are tied for 11th in total league scoring with 23 points apiece.
After leading 4-1 late in the period, the Panthers survived a late scare when Amherst scored two goals in the game’s final three minutes. After Kevin Ryder scored his third of the year at 17:13, Kurlandski added his second of the game with an extra Amherst attacker on the ice. Middlebury withstood the late onslaught, escaping with the 4-3 win.
“When things at the end started to get close there was a sense of calm confidence on the bench and we knew we were going to get it done,” said Steele. “[Peters] showed great maturity throughout the game, and there was never a doubt that he would get the job done.”
Looking forward to Saturday’s matchup against Bowdoin, the Panthers need to find some success against a team that recently stymied them in a 3-0 loss on Jan. 19, despite outshooting the Polar Bears by 13.
“I think this group could win the whole NESCAC championshsip,” said Beaney. “We’ve always had great games against Bowdoin – we’ve had a good run in the playoffs against them. I know our guys will come in playing loose and confident, and the game will be fun with a great atmosphere.”
Steele also stressed the importance of preparation and focus in practice leading up to the game.
“Preparation in practice this week will be the key to success in the NESCAC semis,” he said. “As a team we have matured since last playing Bowdoin, and the younger guys now have a little bit of experience with playoff hockey. It’s a new season and I know that our guys are ready to take advantage of the opportunity we have at hand.”
(02/20/13 6:17pm)
In a regular season filled with its fair share of high and low points for the Middlebury men’s hockey team, the squad managed to rebound from a lackluster 5-7-2 start to post a 12-10-2 overall record, good for fifth place in the NESCAC with an 11-5-2 mark in conference play. This past weekend saw the Panthers split a pair of road games, recording a commanding 6-1 win against Hamilton before falling 5-3 to Amherst on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 15 and 16.
Middlebury must now again make the drive to Amherst this coming Saturday, Feb. 23, for its quarterfinal matchup in the conference tournament, as Trinity’s 10-5 win over Bowdoin on Monday, Feb. 18, solidified the Panthers in the conference’s number-five spot.
Perhaps the turning point of the season can be traced back to a 7-1 loss at Plattsburgh on Jan. 11, the final game in a woeful stretch of play that saw the Panthers mired in a 1-6-0 slump. Since that loss, the Panthers have righted the ship, going 7-3-0 over the final 10 games of the year to secure a NESCAC tournament bid. Forward Michael Longo ’14 talked about how that game changed things for the team.
“The Plattsburgh game struck at our pride more so than anything else this season,” said Longo. “We had been kind of floating through the season with mixed results until that game which brought many of our problems into focus. It has been a better daily approach to practice that has made us more successful over the past month.”
The change in approach has paid dividends for the team, clearly demonstrated by the offensive display put on in the first 10 minutes of the Hamilton win. Matt Silcoff ’16 and Ben Wiggins ’14 broke the game wide open in its first 85 seconds, netting goals on a pair of second-chance opportunities. Connor Frick ’16 then blasted a slap shot from the top of the faceoff circle 8:31 into the game before Silcoff added his second of the game on a backhand attempt a minute later.
Despite Hamilton adding one in the last minute of the first period, the Panthers cruised to an emphatic victory with Evan Neugold ’16 and Robbie Dobrowski ’15 each adding tallies for the 6-1 win. Neugold and Silcoff led the way for the Panthers, recording three points apiece. Head coach Bill Beaney spoke about his team’s strong performance.
“We started the game with a lot of jump, and I thought the guys were skating well and were alert,” said Beaney. “We really demoralized Hamilton, and instead of sitting back we went ahead and got the fifth and the sixth goals with solid execution in all aspects of the game.”
Both Longo and Beaney were impressed with the efforts of the first-years.
“Silky and Neugold have been great offensively for us,” said Longo. “They have had amazing years are just a part of a really, really good [first-year] class. Although Silky and Neugold may get more recognition because of the points, guys in that grade have been getting it done in other ways all year. In addition to their on-ice performance, they have made some of the elderly members of the team feel like they are 21 year-old freshmen all over again.”
Beaney spoke to the importance of the duo’s continued point production.
“As I’ve spoken about before, our scoring has been spread out,” said Beaney. “However, for us to be successful, Matt and Evan need to be consistent threats.They’re both on our power play and got some quality minutes against Hamilton. They generated solid offense, both themselves and getting people in the back involved.”
The 5-3 loss to Amherst on Saturday may prove more troubling for the Panthers, as the team will face the same squad in the NESCAC quarterfinals this Saturday after losing five straight games to the Lord Jeffs dating back to January 2011, including last year’s conference tournament championship game.
Middlebury held a 3-2 lead 6:25 into the third period against Amherst on Saturday after George Ordway ’14 scored on the power play off assists from Louis Belisle ’14 and Dobrowski. Things then fell apart for the Panthers, however, as Amherst netted three goals in the game’s final 12 minutes to secure the 5-3 win. Despite the last period letdown, Beaney is complementary of his team’s effort.
“We played solid for two-and-a-half periods, and the only time we didn’t play solid was in the first 10 minutes of the game,” said Beaney. “I think if we play that way again I like our chances of beating them again. It was a tough loss, but it was also a good experience for our goaltender. [Mike Peters ’15] had his way for the last two games, and against Amherst he faced some more shots than he was used to.”
Speaking on the goaltending situation, Beaney is keeping his cards close to the vest as to who will start Saturday at Amherst, although it appears that whoever performs better in practice will get the nod. Peters has started the past three games for the team, although Dan Fullam ’14, Liam Moorfield-Ye ’16 and Nick BonDurant ’14 have all started in net for the Panthers this year.
According to Longo, the team isn’t worried which guy is back in net.
“It’s very unique to have so many guys capable of stepping in and performing at a high level,” said Longo. “Such depth at goalie makes practices even more competitive. The great thing about our goalie situation is that each one can bring us success in the playoffs, and whoever earns it during practice will be the one who ultimately gets the start on the weekend.”
Looking towards the NESCAC tournament this weekend, Beaney says it could be anyone’s for the taking.
“I think that any one of the top six teams can win,” said Beaney. “It comes down to who is sharper, who is healthier and whose special teams and goaltending can get it done – that’s playoff hockey. I look back to our national championships, and the three things that stand out are strong special teams, good goaltending and your third line is better than theirs.”
Middlebury travels this weekend to Amherst in the NESCAC quarterfinals.
(02/13/13 10:31pm)
On Feb. 4, 2012, the then 7-8-3 Middlebury men’s hockey team defeated Wesleyan 3-2 on the road. Following that win, the team went on a 7-1-0 run to end the season, losing a closely fought NESCAC championship game to Amherst.
While the 2013 season is far from over for the Panthers, Middlebury’s 4-1 win against Connecticut College on Jan. 25 so far has propelled the team to an eerily similar result, both in timing and in form, as last year’s squad. After the Conn. Coll. victory, Middlebury skated to three straight wins against Tufts, Wesleyan and Trinity, before splitting a home-and-home series with Williams this past weekend, February 9 and 10. The Panthers, now 11-9-2, are 6-2-0 in their last eight games and sit at third place in the NESCAC with a conference record of 10-4-2. This weekend’s games against Hamilton and Amherst, Feb. 15 and 16, mark a turning point for the Panthers, as the team could finish anywhere between first or fifth in the NESCAC with the tournament looming.
One of the most noticeable changes for the Panthers has been in the net. Following a 3-0 defeat against Bowdoin on Jan. 19, head coach Bill Beaney turned to Dan Fullam ’15, a keeper that previously only had one start on the season. Since filling in at net, Fullam has posted a 4-1-0 record, with his only hiccup coming last Saturday, Feb. 9 in a 6-2 at Williams where he was lifted in favor of Nick BonDurant ’14. Fullam spoke about his mentality after Beaney called his number for the start.
“I was definitely motivated going in when I did because I knew our team was at a crucial point in the season and we needed to get a pair of wins to get on a roll before the end,” said Fullam. “Our team responded very well to the adversity we faced and obviously winning four in a row was a promising sign.”
While Beaney is encouraged by the play of his goalkeepers, he also mentioned that the team, especially with Fullam now nursing a minor injury, is still looking for a consistent starter going forward. Mike Peters ’15 was given his first start of the year in Sunday’s 3-1 win against Williams, making him the fourth Middlebury goalie to see ice time this season.
“We’re trying to settle on a guy who is going to give us the best chance to win night in and night out,” said Beaney. “It’s frustrating for [the goalies] if they don’t get consistent starts, but its also frustrating for us when we’re trying to find the right guy to lead us going forward. It is very rare to start four goalies in year.”
Another positive trend for the team is a recent increase in scoring, as prior to the Conn. Coll. win the Panthers failed to score more than two goals in seven of nine games dating back to Dec. 8.
Since the win against the Camels, Middlebury has outscored opponents 23-15, with Derek Pimentel ’15 (21 points), Louis Belisle ’14 (11 goals) and Mat Silcoff ’16 (18 points) leading the way on offense. Beaney highlighted his team’s recent offensive output.
“Playing so many young guys early on took the players time to get acclimated to the pace of play and physicality, as well as to our unique system,” said Beaney. “Our group has been playing with greater awareness and is much more ‘in the zone’ than when we were going through that [scoring] drought. If you look at the team, it’s a balanced group, and its not one guy getting it done game in and game out. That’s a great thing, but when you have to score by committee everyone has to be ready.”
Beaney also pointed to better play in his team’s defensive zone as a key contributer to the team’s strong play.
“Part of the reason for our most recent success is that practice has been consistent, while play in our defensive end has been better,” said Beaney. “We’ve made a much better defensive effort and this leads to offensive opportunities, including many transition goals.”
Looking forward, the team has its sights set on closing the season strong, as this coming weekend’s results will determine if Middlebury will host one or more NESCAC tournament games.
“I feel like our team is ready to make a run in the NESCAC tournament,” said Fullam. “Another successful weekend will be crucial as we head into playoffs and hopefully secure a first-round home game.”
(02/12/13 12:52am)
On Tuesday, Jan. 29, the Middlebury men's soccer team "drafted" Dmitri Duval, a local 6 year-old from Crown Point, N.Y. suffering from juvenile dermatomyositis. After being diagnosed in August 2009, Dmitri took high doses of IV steroids, oral steroids and methotrexate (chemo medication), was discharged, and fortunately now is in remission. The men's soccer team joined up with Team IMPACT to draft Dmitri. Dmitri loves soccer, and is happy to be a member of the Middlebury athletic community. For more information about Dmitri visit his Facebook.
(01/24/13 12:57am)
The Middlebury men’s hockey team finds itself in an increasingly tenuous position as the heart of the conference schedule carries on. The team, which on Nov. 26 saw itself pegged as the eighth-ranked school in Division III hockey, has dropped seven of its last nine contests dating back to Dec. 8 and now holds an overall record of 6-8-2. Even with this middle-of-the-road tally, however, the Panthers maintain a 5-3-2 record in the NESCAC, which is good enough for fifth in the league and a trip to the conference tournament. This past weekend saw Middlebury keep its conference hopes alive as the Panthers split a pair of NESCAC games, besting Colby 5-3 on Friday, Jan. 18 before falling to a talented third-ranked Bowdoin team by a score of 3-0 the next day.
Despite recording the win against Colby, however, Middlebury ended the first period in a 2-0 hole. The Mules capitalized 5:54 into the game off a rebound chance, then added another goal 10 minutes later on a wrist shot to the top-right corner.
Middlebury found its legs in the second, as a string of three goals in the first 10 minutes put the Panthers up 3-2. Chris Steele ’13 snapped a goal home just 1:37 into the frame off a face-off win by fellow senior Chris Brown ’13. Evan Neugold ’16 then converted at 9:51 off a feed from first-year Matt Silcoff ’16 before Derek Pimentel ’15 tipped in a Robbie Donahoe ’13 on the power play. Colby found an equalizer shortly after, however, and the teams skated into the third tied at 3.
In the third, Brown recorded his second point on the night as he put home a rebound on an initial shot from Max Greenwald ’16. Colby threatened to push the game to overtime until Pimentel scored an empty-net goal with seconds to go, sealing the win.
With 18 saves on 21 shots, first-year goalie Liam Moorfield-Yee ’16 picked up his first career collegiate hockey victory, which pushes his record 1-5-0 on the season.
On Saturday, regardless of their 38-25 shot advantage, the Panthers failed to beat Bowdoin goalkeeper Max Fenkell who kept his record a spotless 6-0-1 on the year.
The Polar Bears netted what became the deciding marker just 43 seconds into the game, as a backhand chance proved too much for Moorfield-Yee. Bowdoin tallied two more in the second period, including one goal on the power play, before a scoreless third put the final at 3-0. The score, according to head coach Bill Beaney, was representative of a gap that now exists between the two sides.
“There were key points in the Bowdoin game that we could’ve turned it around and potentially gotten the win,” said Beaney. “But as I told my team, ‘The better team won and hopefully we get a chance to play them in the playoffs.’”
Middlebury now faces two away NESCAC contests against conference bottom-feeders Connecticut College and Tufts next Friday and Saturday, Jan. 25 and 26.
“We haven’t scored many goals recently and that should get us excited to play this weekend,” said Beaney. “[As a program,] we’ve been in all but two NESCAC title games since the tournament started 13 years ago. If the student body could get behind this group, it would provide exciting hockey down the stretch.”