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(02/28/18 11:53pm)
In 2016, the Middlebury men’s lacrosse team lost to Tufts in the Nescac championship game by a score of 20–14, finishing their season with a 12–7 record. In 2017, the Panthers finished sixth in the Nescac in the regular season, but made a run to the finals in the playoffs. In what would have been an unlikely story, the Panthers ultimately fell short to Wesleyan 9–8 in the Nescac championship game.
With the past two seasons in the back of the returning Panthers’ minds, they aim to finally get over the hump and win the conference title for the first time since 2007, the end of Middlebury’s stretch of dominance in Nescac men’s lacrosse when they won the conference title eight straight years.
As one of the team captains, Nick Peterson ’18, points out, a Nescac championship is the team’s long-term goal. There are many small steps the Panthers need to take in order to have a chance at their larger goals.
“We always enter each season with the mindset of one game at a time and try not to look too far ahead,” Peterson said. “That being said, we want to win the Nescac championship before anything else. In order to compete for a National Championship, we first need to win our league and enter the month of May playing our best lacrosse. Our expectations are to approach each practice and game with the same mentality day in and day out.”
In the Nescac playoffs last season, Middlebury upset third-seeded Amherst 12–11 and previously undefeated and top-seeded Bates 14–13 to reach the Nescac finals, where its season ended with a 9–8 loss to Wesleyan.
Still, the Panthers were playing their best lacrosse at the end of the season.
“I think the reason our season ended on a strong note with our run to the finals was because we so enjoyed being together as a team, and did not want our time with each other to end,” Parker Lawlor ’18 said. “We played like we had nothing to lose.”
If the Panthers want to challenge for the Nescac title this spring, a good place to start is repeating what they were doing at the end of last season.
They will be without six of last season’s starters due to graduation, but the Panthers still return a wealth of experience, including their top-five point-getters from last season.
“It’s always hard to replace any senior class, but we feel that we have a great group of returning players who can step into the roles that we lost to graduation,” Peterson said. “The biggest position we lost last year was our long stick middies, but we have a few younger guys who have worked hard in the offseason and the preseason to step into this spot and be productive for our team.”
A.J. Kucinski ’20 scored 38 goals and 36 assists to lead the team in points, and Henry Riehl ’18 led the team in goals with 53. Lawlor and Danny Jacobs ’20 both added 29 points.
Returning on defense are Eric Rogers ’18, who started 13 games, and Clay Hunt ’19, who started in 11. Chase Midgley ’19 started in 11 games in goal last season, and saved 55.4 percent of shots in net.
Leading the team will be seniors, Peterson, Lawlor, Riehl, Rogers, Wes Quinzani ’18, Henry Giarrusso ’18, John Jackson ’18, Stephen Clarke ’18 and Kenan Yates ’18.
Lawlor is convinced that his fellow classmates have done an excellent job in creating a welcoming and encouraging environment for all of the team’s players.
“I think that, as a senior class this year, we have focused on building strong relationships and building a culture in which everyone is valued, no matter their role on the team,” Lawlor said. “I feel confident saying that this is the tightest team I have played on in my four years here.”
The tight-knit community Lawlor describes will be crucial with the addition of 14 first-year players, who will be eager to contribute to the team.
After last season’s successes, including its win over previously undefeated Bates, and failures, its loss to ninth-place Colby, for example, Middlebury knows its season can take a lot of different routes.
“We can beat anyone,” Lawlor said.
But, as last season demonstrated, beating one good team does not make a season. As Peterson and Parker pointed out, the Panthers need to treat every moment on the lacrosse field as if it is their last, if they want to achieve their lofty goals.
The men’s lacrosse team’s first game is this Saturday, March 3, at 1 p.m, when the Panthers will host No. 14 Bates, a rematch of last year’s Nescac semifinals.
(02/22/18 2:41am)
Behind 50–44 with 9:55 remaining on their home court, No. 14 Wesleyan outscored No. 18 Middlebury 29–15 the rest of the way to defeat the Panthers 73–65 in the Nescac Quarterfinals last Saturday, Feb. 17. The fourth-seeded Cardinals (20–5) defeated the fifth-seeded Panthers (19–6) for the second time this season to move on to the Nescac semifinals, while Middlebury will wait until Monday, Feb. 26, to see if it receives an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Entering this year, Middlebury had defeated Wesleyan 15 games in a row, dating back to the 2004-05 season, but the Cardinals snapped that streak with their 80–70 win on Jan. 6.
Wesleyan’s rise in the Nescac hierarchy has corresponded with the arrival of Joe Reilly as head coach, who has brought Wesleyan from a 1–8 conference record the year before he became coach to a 7–3 record and a tie for first-place in the Nescac this year. Reilly has also guided the Cardinals to the NCAA tournament two of the last three seasons.
Middlebury jumped out to a 4–0 lead in the first half of Saturday’s game, but never led by more than six points in the first half. Wesleyan tied the score on four different occasions in a low-scoring first half. The Panthers turned Wesleyan’s 11 first half turnovers into nine points to take a 32–28 lead into halftime. The Cardinals hung around by hitting six of their 13 three-point attempts, including Antone Walker coming off the bench to drain all three of his shots from beyond the arc.
Out of the locker room, Wesleyan converted an old-fashioned three-point play and made another from beyond the arc in the first minute of action to take a two-point lead, their first of the game. Seven minutes later, behind by one point, Middlebury, driven by seven points from Griffin Kornaker ’21, went on a 9–2 run to retake the lead, 50–44.
Once more, Wesleyan responded, tying the game at 50 before going on what would prove to be the game’s decisive run. From Kornaker’s layup at the 9:55 mark to put Middlebury ahead 50–44, until another Kornaker bucket with 2:08 remaining, the Panthers made only one field goal in six attempts, from Jack Daly ’18 and turned the ball over four times. Wesleyan outscored Middlebury 20–7 in that crucial stretch of almost eight minutes.
As Daly noted, Wesleyan “was able to keep us off the offensive glass down the stretch. That’s been one of our biggest strengths this year and they did a great job of limiting our shot opportunities each possession.”
Entering the game, Middlebury averaged 15.67 offensive rebounds per game, almost two more than any other team in the conference. On Saturday, Middlebury grabbed 12, most of which were team offensive rebounds off blocked shots, and zero as Wesleyan took the lead in this eight-minute stretch. Wesleyan blocked 11 shots as a team, including eight by Jordan Sears.
Kornaker’s basket at the 2:08 mark brought Middlebury within five, 64–59, but Wesleyan made enough free throws in the last two minutes to secure a 73–65 victory and a spot in the Nescac Semifinals.
65 points is Middlebury’s lowest scoring mark this season, for a team that averaged 81 points per game entering the playoff game on Saturday.
A lot of credit goes to Wesleyan, who has had one of the stingiest defenses in the Nescac this season, ranked first in opponent field goal percentage and second in scoring defense.
“Wesleyan is one of the best defensive teams in the country, so we knew it was going to be a battle,” Daly said. “Offensively, we had great movement on the perimeter, but not much attacking and dishing the ball in the last 10 minutes.”
Daly led the Panthers in defeat with 20 points, including 14 in the second half, and six assists. Matt Folger ’20 added 17 points, six rebounds and four steals, and Kornaker scored nine off the bench.
Wesleyan will play top-seeded Amherst this Saturday, Feb. 26, in the semifinals. In the other semifinal game, second-seeded Williams matches up with third-seeded Hamilton.
The Panthers will hold their breath until Monday, Feb. 19, when the NCAA DIII Committee makes its selections for the 64-team tournament field. 43 conference champions receive automatic bids into the tournament, leaving 21 spots for at-large teams. Middlebury is no. 18 in this week’s D3hoops.com national poll. In the final poll before last season’s selections, 13 of the 21 teams to receive at-large bids were not ranked. The Panthers should be in a good position to receive a bid, but no one knows for sure until the committee releases its decisions on Monday, Feb. 26.
The Panthers were as high as No. 5 in the country before three consecutive losses that knocked them out of the first-seed in the Nescac playoffs and then the playoffs themselves. But those losses were on the road to No.13 Hamilton, Amherst, and Wesleyan, three of the teams who tied for first in the Nescac, along with Middlebury and Williams.
“Right now it’s all about keeping a positive mindset, practicing hard every day, and watching as much film as we can to learn from our mistakes,” said Daly. “It’s all about remaining focused over the next couple of weeks. As Coach has been saying all year, we just need to stay the course despite the bumps in the road.”
The Panthers had a stretch like this one earlier in the season, when they lost to three out of five games to No. 12 York, No. 11 Swarthmore and Wesleyan. That time, they responded by rattling off 12-straight victories, including a win over Nescac rival, No. 8 Wesleyan.
If Middlebury is chosen for one of the 21 at-large bids, they will play in the NCAA tournament for the ninth time in 11 seasons. However, unlike last season when the Panthers hosted all four of its tournament games, they will likely be on the road in every game they play. 16 teams host the first two rounds of the 64-team tournament, and as the 18th-ranked team eliminated from the Nescac playoffs early, Middlebury is most likely on the outside looking in at that conversation. Head Coach Jeff Brown is not unfamiliar to playing on the road in the NCAA tournament though. In Middlebury’s first and only trip to the Final Four in the 2010-2011 season, the Panthers received a bye in the first round and won its second game at home, before going on the road to win their next two games to advance to the national semifinals.
At the beginning of the season, the Panthers set their sights on returning to Salem, Maine, to play in the Final Four. Despite this recent losing streak, that goal is still within reach, provided history holds.
Seniors Daly, who has already left his mark on the Middlebury record books, Nick Tarantino ’18 and Adisa Majors ’18 certainly are not prepared to let the season and their careers end. They and the Panthers have won a lot this year, and lost some close games to tough teams. Still, it seems like the final chapter on the 2017-2018 Middlebury men’s basketball team has not been written yet.
(02/22/18 2:40am)
Following a third-place finish at Nescacs earlier this month, where the Panthers pulled off a 5–4 win over Amherst, the 15th-ranked women’s squash team headed to the CSA Team Championships in Boston last weekend to compete in the B draw for the Kurtz Cup. They finished their season ranked 15th, after losing their first two matches of the weekend then defeating Amherst in a rematch on Sunday, Feb. 18.
Middlebury entered the weekend as a huge underdog — the Panthers were the 15th-ranked team in a draw that features the ninth through 16th-ranked teams. While they were the second lowest ranked team in the draw, their morale was high.
They began by facing No. 10 Dartmouth, the same team the Panthers lost to 8–1 earlier this season on their home courts.
Virginia Schaus ’21, who performed consistently well throughout her first season with the Panthers, claimed Middlebury’s only point against Dartmouth in a four-set triumph (11–3, 9–11, 11–7, 11–7) against Julia Potter at No. 6.
While the Panthers only tallied one point against the Big Green, several matches stood out as near misses for Middlebury. One of those was Alexa Comai ’19’s matchup in the No. 3 slot.
Comai battled into the fifth set against Dartmouth’s Sandra Reiss despite dropping the first game of the match 11–5. Comai quickly recovered though, and manufactured some momentum as she fought back to win the next two games 11–3 and 11–4, which made the next two games potential close-out sets. Unfortunately, after a hard fought fourth set, Comai ’19 fell 11–9, she could not get her energy back up for the fifth game and lost 11–3.
In the middle of the ladder, Anne Glassie ’20 and Natalie Madden ’21 missed the chance to pull off victories in their matches that went all the way to a fifth set. At No. 4, Glassie ’20 dropped the first two games against opponent Brynn Bank, 11–3, 11–7. But the tide changed when she fought tooth and nail for the third set, securing it with a score 13–11, before falling in the fourth set 11–7.
Madden ’21, another outstanding Panther rookie lost at No. 5 against Janel Gaube in a closely contested four set match 11–3, 11–7, 8–11, 11–4.
After falling to Dartmouth, Middlebury went on to play No. 14 Virginia in the consolation semifinal, where the Panthers fell to Virginia for the second time this season. Although, by only falling 7–2 this time around, the Panthers improved on their 8–1 showing earlier in the season.
In last weekend’s meeting with Virginia, the Panthers managed to get off to a good start when Natasha Lowitt ’20 tied the overall match 1–1 by winning a four set nailbiter in the No. 9 slot (11–7, 4–11, 13–11, 14–12). Unfortunately the winning streak didn’t last as Virginia won the next six matches, leading with a score of 7–1.
Mira Chugh ’20 put up a good fight in a tough five set match at No. 8 against Isabelle Ezratty. Chugh led the match with a two-game lead, 14–12, 11–5 but was then overtaken the next three sets 11–4, 11–8, 11–9.
At the top of the ladder, Beatrijs Kuijpers ’19’s match was the last on the day for the Panthers. Kuijpers ended the match on her terms as she defeated Carey Danforth in a well played four set match (11–9, 7–11, 11–4, 11–6). Their 7–2 loss to Virginia sent the Panthers onto the 15th-versus-16th-place game against Amherst. The matchup with the Mammoths offered a chance for the Panthers to finish in the top 15 in the year-end rankings for the ninth time in the last 10 seasons.
The team’s head coach, Mark Lewis, talked about how proud the team should be given the level of competition it faced in the first two rounds at nationals.
“We played really strong teams in the first two rounds (Dartmouth and UVA), played pretty well and learned that the team that applies pressure, sustains that pressure and relieves pressure tends to win.” But even after the two losses, the Panthers looked forward to apply pressure against Amherst to claim the 15th rank.
Rounding out the three day tournament with a 6–3 victory over Amherst in the 15/16 match, the Panthers finished their season with a 12–10 record.
Lowitt got things started on the right foot for the Panthers in the No. 9 slot, as she won a four-game match over Ashira Mawji. Undeterred from losing the first set 11–8, Lowitt powered through full force, claiming the next three sets, 11–5, 11–7, 11–7.
The Mammoths went on to two consecutive victories at No. 3 and No. 6 to gain a momentary 2–1 advantage. Comai put up a fight with a five set match in the No. 3 slot, narrowly falling by a score of 9–11, 11–6, 11–8, 5–11, 11–8. The loss at No. 6 by Schaus was also closely contested (6–11, 11–3, 11–8, 13–11).
Chugh’s result in the No. 8 slot broke the Mammoths winning streak. She racked up a four-game triumph over Pierson Klein. After losing the first set relatively quickly 11–3, Chugh made a huge comeback and won the next very close three sets, 11–9, 11–8, 11–8.
After that, the tide changed for the Panthers as they went on to win the next three consecutive matches. The wins came from Madden at No. 5, Emily Beinkampen ’21 in the No. 7 slot, and Lucy Bostwick ’18 at the No. 2.
Madden slipped past Madison Chen with a close four setter with a score of 11–9, 8–11, 11–8, 11–9. Beinkampen locked down her match in only three games (11–7, 11–7, 12–10), rounding out her first season on a positive note. Bostwick clinched a deciding five set match against Haley McAtee with a close score of 9–11, 11–5, 11–3, 8–11, 11–1.
The Mammoths gave a final push, breaking the Panthers’ winning streak with a three-game win at No. 4 (11–5, 11–6, 11–8), making the score 5–3. Kuijpers closed out the match, and tournament, with a three-game triumph against Kimberly Krayacich (11–6, 12–10, 11–9) in the top spot on the ladder.
Comai reflected on the tournament and the season in general.
“This season obviously had its high and low points,” Comai said. “I felt that overall the team really came together both on and off the courts.”
Coach Lewis agreed with Comai’s sentiments.
“In the match against Amherst we put in a really strong performance,” Lewis said. “Overall the season was good. Every team member had some wins and in their losses hopefully walked away with some valuable takeaways.”
Some great contributing factors to a solid season for the Panthers boiled down to great leadership and a strong support system, even from the underclassmen.
“We had a lot of great freshman who had an enormously positive contribution to the team and I am excited to see how they can help us to be even better next year,” said Comai.
“This year we had amazing leadership under our captain, Lucy Bostwick, as well as the rest of the senior class. We feel super grateful for everything that they have done for us and will miss them dearly.”
The women’s squash team is officially finished with their season, except for a select few competing in the Individual CSA championship in Washington D.C., March 2–4. After a grueling and competitive season, most of the Panthers are ready for a break, but also looking forward to continue training hard, getting prepared for the next season.
“I think after a little break we want to try to do a lot of match play and captains practices this spring to keep our skill level and fitness high,” Comai said on behalf of her Panther teammates who are already looking forward to the team’s potential going forward. “We also want to try to incorporate a lot of mental fitness training this spring and fall in order to allow each of us to be in our best competitive headspace come season.”
(02/22/18 2:32am)
In an exciting and tightly contested bout, the Wesleyan Cardinals (17–7) managed to escape Pepin Gym last Saturday, Feb. 17, with a 63–62 win over the women’s basketball team (17–8) in the Nescac quarterfinals.
Middlebury and Wesleyan met earlier in the season on Jan. 6, in what also was a home game for the Panthers. The Panthers comfortably won the regular season matchup by a 17 point margin, with guard Lily Kuntz ’20 scoring a career-high 13 points.
Both teams traded blows out of the gate, and Middlebury trailed 6–5 about halfway through the first quarter. Then things changed thanks to the Cardinals getting hot behind the arc. Wesleyan put together a 15–2 run over the span of five minutes run by sinking four out of their six three-point attempts in the quarter. A Betsy Knox ’20 jumper late in the quarter stopped the bleeding, but the Panthers still trailed by a dozen heading into the second.
Facing a 14-point deficit after the Cawrdinals opened the second quarter by hitting a jumper, the Panthers began a spirited effort that would last the rest of the game.
Middlebury began to cut the deficit with fluid ball movement, which began paying off almost immediately as they found easy buckets inside the paint. Catherine Harrison ’20 was able to have her way in down in the post for a majority of the quarter, and a basket from Sabrina Weeks ’18 cut Wesleyan’s lead to just six, 32–26. Over the final two and a half minutes, both teams went on small spurts, but a Knox buzzer-beater allowed the Panthers to have the last laugh and made the halftime deficit a manageable six.
Heading into the third down 36–30, the Panthers’ comeback hopes seemed even more realistic as Maya Davis ’20 almost immediately made a basket to bring the lead down to four.
However, the momentum then shifted in favor of the Cardinals who went on another run, 10–0. But, the Panthers responded this time with a 10–3 run of their own over the remaining minutes of the third which was capped by an Ivy Houde ’19 jumper to cut Wesleyan’s lead to 49–42.
With the crowd on their feet anticipating a comeback, the Cardinals silenced the crowd by playing hard defense. With just under six minutes and the deficit up to a dozen again, 56–44, Middlebury’s urgency caused them to run rampant over a span of three minutes that saw the Panthers go on an 11–0 run and which brought them within a point of the Cardinals.
With about ninety seconds remaining, the Cardinals secured a three and a pair of free-throws and found themselves up 61–55 with 35 seconds remaining on the clock.
On the next possession, Kira Waldman ’20 dribbled the ball up court and hit a step-back jumper from beyond the arc to cut the lead down to three with roughly 27 seconds in the game. Middlebury fouled to extend the game, and Wesleyan made one of two free throws.
With 13 seconds left, the Cardinals fouled Davis who sank two free throws to bring the Panthers within two. Once again, Middlebury fouled and Wesleyan made one of two free throws to make the score 63–60.
In quick succession, Sarah Kaufman ’18 managed to draw a foul on a shot attempt from downtown to be sent to the line for three free throws. After missing the first, she converted the next two and Middlebury was forced to foul with just 2 seconds left on the clock. The Cardinals missed both free throws, but time expired as both teams scrambled for the rebound.
Waldman led the Panthers in scoring with 14 points. The Panthers concluded their season with a 17–8 record, which matches their record from last season. The Panthers were engaged in a hard-fought battle that almost ended in an emphatic comeback. The near-comeback would have been all the more epic given the packed and raucous stands at an energetic Pepin Gym.
(02/15/18 2:03am)
“I can honestly say I’ve been waiting my whole life for this moment,” said field hockey captain Lauren Schweppe ’18 just days after her team won it all for the first time — after years of highs and lows, of high expectations and dashed hopes. Not the NCAA Division III National Championship, mind you. In case you forgot, when she and the rest of the Middlebury field hockey team brought home the national title last fall, it was their second in three years. And as monumental as their achievement was, who’s ever heard of someone “waiting their whole life” to win something for the second time?
“Losing in ’05 was rough,” she continued, “but I think we all felt like this year was our chance for redemption, and it was.” Naturally, she was talking about her hometown team and the champions of Super Bowl LII: the Philadelphia Eagles. And if Schweppe thinks she’s waited a long time, imagine how her parents, her grandparents — heck, the whole city of Philadelphia — feel. Despite being one of the oldest franchises in the NFL (founded in 1933), the Eagles were one of nine teams who had been around for all 51 Super Bowls and hadn’t won a single one.
But on Sunday, February 4 the Eagles crossed their name off the list of teams who have come up short 51 times and hoisted the franchise’s first Lombardi Trophy (still remaining are the Bills, Browns, Cardinals, Chargers, Falcons, Lions, Titans, and Vikings). For most Philadelphia fans, the joy of the victory has as much to do with the company that they’re joining as with the past they’re leaving behind. The two sides are inseparable: for a place that Time Magazine dubbed “The Worst Sports City in America” as recently as 2015, the long-awaited championship tasted that much sweeter on account of all the heart-wrenching seasons that Philadelphia fans have suffered in the past.
Brendan Donohue ’18, a lifelong Eagles fan as well as a member of the Middlebury baseball team, still hasn’t given up hopes for his first collegiate championship — but also didn’t let that get in the way of celebrating Philadelphia’s success. “I grew up as an Eagles fan and watched every game with my dad,” he recalled. “I still remember the devastating feeling we felt each year watching them lose. I can’t explain how amazing it feels to be Super Bowl champions.
“As a 9 year old in 2005, I cried when we lost. This time I cried even harder when we won.”
As befits the city of Philadelphia, the Eagles’ road to the championship was hardly uneventful. After a blistering 10-2 start that had them positioned as easy favorites to win the NFC, their quarterback and MVP candidate Carson Wentz suffered a torn ACL in their week 14 victory over the Los Angeles Rams. Although fans of some teams might have had their doubts, Philadelphia fans — accustomed as they are to hardship and suffering — see doubt as a luxury not worth indulging in. “Philly fans never give up on their team,” said Schweppe. “Even after we lost Wentz, the overwhelming feeling was that we were confident in our team and confident in [Nick] Foles. We knew the Birds would pull through no matter what.”
Nick Foles, the unassuming backup with the goofy grin and who nearly hung up his cleats two years ago, took the helm in Philadelphia after Wentz’s injury. First, a little background: Foles was a third-round pick for the Eagles in 2012, and would step in to play when the starter, Michael Vick, suffered a concussion about midway through the season. In 2013, he tied an NFL record with seven touchdown passes in a single game and finished with one of the best single-season passer ratings of all time (119.3). The next season, Foles’ record was not nearly as clean, as he threw 13 touchdowns but also 10 interceptions in eight games. In his ninth game of the season Foles broke his collarbone, ending his season. At the time the Eagles were 6–2, but they went 4–4 the rest of the way and missed the playoffs. Foles was traded to the Rams after the 2014 campaign, ended up losing the starting position to Case Keenum, and asked to be released after the team drafted Jared Goff the next year. At this point, Foles was moments away from calling it quits and moving on from the NFL, he has said openly since that time. However, he took a chance and signed a contract with the Chiefs to play as a backup under his former coach Andy Reid. He saw limited action as a backup, but wasn’t satisfied with his role on the team and asked to be released; luckily for him, his skillset convinced the Philadelphia Eagles to re-sign him as backup before this past 2017 campaign.
Which brings us back to the weeks following Wentz’s injury. The Eagles had an uncertain finish to the regular season, to say the least: Foles showed some flashes but didn’t look outstanding on the whole, and it would be hard hard to say that the Eagles were coming in to the playoffs on a hot streak after their 6–0 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in week 17 (of course, the Eagles’ starters barely saw the field — after all, that contest didn’t affect their place in the standings — but it certainly wasn’t a high note to end the regular season).
Despite being the number one seed in the NFC coming into their divisional round matchup against the Atlanta Falcons, there was enough doubt surrounding the Eagles team that Las Vegas books actually had them as the underdog coming into the game — at home, to boot. Philadelphia managed to come away with a 15–10 win behind a solid performance from Foles: certainly not resounding enough to silence their critics, but enough to keep them alive for one more week.
But the team kept on driving, and their fans followed suit, doubling down on their grit and even getting a little cocky about it. “The biggest surprise for me,” Donohue said, “was seeing how resilient the team was once we lost our MVP-caliber QB in Carson Wentz. Everyone talks about the Patriots’ ‘Next Man Up’ mentality, but I could guarantee they don’t make it past the divisional round with a backup QB.”
That faith paid dividends during Philadelphia’s head-turning performance in the NFC championship. Facing a Vikings team led by Case Keenum — the same quarterback that took his job a few years earlier on the Rams — Foles threw for three touchdowns and 352 on 26 for 33 passing en route to a 38–7 trouncing of Minnesota. The highlight of the game came with Foles under center with a 24–7 lead on the Vikings’ 41-yard line: Doug Pederson, the Philadelphia coach who never met a trick play he didn’t like, called the flea-flicker that would seal the game when Foles lofted a pass carefully into the hands of Torrey Smith just inside the end-zone pylon.
Sure, there was some time left in the game at this point, but the narrative for Super Bowl LII was already starting to take shape. Waiting for the Eagles were the New England Patriots juggernaut, led by the Brady-Belichick duo with five Super Bowls to their credit — including last year’s, which they won with the greatest comeback in NFL history, let alone on the biggest stage in football. It was the evil empire versus the lovable losers, the playoff perennials that everybody loves to hate against the against-all-odds, down-but-not-out upstarts with their eyes on the throne. Luke Skywalker versus Darth Vader; Rocky Balboa versus Apollo Creed.
Any sports fan could find a team to root for under such circumstances; still, many student-athletes might feel a special affinity for the thrill of this particular athletic contest, since so often in their own careers they’ve been in the place of one if not both teams on the field. Take Schweppe, who, despite being a Philadelphia fan, plays for a Middlebury team that has more or less been the New England Patriots of Division III field hockey, let alone the Nescac, over the past few years. The fact that she could personally relate to the swagger and absolute confidence that the Patriots play with, only made it all the more exciting for her to root for her underdog Eagles on the big stage. “I think any athlete can relate to the competitive spirit of the Super Bowl,” she later said. “Although it’s definitely more stressful being a spectator who can only sit and scream at her TV than being one of the actual athletes on the field with the game in your hands.”
The game itself was nothing short of an absolute classic, a back-and-forth thriller guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat. Even if you didn’t have skin in the game, it was damn good football. Although Foles gave the Eagles a 38–33 lead with his third TD pass of the game with 2:25 remaining, the game was far from over: indeed, the Philadelphia faithful were more than likely seeing visions of the Patriots’ comeback from last year’s Super Bowl. With the Eagles holding a five-point lead, overtime seemed out of the question in this contest: Brady and the Patriots were set for an all-or-nothing drive, end zone or bust. But just two plays in, Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham beat his man to strip sack Brady well within New England territory, and the Eagles fell on the fumble. Foles and company would play it safe and settle for the field goal to push the score to 41–33 with about a minute remaining. Of course, Brady managed to put the Patriots in position for in a last-second Hail Mary, as everyone more or less knew he would, but Eagles fans across the country leapt for joy as the pass was swatted to the ground to seal the victory.
The City of Brotherly Love may not be known for its hospitable fans, but their victory was one that everyone outside of New England — and a good deal of folks within it — could take at least some share in rejoicing over. With characteristic Philadelphian irreverence, Donohue summed up what the victory meant for him and, by extension, countless others. “Being a Philadelphia fan is in my blood,” he said: “it’s something my dad and I bonded over during my childhood. Being an Eagles fan isn’t just about sports for me. It’s about family, and I don’t care if people think we’re scumbags, because now we’re scumbags who are champions.”
Unlike Schweppe, Donohue is still waiting on his turn to taste a championship in his Middlebury career. But that hasn’t stopped him from taking lessons from his fandom and putting them to use on the diamond. “I love to take the grit I’ve developed over the years as an Eagles fan and apply it to the grit I have on the baseball field,” he later explained. “I never really knew that ‘tears of joy’ were a thing until the Eagles won, and I can’t wait to bawl my eyes out again when the baseball team takes home the Nescac title.”
Here’s to all those underdog dreams coming true — for Middlebury students and athletes alike.
(02/15/18 1:59am)
The women’s basketball team played its final pair of regular season games on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 9 and 10. Middlebury defeated Hamilton (14–10) in Pepin Gym on Friday 53–44, ensuring they would host a quarterfinal game in the Nescac playoffs. The Panthers lost their final home game of the regular season at home to the defending Nescac and NCAA Division III champions Amherst, 68–41.
Hamilton looked aggressive from the opening minutes on Friday. After a brief moment of being tied at four, the Continentals were effortlessly finding the bottom of the net to go on an 11–0 run. On the defensive end, Hamilton managed to cut off much of Middlebury’s movement inside the paint. Hamilton’s lockdown defense forced the Panthers to take difficult shots, only allowing seven points to Hamilton’s 17 at the end of the first quarter.
The Panthers stepped up on the defensive end in the second quarter. They hustled tenaciously on both ends of the floor, and scored the opening six points of the quarter to cut the lead down to four. Sabrina Weeks ’18 came up with a huge steal and finished the layup to keep the Panthers close at 19–15 with three and a half minutes to play. The final few minutes saw Hamilton score five of the next eight points to give themselves a half-dozen point lead heading into halftime.
The visitors opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer to extend their lead to nine. But the Panthers continued their strong defensive efforts and fluid ball movement to go on a 14–2 run, limiting the Continentals to just one basket and forcing nine turnovers. The Panthers finally managed to take the lead off a 3-pointer from Sarah Kaufman ’18 late in the quarter.
Catherine Harrison ’19 opened the final quarter with a jumper to give the Panthers a 39–33 lead. An exchange of runs ensued for the remainder of the game, and the Panthers led 48–40 after a pair of Maya Davis ’20 free throws. The Panthers overcame a six-point halftime deficit to win by nine, 53–44. Harrison led the Panthers in scoring with a season-best 13 points on 6 of 9 shooting.
The following afternoon, defending champion Amherst immediately looked dominant in the opening quarter as they led 10–0 after seven minutes of play. The Panthers found their first basket of the game on a Lily Kuntz ’20 3-pointer with 2:45 left in the first ten minutes.
Behind 16–5 at the beginning of the second quarter, Middlebury began to slowly chip away at the large deficit, eventually cutting the lead down to six on another three from Kuntz. The Mammoths immediately retaliated and cemented a 25–15 lead going into halftime.
The Mammoths looked unstoppable coming out of the locker room for the third quarter, putting together a 13–5 run over the first half of the quarter. Middlebury could not slow the Mammoths this time, and the lead ballooned as many as 26 in the third quarter.
Though the fourth quarter was tight in scoring, 16–15, the Mammoths were able to end their regular season with a 27-point win away from home.
Kuntz was the Panthers’ top scorer with 11.
Though the Panthers would not have liked to end their final game of the season at home with such a tough loss, the errors and shortcomings should be internalized quickly to prepare themselves for the playoffs. Amherst has not lost a game since the start of the 2016-2017 season, making them undefeated in their past 57 games. If the Panthers are looking to make a run for the Nescac title, they can almost assuredly expect to face Amherst again.
Fourth-seeded Middlebury, who boasts a 17–7 overall record and 6–4 record in the conference, will host fifth-seeded Wesleyan (5–5, in the Nescac) on Saturday, Feb. 17, at 3 p.m. The Panthers defeated the Cardinals 77–60 at Pepin Gym earlier this season.
This is the second straight season Middlebury will host a quarterfinal game, but only the third time since 2002, the first and only time the Panthers advanced to the Nescac championship game. If the Panthers win on Saturday, they will advance to the semifinals held the following weekend at the highest-remaining seed’s gym.
(02/15/18 1:51am)
The men’s basketball team’s 10-game winning streak was snapped last Friday, Feb. 9, when the Panthers fell to Hamilton 102–83, in Clinton, New York. In a crucial game for Nescac seeding the next night at Amherst, Saturday, Feb. 10, Middlebury lost to the Mammoths 80–68. After sitting atop the conference standings entering the weekend, the Panthers fell into a five-way tie for first place and lost the tiebreaker because of their 1–3 head-to-head record with the other teams, dropping them all the way down to the fifth seed in the Nescac tournament.
In Middlebury’s loss on Saturday, Jack Daly ’18 became the 23rd Panther in program history to score 1,000 points. Daly has accumulated 1,002 career points, 611 rebounds and 579 assists, and is believed be the first player in Nescac men’s basketball history to tally 1,000 points, 600 rebounds and 500 assists.
“Jack is a unique player,” said Head Coach Jeff Brown on Tuesday. “He has the ability to impact a game in so many different ways with his scoring, passing, rebounding and defense. His mental and physical toughness is at an elite level. The fact that Jack is the first NESCAC player to reach 1000 points, 600 rebounds and 500 assists shows the impact that he has had in our success.”
A week earlier in a 75–56 victory over Colby, the Panthers’ star player became Middlebury’s all-time assists leader, surpassing Jake Wolfin ’13’s record of 553 helpers. He leads all of DIII this season with 8.7 assists per game.
Middlebury will travel to Middletown, Connecticut, for their quarterfinal matchup with Wesleyan this Saturday, Feb. 17, which will mark the first time the Panthers have had to play a conference tournament quarterfinal game away from Pepin since 2004.
Middlebury had two chances to clinch the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, the first coming on Friday at Hamilton. Middlebury entered the matchup 7–1, while Hamilton was 6–2 in second place. The Continentals led by as many as nine points in the first half after going on an 8–0 run to go ahead 32–23. But the Panthers responded with an eight-point run of their own to pull within one. At the end of the first twenty minutes, Hamilton led 38–32.
Middlebury struggled with turnovers in the first half, giving the ball away 12 times compared to Hamilton’s six.
The Panthers kept pace with Hamilton the first nine and a half minutes of the second half, staying within six. But then the Continental offense took off, hitting four straight threes to take an 11-point lead, 73–62. Middlebury cut the lead to single digits a couple more times, but Hamilton’s attack was too much in the second half. The Continentals scored 64 points in the final 20 minutes to defeat the Panthers 102–83.
Hamilton’s Kena Gilmour scored a career-high 29 points on 10 of 15 shooting, including four of four from three. The Continentals’ shooting from beyond the three-point line carried them to victory, as they knocked down 15 of 24 threes after making only eight per game before Friday.
Eric McCord ’19 led the Panthers with 21 points coming off the bench. Matt Folger ’20 scored 17 while hitting four threes, and Daly added 15 points, nine rebounds, and six assists.
With the win, Hamilton moved into a tie for first place with Middlebury, but controlled their own destiny heading into the last game of the regular season by beating the Panthers.
Entering the last game of Nescac play on Saturday, Middlebury, Hamilton and Williams sat atop the Nescac standings, one game ahead of Amherst and Wesleyan.
Ahead 16–14 a little over seven minutes into the first half on Saturday afternoon, Amherst went on a 16–0 run to take a 32–14 lead at the 7:20 mark in the first half. The Mammoths hurt the Panthers with offensive rebounding all afternoon, and half of their 16 points in this game-defining run were second chance opportunities.
Over the final 7:20, Middlebury outscored the Mammoths by three but still trailed 43–28 at halftime.
Middlebury could never get much closer either, only trimming the lead to single digits with around a minute remaining in the game, 75–66. McCord got the Panthers within eight, but Amherst hit four free throws to secure an 80–68 win.
Middlebury shot 35.8 percent from the field and 25 percent from three on an afternoon when the Panther offense never got going, scoring its lowest total of the season. Amherst hurt the Panthers inside, where the Mammoths outscored the Panthers 42–30. The hosts also scored 17 more second chance points than the visiting Panthers, 22–5, and outrebounded the visitors 60–34.
Jack Farrell ’21 scored a career-high 22 points for Middlebury, and Nick Tarantino ’18 also finished in double digits with 11 points. Daly had a tough day from the field, making only two of 15 shots on the afternoon when he scored his 1,000th career point.
The Panthers’ hopes at hosting the Nescac semifinals were dashed with the losses to Hamilton and Amherst, and with those hopes also went any playoff game in Pepin Gym. But Middlebury still finished in a tie for first place with a 7–3 record in conference. And as Coach Brown pointed out, “I am going remind our guys that two years ago, we lost our last two regular season games on the road and won the NESCAC Tournament. We will put last week’s results in our rear-view mirror.”
Now fifth-seeded Middlebury will travel to Wesleyan on Saturday, Feb. 17, to play the fourth-seeded Cardinals at 3 p.m. Earlier this season, on Jan. 6, Wesleyan beat Middlebury 80–70 but led by only three with 47 seconds remaining. With the win, the Cardinals snapped a 15-game losing streak against the Panthers dating back to the 2004-05 season.
Wesleyan lost two of its first three Nescac games, but won six of its last seven to finish in the five-way tie for first in the standings.
The Cardinals had the third-stingiest defense in Nescac play, allowing only 65 points per contest. They’re led by junior guard Jordan Bonner, who averages 15.6 points per game, and have four other players averaging at least seven points per game. Senior forward Nathan Krill averages 11.9 points and nine rebounds per game, while shooting 38.5 percent from three-point range.
The Panthers tip off in Middletown on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.
(02/15/18 1:50am)
Following a third-place finish at Nescacs earlier this month, punctuated by the Panthers’ dismantling of Williams 8–1 in the third place match to avenge a narrow road loss on Jan. 6, the 21st-ranked men’s squash team rode into last weekend’s trip to No. 16 Navy, No. 11 George Washington and No. 12 Drexel aiming to defeat a more highly ranked team which could have propelled the Panthers into the CSA top 16 and the B bracket draw at nationals.
Despite Middlebury’s 8–1 victory over Williams just two days prior, the rankings the CSA released on Feb. 6 slotted the No. 21 Panthers one spot below No. 20 Williams.
“It was discouraging to not jump Williams in the rankings after beating them as badly as we did,” team captain Ryan Swope ’18 said, “but that actually ended up being motivation for us moving into this weekend.”
The road trip began last Friday, Feb. 9, with Middlebury taking on No. 16 Navy in Annapolis. In what was the program’s first trip to Navy’s home courts in Bancroft Hall, the Panthers figured that the matchup against the Midshipmen would be their best chance of the weekend to knock off a top 16 opponent and pull closer to their goal of breaking through to the B bracket.
“Navy was expected to be the most winnable match but we just didn’t come ready to play – Navy also happens to be, unsurprisingly, one of the toughest teams mentally and physically,” said Swope, which posed problems for a sluggish Panther team.
The Panthers’ record over the last few seasons in matches against Navy suggested they had the potential to push the Midshipmen last Friday. However, the Panthers came out flat and lost 9–0, with no one pushing his Navy opponent past four sets—Sam Giddens ’18 managed to sweep Navy’s Danny Finnegan in straight sets in the exhibition match.
John Epley ’21, who has played well in his rookie campaign, narrowly missed the chance to send his match with Navy’s Dylan Sweeney into a fifth set. After dropping the first set to Sweeny 11–4, Epley made things closer in the second set which he lost 11–7 before he managed to turn the tide in the third set with a convincing 11–5 victory. With some momentum on Epley’s side, the first-year pushed Sweeney in the fourth and deciding set before falling 14–12.
At the bottom of the ladder, Swope and Thomas Wolpow ’20 also narrowly missed on playing a fifth match against their Navy opponents. In the No. 8 slot for the Panthers, Wolpow rebounded from a 0–2 set deficit to defeat Navy’s No. 8 11–9 in the third set before falling 11–9 in the deciding fourth set. In the nine spot for Middlebury, Swope made things closer in his second and third games than the final score indicates. Swope won his second set over Navy’s Greg Hyer 11–8 and dropped a marathon third game 16–14 before Swope bowed out in the fourth set by losing 11–2.
Understandably deflated by the lopsided loss to a Navy team they needed to challenge in order to have a shot at achieving their goal of finishing the season in the top 16, the Panthers had a hard time rebounding when they headed to the nation’s capital last Saturday, Feb. 10, to take on a very talented No. 11 George Washington squad.
The Panthers’ Nos. 2 and 3, Jacob Ellen ’20 and Jack Kagan ’20, along with Swope at No. 9, all managed to get off to a good start against GW by winning their first sets. Ellen’s 11–5 victory in his opening game was the most convincing of the three, but Kagan and Swope also scored emphatic 11–7 victories.
Unfortunately, Ellen and Kagan were overmatched by their top-of-the-ladder opponents from George Washington, who evidently stepped up their urgency after falling behind. Ellen lost to Jamie Oakley, who has played well for the Colonials at the top of their ladder, 11–5, 11–6, 11–7 in the second, third, and fourth games. Kagan lost in succession to George Washington’s senior from Dublin, Oisin Logan, who is 13–4 on the year despite playing all of his matches at the top half of GW’s ladder, 11–3, 11–6, 11–0 in their final three games. At the bottom of the ladder, Swope played GW’s Omar Mussehl more closely. Swope lost the second and fourth sets 11–6 and played Mussehl tightly in a 12–10 loss in the third game.
The closest match for the Panthers on the day, however, came courtesy of Wolpow in the eight spot. Wolpow was in a position to beat GW’s No. 8 in three of the four sets he played. He lost the opening game 12–10 before rebounding in a close 11–9 second set. After letting the third set get away from him, Wolpow battled back in what turned out to be a marathon fourth set and just narrowly lost 14–12.
After back-to-back 9–0 defeats, the Panthers headed to Philadelphia to close the regular season last Sunday, Feb. 11, when they took on No. 12 Drexel. While they could simply have packed it in, the Panthers came out fighting and played Drexel closely, despite the 7–2 losing result.
Against the Dragons, the wins for the Panthers came from Ellen and Kagan at the top of the ladder. Ellen perhaps got lucky given his opponent in the No. 2 spot, Lucas Rousselet, had to retire after beating Ellen 11–3 in the opening game. However, when Rousselet had to drop out, Ellen held a 5–2 lead in the second game.
Kagan got a victory for the Panthers in the third slot over Atticus Kelly, a senior who is winding down a good career for Drexel, in four sets: 11–6, 9–11, 15–13, 11–7. Despite winning the opening set and playing a close second game, Kagan must have been in a slightly uncomfortable position. He won his opening set only to lose the ensuing three games against both Navy and GW. On top of those results, Kagan was facing a formidable opponent in Kelly.
“Those results definitely did cross my mind against Kelly because in both of them I was playing really strong opponents and I came out strong in the first game but wasn’t able to keep it up,” said Kagan. “I didn’t feel like I did anything particularly special in the first game so losing the second definitely scared me.”
The fact that the third set turned into a marathon could not have made things any easier for Kagan. Nevertheless, the sophomore held on and grinded out a 15–13 momentum-swinging victory that ultimately propelled him to win the match for the Panthers in the No. 3 slot.
“I would definitely say winning the third was a huge relief,” said Kagan. “I knew I had the upper hand and I was telling myself whether it be in four games or five that I was winning the match no matter what. For whatever reason I just wasn’t getting tired, which was really different from the GW and Navy matches.”
The result was a good way to end what was a long weekend for Kagan, and it was a good way to build some momentum heading into nationals.
“This weekend was definitely draining but I think it was a positive experience overall,” said Kagan. “We increased our level of play continuously.
“I think especially after the Drexel result, people are ready to rest but also ready to work and are super excited for nationals next weekend,” Kagan said in describing how the team is looking forward to the opportunity at the championships in Hartford Feb. 23-25.
Although Ellen and Kagan represented the only victories for the Panthers in the regular season finale against No. 12 Drexel, Middlebury made things close from top to bottom on the ladder.
At the bottom of the ladder, Wolpow and Swope again put in good efforts for the Panthers as both took their opponents to a fifth set. Wolpow actually held a 2–1 set lead after winning his second and third games 11–7 and 11–6. Swope managed to send his match to a fifth game by winning a nail biter in the fourth game 13–11, momentarily staving off a loss and evening his tilt with Drexel’s Royston Raymond.
Middlebury’s No. 4, Henry Pearson ’18, also had a good showing. Pearson lost to Dylan Kachur in four sets but all three games that he lost came down to the final points. Pearson pushed the first set past 11, before falling 12–10. Following a loss in the second game, 11–9, Pearson took it to Kachur in the third game, winning 11–5. Much like the first two sets, the fourth of Pearson’s games could have gone either way, but Kachur escaped with an 11–9 win to take the match. Pearson’s and Swope’s fellow senior, Giddens, also provided the Panthers with another positive with his straight sets victory in the exhibition match.
After last weekend’s results that saw the Panthers’ hopes of achieving their top-16 goal evaporate, the team has begun to adjust and prepare for another C bracket championship nationals. If they manage to finish 17th again – which would entail a Middlebury victory in the C draw at next week’s national team championships – it would mark the seventh time in the last decade that the Panthers bring the Summers Cup back to Middlebury.
“Since our team will be put into the C draw for the national tournament, the goal is to now win the C draw and finish 17th,” said the captain, Swope. “The takeaway from this past couple of weeks is that we ought to believe we can do that. The teams we played this weekend – Navy, Drexel, and GW – are all better than the competition we will face in the C draw at nationals, which will include Williams and Bates – teams we have now beaten.”
When asked about why it seems this year’s rendition of the Panthers has had a tougher time getting over the hump as compared to past seasons when the team had an even or lesser talent level, Swope agreed with the idea that relative lack of experience at the collegiate level has played a factor. For evidence of the relative inexperience at the college level, look no further than last weekend’s starting lineup where seven of the nine starters were first-years or sophomores.
“I think it has been easy to understate the talent on this team just because we haven’t gotten some of the wins we wanted to, but I would absolutely agree the talent is as strong this year as it ever has been, if not better,” Swope explained. “What we lack is college match experience. Seven out of the nine in our starting lineup are underclassmen, and our seniors that are playing in the top nine only have [approximately] two years of starting experience compared to the four years of experience seniors on other teams sometimes have. I believe that has been a factor in some of the close 5–4 and 6–3 losses we’ve been dealt.
“However, this team’s ceiling is incredibly high with a very talented and quickly growing underclassmen base. I’ve been nothing but impressed with the way this team has handled adversity in the form of injuries as well as inexperience. Their growth has been really visible, and I believe they are ready to finish 17th just like we did last year!”
The Panthers will take a break from match play for the rest of this week as they await the CSA’s final rankings for their seeding in the C draw and continue preparations for next weekend’s trip to nationals.
(02/15/18 1:45am)
MIDDLEBURY — On Sunday, Dec. 3, members of the local community and the college gathered at the Town Hall Theater for the inaugural film of the 2017/18 Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival (MNFF) Winter Screening Series. Titled “Menashe,” the film was directed by Joshua Z. Weinstein and follows the struggles of its eponymous protagonist to maintain custody of his son Rieven after the passing of his wife. The traditions of Menashe’s orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York, require a mother to be present in every home, forcing Rieven to be rehomed away from his father into another household. Shot in secret and based largely on the real life of its Hasidic star Menashe Lustig, the film allows a rare glimpse into a famously private community to explore the weighty bonds of both parenthood and faith.
“Menashe” was the first of six films screened in a series that spans from December 2017 to May 2018. The second film in the series, Doug Nichol’s documentary “California Typewriter,” was screened on Sunday, Jan. 7. The film paints a moving portrait of artists, writers and collectors who stand together against the waves of time, united by their loyalty to the typewriter as a tool and muse. Alternating between the nostalgic and the forward-thinking, the film meditates on the changing dynamics between humans and machines.
The four films that follow in the series are connected by their celebration of women’s experiences and achievements. This emphasis on the female spirit in the selection of the films suggests the festival’s increasing recognition of women in film and echoes the establishment of a new award in this year’s festival: the Clio Visualizing History Prize for the Advancement of Women in Film. The honored film, “Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story,” is directed by Alexandra Dean and documents the life and work of Hollywood’s “Most Beautiful Girl” in 1940, whose role in inventing devices that led to secure Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS communications is often overlooked.
The next upcoming film, scheduled to screen on Sunday, Feb. 18, is writer-director Margaret Bett’s drama “Novitiate,” which tells the story of a young woman’s training to become a nun in the Roman Catholic Church amid the changing religious landscapes of the 1960s. As she progresses from postulant to novitiate, the protagonist faces complex struggles between personal faith and organized religion.
Following “Novitiate” will be “I Am Evidence” on Sunday, March 11. The film, directed by Geeta Gandbhir and Trish Adlesic, presents a sharp exposé of a frequently broken criminal justice system through the lenses of four sexual assault survivors whose rape kits went untested for years. “Lady Bird,” a drama written and directed by Greta Gerwig on the turbulent bonds between a California nurse and her teenage daughter, Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson, will be shown the following month on Saturday, April 7. The final film in the series, “The Judge,” will be screened on Friday, May 11 and captivatingly chronicles the rise of Kholoud Faqih, the first female Sharia judge in the history of the Middle East.
Founded in 2015 by producer Lloyd Komesar, the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival aims to showcase up-and-coming talent in the film industry. The third annual festival ran from August 24 to August 27 last summer and presented 90 films across all genres, among which were the works of Middlebury alumni Beth Levison ’91, Adam Kritzer ’11, Matt Lennon ’13, and Sasha Whittle ’17. According to the MNFF website, “the emphasis at MNFF is entirely on filmmakers who have completed within the 24 months prior to the Festival either their first or second feature film or first or second short film.” For new filmmakers, MNFF provides a specialized platform to both “offer a level playing field to new and emerging voices in filmmaking” and allow audiences to “discover fresh and engaging talent…in a setting that is all about their work,” as stated on the festival’s website.
Single tickets ($12) and Winter Screening Series Passes ($60 for six films) can be purchased either on the Town Hall Theater website, at the box office in the Jackson Gallery, or at the lobby of the Town Hall Theater on the day of the show. Trailers for the six films in the Winter Screening Series can be found on the MNFF website at middfilmfest.org.
(01/24/18 10:03pm)
The Alpine Ski Team opened up their season last weekend at Sugarloaf Mountain in Carabassett, Maine. High winds cancelled the first day of the Colby Carnival, but the Panthers got on the mountain this past Sunday.
The women’s side finished in a tie for first place with Dartmouth, finishing with 226 points in the Giant Slalom. Leading the way was Caroline Bartlett ’19 who posted a day-best 1:00.81 in her first run. Bartlett followed that performance by crossing the line at 1:03.5, giving her a second-place finish on the day. The other top-10 finishers for the Panthers was Jackie Atkins ’20, who finished in 2:07.15 overall, good for sixth place. Lexi Calcagni ’19 was just behind at 11th place with a 2:08.16 time.
Calcagni noted the terrain was tough because of some wind and ice but, all in all, the team was glad to start the season off on such a high note.
“I don’t think we could have asked for a better start to the season on the women’s side,” said Cacagni.
With 130 points in the giant slalom, the men’s squad finished the day in sixth place. Riley Plant ’18 was the first Middlebury man to finish. His two-run time of 2:03.62 placed him 16th.
Davon Cardamone ’18 and Justin Alkier ’21 were the second and third Panthers to cross the finish line, posting times of 2:03.77 and 2:05.97. While the men’s side did not achieve their hoped-for results, the season is young.
Plant talked about how Sugarloaf poses challenges.
“[Sugarloaf is] one of the most difficult hills we compete on,” said Plant. But the Panthers viewed the challenge as an opportunity to improve.
“During inspection and minimizing preventable mistakes during our race runs” is especially where the team can focus on getting sharper, said Plant. “We can achieve that by relaxing pre-race; this will be easier now that the first-race-jitters are out of the system. With the slalom race postponed to next weekend, we’ll make sure to hammer the slalom training this week in preparation for the St. Mike’s Carnival.”
On the Nordic side, Cate Brams ’18 backed up the high expectations for her this season. Brams crossed the line second in the women’s 5K Classic with a time of 13:15.85, a career best, on the first day of the St. Michael’s Carnival in Hinesburg, Vermont.
Katie Feldman ’18 placed sixth for the second consecutive week after completing the course in 13:46.25. Sophia Hodge ’20 had the best placement of her young Middlebury career, crossing 23rd in 14:20.84. Overall, the women’s team registered 103 points to come in third.
Meanwhile, the men’s side racked up 103 points — also good for third place.
Evan Weinman ’18 paced the Panthers with a 24:58.03 in the 10K Classic, placing fifth individually. Two spots behind Weinman was Peter Wolter ’21, with a time of 24:59.24. Adam Luban ’18 and Sam Wood ’19 placed 20th and 21st, with times of 25:52.07 and 25:53.41.
Day 2 opened with the women’s 10K Freestyle, where Brams once again led the Panthers by crossing the finish line in 29:56.3 for seventh place. Annika Landis ’20 was the other Middlebury athlete to place in the top-20, as she finished 19th by crossing the line at 30:34.1. The women’s squad once again collectively captured the bronze, this time with 81 points.
“It was great to see us build on what we put together at Colby, and it gives us a lot of confidence in the work that we’ve put in all year,” Brams said after last weekend’s competition. “We were so excited about what the men’s team put together — great to see a huge team win. On the women’s side, we have a pretty young team that is still adjusting to college racing, and I’m incredibly proud of their confidence and drive this weekend. We’re all excited and hungry for more.”
The men’s squad also surged forward as they won the 15K Freestyle event with 123 points. This was their first on-day win since 2009.
This time Wolter led the pack, continuing his hot start from the previous day. He earned his best-ever finish with a second-place tally by crossing at 38:31.7.
Three other Panthers finished in the top-ten: Lewis Nottonson ’19 (fifth, 38:47.9), Wood (sixth, 38:56.2) and Luban (ninth, 39:19.2). Nottonson and Wood also garnered their best finishes of their respective careers, while Luban tied his career-best finish.
“Saturday’s course was highlighted by a long gradual downhill section on the front of the course and a gradual climb back up towards the stadium,” Nottonson said, describing the layout of the course. “Sunday used a partially overlapped lower loop that extended another kilometer downhill from the previous day’s course and had an additional switchback climb added onto the upper end of the course.”
The Nordic squad will be back in action on Feb. 2nd at the Vermont Carnival in Stowe, Vermont, while the Alpine team is in action this weekend in Jeffersonville, Vermont, at Smuggler’s Notch, where they will take part in the St. Michael’s Carnival.
(01/24/18 9:51pm)
This past weekend was a busy one for the 15th-ranked Middlebury women’s squash team as they defeated Franklin and Marshall on Saturday with a score of 6–3, but got swept 9–0 against Cornell on Sunday.
Starting off the weekend strong against the 18th-ranked Franklin and Marshall, the Panthers grabbed an early 2–0 advantage with a win at No. 9 from Natasha Lowitt ’20 over Katie Anderson (11–1, 11–2, 11–6) and Virginia Schaus ’21 against Melissa Epstein at No. (11–0, 11–2, 11–6).
However, the Diplomats did not go down easily, as they made the score 2–1 with a victory at No. 3. The Panthers then continued to secure the team victory with four-consecutive triumphs.
Mira Chugh ’20 eased past Liana Zranchev at No. 8 (11–5, 11–3, 11–4), Natalie Madden ’20 defeated Katherine Galambos in the fifth spot (11–6, 12–10, 11–2), and Lucy Bostwick ’18, after dropping a tight first game, clinched the match with a 11–13, 11–4, 11–6, 11–3 win against Lauren Johnston in the No. 2 spot.
Emily Beinkampen ’21 continued the winning streak and gave Middlebury a 6–1 lead, cruising past Grace Smith at No. 7 (11–4, 11–0 and 11–2).
The Diplomats won the last two matches with a four game in the top spot on and a heartbreaker for the Panthers at the No. 4 for the final score of 6–3.
In their final home game of the season, the Middlebury women’s squash dropped a 9–0 game to eighth-ranked Cornell. In the home contest against the Big Red, all victories were three game victories except against Madden and Lowitt. Each of them managed to claim a game before defeat.
Bostwick, captain of the team, unnerved by the loss against Cornell, stayed optimistic.
“This is the last time I will be on a competitive sports team, playing at this high of a level, and having my teammates feel like family,” said Bostwick. “There are a lot of ups and downs and successes and challenges that come with being an athlete on a team like this, but I hope to take them all in-stride, continue to learn from them, and enjoy every aspect of what this final season brings. I love to play the game and I love love love my teammates, so my goal is to focus on those feelings and hopefully success will come as a result.”
The 15th-ranked Panthers return to the court tomorrow afternoon at 4:30 p.m. when they play Wellesley at MIT beginning at 4:30 p.m.
CSA Women’s Squash Rankings
Nos. 10–16
10. Dartmouth
11. Brown
12. George Washington
13. Virginia
14. Williams
15. MIDDLEBURY
16. Amherst
(01/24/18 9:33pm)
The Women’s basketball team managed to recover from their back-to-back losses against Bates and Tufts last week by beating Williams in Massachusetts on Jan. 20, 57–54. On Monday Jan. 22, when they hosted Smith in a non-conference bout, the Panthers suffered their first home loss of the season, losing 60–45.
Middlebury looked to dominate the Ephs last Saturday evening when they confined Williams to just one point at the 5:40 mark of the opening quarter. With less than three minutes to play, the Panthers found nine of the final 12 points coming from guard Kira Waldman ’20, who scored three from beyond the arc.
With Middlebury leading 25–11, Williams responded by making the second quarter a more tightly contested matchup. After seven and a half minutes of buckets being exchanged by both teams, Williams closed out the second quarter with a 9–2 run, outscoring the Panthers 16–8.
The Panthers built on the half-dozen-point lead, 33–27, that they took into halftime straight away in the second half as they opened with a 6–0 run that saw a pair of free throws converted by forward Maya Davis ’20. As the Ephs answered back with a 6–0 spurt of their own, the Panthers defense allowed them to tack on some additional points in the last two and a half minutes of play. Heading into the fourth quarter, the Panthers comfortably led 48–35.
The game seemed to be tucked away as the Panthers found a three from Sarah Kaufman ’20 less than a minute into the final quarter. However, the remainder of the quarter was dominated by Williams as they went on a 14–4 run and only trailed 55–51 with 90 seconds on the clock. When Amanni Fernandez of Williams drilled a three with 20 seconds left, the Panthers’ lead was down to just two points, 56–54. In the final four seconds, Williams was unable to find the bottom of the net from downtown, allowing the Panthers to narrowly escape with a victory.
Davis had a team high 12 points and game high eight rebounds while Waldman scored 11 off the bench for the Panthers, which included sinking three of the five shots she took from beyond the arc.
On Monday, the Panthers hosted Smith and got off to a shaky start. The first half of the first quarter saw Smith score seven unanswered points. As the clock approached the four minute mark, the Panthers managed to cut the lead down 7–6. However, the Panthers were unable to contain the swarming Pioneers who went on a 10–2 run to end the first quarter with a 17–8 lead.
Finding themselves down 22–10 in the second quarter, the Panthers went on an 8–2 run. Five of the eight were scored by guard Sabrina Weeks ’18, who finished with a team high 13 points. With the deficit then down to four points, 24–20, Smith scored five of the half’s final points to lead 33–24 heading into halftime. Both teams scored 16 in the second quarter.
Smith seemed to slow down when they came out for the third quarter thanks to some Middlebury halftime adjustments. The Panthers managed to hold Smith to just seven points as they ended the final the 90 seconds of the third with a 6–0 run. Behind threes from Weeks and Davis, the Panthers refused to go away and headed into the final quarter down 40–36.
The Panthers looked to even the score or take the lead when Davis converted a layup immediately into the final quarter. With the lead cut to two, the Pioneers chipped away at the Panthers, outscoring them 14–3 over the next six and a half minutes. With less than three minutes left, Middlebury trailed 54–41. Down 13, the Panthers did not have enough time to get back into it, and fell at home for the first time this season.
A short stint of quick turnarounds this past week-plus has tested the Panthers’ endurance. After suffering their first home loss, they still boast an impressive 13–5 overall record while being 3–2 in conference play.
The Panthers return to action in Pepin for a game in Nescac play as they will host Trinity this Sunday, Jan. 28, at 2 p.m.
(01/24/18 9:28pm)
Last weekend, the No. 19 Middlebury men’s squash team had an opportunity. Facing No. 16 Franklin and Marshall on Saturday and then No. 15 Cornell on Sunday at their home courts, the Panthers had a shot to boost their resume and chances of cracking the College Squash Association’s top-16 teams by the time nationals roll around next month. Unfortunately, the Panthers came up short, losing 5–4 to Franklin and Marshall and 6–3 to Cornell.
At the beginning of the season the Panthers made it their goal to earn a spot in the top 16, which would qualify them to compete in the second bracket for the Hoehn Cup at nationals next month. With losses to two teams occupying the very spots the Panthers had set their sights on, Middlebury will face an uphill battle to achieving their goal.
“Our goal of finishing in the top-16 is now difficult, but not impossible,” said team captain Ryan Swope ’18 after this weekend’s matches.
Another seasoned veteran, Will Kurth ’18 echoed the sentiments of Swope that the top 16 could still be within reach.
“Our goal is still the top-16,” said Kurth when asked if the Panthers had to redirect their aspirations. “We can compete at the level of those teams [in the top-16] and are more than eager for the opportunity to do so. We have been battling injuries and adjusting our line up accordingly.”
Injuries continue to be a problem for the Panthers. Jacob Ellen ’20 is still not at 100 percent and Nick Bermingham ’20 missed his seventh and eighth straight matches last weekend due to a nagging injury.
“In terms of injuries, Jacob [Ellen] has been playing through his soreness in his knee and is doing well,” said Swope. “Alex Merrill ’21 just returned from a long ankle injury, and Nick Bermingham will hopefully return this week having successfully rehabbed his injury for weeks now.”
Heading into play on Saturday, the top of the Panthers’ ladder had played as strong as it has for any Middlebury squad in recent memory. Typically the middle and bottom third of the ladder are strong suits for the Panthers, but this season their quintet of sophomores, Will Cembalest ’20, Ellen, Jack Kagan ’20 and Bermingham, along with Henry Pearson ’18, have played well and allowed the Panthers to compete at the top.
However, against tough competition last weekend, the Panthers only won one match in the top five slots of the ladder, which came on Sunday when Kagan jumped out to a 2–0 sets lead in the No. 3 slot against Cornell senior Jordan Brail, whose comeback attempt Kagan managed to stave off for a five sets victory.
Despite the results, the Panthers made things difficult for the Diplomats and Big Red.
“I thought everyone was pushed to play their best,” said Kurth. “The result was disappointing, but we really made these higher ranked teams ‘beat us’ rather than ‘roll over’ for the them. I thought we showed our true colors. We fought hard this weekend.”
These were some of the positives that the Panthers can take with them as they head into this weekend’s pivotal matches in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which features a date with 14th-ranked Virginia on Saturday.
A win over the Cavaliers would go a long way to helping the Panthers boost their resume.
“With a good opportunity against a beatable No. 14 UVA,” said Swope, “the top-16 finish is still attainable.”
In addition to the opportunity on Saturday against Virginia, the Panthers will also get a crack at No. 9 Drexel, No. 11 George Washington and No. 13 Navy next month before Nescacs.
Kurth believes that the Panthers can use the Nescacs as an opportunity to overcome bumps in the road they faced earlier in the season.
“I hope our results at Nescacs nullify our early results against, for example, Williams,” he said, referencing a match the Panthers dropped in Williamstown 6–3 on Jan. 6. “We are looking forward to University of Virginia, the Naval Academy, Drexel, George Washington University. We will continue to train hard and prepare for these great opportunities.”
Despite the losses, the Panthers’ best is likely in front of them because the team may have shooed away the injury bug just as it enters the season’s homestretch that features matchups against quality competition to get back on track.
“We have had a really tough go with injuries this season with as many as three players out of our lineup at times,” said Swope. But Swope asserted that things are looking up because the team believes Bermingham may have a chance to return this weekend.
“If Nick does return [for this weekend’s slate], this will be our first week with a truly full, healthy lineup,” said Swope. “We could not be more excited about that as we head to Boston to take on MIT and UVA.
“Morale is still high,” Swope said. In all, the team believes that things are trending upward.
“This [past] weekend was disappointing, if we’re speaking purely in terms of results,” said the captain. “But we are playing well and with, hopefully, a full lineup moving forward after this week, most of the guys have faith we will perform quite well.”
With their season on the line, the Panthers will be in action at MIT tomorrow afternoon in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where they will take on a 22nd-ranked Engineers squad. Saturday will be the big showdown for the Panthers, as they make the short trip from MIT to Harvard where they will take on 14th-ranked Virginia.
CSA’s Men’s Squash Rankings
Nos. 10–25 (Panthers’ result when played)
10. Dartmouth (L, 0–9)
11. George Washington
12. Western Ontario
13. Navy (Feb. 9, Annapolis, MD)
14. Virginia (Sat., Cambridge, MA)
15. Cornell (L, 3–6)
16. Franklin and Marshall (L, 4–5)
“B” Bracket
“C” Bracket
17. Dickinson
18. Bates (W, 5–4)
19. MIDDLEBURY
20. Brown
21. Williams (L, 3–6)
22. MIT (tomorrow, Cambridge, MA)
23. Colby (W, 7–2)
24. Amherst (W, 9–0)
25. Hobart
(01/17/18 10:06pm)
While the campus was silent over winter break, the men’s hockey team made some noise down on the ice in Kenyon Arena. In their annual Middlebury Holiday Classic, the hosts shutout St. Michael’s 4–0 and slipped past the number three ranked Oswego State 4–3 on their road to victory. The Panthers came back from their successful weekend to face conference foes on home ice on Saturday, Jan. 6. But, their win streak was cut short as the men fell to both Wesleyan 6–1 and Trinity 3–0. Middlebury had another opportunity at home to entertain their loyal fans, but Plattsburgh State held tough and skated past the Panthers with a 3–2 win.
Middlebury showed signs of brilliance on Saturday, Dec. 30, sweeping the visiting St. Michael’s.
It was an even fight throughout the first stanza, with both Vermont teams unable to sneak the puck past their respective goalies. It was not until seconds into the second period that Owen Powers ’20 put the Panthers on the board, giving them the edge over the Purple Knights. He sent the shot to the right post with help from David Belluche ’18. Belluche was not finished yet, as he capitalized off of a perfect pass from Mitchell Allen ’20. This second tally gave the Panthers some room to breathe, but the hosts offense showed no signs of slowing. In the final period Danny Tighe ’20 and Trevor Turnbull ’20 slapped in two more goals to secure their advancement into the finals of the tournament.
Coming off of a strong showing the day before, the men skated confidently into the rink to upset third-ranked Oswego State 4–3 on Sunday, Dec. 31. The win is the highpoint for the program that continues to stay on schedule with its rebuild.
Oswego’s Tyson Bruce was the first player to knock a goal back in the first three minutes. But it took the Panthers no time to respond. Turnbull came up with the answer within minutes for his second goal of the weekend. After 13 minutes of evenly matched play, the Lakers overcame the Middlebury defense and notched a second tally to their score.
A 2–1 deficit did not intimidate the Panthers, which Belluche proved true as he countered the Lakers’ shot. With some help from Powers, Belluche evened the score at 2–2 as the team entered the second stanza. The middle period remained scoreless thanks to Stephen Klein ’18, blocking slaps from the Lakers with ease in order to keep his teammates in the game. Middlebury found a way to steal the lead from Oswego at 6:27 in the final period. Charlie Lawrence ’21 energized the crowd with a goal off of a pass from Allen. After ten minutes, the Lakers netted a shot past the Middlebury goalie off of a power play.
With the game on the line and the clock counting down, Allen was able to hammer a shot past the St. Michael’s goalie and lift the Panthers past the nationally ranked team.
Turnbull reflected on the victorious weekend.
“It was amazing to get a win like that at home,” said Turnbull. “As far as the games go, I think we just kept our play simple against Oswego and outworked them for three periods straight. We definitely surprised them but when we play with that confidence we showed we can beat anyone. On top of that it was also our seniors first tournament championship so to be able to give them that was something a lot of us will always remember.”
Unsurprisingly, Klein received the tournament’s most valuable player considering he closed out the tournament with 34 saves and 65–68 stopped shots. Powers and Belluche earned themselves a spot on the all-tournament team.
The Panthers returned the following weekend to compete against Nescac rivals. Wesleyan visited Kenyon Arena on Saturday, Jan. 6, and outplayed Middlebury 6–1.
Wesleyan tallied two goals within the first ten minutes of the first stanza. The Cardinals revealed its impressive offense, as Dylan Holze pelted a shot past Klein and Cam McCusker finished off a rebound. Trailing by two, Middlebury found a solution when Alex Heinritz ’21 broke through the Wesleyan defense and scored his first collegiate goal within minutes of the second period. But, the Cardinals quickly slid a shot past the Panthers just a minute later, as Vincent Lima earned one of two goals he would go on to score in the match. Lima increased the lead to 4–1 just before the second stanza came to a close.
In the final period, the Panthers were unable to find a way past the unrelenting Wesleyan defense despite their previous weekend’s success. Although the hosts were given multiple scoring opportunities, earning four power plays, each one was denied, and the visitors successfully netted two more strikes past Klein to bring the final score to 6–1.
On Sunday, Jan. 7, the men took to the ice for a matchup against the second conference opponent of the weekend, Trinity. Middlebury fell to the third-ranked Bantams 3–0.
The teams showed an even matchup as neither team was denied all opportunities to reach the scoreboard until the third period. Klein once again was a major contributor to the scoreless first two periods, as he was able to reject all of the 13 slaps Trinity sent his way within the first 20 minutes. He closed out the match refusing 39 shots, while Bantam goalie left with 18 stops.
All was silent on the rink until visiting team’s Dylan Healey pelted the puck past Klein in the first breaths of the third stanza. Barclay Gammill doubled Trinity’s lead to promise them a win of 3–0 over their Nescac foe.
The Panthers had their most recent competition this past Friday, Jan. 12 on Kenyon Arena against Plattsburgh State. With winter break now over, the Panthers had a chance to show off their skills to their classmates in the stands. But, the Panthers could not deliver as the visitors stole the win from them 3–2.
Vincent Gisonti ’18 swiped a rebound past the Plattsburgh goalie to give the Panthers an early lead within the first six minutes. After just 50 seconds, visiting Mike Falanga returned the favor as he took advantage of a rebound and swiped a shot past Klein. Both teams collected two more goals in the first stanza, entering the second with a tie of 2–2. At the 11:57 mark in the middle period, Andrew Pizzo netted the deciding goal of the competition. Both teams would hold scoreless for the remaining time periods, and Plattsburgh would come out over the Panthers 3–2.
On Tuesday, Jan. 16, Middlebury fell at home to No. 10 Norwich 5–1. With the score tied at 1, the Cadets scored four unanswered goals to skate past the Panthers. Connor Lloyd ’20 scored Middlebury’s lone goal in the first period, the first goal of his Panther career.
The Panthers have showed signs that they are capable of beating top-notch competition. Look no further than their 4–3 victory of Oswego State.
Next up the 3–11 Panthers head to Waterville, Maine, to take on Colby tomorrow night at 7 p.m.
(01/17/18 10:04pm)
The women’s squash team has been on top of its game since the turn of the calendar year to 2018. With a busy J-term, their rigorous practice schedule seems to be paying off. With a recent weekend sweep, the Panthers now hold a 1–0 conference record and 6–2 mark overall. They were 15th in the College Squash Association rankings heading into winter break and, with their recent results, they should maintain that spot.
Middlebury started the new year off with a tough loss to 14th-ranked Williams. Anne Glassie ’20 got the team’s only point as she won a five-set match over Williams’ Ananya Mahlingam-Dhingra in the fourth slot, with the score of 11–8, 11–9, 9–11, 4–11, 14–12. With her team down 8–0, Glassie’s win allowed the Panthers to walk out of Williams’ Simon Squash Center on a positive note.
After a 7–2 victory over No. 16 Amherst, the Panthers hit the road last weekend and stayed the weekend in Maine. That evening, the Panthers came out on top in one of their tightest matches of the season against Bates in a teeth-clenching 5–4 victory. Bates grabbed an early lead with a win at No. 3, but Lily Bogle ’18 quickly tied the match with a 9–11, 11–8, 11–4, 11–2 victory over Katie Bull at the bottom of the ladder.
After Bates took another match to go up 2–1, Mira Chugh ’20 brought the match to 2–2 with an easy straight-sets victory in the eighth slot (11–1, 11–3, 11–2).
Once again, the Bobcats regained a narrow edge after Kristyna Alexova defeated Bostwick in straight-sets in the second slot, but Emily Beinkampen ’21 tied it up for the Panthers with a straight-sets victory of her own in the seventh slot (11–7, 11–5, 11–5). Natalie Madden ’21 earned a hard-fought, four-set victory to give the Panthers the momentary lead. After dropping the second set 9–11, which tied things up at one set apiece, Madden pulled off back-to-back 12–10 victories over Katie Manternach in what was the match and performance of the day. After Bates evened things up, it set up a rubber match situation with Glassie still left to complete her match in the fourth slot. She did so in intense straight-set fashion, beating Maeve O’Brien 11–7, 13–11, 11–8.
The No. 15 Panthers took on No. 22 Colby the next day. In a complete sweep, the Panthers were led by Lowitt at the bottom of the ladder, who eased past her opponent with scores of 11–4, 11–1, 11–7, the recently-returned-from-abroad No. 3 Alexa Comai ’19 who won 11–6, 11–8, 11–7 and Beinkampen in the sixth slot who won by scores of 11–7, 11–4, 11–4. The second wave of wins came from the top-half of the ladder as Virginia Schaus ’21 won in the fifth slot 11–7, 13–11, 11–5, No. 2 Bostwick (14–12, 11–7, 11–4) and No. 4 Madden (11-6, 11–7, 11–4). Beatrijs Kuijpers ’19, who also recently returned from a semester abroad, won in the first slot 11–4, 11–8, 11–5, No. 7 Chugh won 11–4, 11–9, 11–5 and, finally, closing out the 9–0 sweep was Bogle who earned a victory in the eighth slot by scores of 11–6, 11–9, 11–7.
The Panthers rounded out the Maine trip with another complete sweep against Bowdoin on the same day. Middlebury quickly took a 3–0 advantage with another dominant performance at the bottom of the ladder from Lowitt (11–0, 11–0, 11–2), an almost equally dominant victory from Beinkampen in the sixth spot (11–2, 11–5, 11–2) and a four-set win by Comai in the third slot (7–11, 11–4, 11–5, 11–2). Chugh surrendered just eight points in the seventh spot (11–4, 11–0, 11–4). Bostwick tallied the eighth point with a four-game win at No. 2 (11–7, 8–11, 11–6, 11–4), and the No. 1, Kuijpers, concluded the scoring at No. 1 (11–2, 11–8, 11–6).
Yesterday afternoon the Panthers took on Trinity, who is coming off suffering its first loss of the season to Princeton. This weekend the Panthers will be playing Franklin & Marshall and Cornell at the squash center.
(01/17/18 10:02pm)
The men’s squash team will enter this weekend with an opportunity to beat teams more highly ranked in the College Squash Association poll. A win over either No. 15 Franklin & Marshall or No. 16 Cornell would go a long way to helping the Panthers stay in the running for a top 16 ranking to qualify them for the second division at the national championships and a chance to compete for the Hoehn Cup.
In their last match before winter break, the Panthers hosted No. 10 Dartmouth at the squash center. Already a tall task for the Panthers, they were without Jacob Ellen ’20, who missed the match with a leg injury. Despite the setback to Ellen and the eventual 9–0 defeat at the hands of the Big Green, there were many positive takeaways for the Panthers.
The most notable performance of the match was that of Will Cembalest ’20. Cembalest showed excellent skill, raw talent and a willingness to take risks throughout his first-year season last year. In the Dartmouth match, Cembalest was tasked with facing Dartmouth’s No. 1, Alvin Huemann, a senior who finished 12th in the top bracket at last year’s individual championships. For reference, Cembalest finished 67th at last year’s individual championships. For those of you doing the math at home, that is a difference of 55 spots. But you would never have known that by watching Cembalest put Huemann on the ropes in December.
“Dartmouth has a very strong men’s program,” Cembalest said. “I knew how good the No. 1 [Huemann] would be, so it was little pressure going into the match.”
Cembalest lost in straight sets, but that is misleading. He probably should have won the first two sets as he held an 8–6 lead and set point opportunities in both of them. Regardless of the outcome, Cembalest went shot-for-shot with Huemann, mixing in a couple of slick backhands, changes of pace and shots to keep Dartmouth’s No. 1 on his heels.
“I knew the kid was tall and physically strong,” Cembalest explained, “so my game plan was to be very patient and try to volley as much as possible. Making as few mistakes as I could and keeping the ball in play would get me the most success.”
While the loss to Dartmouth was not the way the Panthers hoped to leave things for the break, they showed signs of progress, especially among the slew of sophomores on the top half of the ladder. However, when the Panthers returned to action on Saturday, Jan. 6, they lost 6–3 at the hands of No. 21 Williams on the road.
Last season, the Panthers split their two matches with Williams, both of which were 5–4 nail biters. However, they were without Ellen in the match they lost.
This time around, the Panthers dropped the match 6–3, although they had the services of Ellen at full strength. Cembalest continued his roll with a straight-set victory, all by a score of 11–7, against the Ephs’ No. 1 Will Means. Ellen, in his return, fell in the second slot to John Fitzgerald who Ellen had split his pair of matchups with last year.
Part of the challenge in the Williams match was a hamstring injury to Nick Bermingham ’20. Without Bermingham to occupy the fourth slot, everyone from there on down had to play a spot up.
This proved to be no problem for the Panthers’ pair of first-years in the middle of the ladder, Wiatt Hinton ’21 and John Epley ’21. Hinton won a hard-fought, down-to-the-wire victory in the No. 5 match. In doing so, he managed to overcome a 13–11 setback in the first set and a 2–1 set deficit by taking a marathon fourth set 13–11 and an 11–5 victory in the rubber match. Epley won his matchup in the sixth spot in straight sets. He won the first two of those 11–5 and 11–4 before having to outlast the Williams No. 6, David Pincus, 12–10 in the final game.
Further down the ladder the Panthers had a harder time adjusting. Williams took all matches in the No. 7 through No. 9 slots, although Sam Giddens ’18 and team captain Ryan Swope ’18 managed to take a game off of their opponents at the bottom of the ladder.
After the setback against Williams, the Panthers had four days to recuperate before they hosted No. 24 Amherst a week before yesterday, Jan. 10, at the squash courts for a matinée. In a match the Panthers needed to win to keep their goal of cracking the top 16 in play, they rose to the occasion, easily dispatching the Mammoths 9–0. The top two-thirds of the ladder played exceptionally well for the Panthers as they made it through the match without dropping a set.
With the win over Amherst in hand, the Panthers began their yearly Maine round-tripper with their most important match of the year to date against Bates in Lewiston.
Bermingham was again not in the lineup, but the Panthers managed to win 5–4. Ellen and Jack Kagan ’20 headlined the Panthers’ efforts with wins in the second and third slots, each doing so in four sets. In the top slot, Cembalest lost in four sets, but did so in close fashion.
Cembalest dominated the first set with an 11–2 victory. After falling 11–7 and 11–6 in closely contested sets, he almost slipped by Yousry in the fourth set before dropping it 13–11.
“My match against Bates was a good experience for me,” said Cembalest. “[Yousry] came out slow in the first game and I was ready on the first point. This boosted my confidence, but possibly too far that I was a little bit thrown off by how he turned it around in the second game. He was a very talented player with a large crowd at his home courts, so it was difficult to outperform him on that day. I am happy with my performance.”
With Ellen limited by injuries and with Cembalest playing excellent squash, for the moment Cembalest has claimed the No. 1 slot on the ladder.
“I have been working extra hard this season on court and have put a lot of time into my mental game,” said Cembalest. “I put in numerous hours at the end of the summer working on fitness and my movement on the court. It feels awesome to see the results from my pre-season work.”
Following the Bates win, the Panthers travelled the next day to Waterville to play No. 23 Colby at the Mules’ Dunaway Squash Center, where they won easily 7–2. Kagan and Pearson continued playing well even though they were slotted up due to Cembalest’s tweak of an ankle in the Bates match the day before. Kagan continued to prove he is capable of winning in the No. 2 position as he played his opponent to scores of 11–5 and 6–11 before he finished off Colby’s No. 2 with a pair of 11–6 scores. Kagan is now 2–1 in the second slot on the season and 3–1 in the third slot.
“I’ve been really excited about and impressed with the top four this season,” Kagan said of the slew of sophomores at the top half of the ladder. “We don’t typically have a top group that we can count on to always put up points; we often rely on the middle or our depth to beat teams.”
This year has proven different and the most promising aspect is that the top performers are sophomores.
“I have to feel confident about our top four,” said Kagan. “It takes pressure off of the bottom guys while giving the top guys a big confidence boost.”
All of this has not come without hard work, though.
“I would have to attribute this to work everyone did in the summer and the fall,” Kagan said. “We’re all just better players than we were a year ago, simply put. We really have been able to match up with most of our opponents this year from the top to the bottom and that’s a good thing to see looking forward.”
Pearson and Hinton also kept the Panthers rolling against Colby, as Pearson won in the third slot in a set sequence of 11–9, 11–4, 7–11 and 11–7. Hinton split his first two sets against the Colby No. 4 before taking the third set 11–5 and holding on for a 13–11 victory in a marathon fourth set. After defeating his Bowdoin opponent, Hinton now has a five match winning streak, leading Kagan, Ellen, Swope and Will Kurth ’18 each by one match for the longest current winning streak by a Panther.
After defeating Colby, the Panthers got back on the bus and travelled approximately 50 miles south to Brunswick where they took on Bowdoin at the Polar Bears’ Lubin Squash Center to wrap up the Maine trip.
Still without the previously red-hot Cembalest, the Panthers nonetheless won easily against Bowdoin, 7–2. Ellen was dominant in the top position, allowing only four points in the first set and then only two each in the second and third sets. Kagan once again won in the second position, also in straight sets. The match of the match was probably Thomas Wolpow ’20’s.
In the No. 6 spot, Wolpow found himself down out of the gate when he dropped the first set 11–7. He nearly evened the match in the second set, but the Polar Bears’ No. 6, Uday Khanna, edged him out 13–11. Wolpow battled back even though he could have shut it down in the third set. In another nail-biter, he flipped the script in the third set and won 13–11, which shifted the momentum firmly to his side. After winning the fourth set 11–7, Wolpow gutted out a victory in the deciding fifth set 11–9.
With the annual Maine trip behind them, the Panthers now head into a weekend that can help their chances of qualifying for the top 16. By winning at least one of their two matchups with F&M and Cornell, they will be firmly in the conversation to qualify to compete for the Hoehn Cup.
“Success in this weekend’s matches,” Kagan said, “is [us] winning one or two of those. We beat Bates who is ahead of us, but lost to Williams who is behind us. There’s some teams in our range who we don’t play in the regular season, so to reach our goal of top 16 in the country, beating No. 15 [F&M] or No. 16 [Cornell] would be a huge help to our case. We lost a tight 5–4 match to F&M last year and we’re out to flip that one this year for sure, having them at home this time. We see these two matches as 100 percent winnable.”
Added Cembalest: “I am really looking forward to Cornell and Franklin and Marshall next weekend where I will be playing more top-ranked players. I’m looking to bring the heat on my home courts.”
You can catch both the men’s and women’s squads in action this coming weekend at the squash courts. They take on F&M on Saturday at 11 a.m. and Cornell on Sunday at noon.
(01/17/18 9:59pm)
The men’s basketball season can be split into three phases. The first ended with the team’s 91–76 win over previously undefeated No. 16 Skidmore on Friday, Dec. 8. Its second phase occurred over the break, when the Panthers experienced their first road bumps of the season and lost their first three (and only) games so far. Now, the team is in its third phase as they have experienced a resurgence since the beginning of J-term, including Nescac victories over Bates 82–76 on Friday, Jan. 12, and Tufts 78–63 on Saturday, Jan. 13. After this stretch of nine games, Middlebury stands at 12–3 overall and 3–1 in the Nescac, good for a three-way tie in the conference with Tufts and Williams and a half-game behind undefeated Hamilton.
In its final game before winter break, Middlebury travelled to Skidmore and managed to recover from a 38–34 halftime deficit with a monstrous 57-point second half that propelled them to a 91–76 defeat of the Thoroughbreds.
The Panthers’ starting-five led the way offensively, scoring 82 of the team’s 91 points. Jack Farrell ’21 tallied a career-high 22 points, while Nick Tarantino ’18 added 20 and a career-high 17 rebounds. Entering the game, the Panthers ranked second nationally, behind only undefeated Whitman.
After final exams and returning home for break, Middlebury returned to campus for a couple days of practice, before heading south to play in the Washington & Lee Holiday Tournament. In their first game of the tournament, the Panthers faced their second-consecutive undefeated opponent in No. 25 York (Pa.) on Friday, Dec. 29. Down 70–60 with only 4:16 remaining in regulation, the Panthers reeled off a 14–2 run to take a two-point lead with 36 seconds left. York responded with a late layup to tie the game and force overtime.
York jumped out to an eight-point lead in overtime, but Middlebury came right back with an 8–2 spurt to get within two points with 10 seconds left. York then turned the ball over, but Middlebury gave it right back and York sank one free throw to take a three-point lead. Farrell had a look to tie, but his three bounced off the back of the rim. The Panthers lost their first game of the season in overtime to York, 90–87.
Middlebury’s starting five once again did most of the scoring, tallying 73 of the team’s 87 points. Matt Folger ’20 and Jack Daly ’18 led the pack with 22 and 20, respectively.
The Panthers rebounded from its first loss of the season in the consolation game of the Washington & Lee tournament, handling Clarks Summit 81–58. Daly was the only Middlebury scorer in double digits with 16 points on an efficient five-of-eight shooting from the field. He added eight rebounds and six assists.
The following Tuesday, Jan. 2, No. 4 Middlebury returned home to host No. 12 Swarthmore. The Garnet built a 47–32 halftime lead that the Panthers could not recover from, as the visitors came away with a 91–75 victory. Folger scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and Daly and Eric McCord ’19 both added 12 points in the Middlebury loss.
Middlebury took a 7–2 record into Nescac play when they travelled to Connecticut for games at Connecticut College on Friday, Jan. 5, and at Wesleyan on Saturday, Jan. 6. The Panthers doubled the Camels’ first half total to take a commanding 46–23 lead into the locker room, and cruised to an 82–60 win in their first conference game. Folger led the way again with 16 points, while five other Panthers scored at least eight points.
In a back-and-forth affair, No. 12 Wesleyan outlasted Middlebury the following night 80–70. Daly scored a game-high 21 points, grabbed a season-high 15 rebounds, and assisted on eight baskets. However, the Cardinals got to the line far more often and shot 28 more free throws in their 10-point victory.
Two days later, on Monday, Jan. 8, Middlebury had another non-conference game at home against Morrisville State. The Panthers won 85–64 with a balanced scoring effort, as Hilal Dahleh ’19, McCord and Adisa Majors ’18 all scored 12 points. Daly made only one shot from the field, but handed out a career-high 14 assists.
On Friday, Jan. 12, Middlebury played its first home Nescac game against Bates. The Bobcats built the largest lead of the contest in the first half when they led 43–31. However, the Panthers scored the last four points of the first half and extended their run into the second half, tying the score at 48. Middlebury went ahead by as many as seven two times, but Bates cut the lead to one, 71–70, with 2:32 left. Folger and Daly closed the game out by scoring Middlebury’s last thirteen points and leading the Panthers to a 82–76 victory.
A game after recording his career-high in assists, Daly scored a career-high 26 points, along with nine rebounds and eight assists. In coming from behind in the second half, Middlebury shot a blistering 64 percent from the field to outscore Bates 47–33.
The next night, the Panthers came from behind once more in Pepin Gym to knock off Tufts, who was previously undefeated in the Nescac, 78–63. Tufts led by as many as ten points in the first half, and took a 38–36 lead into halftime. Middlebury led 52–51 at the 13-minute mark, before going on a 14–0 run to put the game out of the Jumbos’ reach. The Panthers secured a 78–63 win by outscoring Tufts 42–25 in the second half, holding the visitors to only 24 percent shooting in the final twenty minutes.
Middlebury dominated on the boards, out-rebounding Tufts 70–41 and grabbing 33 offensive rebounds. McCord retrieved a career-high 15 rebounds and added 13 points, while Daly scored 16 and Folger tallied 15.
On Jan. 15, Small College Basketball released its Top 100 Watchlist for the 2017–18 Bevo Francis Award, given to the best player from Division II, Division III, the NAIA, USCAA, and NCAA men’s basketball. Daly was named to the watchlist, after averaging 16.4 points, 8.8 assists, and 8.6 rebounds per game in Middlebury’s first 14 contests. Daly also recorded what is believed to be the first triple-double in the program’s history. He is also leading the nation in assists per-game with 8.8.
On Tuesday, Jan. 16, the Panthers fell behind in their third straight game, this time to Albertus Magnus in Pepin Gym. At halftime, the Falcons led 36–34. Middlebury took a 57–47 lead with 8:37 left in regulation, and led 64–56 with just under five minutes. But Albertus Magnus scored 10 out of the last 12 points in regulation, including two free throws with 20 seconds left to force overtime.
Tied at 71 with a little over one minute remaining in overtime, Daly scored on a fastbreak layup to put Middlebury ahead for good. The Panthers scored the last six points of the game to outlast Albertus Magnus 77–71.
Daly scored 22 points to lead the Panthers, while Folger, Dahleh, and Joey Leighton ’20 all added nine. With nine assists, Daly brought his career assist mark to 503, becoming the third player in program history to record 500 assists.
Middlebury returns to the court on Saturday, Jan. 20, when it hosts Williams in an anticipated matchup between Nescac rivals. Last season, Williams beat Middlebury in the regular season, Middlebury got revenge in the Nescac championship game, but the Ephs got the last laugh in the NCAA Quarterfinals. Their rankings once they come out and records. On Sunday, Jan. 21, the Panthers travel to Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, to face non-conference opponent Pine Manor.
(01/17/18 9:55pm)
In two games away on the road, Middlebury suffered its first Nescac loss of the season Friday, Jan. 12, to Bates by a narrow margin of 60–57. The Panthers were unable to bounce back from the loss as they also fell to Tufts Jumbos 61–45 the next day, Saturday, Jan. 13.
With just a one-point lead at the end of the first, Middlebury and Bates were exchanging well. Neither team secured a lead larger than three. The two teams went on to continue the back-and-forth with Middlebury holding a 28–26 lead after the first half.
Within the first minute of the third quarter, Bates was able to gain a 31–28 lead with baskets coming from Melanie Binkhorst, and a three-pointer by Emily Fredland. The Panthers fought back, managing to lead twice, but were unable to maintain a comfortable lead trailing 44–40 heading into the fourth.
With the score at 49–44 three minutes into the final quarter, the Panthers rallied a 5–0 run with Sarah Kauffman ’18 scoring a layup. Bates responded with a run of their own, breaking the deadlock and eventually gaining a 57–51 lead with around a minute remaining. Forward Betsy Knox ’20 managed to convert a three-point play with 37 seconds on the clock to cut the Bobcats’ lead to three. Bates managed to get a quick three-pointer to extend their lead to 6 down the stretch, to which Kaufman responded with a three-pointer of her own.
Kauffman led the Panthers in scoring with 15 and forward Maya Davis ‘20 had a game-high eight rebounds. The Panthers seemed to have done everything right, having fewer turnovers, out rebounding the Bobcats 33–30, and the bench pouring in a 15-point performance compared to Bates’ six.
In its second game, Middlebury were down eight to Tufts 14–6 after the first quarter. A 10–2 run halfway into the second quarter enabled the Panthers to be within two with 3:27 before the half. Knox led the way during the run with six points before Tufts grabbed a bucket to solidify a 25–21 lead entering the second half.
Roughly three minutes into the third quarter, Davis pulled off a three-point play to give the Panthers a 27–25 advantage. Just as the Panthers were going to close in on the lead, the Jumbos ran rampant with a 16–2 run for the next five minutes. With the score at 41–29, Middlebury scored eight of the next 13 to make the score 46-37. Sabrina Weeks ’18 scored four during the 8–5 exchange.
The Jumbos went on a 7–0 run midway into the final quarter to give themselves a comfortable lead of 56–39 with just over three minutes to play. After a few more exchanges, Tufts secured a solid victory over the Panthers, 61–45.
Knox led the Panthers in three statistical categories with 12 points, six rebounds, and two assists.
Middlebury will take on Williams on Saturday, Jan. 20, in Massachusetts before returning home Monday Jan. 22, to host Smith College.
(12/07/17 12:19am)
The women’s basketball team (7–0) defeated Rensselaer (5–3) on Thursday, Nov. 30, 64–54 and Colby-Sawyer (4–1) the next night in overtime by a score of 66–59. On Tuesday, Dec. 5, Middlebury beat Plattsburgh St. 60–33 to move to 7–0, its best start since the 2001-2002 season when the Panthers won their first nine games.
Thursday’s night opener was a special one, as the Panthers’ first home game of the season. The Engineers were firing on all cylinders in the first quarter, taking a 9–2 lead within the first five minutes. The Panthers quickly adjusted their defense and were able to find an offensive spark from Betsy Knox ’20, who finished the quarter with eight points on three of three shooting.
At the start of the second quarter, it was clear that the Panthers were dictating the tempo, finding stops on the defensive end and continuously feeding the ball to Knox, who continued her scoring streak. Unselfish plays by guard Alex Huffman ’19 and Sarah Kaufman ’18 set Knox up to convert three consecutive layups. The Panthers ended the first half with a comfortable six point lead, 29–23, over the Engineers, while Knox finished the half with 17 points.
The halftime talk in their locker room lifted the spirits of the Engineers as they looked more tenacious on the defensive end at the beginning of the second half. The Panthers were a bit overwhelmed as they struggled to space the floor and scored only six points in the third. Rensselaer ended the quarter on a 6–0 run, gaining their first lead since the start of the first quarter. Jumpers from Sabrina Weeks ’18 and free-throws by Maya Davis ’20 kept the score tight. Going into the fourth quarter, Rensselaer led 36–35.
The fourth quarter was huge for the Panthers as they outscored the Engineers by 11, including three consecutive three-pointers — one by Huffman and two by Weeks. A 16–5 run ensued for Middlebury, and the Engineers had no choice but to force the Panthers to line. The Panthers converted nine of their ten free throw attempts in the fourth, securing a comfortable 64–54 win in their first home game. Knox finished with a game high 23 points and Huffman tallied all 13 of her points in the fourth quarter.
Back on the road the next day, the Panthers travelled east to New Hampshire to take on the Chargers of Colby-Sawyer. The Chargers finished the first quarter with a 7–2 run to take an 18–10 advantage. Within the first few minutes of the second, Colby-Sawyer established the game’s biggest lead by either side at 13, with a 25–12 lead. Then the comeback began, spurred purely by Middlebury’s offensive tenacity as the Panthers went on a 15-4 run to cut the lead to 29–27 at the halfway point.
The third quarter saw a flurry of exchanges from both sides with neither side gaining a lead larger than four points. Entering the fourth quarter with a narrow 44-42 point advantage, Davis hit a three and Kaufman nailed a jump shot to give the Panthers a seven point lead. After a few scoreless possessions with the score tied at 54, Davis gave the Panthers a two-point lead with a layup with less than a minute remaining. The Panthers forced up a three-pointer with less than 20 seconds on the clock. The Chargers rebounded the basketball and managed to push it up the court, where Tianna Sugars hit a game-tying jumper with just .9 seconds on the clock. With Middlebury unable to find a shot off the inbounds pass, the bout was scored in overtime.
The Panthers went on to dominate the overtime period, outscoring the Chargers 10–3. Knox opened the scoring with a 3-pointer and Huffman provided another from downtown later in the period. The threes, along with some free throws, iced the game for the Panthers, who took home a 66–59 win.
Davis had a career-high in both points and rebounds with 14 in each statistical category. Her aggressiveness on the boarsd with nine offensive rebounds helped Middlebury outscore Colby-Sawyer on second point chances 15-8. The eight additional rebounds over the opposition proved to be crucial in Friday’s win.
On Tuesday night, Middlebury squashed Plattsburgh State at home 60–33. In the second and third quarters, the Panthers outscored the Cardinals 40–14. Davis led the way with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Emily Wander ’21 and Kira Waldman ’20 both scored seven off the bench. The Panther defense held the Cardinals below 22 percent shooting from the field.
Middlebury returns to the court tonight when it hosts Sage at 7 p.m. Then, the Panthers will travel to Skidmore tomorrow night, Friday, Dec. 8, to play the Thoroughbreds in their final game before final exams.
(12/07/17 12:17am)
The women’s squash team is off to a strong start a pair of sweeps on Saturday, Dec. 2 against Hamilton and St. Lawrence at Hamilton in Clinton, New York. The Panthers dominated with two 9-0 victories, in which a single game was never dropped.
“The opening matches were great!” said team captain Lucy Bostwick ’18. With five new faces and five returning seniors, the Panthers have the depth to push into the No. 13 to 15 range in the ranking.
Last year’s team pulled out 9 wins against top rival teams including Amherst and Bates. Unfortunately, the team did not fare too well at the CSA Team Championships, losing against Dartmouth first round and University of Virginia in the consolation. However, this year the team has higher aspirations, starting off pre-season with a solid national ranking of No. 16.
The big first-year recruiting class is sure to help the team meet their goals this season. Meet the fresh five: Emily Beinkampen ’21, Olivia Cappello ’21, Natalie Madden ’21, Virginia Schaus ’21 and Maren Taylor ’21. All played high level competitive squash in various clubs and teams, they are ready to step up and compete at the collegiate level.
Not to mention all three Panthers that qualified for the CSA Individual Championships last season are returning to compete: Alexa Comai ’19 and Beatrijs Kuijpers ’19 are currently abroad, but Anne Glassie ’20 was playing in the No. 2 slot on the ladder last weekend.
With the win over Hamilton, the Panthers continued their streak of dominance over the Continentals, defeating them for the fourth consecutive time.
Madden began the sweep with her first collegiate win at line three when her opponent, Caitlin Stern, was retired after Madden won the first game 11-2. Additional first victories of their college careers came from Beinkampen at No. 4 (11-4, 11-8, 11-2) and Schaus at No 5 (11-6, 11-4, 11-7).
“It is so nice being able to compete with a team,” said Madden, who like many first-year collegiate squash players are unaccustomed to having the backing of teammates when they are at the junior levels. “When I got nervous, the cheers reminded me that I was playing for Middlebury, not just myself, which helped me compete harder.”
At the top of the ladder senior mainstay Lucy Bostwick ‘18 made the score 7-0 with tallies of 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 against Rafiatou Ouro-Aguy and Anne Glassie ‘20 captured a strong win (11-5, 11-2, 11-8) against Alex M. Infante.
Next up against St. Lawrence, Lily Bogle ’18 cruised by with scores of 11-3, 11-2, 11-4 against Alexandra Brazo at No. 8. In the middle of the ladder, Mira Chugh ’18 made the score 4-0 with another great win (11-0, 11-4, 11-4) against Cindy Yao, while Caroline Jarhling ’18 swept Katie Walsh (11-1, 11-4, 11-4) at the bottom of the ladder. Keeping up the momentum, Natasha Lowitt ’20 defeated Alexandra Limas at No. 7 (11-5, 11-5, 11-3).
“It was so fun to see all of our hard work in practice translate into our matches and to compete against other players besides ourselves,” said Bostwick, the team captain. “Traveling all together for the first time is also such a great bonding experience and is really exciting for the first-years because they get a taste of what J-term will be like. I was really proud of everyone’s hard-work, focus, and sportsmanship; it made me excited for the rest of the season.”
The squash team will return to action at their first home game this Saturday, Dec. 9, at 6 p.m. against Dartmouth at the squash courts.
