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(01/28/16 12:03am)
Women’s basketball split a pair of inspired games this past week. On Tuesday, Jan. 29, the Panthers outlasted Smith for a 70-57 victory. The Panthers returned to conference play Sunday, Jan. 24, when they travelled to Williamstown, Mass. to play Williams in the Chandler Athletic Center. The Panthers entered the game needing a win to climb above .500 in conference play and tied with Williams with a 2-2 record in the NESCAC standings.
The Panthers’ victory over Smith did not come easily, as they fell behind the Pioneers 12-10 early in the first quarter. The turning point came in the second quarter when Middlebury broke a 17-17 tie with a nine straight points, propelling the team to a 14 to seven run and a 31-24 halftime lead.
Eileen Daley ’18 and Sarah Kaufman ’18 helped the Panthers hold onto the momentum when they came out of the locker room for the second half. Daley and Kaufman hit five jump for the Panthers combining for 17 of the team’s 21 third quarter points, which gave Middlebury a comfortable 52-39 lead heading into the fourth.
Daley finished the game with a double-double, scoring a career high 14 points to go with 13 boards, two assists and three steals on the defensive end. Kaufman led all scorers with 21 points, played a game-high 38 minutes and went five-for-five from the free throw stripe.
Catherine Harrison ’19 and Sabrina Weeks ’18 also contributed to the winning effort. Harrison had 10 points to go along with eight rebounds, while Weeks added 11 points off the bench.
The Panthers improved to 10-5 with the win.
The Panthers again struggled out of the gate again Sunday in Williamstown. However, after the team dug itself a 10-0 hole, the Panthers bounced back and took a 19-17 lead after Kaufman sunk a clutch three-pointer with 3:41 to go in the first half.
The travel, the injuries and the team’s depleted bench began to take a toll on the Panthers. Middlebury was trailing 49-37 by the end of the third quarter, having lost the momentum they built up at the end of the first half.
In the end, the Panthers were undermanned, limping to a tough 66-49 loss.
For the game, Middlebury shot an uncharacteristically low 32.7 percent from the field and went just eight for 15 from the free throw line. If the Panthers are going to compete against the tougher opponents on their NESCAC schedule, they must be more efficient from the field. Even in their NESCAC wins against Bates and Wesleyan, the Panthers only shot 44.6 percent and 41.4 percent, respectively. Despite the loss, the Panthers had two players score in double figures as Kaufman netted 14, Harrison just missed a double-double with eight points and 11 rebounds and Collins added 10 off the bench.
“We’re looking forward to another opportunity to prove how hard we have been working,” said Harrison as the team hopes to shake off their low shooting percentages in the Williams game.
After last night’s home game against Castleton — the results of which can be found on the Middlebury Athletics website — the Panthers will take on Hamilton for another important NESCAC game this Saturday, Jan. 30 in Pepin Gymnasium. With just five NESCAC games left in the regular season schedule, the team will need to capitalize on the weak opponents heading into the playoff race against tougher teams.
(01/28/16 12:01am)
The Middlebury men’s basketball squad continued its climb through the ranks with a 2-0 week. Coming off of five straight losses to the Williams Ephs, the Panthers held on for a 75-69 win on Sunday, Jan. 25 before beating Lyndon State on the road on Tuesday, Jan. 26. The win against Williams improved the Panthers’ conference record to 4-1, putting them in solid position to return to the NESCAC playoffs after missing out last year.
Sunday’s contest featured two of the NESCAC’s best offensive stars, Williams’ junior guard Dan Aronowitz and Middlebury’s Matt St. Amour ’17. Neither player would disappoint, as each finished the game with 20 points. Aronowitz tallied a double-double by chipping in 11 boards, and St. Amour filled the stat sheet with four rebounds, four steals, three assists and five made three-pointers.
Middlebury got out to a sluggish start against the Ephs at home and entered the break down by five, but a 39-28 advantage in the second half and excellent free throw shooting eventually sent Williams home with their third conference loss.
The Ephs led for the majority of the first half, but they were never able to pull far away from the Panthers. St. Amour tallied 10 first half points and had plenty of help from his co-stars. Center Matt Daley ’16, nursing a foot injury that held him out of last week’s action, came off the bench and scored nine points in just six minutes in the first half while snagging three rebounds. With Daley’s injury, some of the team’s first-years have been called on to step into bigger roles. One of those youngsters making an impact is swingman Zach Baines ’19, who got his second start of the season and responded with seven first half points, three rebounds and one block.
Williams finally got some breathing room near the end of the first half when the Ephs’ own first-year sensation Kyle Scadlock made a layup to push the margin to eight points. A few Middlebury free throws before the break made it 41-36 at the half, though.
Both teams came out frigid in the second half. Through the first six minutes, the teams combined for three field goals and one made free throw, leading to a 45-39 score with 14:00 to play in the game.
There was 12:13 remaining in the matchup when Middlebury forward Adisa Majors ’18 decided to make his mark on the game. Majors made a layup off of a St. Amour pass to make it a 49-46 game in favor of Williams. Over the next 12 minutes, Majors would rack up 10 points and two critical rebounds. Majors’ pair of free throws with 9:58 remaining gave Middlebury the lead 50-49. The Panthers would fall behind for all of 64 seconds over the last 10 minutes of the game.
“Adisa was the key in that victory,” St. Amour said. “He made a couple of huge plays down the stretch.”
The final four minutes saw a flurry of activity, which St. Amour kicked off with a three-pointer from the right wing to put the Panthers up 65-62. Williams’ Cole Teal would respond moments later with a game-tying three-pointer. After a Daley layup put the Panthers up one, St. Amour drilled another three-pointer and what would prove to be the game-winning bucket, making the score 70-67. Just like last week when Middlebury outlasted a ranked Tufts team in overtime, the Panthers outplayed their opponents down the stretch.
“One of the biggest improvements that we’ve had is our poise and toughness,” St. Amour said. “We’ve been able to battle back in some tough times. … We’re a lot tougher team this year.”
Up just one with 1:45 to play, Majors knocked down a short jumper from the base line to make it 72-69. In the final minute, Middlebury milked the clock and needed one more bucket to seal the victory. St. Amour missed his jump shot attempt, but Majors came to the rescue with a critical offensive rebound and was able to get the ball into the hands of point guard Jack Daly ’18 who was fouled and sent to the charity stripe. Trailing 73-69, Aronowitz missed a shot on the other end for Williams, which was corralled, fittingly, by Majors. Majors then sunk the final two free throws to make it a 75-69 game, where it would remain.
St. Amour lead the Panthers with his 20 points, followed by Matt Daley with 14 in just 13 minutes, Majors with 10, Baines with nine and Jack Daly with eight. Matt Daley added seven boards, Baines had six and Jack Daly dished out eight assists.
“This was a big confidence builder,” St. Amour said, “to finally get over that hump [of beating Williams]. We believed in ourselves that we were a good team, but now this shows that we can beat anybody . . . I think teams will start to take notice a little bit.”
The Panthers kept their winning streak going with an 85-74 victory on the road at Lyndon St. on Tuesday, Jan. 26. Middlebury has not lost to Lyndon St. this milennium.
Middlebury opened the game with an 8-0 run capped by a layup from the athletic Baines. The Panthers lead for the first 14 minutes of the contest before Lyndon St. jumped ahead, but Middlebury entered the half up by two. The Panthers then slowly increased their lead over the course of the second half, stretching the lead to as much as 12.
Baines exploded for a career-high 20 points in the game on 9-10 shooting. St. Amour topped 20 points for eighth time this season with 23. In 20 minutes off of the bench, Daley chipped in 12 points of his own and six boards. Overall, the Panthers shot 47.7 percent from the field against Lyndon St., a season high.
Middlebury’s next conference game comes on the road this Saturday at Hamilton. The Continentals have yet to win a conference game this season, although it took an overtime period for Middlebury to best Hamilton last year, 82-77. The Panthers follow that up with a road tilt against Keene St on Tuesday, Feb. 2.
(01/27/16 11:59pm)
The Middlebury women’s hockey team won a two-game homestand against NESCAC foe Bowdoin this weekend, winning 2-0 on Friday, Jan. 22, before surging to a 4-2 victory Saturday, Jan. 23, in Chip Kenyon ’85 Arena.
Coming off a 5-0 home win against Endicott College on Jan. 16, the Panthers returned to the Kenyon ice on Friday to post their second shutout in a row. The first period was fast-paced as both teams created good scoring chances in the first few minutes of play.
The Panthers controlled the puck for most of the first and had 10 shots on goal to Bowdoin’s five. Middlebury had a golden opportunity in a power play with 34 seconds left in the first period. Sophomore star Maddie Winslow ’18 capitalized by sending a loose puck over Polar Bear netminder Sophia Lattanzio, giving Middlebury the 1-0 lead with 15 seconds left in the first.
The momentum from Winslow’s goal carried over into the second period. The Panthers came out of the locker room with fury: pressuring the Bowdoin defense just a minute into the second, Elizabeth Wulf ’18, assisted by Jessica Young ’18, fired a slapshot directly at Lattanzio. Her save left the puck behind the net, but Winslow — the girl on fire — hustled to the puck and hooked it gracefully past Lattanzi’s skate. With the goal, Winslow both doubled her team’s lead and brought her total goals scored to seven this season.
Bowdoin’s best opportunity to score in the period came at the 13:48 mark, as Miranda Bell made two moves to get through the Panther defense, but goalie Julia Neuberger ’18 deflected the shot wide.
In the final period, the Polar Bears narrowed their deficit in shots on goal to 5-7. Though they earned three power plays, Middlebury’s defense muted those opportunities. In the final minute, the Panthers, taking no lead for granted, kept the puck deep in Bowdoin’s zone, forcing Lattanzio to stay in her goal and forgoing Bowdoin the chance of an extra attacker.
The Panthers dominated the ice, clocking a 30-13 edge in shots on goal over the course of the game.
At Kenyon the next day, the women’s squad seized another victory, this time 4-2. Middlebury had three power plays and attempted five shots in the first 10 minutes, but Lattanzio was no sieve. The Polar Bears lost the puck to Anna Van Kula ’16, who seized it at the blueline and sent a pass down the ice to Shanna Hickman ’19. The first-year forward muscled her way to the front of the net and placed the puck right through the legs of Bowdoin goalie Lan Crofton. The assist, from senior to freshman, is one of many moments this season proving the viability of the freshman squad. “We have a really young team this year, with 15 underclassman. It’s been fun to see all of the freshman stepping up, making some huge plays and scoring some important goals for us,” Winslow said.
At 15:24, Bowdoin’s Bell tied the game at 1-1 when she gathered the puck in her defensive zone following a Panther turnover. In the final minute of the second, the Panthers, led on a drive by Janka Hlinka ’18, turned up the pressure. Hlinka sent the puck netward, and Winslow tipped it between Crofton’s legs. The goal was Winslow’s team-leading eighth of the season.
The final period saw Middlebury gain some breathing room at 7:48 when Jessica Young stuffed home a loose puck from the edge of the crease for the eventual game-winning score after Crofton saved an attempt by Winslow on the doorstep. Young furthered Middlebury’s lead to 4-1 with a wrister over Crofton’s shoulder at 16:06 in the third. With 21 seconds remaining, Bowdoin’s Jessica Bowen managed a goal to bring the score to 4-2, where it stayed as time expired.
The Panthers are on a four-game winning streak now, and seem to have taken their tough 0-3 loss to top-ranked Plattsburgh State on Jan. 12 to heart.
“We have only been getting better since we got back from winter break,” Winslow said. “I think everyone came back from break on the same page: that we are going to outwork every team we play from here on out. Our team motto right now is to do the ‘little things.’ It’s about winning the little battles — back checking hard, blocking shots. If everyone perfects these ‘little things,’ then we can keep this momentum we have through the rest of the season.”
Having made three goals during the homestand against Bowdoin, Winslow stands out as a powerful force for the team. But she credits her tallies to her teammates.
“I’m glad I have been able to help my team by putting the puck in the net, but all our points have been a collective team effort,” Winslow said. “Most of my goals have been off of beautiful plays and passes by my teammates so they deserve as much credit as me for them. I look at a goal as a collaborative success, so I am happy that as a team we have been able to put the puck in the net and win some big games!”
With the two wins, Middlebury’s record improved to 5-0-3 in conference and 9-3-3 overall. Next stop for the Panthers, who stand at the top of the NESCAC standing and seventh in the national polls, is Clinton, N.Y., where they will take play two tough league games against the Hamilton Continentals on Friday, Jan. 29, and Saturday, Jan. 30, in hopes of maintaining their undefeated NESCAC record.
(01/21/16 12:29am)
The Middlebury women’s hockey team skated to three wins, two ties and two losses over winter break, bringing their overall record to 7-3-3 and placing them at third in the NESCAC, behind first-ranked Amherst and second-ranked Williams.
Middlebury’s tense first matchup against Castleton on Saturday, Dec. 12, driven into overtime by a late Castleton goal with three and a half seconds left in the third period, marked the second loss of the season. Kelly Sherman ’17 placed her third goal of the year to give Middlebury the early lead 3:50 into the first period, and the Panthers went unanswered for the rest of the period. In the second, Maddie Winslow ’18 made two quick attempts at goals but was denied by Spartan netminder Jess Cameron.
Middlebury took a 2-0 lead on the power play at 9:51 with a rebound shot by Anna Van Kula ’16. But with just 28 seconds left in the second, Castleton struck back to make it a one-goal game. The Spartans dominated the third period, with goalie Cameron blocking a formidable shot by Janka Hlinka ’18 on a three-on-none break. With Cameron pulled in favor of an extra attacker, the Spartans tied the game with seconds remaining, forcing overtime. Only 1:53 into the extra session, Castleton went on the power play, and with an innocent shot at 3:18 that slipped past Middlebury goalie Julia Neuburger ’18, took home the win.
After a break from NCAA play, the women’s squad returned on Tuesday, Jan. 5 to host a formidable Lake Forest team in Chip Kenyon ’85 Arena, where the Panthers handed Lake Forest their first loss of the season in a spectacular showing of grit. Lake Forest entered the game with the nation’s top power play — at 41 percent — and was only one of four teams without a loss.
Ten minutes into the first period, alternate captain Katie Mandigo ’16 placed a loose puck into the slot to give Middlebury an early lead. Netminder Neuberger blocked three attempts by the Foresters in the final five minutes of the period. But 2:34 into the second, the Foresters answered.
The deciding goal of the game came 7:57 into the third, when Van Kula placed her third shot of the season off the rebound. The Panthers tried to bolster their lead on three power plays in the final eight minutes — including a five-on-three — but Lake Forest netminder Allie Carter did not falter. The Foresters pulled Carter with 49 seconds left and sent two aggressive attempts to the slot, but a blocked shot by Winslow and a crucial save by Neuberger preserved a Panthers’ victory.
“Beating Lake Forest was a good start for us coming back after break,” Van Kula said. “We played well for a full 60 minutes and were able to hand them their first loss of the season.”
The Panthers returned to NESCAC play on Jan. 8 for a two-game matchup in Amherst, Mass., against Amherst. A scoreless first period came and went, but early in the second Winslow redirected an attempt from Shanna Hickman ’19 to score her team-leading fourth of the season. Winslow was named NESCAC player of the week earlier in the season.
The Lord Jeffs were quick to answer just a minute later, as Katelyn Pantera led a power play drive to the Panther slot. And later, Sara Culhane finished a valiant drive from Amherst after a Panther turnover turned into a three-on-one play, giving Amherst a 2-1 lead. Early in the third, though, Allie Aiello ’17 scored her first goal of the season to force overtime and ultimately to secure a tie after a scoreless extra session.
A day later, the two squads returned to the ice, hoping to secure a win in the series but tying again, this time with a 3-3 score. Late in the second period, Jessica Young ’18 placed the first point on the board after intercepting a pass from an Amherst defender in the offensive zone and firing a point-blank shot. Just a minute later, Jocelyn Hunyadi responded for the Lord Jeffs on the power play.
The third period was high-scoring as Amherst scored two goals in the first nine minutes, one of which came when Erin Martin won a faceoff in her defensive end, skated the full length of the ice, and sent the puck past Neuberger. Trailing 1-3, Middlebury staged a comeback with shots by Victoria Laven ’17 and Elizabeth Wulf ’18. The Panthers put six shots on the Amherst frame in the overtime period, including hitting the pipe in the final minute, but neither team scored leading to the 3-3 tie.
In Plattsburgh, N.Y., on Jan. 12, Middlebury suffered a 3-0 loss against top-ranked Plattsburgh State (13-0). Melissa Sheeran converted on a rebound of an initial Erin Brand slapshot from the point to give Plattsburgh State a 1-0 advantage 1:07 into the second period. Brand would be on the receiving end of another primary assist to give Plattsburgh a 2-0 edge at 11:27 of the same period. Brand took a slapshot from the point that bounced off Panther goaltender Neuburger over her shoulder and into the crease where Kayla Meneghin knocked it in. Capitalizing on an empty Panther net, Kayla Meneghin scored her second of the game coming via the empty netter with 10 seconds left in regulation to seal a tough, but expected, loss for Middlebury.
Coming off the loss, the Panthers hosted Utica on Jan. 15 in Kenyon Arena and posted a 2-1 win with a strong debut by the freshman squad. Rachael St. Clair ’19 and Katarina Shuchuk ’19 each scored their first career goals and Kiana Verplancke ’19 made 25 saves for her initial collegiate victory. The Panthers made two early scoring bids in the first period on two power plays, but Utica goalie Amanda Lupo blocked both shots.
The Utica Pioneers took their turn on the power play midway through the period, with Elizabeth Dohner placing a rebound into the top corner of the Panther net. But the Panthers pulled even late in the period, when St. Clair collected a rebound on a shot by Katherine Jackson ’19 and tied the game at 1-1.
Middlebury scored the game-winning goal at the 17:08 mark of second, when Jenna Marotta ’19 directed a shot on goal, which was tipped in by Shuchuk to give the Panthers an unanswered 2-1 lead. Utica twice pulled the goalie in the final 1:09 to get the equalizer, but the Panthers held strong to prevent the Pioneers from setting anything up.
“We have a very young team this year but have seen lots of improvement since we started in November,” Van Kula said.
Bolstered by the victory, the women’s squad returned to Kenyon Arena to crush Endicott College 5-0. The Panthers were aggressive in the first period, and Winslow made the first goal on the power play for her fifth of the season.
Middlebury broke through for three goals in the middle period, one each by Jackson, St. Clair and Haley LaFontaine ’18. The goal was LaFontaine’s first as a Panther.
A breakout pass created a two-on-one advantage for the Panthers as Winslow set up Jackson for her second of the game and a 4-0 lead (14:33). Young netted the final goal 5:00 into the third period, bringing the score to 5-0.
“The team is working hard to improve on a daily basis,” Head Coach Bill Mandigo said. “We have had three good weeks of practice and have played some very good teams. We played well against Lake Forest and Plattsburgh, but only came away with the victory against Lake Forest. Different players are having an impact and I have been very impressed with our freshmen.”
Van Kula is excited for NESCAC play, stating “we have had a good start to the new year and are looking to build on that in our upcoming NESCAC games.”
The Panthers (3-0-3 in conference) will host a two-game homestand this weekend against the Bowdoin Polar Bears (3-3), beginning Friday at 7 p.m. and ending Saturday at 3 p.m., and then will face the Hamilton Continentals (2-2-2) in Clinton, N.Y., on Jan. 29 and 30.
(01/21/16 12:19am)
The men’s basketball team has played its best basketball of the season since the calendar turned to 2016 and, after a recent weekend sweep, are in the hunt for a home playoff game in NESCACs with a 3-1 conference record and 9-7 mark overall.
Middlebury ended its 2015 schedule with a blowout over usually tough Plattsburgh State. To begin the new year, the Panthers fell on the road against a tough Endicott team on Jan. 2, but since then have gone 4-1 and established themselves as contenders in the NESCAC. The highlights have come against last year’s NESCAC Champion Wesleyan, No. 18 Tufts and a Bates squad that the Panthers had not beaten in three years. In defeating Tufts and Bates, Matt St. Amour ’17 was named NESCAC Player of the Week by averaging 17.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. Middlebury also took down in-state opponent Southern Vermont on Jan. 4.
The Panthers opened NESCAC play with an 86-76 road win over Wesleyan University. The Cardinals entered last season’s NESCAC tournament as the No. 6 seed, but went on an incredible run and won the tournament. After their postseason success, Wesleyan was expected to compete once again for a NESCAC title. A year ago, Middlebury’s 97-60 beatdown of the Cardinals in Pepin Gymnasium seemed to galvanize Wesleyan on their championship run. This time around, the Panthers 86-76 victory over Wesleyan on Friday, Jan. 8 seems to have initiated the Cardinals’ recent struggles.
Wesleyan took a 14-2 lead less than five minutes into the game. At that time, Head Coach Jeff Brown brought all three of his first-years into the game and sparked a Panther comeback. Hilal Dahleh ’19, Zach Baines ’19 and Eric McCord ’19 combined for 24 points and 12 boards off of the bench.
The Panthers began the second half down 37-30 but quickly tied the game at 39 and went back and forth with the Cardinals for most of the second half. With 6:40 left in the game, Wesleyan stretched the lead to five, but that was as large as the lead would get as Middlebury began to chip away. An 11-3 Panthers run sparked by a pair of Jack Daly ’18 free throws that put the nail in the coffin of the Cardinals. A 22-25 performance from the charity stripe helped finish off Wesleyan and seal the 10-point victory, an anomalous performance for the team with the worst free throw percentage in the NESCAC.
“(Free throw shooting) was huge in our Wesleyan win, at Wesleyan,” Coach Brown said. “But it is a weakness of our team right now, just getting to the line and consistently making one-and-ones.”
After taking down the Cardinals, the Panthers were favored to best the Connecticut College Camels the following afternoon, but the upstart Camels surprised Middlebury with an 82-81 win. Despite perennially being at the bottom of the NESCAC, Conn. College has played the Panthers tough the last two seasons, losing by a combined seven points. This time around, the Camels finally got by the Panthers.
Once again, Middlebury started slow, falling behind 21-13 less than halfway through the first half. The Camels ran their lead all the way to 16 points with 4:08 to go in the half and went into the break up by eight.
St. Amour made a bevy of three-pointers early in the second in an attempt to bring the Panthers back into it and, with 59 seconds remaining, led 81-80. With 16 seconds remaining, Conn College Point Guard Tyler Rowe scored the deciding bucket on a runner, and the Panthers were unable to respond on the other end, sealing their fate.
With almost an entire week off to prepare for a home weekend, Middlebury was ready for the nationally-ranked Tufts Jumbos on Friday, Jan. 15 and just outlasted the visitors 85-82 in a thrilling overtime game. With top big man Matt Daley ’16 out with a foot injury, Middlebury had its work cut out for it. Tufts boasts arguably the best post player and second-best scorer in the league in junior center Tom Palleschi and sophomore point guard Vinny Pace. The Jumbos were bit by the injury bug, as well, as senior guard Ryan Spadaford - averaging 11.9 points per game - had to sit out with an ankle injury.
Jack Daly ’18 did a great job slowing down the lethal Pace in the first half, holding the sophomore to seven points on 2-5 shooting. Without Daley, McCord, Nick Tarantino ’18 and Adisa Majors ’18 were asked to fill the void and did so admirably. Coach Brown rotated the trio of young big men frequently to keep them fresh, and their tenacity paid off on the defensive end. Tarantino snagged nine rebounds in as many minutes, and all three did well to stymie Palleschi.
“The biggest thing (without Matt Daley),” Coach Brown said,” is that we were looking to double team Palleschi inside ... and just not allowing him to work one-on-one.”
Also on the defensive end, the long and athletic Baines introduced himself to the Middlebury faithful with a pin against the backboard on a Vinny Pace layup attempt midway through the second half.
“(Zach Baines) is an elite talent athletically, and a piece of that is his wingspan,” Coach Brown said. “He’s got the wingspan of a seven-footer.”
The game was incredibly balanced throughout as neither team lead by more than eight and both squads performed comparably in nearly every statistic. At halftime they were knotted up at 40 apiece, and a block by McCord prevented a three-point attempt from Pace at the end of regulation, sending the game into OT.
St. Amour put the team on his back in the extra period, scoring nine of the team’s 13 points. The Jumbos would not go quietly, though, and relied on their stars in the final period. Pace scored five points and Palleschi made a three-pointer, and Tufts had a chance to tie on the final possession. Pace had the ball beyond the arc but passed up a contested shot attempt to a wide open Stephen Haladyna in the left corner. Haladyna’s shot looked good but it ended up slightly right of the mark, clanged off the rim, and bounced away, clinching an 85-82 victory for the Panthers.
Riding high off of this upset, Middlebury stormed into Pepin the next day, took the lead a little over halfway through the first half, and got the best of a pesky Bates team. Bates has frustrated the Panthers recently. A year ago, a gastrointestinal infection decimated the Panthers roster on the day of the game against Bates, and still Middlebury battled to a four-point loss. Two years ago, since-graduated Graham Safford of Bates drilled a game-winning three from straightaway in Pepin to finish off the Panthers. The previous year’s game was a three-point win for Middlebury. On this Saturday, though, the Panthers got their revenge by defeating the Bobcats 73-61.
Still without Daley, Coach Brown leaned on a similar strategy as the night before, relying on a revolving door in the front court against Bates’ Delpeche twins who each stand over 6’6,” and on Daly to shut down the opponent’s top scorer, senior Mike Boornazian.
“We wanted to double team some in the post because of the Delpeche teams,” Coach Brown said, “who really have a lot of length and athleticism, but again I thought Jack (Daly) did a terrific job on Boornazian. He really made (Boornazian’s) offense really tough to come by.”
On the offensive end, St. Amour was his usual self, canning three three-pointers en route to 17 points while Daly and Jake Brown ’17 combined for 11 assists. Majors tallied 10 points off of the bench.
The Panthers remain at home this weekend and will welcome the currently 11-5 Williams College Ephs, who pummelled the Panthers last season, 87-62.
(01/21/16 12:16am)
The indoor competition season is now in full swing for the Panther track and field teams after the school hosted the inaugural Middlebury Winter Classic, the first such event held in the new Virtue Field House since its opening in January 2015. Before a packed house that included numerous alumni of the program, as well as the usual crowd of parents and spectators, the meet ran very smoothly for the Panthers. The men dusted the competition with a total of 260 points, 111 better than second-place Springfield, while the women scored a resounding victory of their own, racking up 257.5 points, 41 ahead of Springfield, who came in second once again.
The weekend before that, Middlebury had sent a small contingent of runners who had been able to find practice facilities over the winter break to the Dartmouth Relays in Hanover, NH. Head Coach Martin Beatty ’84 had only positive things to say: “The group did very well. The Dartmouth meet has Division I athletes, so it is always fun to go against that level. At this point in the season, the performances were where they should be, or even a little bit better.”
For the Panthers, the instant celebrities of the event were the four members of the winning 4x200 relay team — Jeremy Carter ’17, Brandon Cushman ’16, Paul Malloy ’18, and Alex Nichols ’17 — who came in first overall with a time of 1:35.23 (1.58 seconds ahead of the second-place team). “The 4x200 win at Dartmouth was totally unexpected,” said Cushman, also a captain of this year’s squad. “A lot of our faster 200-meter guys were still away on break for the race, so the quartet was made up of mostly 400-meter runners looking to get some speed work in. We were surprised to be placed in the fast heat to begin with … So you can imagine our surprise when we crossed the line in first.” When the dust had settled after all the events, the men tied for 8th out of 16 teams while the women snagged eighth out of 19 competing schools.
Still, the elation following the Dartmouth Relays was overshadowed by the buzz generated by this past weekend’s home meet. Before the main events got underway, Coach Beatty decided to let some of the alumni get the first crack at the new surface as thanks for their continued support. “Supportive alumni made this indoor track event happen,” he noted. “In that spirit, I felt that it would be fitting to invite the alumni to run in the very first running races. They didn’t have such a facility, so I wanted them to feel proud of it — it’s theirs as well.”
Current members of the team were equally excited by the inaugural event that, according to Cushman, had been a long time coming. “Saturday was an incredible experience,” he said. “Hosting the first home meet on the track meant a lot to everyone on the team. The seniors were especially excited because we have seen this project through from the beginning, moving from the old bubble into Nelson and finally into the new field house. The alumni only made the day even better. It made you feel the team was more than just the athletes that are here.”
The Panthers found success across the board on their home turf, picking up victories in a total of seventeen events. Of those, the men won nine: the 200-meter dash (Nichols at 23.15), the 400-meter dash (Jimmy Martinez ’19 at 50.60), the 1,000-meter run (Andrew Michelson ’19 at 2:40.7), the 1-mile run (Kevin Serrao ’18 at 4:26.38), the 3,000-meter run (Brian Rich ’17 at 8:59.14), the 60-meter hurdles (Tyler Farrell ’18 at 8.76), the 4x400 relay (Farrell, Nichols, Cushman and Martinez at 3:29.76), the pole vault (John Natalone ’19 at 14’5.25”) and the shot put (Daniel Plunkett ’16 at 46’2.75”).
The women came away with eight victories of their own, including a school record in the 500-meter dash set by Lucy Lang ’19 (1:17.55). The other wins were as follows: the 400-meter dash (Alexandra Morris ’16 at 58.00), the 800-meter run (Isabella Alfaro ’18 at 2:26,02), the 1000-meter run (Robin Vincent ’18 at 3:05.40), the 1-mile run (Vincent again at 5:13.33), the 3,000-meter run (Adrian Walsh ’18 at 10:25.83), the 4x400 relay (Morris, Lang, Paige Fernandez ’17 and Halle Gustafson ’16 at 4:04.97) and the pole vault (Kreager Taber ’19 at 10’6”).
At the end of the day, Cushman felt good about the team coming out of the meet. “It’s hard to get a good impression from the team as a whole this early in the season because Saturday was the first meet for a majority of the team,” he conceded. “But I’m really pleased with how well our team competed during the meet. To my knowledge, there weren’t many people who were disappointed in their performances, which starts the season off on a really good note.” The Panthers will look to continue their success at Saturday’s Smith Invitational in Northampton, Mass. before they come back for another home meet, the Middlebury Invitational, on Jan. 29 and 30.
(12/09/15 8:02pm)
On Saturday, Dec. 5, the men’s and women’s squash teams headed to Clinton, New York to take part in matches at Hamilton College. The women’s squad bounced back from a tough loss to Cornell on Nov. 21 to defeat Hamilton 6-3, and the men’s team dominated both their opponents, Hamilton and Hobart, 9-0.
“Cornell was our opening match and our first trip traveling, so getting back into the swing of things as well as getting rid of all the nerves and anxiety of our opening match, was a big thing,” said Tiffany Hau ’16, a team captain.
With the women’s squad’s win over Hamilton, the fourteenth-ranked Panthers continued their streak of dominance over the Continentals, defeating them for the fourth consecutive time in three years. Middlebury swept all matches in the second through seventh slots on the ladder. Bea Kuijpers ’19 and Alexa Comai ’19 provided the Panthers with strong performances as they both captured their first victories of their college careers, (11-2, 11-3, 11-6) and (11-8, 11-5, 11-8) respectively, and captains Zoe Carey ’16 and Hau provided the Panthers with a punch in the top-middle of the ladder, winning their matches in the third and fourth spots, (12-10, 11-9, 11-2) and (11-6, 11-1, 11-5).
“I’ve really been working on my mental game,” Carey said. “During the Cornell match, once I convinced myself that I could win, I was better able to stay in points and give her a good fight. I was a bit more shaky due to nerves going into the Hamilton match against Lillie Simourian, but I won the big points when I had to and became more confident as the match progressed.”
Getting stronger going into January will be a key for the Panthers’ overall success going forward. They play important matches against Bates, ranked fifteenth-nationally, and Brown, ranked eleventh-nationally, on Jan. 8 and 16 respectively.
“We’ve been training really hard and our team has been really building confidence as the season is progressing,” Hau said. “It’s definitely always tough having the holiday break for winter sports,” Carey said.
“We have been training hard to improve our overall level of fitness,” Carey added. “I know this will show through during our matches against Bates and Brown.”
On the men’s side this weekend, the Panthers swept both Hamilton and Hobart 9-0. The team dropped only two games in its defeat of Hamilton and only three against Hobart.
The middle of the ladder continued to be a strength for the Panthers. Against Hamilton, Harrison Croll ’16 bounced back from losing his first game to take the next three and the win (9-11, 11-2, 11-6, 13-11). Henry Pearson ’17 dominated in the sixth slot (11-3, 11-3, 11-2), while first-year Robert Rohrbach ’19 earned a win in the ninth spot (11-4, 11-1, 12-10) his first collegiate action.
In the match against Hobart, co-Captain David Cromwell ’16 (11-7, 14-12, 13-11) and Wyatt French ’17 (11-1, 11-4, 11-6) swept their opponents to continue their winning ways in the second and third slots respectively.
Will Kurth ’18 continues to stand out at the bottom of the ladder for the Panthers throughout the early part of the season, sweeping both of his opponents (11-4, 11-7, 12-10) and (11-3, 11-6, 13-11).
“I was more fit than Dietz and I knew if I could focus on implementing my game plan I would beat him,” Kurth said. “When I think too critically about a part of my swing or my movement during a match, I tend to mess up strategically. This past weekend, I stopped worrying about the technicalities and just played my game. I felt like my old self and won defiantly. It gives me confidence to work super hard from now until January.”
Although he may show up lower on the lineup card than last season, Kurth provides insurance for the Panthers that they will win their matches at the bottom of the ladder.
“It’s important not to think selfishly and think of this as a good thing,” Kurth said. “It means other guys on the team have raised their game. My team has confidence that I will win my matches at the eighth position, and I plan to do just that.”
The squash teams are off until the end of the break when they travel to Maine to take on Bates on Friday, Jan. 8 and Colby and Hamilton on Saturday, Jan. 9 to start the critical stretch of their season.
“Bates, Bowdoin and Colby will be grueling matches that demand focused preparation and training,” Kurth said. “We are looking forward to the challenge, especially for another chance to beat Bates.”
(12/09/15 7:59pm)
The Middlebury women’s hockey team went 1-0-1 in their two-game homestand against Connecticut College this weekend at Chip Kenyon ’85 Arena, bringing their overall record to 4-1-1.
On Friday night, Middlebury broke a 2-2 tie in the third period to win 3-2 over the Camels.
Middlebury controlled the ice but not the scoreboard during the first period, putting seven of the first eight shots on goal but making none of them. Jenna Marotta ’19 took three shots during a Panther power play and Shanna Hickman ’19 sent back-to-back shots a minute later, but the Connecticut netminder let none through.
The Camels scored first, just before the end of the period. The Panthers responded early in the next period when Maddie Winslow ’18 corrected a shot by Janka Hlinka ’18. On the power play five minutes later, Elizabeth Wulf ’18 gave Middlebury the lead with a shot from the right.
Conn College answered late in the third period with a goal on the rebound to tie the game at 2-2. Just 49 seconds later, Carly Watson ’17 skated to a loose puck in the high slot and sent a rocket to the upper corner of the net, securing a win. Watson came off the ice with a goal and two assists for the Panthers.
“The game was a back and forth battle in regards to scoring, with both teams capitalizing on momentum shifts,” Watson said. “I thought we did a really good job of maintaining possession and controlling the game, which is very encouraging for being the beginning of the season with a very young team.”
The Camels could not capitalize on any of their three power plays. The Middlebury women played aggressively throughout the game, taking 33 shots on goal compared to Connecticut’s 19.
On Saturday, the Panthers and Camels went into overtime tied at 1-1, but neither team could score in the first overtime game for both teams.
Middlebury dominated the first period, leading Connecticut 14-7 in shots on goal, but could not convert any of those shots into a goal. The Panthers had two 2-on-1 opportunities in the offensive zone, first with a wrist shot by Kelly Sherman ’17 at 8:51 and then a shot from inside the circle by Allie Aiello ’17, but Connecticut’s goalie, Katherine Chester, stopped both.
Each of the teams scored its goal in the second period, two minutes apart from each other. The Camels were first on the scoreboard with a shot by Lily Connolly at 4:23. At 6:28, Katherine Jackson ’19 made an attempt that was blocked by Connecticut’s netminder, but Kelly Sherman ’17 placed the rebound right past the posts to bring the score even.
Six minutes later, Middlebury had two chances to take the lead, first with a slot shot by Jessica Young ’18 and a rebound hook by Aiello, but neither player could find the back of the net.
The rest of the third period was scoreless, although Middlebury was dangerous on the puck. The ladies had several textbook setups that they failed to complete. A Panther power play came at 13:52 on which Middlebury was unable to capitalize. Connecticut nearly took the win with less than a minute of play remaining, but Panther goaltender Kiana Verplancke ’19 blocked the scoring bid and the rebound went wide.
In overtime, Winslow had a chance to score the game-winning goal, but missed the puck. Julia Wardwell ’16 powered a shot from the left circle that Chester gloved. Midway through overtime, the Panthers looked poised to score, controlling the puck in the Conn College zone. Winslow passed to Wulf, but she could not track it down. Young had a powerful shot that missed near the post. Haley LaFontaine ’18 sent a wrist shot that careened just wide.
“The effort is there, we just need to find more ways to score,” Wardwell said. “I think it’s absolutely possible if we keep working hard and continue to shoot the puck.”
Connecticut had an excellent chance at scoring with 27 seconds left, but the puck went flying just over the net.
Both goaltenders put up a strong showing: Verplancke made 22 saves in her collegiate debut for the Panthers, while Katherine Chester made 31 for the Camels. Middlebury had 32 shots on goal, compared to 23 for Conn College.
“Chester defended her net well. We had a lot of good opportunities to bury the puck but unfortunately we could not capitalize,” Wardwell said. “We played with a lot of hustle, which was great, but we will keep pushing ourselves in practice to get better both individually and as a team.”
In the NESCAC rankings, Middlebury (3-0-1) dropped just behind Amherst (4-0), who muscled out a win against Trinity. The Panthers are still ranked third nationally, behind number two Elmira, who defeated them last week.
Middlebury returns to the ice next Saturday with a home game against Castleton at 3 p.m.
(12/09/15 7:58pm)
The Middlebury men’s basketball team has begun to claw their way back towards a .500 record by stomping Johnson St. for the second time in five days on Thursday, Dec. 3 and beating Castleton St. in Middlebury’s home opener on Tuesday, Dec. 8, sandwiched around a five-point loss on the road at Skidmore on Saturday, Dec. 5, to move to 4-5 on the season.
Middlebury once again had an easy time dispatching the Badgers of Johnson St., using its considerable size advantage while out rebounding a winless Johnson team 45-12. It was all systems go out of the gate for Middlebury, as the Panthers jumped out to a 7-0 lead off of layups from Connor Huff ’16 and Matt Daley ’16 and a three-pointer from leading scorer Matt St. Amour ’17. Middlebury took a 10-point lead with 8:20 to go in the first half and led by double digits from that point on. Jack Daly ’18 capped a 12-0 run to end the half with a layup to make the score 45-21.
The Panthers scored 50 points in the second half on the way to a 95-48 win. St. Amour led all scorers with 19 points on 7-10 shooting and 5-7 from beyond the arc. Forward Eric McCord ’19 posted a career-high 10 points and added five boards to his stat line. Daley was efficient and productive with eight points on 4-6 shooting and eight boards.
Middlebury’s next contest at Skidmore, who beat NESCAC Champion Wesleyan in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament and returned two All-League players including Co-Liberty League Player of the Year Aldin Medunjanin, proved to be much tougher. The Panthers caught a break with Medunjanin out for the contest, but still could not overcome the Thoroughbreds.
St. Amour had a great first half for Middlebury, scoring 14 points on 4-7 shooting, 3-4 from deep and 3-4 from the charity stripe, as the Panthers went into halftime with a 35-29 lead.
The Thoroughbreds began the second half with an 11-6 run to take the lead by one, lost it on a couple of layups from McCord and Hilal Dahleh ’19, then took a lead they would never relinquish when Nick Volpe drained a three-pointer to make it 47-45 with 12:13 to play.
Skidmore kept Middlebury at bay for the rest of the game, stretching the lead to 10 with 4:35 left, but failing to put the Panthers away.
The Thoroughbreds led by just five late in the contest when Daly fed Dahleh for a three-pointer to tighten the score at 72-70 with exactly one minute to play. At the other end, Skidmore’s Edvinas Rupkus hit a pair of free throws to go back up by four. The Panthers tried to get a quick shot up but missed. Daley was able to corral the rebound and put it back up and in, drawing the Panthers within two once again. Rupkus once again made things difficult, hitting another pair of free throws for Skidmore. Middlebury closed the gap to one with 18 seconds remaining when Daly finished a three-point play the old-fashioned way, making a lay up and calmly sinking the free throw, but Skidmore just could not miss from the line, as point guard Royce Paris made two more free throws for the Thoroughbreds. It took all of six seconds for Dahleh to make a layup to make it 78-77, but once again it was Rupkus who made two more free throws to make it 80-77. With five seconds left, the Panthers needed a three-pointer, but the last-ditch attempt missed the mark, and Skidmore sank two more free throws to close it out, 82-77.
“I was happy with the run we had down the stretch to get a chance to tie the game in the final seconds,” Head Coach Jeff Brown said. “Our group plays with grit and determination.”
The Panthers coasted to their fourth win of the season with a 96-74 victory over Castleton St. Middlebury lead for the final 38:28 of the contest. Middlebury loves to run on offense, and finally showed off their aptitude to do so with 18 fastbreak points.
“We weren’t as successful as we wanted to be in our transition game [against Skidmore],” Coach Brown said.
Jake Brown ’17 notched a game-high 16 points and added eight assists to the mix. St. Amour continued his hot shooting with four three-pointers, including a 75-footer right before halftime, and 12 points overall. Zach Baines ’19 and Adisa Majors ’18 tallied double digit points with 11 and 10, respectively.
Middlebury plays just one more game before the long Christmas break, a Saturday, Dec. 12 contest with a Plattsburgh St. squad that has proven difficult in the past.
(12/03/15 1:12am)
The Middlebury Panthers got their season off to a strong start with a 3-1 record. The team beat NESCAC rival Trinity twice, 5-1 and 2-1, on opening weekend, then hosted the Panther/Cardinal Classic this past weekend, where they fell to second-ranked Elmira College 3-1 and defeated Wisconsin-Stevens Point 3-1. Maddie Winslow ’18 led the way for the Panthers, tallying two goals and four assists in the four games and garnering NESCAC Player of the Week for her play at the tournament.
On Friday, Middlebury scored three times on the power play on its way to a 5-1 win over Trinity in the NESCAC season opener. Middlebury was slow to find its groove in the first minutes of play, as Trinity took a 1-0 lead 3:43 into the game on a power play goal from the right point. The women soon found their momentum with a power play goal of their own. Carly Watson’s ’17 shot from the left point, though blocked, was put home for a rebound by Katie Mandigo ’16. The Panthers struck again with the extra attacker at 11:22, taking a 2-1 lead with a goal by Elizabeth Wulf ’18.
Leading 2-1 in the second period, the Panthers added to their lead when Mandigo finished after a shot from Watson had been saved, and Kelly Sherman ’17 added one on a breakaway.
Julia Wardwell ’16 found the goal 5:00 into the third period to score Middlebury’s third power play goal of the night and seal a 5-1 victory for the Panthers.
The next day, the Panthers again defeated the Trinity Bantams with a score of 2-1.
Just as in the previous night, Trinity took an early 1-0 lead in contest. Melissa Maffeo’s initial shot was blocked before Shelby Labe jumped on the rebound and scored to put her team ahead.
Winslow answered for Middlebury in the second period, shooting a wrister to the top left corner of the net.
The game appeared to be heading into overtime when Wulf broke free from a pack behind the net and gained some space. She quickly fed Anna Van Kula ’16 in front, who sent a shot into the back of the net for the game-winning tally with only 47 seconds remaining in regulation.
This past weekend, the Panthers hosted the Panther/Cardinal Classic in Kenyon Arena. On Friday night, they fell to second-ranked Elmira by the score of 3-1 after leading midway through the second period.
The Panthers took the 1-0 lead when Wulf one-timed a shot from the slot on the power play into the back of the net at the 16:38 mark in the first period.
Elmira tied the game with an extra attacker 12:48 into the second period.The Panthers went on the power play at the 7:36 mark, with their best chance coming when Mandigo’s shot hit the pipe.
Elmira took a 2-1 lead with less than nine minutes remaining in the third period with a snipe of a shot into the top-right corner of the net, and the Panthers were unable to answer the goal despite a power play opportunity less than a minute later.
The Soaring Eagles gained some breathing room as the power play expired when the puck bounced off the stick of a Middlebury defender, leaving a race down the ice. Watson knocked the puck away, but the aggressive Soaring Eagles slipped the puck into the goal.
Following an Elmira timeout with 3:22 left, the Panthers pulled Dreher, but were unable to close the gap as Elmira took home the win.
“While we had a disappointing loss on Friday night, we felt good about how we played,” Mandigo said. “We competed all over the ice, and although we had a few breakdowns, overall we played well.”
On Sunday, the Panthers redeemed themselves with a 3-1 victory over Wisconsin-Stevens Point (5-4-1) during the final game of the Panther/Cardinal Classic in Kenyon Arena.
Middlebury got on the board first at 4:13 when Jessica Young ’18 stuffed home a pass from Janka Hlinka ’18. Only 22 seconds later, the Pointers came right back and tied the game at 1.
Two minutes into the second period, Winslow dug the puck out of the corner, skated to the goal and sent a cross to Shanna Hickman ’19, who scored her first career goal.
The Panthers added an insurance goal on the power play in the third period when Winslow sent her wrist shot to the far side of the net, securing a 3-1 win for her team.
“We had a good weekend battling some of the top teams in the country,” Mandigo said. “We have a young team, but everything is coming together nicely. We have high expectations for ourselves, but most importantly we are willing to put the hard work in for the outcomes that we want.”
With its pair of wins against conference rival Trinity, Middlebury sits atop the NESCAC, tied with Amherst at 2-0. The Panthers return to the ice this weekend for a two-game homestand against Connecticut College (0-2) on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 4-5.
(12/03/15 12:55am)
The Middlebury women’s basketball team has had quite the hot start thus far in the season. Going undefeated in the month of November, the team has beaten Oneonta State (60-38) on Friday, Nov. 20, Hartwick College (61-58) on Nov. 21 and Johnson State (57-52) on Tuesday, Nov. 24. The Panthers have relied on their underclassmen’s talent to win games in the absence of captain and most senior leader, Elizabeth Knox ’17, who is injured and hoping to return to the courts in January.
Middlebury began the season at the Holiday Inn Classic at SUNY Oneonta where they played the host. The Panthers ended the first quarter with a 14-9 lead, and did not look back.
Oneonta only hit 14 of their attempted 75 shots (18.7 percent shooting), and grabbed 40 rebounds while Middlebury shot an impressive 41.7 percent from the field, going 25-60. The Panthers also grabbed 58 rebounds. Point guard Sarah Kaufman ’18 led Middlebury’s scoring effort, sinking 23 points total in the game. Catherine Harrison ’19 also helped seal the win in her impressive college debut: she knotted her first career double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 15 boards.
One day later, the team carried this momentum into their matchup against Hartwick College. Middlebury emerged victorious from the constant back-and-forth that ended with a score of 61-58.
Harrison was the high scorer of the game, with 20 points and 9 rebounds, while Colleen Caveney ’19 had 12 points and went 6-7 from the field. Kaufman again scored in double-digits, racking up ten points total. Middlebury continued their shooting success going 24-50 from the field (48 percent).
Three days later on Tuesday, Nov. 24, the Panthers embarked on another road trip to face their local rival, Johnson State (JSU). Middlebury won what proved to be another close contest 57-52.
JSU cut Middlebury’s lead down to two with just under a minute remaining. However, the Panthers hit three foul shots and a layup to seal a five-point win. Kaufman led Middlebury again in scoring with 18 points, while Harrison scored 12. Eileen Daley ’18 scored five and recorded a career-high of 13 rebounds.
After a very promising start to her Middlebury career, Harrison — who averages 16.0 points and 12.0 rebounds per game, and shot an 82.4 percentage from the floor (14-17) — was named the NESCAC Player of the Week.
The Panthers will begin to rev up their out-of-conference schedule as they face Skidmore on the road this Saturday, December 5th at 2 p.m. before NESCAC competition begins after the New Year.
(11/19/15 3:52am)
Nov. 14 through the 22 is National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. This national social movement is held every year on the week leading up to Thanksgiving in order to reflect on and raise awareness for the hunger and homelessness that exists in our country.
Hunger Free Vermont is a statewide nonprofit education and advocacy organization whose goal is to provide “nutrition education and [expand] access to nutrition programs that nourish Vermont’s children, families and communities.”
Katie Green, Adult Nutrition Specialist from Hunger Free Vermont, commented that, “[the] organization’s mission is to end the injustice of hunger and malnutrition in the state of Vermont. We go about doing that in a holistic way, and really trying to get at the root causes of food insecurity.”
Using U.S. census data from 2010-2012, the organization exposes the prevalence of hunger in the state and Addison County.
At the state level, Hunger Free Vermont reports that 13 percent of all Vermont households, or 83,200 Vermonters are food insecure. According to the organization, this means that 19 percent of Vermont Children live in food insecure homes and 7.5 percent of Vermont seniors live with food insecurity. Further, the organization found that 12,290 Vermont Children depend on emergency food from food shelves each month.
In Addison County specifically, Hunger Free Vermont states that one in five children are food insecure. Of grade school and high school students, 38 percent are eligible for free or reduced priced lunches. However, there are zero after school meal programs in the county even though six towns are eligible. In addition, ten senior community meal sites serve meals at least twice a week.
To help people afford three meals a day, the USDA funds 3SquaresVT, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps.
“I think that all programs have room for growth … but that program serves over 82,000 Vermonters and helps them afford nutritious food, and put better food on the table for themselves and their families. So I would say it’s a very successful, and very essential program,” Green said on the effectiveness of 3SquaresVT.
According to a report conducted by the Vermont Department for Children and Families (DCF), the budget totals for 3SquaresVT in 2014 were $867,138. While the federal share made up 50 percent of SNAP funds for 3Squares VT, state funded dollars amounted to $346,214 and private discretionary funds totaled $87, 355.
In 2001, Hunger Free Vermont found that there were 38,558 3SquaresVT participants in 2001. Today, there are over 93,000 participants. According to the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) as of 2015, the change in participation in the last five years has increased by 39.4 percent. Although the number of participants in 3SquaresVT is rising, Hunger Free Vermont reports that about one in five eligible individuals do not yet have access to the program.
While 3SquaresVT fails to reach everyone who needs SNAP benefits, Green points out that Vermont is taking some key steps to address this shortcoming.
“In the state of Vermont we have expanded eligibility for the program,” Green said. “Some states do not allow expansion eligibility, but we allow up to 185 percent of the federal poverty level. So this in Vermont makes a lot more people eligible for the program.”
Based on the inherent need for food stamps, 3SquaresVT created certain parameters for eligibility. For one person, an individual must have a monthly gross income limit of $1,801. An individual who qualifies for benefits based on these standards would receive approximately $37 a week from 3SquaresVT. For a family of four, the household income must have a monthly gross income limit of $3,678. A family of four who is eligible to receive benefits would receive approximately $99 a week from 3SquaresVT.
Although the number of participants is on the rise, Green acknowledged the stigma that is still attached with the 3SquaresVT program.
“There shouldn’t be stigma or shame associated with just trying to provide healthier and more nutritious meals for individuals and their families,” said Ms. Green. “Changing the name to 3SquaresVT was something that we did as a state to try and alleviate some of that stigma … the fact that eight out of ten people in their life will experience economic hardship at some point [means] it is sort of a myth that this is a program that only a few people use and rely on”
In addition to food insecurity, homelessness is also a prevalent issue in Vermont.
According to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, there were 25 percent more homeless Vermonters in 2013 than there were in 2012. Based on data collected in 2013, the report found that in total there were 574 people in emergency shelters, 215 people in transitional housing and 160 people who were unsheltered.
Given the growing need of homeless shelters throughout the state, United Ways of Vermont identified 16 locations that offer emergency shelter, transitional housing, and community shelters.
For example, the John Graham Shelter, located in Vergennes, has been open for 38 years. The shelter itself can house up to 25 residents at a time. By owning scattered transitional housing, the John Graham has been able to increase the number of people they serve up to 75 people at a time.
The Charter House Coalition, located in Middlebury, was founded in 2005. According to the Coalition’s website, the Charter House served 24,000 meals in 2014 and housed 79 adults and children. Doug Sinclair, the Coalition’s Volunteer Executive Director, also added that the Charter House’s volunteer ranks have tripled to over 970 in 2014, as with their donations from individuals and organizations. Furthermore, Sinclair reported that the Charter House is already housing 26 people a night. Sinclair compared this figure to back in 2008, when the Charter housed about 20 adults and children over the entire winter.
With these impressive figures, Sinclair highlighted how the Charter House has been quick to respond to the community’s needs.
“Thanks to the increasing support our organiation receives across Addison County, especially from churches and Middlebury College students, more and more people have become part of our community of neighbor helping neighbor ... simply stated, as the need has grown, so has the response,” Sinclair said.
When asked why he felt the number of guests eating and sleeping at the Charter House had been increasing steadily, Sinclair pointed out numerous examples.
With the economic downturn in 2008, Sinclair explained how low and middle income families have become unable to keep up with meeting their basic necessities such as food and housing.
In addition, Sinclair suggested that challenges relating to mental illness and substance abuse have led more locals to turn to the Charter House.
“While we do not have hard local data to back that up,” Sinclair stated, “our experience with our neighbors who are served by our programs is consistent with the national data. There is no question, we are seeing more challenges related to mental illness and substance abuse.”
Additionally, Sinclair pointed to senior citizens, especially those who do not qualify for health care, who find it increasingly difficult to stay in their homes.
Sinclair noted, “[seniors] seeking to maintain their independence strive not to take advantage of government programs, but will accept the support of organizations like Charter House Coalition.”
Vermont Foodbank is responsible for 225 food shelves and meal sites, feeding as many as 153,000 Vermonters each year.
In addition to hunger and homelessness, this week also raises awareness about the prominence of poverty in the state and the county.
According to the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) as of 2015, the poverty rate in Vermont is 12.3 percent. In comparison to other states, this statistic ranks Vermont 40th out of 50 overall. In addition, American Fact Finder published that in 2013, Vermont had a 4.6 percent unemployment rate and that 7.6 percent of families and people had incomes in the past 12 months that fell below the poverty line.
The Addison County Community Action Group (ACCAG), who started Helping Overcome Poverty’s Effects (HOPE), is a local poverty relief organization that has been working to address the mounting poverty in Addison County since 1965. According to their website, HOPE’s vision is that “all people in Addison County have access to the tools and resources necessary to meet their own basic needs.”
Jeanne Montross, Executive Director at HOPE described the work of the organization.
“We are a first response, and a last resort. We do what no one else does. Many other local agencies refer people to us when they don’t know where else to turn,” Montross said.
Montross explains that unlike other government assistance organization, HOPE doesn’t use formulas.
Instead, Montross said, “we sit down with people and ask them what they need. If it makes sense, if no one else provides the resource, and if we can afford it, we do it.”
For Hunger and Homelessness Awareness week, the College’s Community Engagement Office has planned many events.
Elle Bacon, the College’s AmeriCorps Vista member, organized the week’s events along with several students, including Bella Carey ’17.5, Julia Trencher ’18 and Abla Lamrani-Karim ’16.
Bacon prefaced by saying, “these events are by no means a holistic discussion of both hunger and homelessness and they do not encompass all that could or should be discussed.”
However, she then explained, “my intent for this week is to continue current discussion on campus about these issues, while also (hopefully!) sparking new conversation and action.”
Through Volunteer Service Organization (VSO), 14 students went to HOPE last Friday and helped prepare holiday food for their food shelf.
Julie Ehrlich ’17.5, one of the volunteers, said, “HOPE is an amazing organization that works really hard to fill a lot of the gaps caused by poverty in Addison County ... HOPE does the best they can, but there are only so many people working there full time. In a short time, a group of many volunteers significantly helps HOPE accomplish what would have taken them hours or days.”
Ehrlich continued by saying, “the take away message of volunteering at HOPE is that in order for an amazing organiation to do amazing things, it really needs support and volunteer help from the community.”
On Tuesday Nov. 17, Katie Green from Hunger Free Vermont came to speak at an Atwater dinner.
Green first talked about the issue of food insecurity and hunger in Vermont, and went into detail about the history of hunger. Green explained, “I think that a lot of people who aren’t familiar with the issue of hunger … can be surprised that hunger is such a far reaching issue today.”
Then, Green discussed the ways in which Hunger Free Vermont uses advocacy and legislative means to work to end the injustice of hunger, and the ways in which the organization works within a community.
On Wednesday, Nov. 18, there was a screening and subsequent discussion of “A Place at the Table.” The documentary, released in 2012, is told through the lens of three individuals and examines the issue of hunger in America.
Bacon explained why she chose this movie.
“This documentary, I think, does a pretty good job acknowledging the devastation of food insecurity in the United States,” she said. “It connects individual stories with the larger systematic issues that prevent individuals and families in poverty from ‘making ends meet’ and debunks the myth that there is a certain type of person that is ‘hungry” in the U.S.”
On Thursday, Nov. 19 at 4:45 pm, the Community Engagement Office is sponsoring volunteers to attend Charter House Community Supper.
Bacon highlighted the community-based ethos of the Charter House supper.
“While we will not be serving the meal, my intent is to ask students to share a meal with those they might not otherwise,” she said. “I hope students will engage in community beyond the campus and get out of their comfort zone. Community Supper is more than a meal, it is a social event for a lot of the people that attend, and I think one way in which students can bridge the campus-community gap is by showing up, conversing and listening as a willing and open participant in such social events.”
In addition to publicized events throughout the College, some professors have taken it upon themselves to focus on the issues.
For example, in her class ‘Hunger, Food Security and Food Sovereignty,’ Professor Molly Anderson gave her students the opportunity to participate in the SNAP Challenge. Each student who participates was given the allotted $37 to spend on food for the week.
“Since our class is about hunger and food insecurity, and how various agents are trying to address these problems,” Anderson explained, “I wanted students to understand that food insecurity is significant in the US as well as in other countries.”
“Although the SNAP Challenge is just a small window into the kinds of difficult decisions that food insecure people make on a daily basis,” Anderson pointed out, “It is a way to raise our awareness and understand better at a gut level the issues that are caused by lack of jobs with a decent wage, lack of job training, poor daycare options for our next generation and insufficient food stamp allotments.”
“For me, I think the take away [of this week] is just to raise awareness on the issue, and get some talking points out there,” Green commented.
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The Panthers could not steal a win on the road in Medford, Mass. against the Tufts Jumbos in the season finale on Saturday, Nov. 15. Formerly a perennial cellar-dweller, Tufts has risen from the ashes over the past two seasons and, with the win over Middlebury, clinched a 6-2 re- cord, good for third in the NESCAC and the program’s first winning season since 2007. Meanwhile, Middlebury finishes 2015 at 5-3, the program’s fourth-straight winning season, but also its worst record since 2011, which speaks to the consistent level of greatness that the Panthers have played at over the past four years.
Coming into Saturday’s game, the Jumbos had not bested Middlebury since 2001, but it was immediately evident in this game that Tufts would not go down easy. The Panthers’ opening drive lasted just six plays before J.P. Garcia picked off QB Matt Milano ’16 along the sideline, but Tufts would not capitalize. Later in the first quarter, the Jumbos did strike first when QB Alex Snyder hit senior Jack Cooleen for a 14- yard touchdown.
Middlebury struck right back, though, answering with a seven play, 74-yard touchdown drive and a 10-yard strike to WR Matt Minno ’16 in the end zone.
The pace became frenetic partway through the second quarter. With the Jumbos driving and the ball at the Middlebury 31- yard line, safety Kevin Hopsicker ’18 jumped a route and picked off Snyder. It then took all of one play for Tufts’ Tim Preston to in- tercept Milano and get the ball back for the Jumbos. On the following play from the Middlebury 25, Tufts then ran a wide receiver pass, and sophomore Joe Nault completed the first pass of his college career, a 25-yard TD to junior Ben Berey, to make it 14-7 Tufts. The rest of the half was hard-fought but fruitless. Tufts was able to stop TE Dan Ful- ham ’18 one yard short on a 4th & 5, but otherwise neither team threatened again before halftime.
The Jumbos kept up their fine level of play in the third quarter. Kicker Willie Holmquist, NESCAC Special Teams Player of the Week, drilled a 28-yard field goal to go up 17-7, and on the next possession Milano was intercepted again, one of three picks on the day thrown by the signal-caller.
“We don’t focus a lot on those [turnovers],” Head Coach Bob Ritter said. “You don’t want your quarterback afraid to throw and throw through windows. If they’re bad turnovers that’s different, but the reality of it is that those interceptions on Saturday — one, our receiver fell down, the other one it was in the receiver’s hands and got tipped and the third one the kid made a great play on it.”
Late in the third quarter, though, the Panthers were able to close the gap when Milano hit Minno for his second touchdown of the game, a 49-yard catch and run. That score was Minno’s 30th career touchdown reception, moving into sole possession of first place on the Middlebury leaderboard, passing Zach Driscoll ’13. Minno also finished his career second in Middlebury history in receiving yards with 2,093.
“Zach was an unbelievable player and role model,” Minno said. “His class really started the winning culture and tradition that we’ve benefited from the past four years. He’d also agree with me that Middlebury is the perfect place be a receiver between the coaches and quarterbacks, and most of the credit should go to them.”
The momentum seemed to be swinging into Middlebury’s favor in the fourth quarter when, with the score 17-14 in favor of Tufts, defensive tackle Gil Araujo ’16 blocked a Tufts punt, Middlebury recovered, and RB Diego Meritus ’19 eventually scored on a one-yard TD plunge, giving Middlebury its first lead of the game, 20-17 after the missed PAT.
The fireworks kept coming in the fourth quarter. Snyder found wideout Mike Rando for a 31-yard TD to regain the lead for Tufts, 24-20. A few possessions later, Tufts blocked a punt of its own, and the Jumbos took over at the Middlebury 24-yard line. Snyder shortly found tight end Nik Dean for a 16-yard TD, putting Tufts ahead 31- 20.
“The disappointment with the blocked punt ... that was too bad,” Ritter said. “When it was a one score game, I felt really confident that we were going to get in the end zone again.”
Middlebury followed that up with a masterful 15-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that included two fourth-down con- versions and another fourth down on which a Tufts defender was called for defensive holding, giving Middlebury the first down. Milano eventually found WR James Burke ’17 for a two-yard score, and then hit Burke again for the two-point conversion to make it 31-28 with 54 seconds left in the contest. Burke had his best two games of the season in week 6 against Trinity and in the season finale.
“I can’t say enough good things about Burkey,” Minno said. “He had a great preseason and came in as one of the most improved guys on the team. We all had full confidence in him once he finally got his shot, and I can’t wait to see him tear it up next year.”
After the score, with just one timeout remaining, Middlebury was forced to try the onside kick. Unfortunately for the Pan-
thers, the ball rolled easily into the hands of a Jumbo, and after a few kneel downs the game was over.
“That last drive, a big part of it is urgency and desperation,” Ritter said. “We made some big plays and converted some fourth downs and some guys stepped up, and I still thought that if we had gotten the onside kick, I felt really good about it.”
The final contest notwithstanding, the 2016 class was an accomplished one. Minno imprinted his name throughout the record books in his career. Milano threw 47 touchdowns and accumulated 4,591 yards over the past two seasons. Linebacker Tim Patricia ’16 started 32 games over the course of his career and amassed 289 tack- les — the third-most in Middlebury history since 1994 when individual defensive num- bers began being recorded. Jake Clapp’s ’16 12.5 sacks in his career are also good for third all-time in Middlebury history, and Araujo’s 8.5 sacks this season are the second-most in one year for a Middlebury player. Despite the loss, the Class of 2016 finishes its Middlebury career with a cu- mulative 25-7 record, the most wins for a class since the Class of 1973 won 26 games.
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The women’s field hockey team (18-2) has earned their second consecutive and seventh overall trip to the NCAA Final Four after winning the regional final this past weekend Nov. 13-14. The third-ranked Panthers topped No. 5 Franklin and Marshall 2-0 in Saturday’s semi-final before beating No. 6 William Smith 3-0 in Sunday’s regional final.
“We held our ground firmly all weekend in the defensive end,” Head Coach Katharine DeLorenzo said. “Both teams were tough to break defensively, but the Middlebury offense was persistent and produced when it needed to.”
The Panther offense came out strong in Saturday’s game, with co-captain Jillian Green ’16 sending a hard shot towards the goal after only a few minutes of play, but a defensive save by Franklin and Marshall kept the game scoreless. The offense continued to put pressure on the Diplomats and was able to break through in the 11th minute. Co-Captain Bridget Instrum ’16 collected a loose ball just inside the circle and sent a hard shot toward the net that was redirected in front by Annie Leonard ’18. Franklin and Marshall almost tied the game on their lone shot of the opening half, but Panther goalie Emily Miller ’17 kicked the ball away to keep the lead. Middlebury continued to apply pressure, but the game held at 1-0 for the remainder of the half.
The Panthers came out blazing in the second half and grabbed a 2-0 lead in the 38th minute. Grace Jennings ’19 worked her way down the left side of the field and sent in a shot that deflected off a Diplomat defender into the goal for a 2-0 lead. Franklin and Marshall’s best scoring chance of the second half came in the 55th minute, but the shot by Mary Kate Olson went just wide of the net. With six minutes remaining, the Diplomats pulled their goalie in favor of an additional attacker, but they were unable to break through the strong Middlebury defense.
Middlebury held a 7-3 advantage in both shots and penalty corners. Miller made two saves for the Panthers, while Diplomat goalie Ili- anna Santangelo was credited with three stops.
With Saturday’s win, the Panthers met William Smith for their sixth consecutive NCAA regional final. Again, the Panthers came out strong, earning four penalty cor- ners in the first ten minutes of play, but were unable to capitalize on any of them. The Herons returned pressure, sending in a hard shot that was blocked by Panther goalie Miller in the 12th minute. The Panthers refused to back down and at the 13:11 mark scored on their fifth penalty corner. Leonard sent a shot in from the left side after the insertion, and Pam Schulman ’17, who was positioned on the near post, tapped in the ball for her 17th goal of the season. Middlebury played a man up following a five minute yellow card and was able to increase their lead on their ninth penalty corner of the game. Schulman dribbled the ball inside the circle and sent a pass to Leonard, who redi- rected the ball off a Heron defender into the cage for a 2-0 lead at 28:54. The Panthers took the 2-0 advantage into the halftime break.
William Smith had a great scoring chance early in the second half, but Miller was able to kick away the attempt on her left pad to keep the Herons scoreless. With four min- utes remaining in regulation, William Smith pulled their goalie in favor of an extra attacker. Just before the 67-minute mark, Leonard netted Middlebury’s third goal, and her 23rd of the season, off an assist from co-captain Anna Kenyon ’16. With that goal, Leonard moved into a fourth-place tie in the Middlebury single-season record books.
“Our cohesiveness as a team is allowing us to play at a very high level,” Leonard said of the week- end’s performance. “Moving forward we’re focusing on what we can do in practice to get better and stronger, and prepare ourselves for what’s to come.”
Middlebury held a 17-5 advantage in shots and a 13-7 edge in penalty corners. Miller made four saves in the Panther victory for her seventh shutout of the season, while Biz Chirco was credited with nine saves for the Herons.
“In this repeat national semi-final against TCNJ (The College of New Jersey), we’ll prepare again to be at our very best at both ends of the field,” DeLorenzo said looking towards the upcoming match. “The team is completely committed to the effort and will challenge each other on the practice field until we arrive for the final four.”
The Panthers will meet second-ranked The College of New Jersey on Saturday in a national semifinal at 2 p.m. on the campus of Washington & Lee in Lexington, Virginia. The other semifinal features top-ranked Bowdoin and fourth-ranked Ursinus playing at 11 a.m. The winners will meet in the championship game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
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SGA President Ilana Gratch ’16 opened the Nov. 9 senate meeting with an announce- ment that The Cellar (originally named The Coat Rack) is a student-run bar in Cross- roads Cafe that is still looking for bartenders. Students do not have to be 21 and can gain certification online through Vermont’s DLC server training. The training costs $25, but is covered by SGA/MCAB.
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Leading up to the matchup between Middlebury and Wesleyan in the semifinal, Head Coach Dave Saward predicted that it would be a very even contest. He was correct, and after no score in regulation and two overtimes, the Middlebury men’s soccer team fell to Wesleyan by penalty kicks (5-4) in the NESCAC tournament semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 7. The loss ended the Panthers’ season when they were not granted an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.
The Cardinals came out with a lot of confidence after upsetting previously undefeated Amherst looking to knock off the highest-seed remaining in the NESCAC tournament for the second straight game, and possessed the ball early on by moving the ball well.
In the 18th minute, the Panthers moved into the offensive end and Daniel O’Grady ’19 played a little chip to Greg Conrad ’17. Conrad gave it right back on a lead pass into the box, and O’Grady cut into the middle and fired a low shot that Wesleyan goalkeeper Jack Katkavich pounced on. Four minutes later, Adam Glaser ’17 attacked from left to right, using his speed to draw a foul and set up a free kick. Glaser lined up the kick and sent it past Wesleyan’s wall to the right side, but Katkavich dove and corralled the shot to keep the game scoreless.
Off another Wesleyan foul in the 27th minute, Conrad’s header off the free kick was stopped but rebounded to Kyle Moffat ’19 who got his head on it. It looked like Moffat had scored the game’s first goal, but Wesleyan’s Charlie Gruner cleared the ball off the goal line to prevent the goal. Wesleyan had a chance of their own less than a minute later, but Max Jones’ chip sailed over the bar.
Neither team could separate itself from the other as the game continued to be wide open in the second half. Both the Panthers and the Cardinals created numerous opportunities but could not put the ball in the net. Glaser and Conrad both missed just wide, and Wesleyan’s leading scorer Chris Kafina came close to breaking the deadlock as well. As tension rose on the field and in the stands, the game remained scoreless and the teams needed overtime to settle.
Deklan Robinson ’16 almost ended the game in the 96th minute when he rose up to head a corner kick that went just to the right of the goal.
Fatigue started to show in the second overtime period when the Middlebury defense sloppily let Adam Cowie-Haskell get free for a one-on-one with Panther goalkeeper Greg Sydor ’17. Sydor was able to deny Cowie-Haskell to bail his defense out, and had to do so again less than three minutes later when Kafina beat the exhausted Middlebury side. Sydor made the save, keeping the score 0-0 and forcing a penalty shootout to decide who would advance to the NESCAC championship game.
In front of Middlebury’s largest and loudest home crowd this season, Kirk Horton ’17 took Middlebury’s first shot and sent it over the bar. Brandon Sousa knocked his in the opposite direction of the diving Sydor and put Wesleyan ahead 1-0. Robinson got Middlebury on track, tying the score, but Gruner quickly responded, just beating the outstretched Sydor. Down 2-1, Tom Bean ’17 brought the Panthers even again with his penalty kick.
Then Sydor stepped up again, making a diving save on Hans Erickson’s shot to keep the score even, or so it seemed. The line judge ruled that Sydor left his line early and awarded Erickson another attempt, which he made to put Wesleyan up by one again.
“In 31 years, I have never seen a retake,” Saward said. “It was a very questionable decision. To me it was a great save.”
Glaser, Kafina and Andres Chamorro ’16 all scored, so with the score tied, it came down to Dylan Hoy against Sydor. Hoy chipped his shot right down the middle, beating Sydor who dove off to the side.
With the win, the Cardinals advanced to the championship, but fell to Bowdoin there, as the Polar Bears won their second NESCAC title in a row.
The loss left the Panthers hoping for an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament to continue their season when the committee announced the field on Monday, Nov. 9. Middlebury did not get a bid, and they ended their season with a 13-2-2 record, while Bowdoin, Amherst, and Tufts will represent the NESCAC in the NCAA tournament, the latter two as at-large selections.
“This is one of the very best teams I have coached here,” Saward said. “They captured the real essence of what it means to be on a team. They worked hard and supported one another throughout the whole year, and every single member of the squad impacted the outcome.”
Although ultimately a disappointing way to end the season, the 2015 season will be in the record books for a number of reasons. The Panthers tied the program’s single game goal record with 10 against Green Mountain State. They broke the 17-year old season goal record by scoring their 46th goal of the year against Trinity in the NESCAC quarterfinals. Adam Glaser set both the single season and career assist records with 14 assists this year, twice as many as any other player in the NESCAC, and 23 on his career. Entering his senior season, Glaser will need 16 points to break Kyle Dezotell ’03’s career points record of 90.
Robinson, Chamorro, Tyler Bonini ’16, Andres Rodlauer ’16 and John Lower ’16 will all graduate this spring. Robinson’s started 57 games in his four career at Middlebury, scoring seven goals and assisting on 6 while playing defensive back for a defense that conceded eight goals in 17 games this season.
“They have been the foundation of the team’s success, and will leave a legacy of excellence both on the field and in the classroom that will inspire those that follow,” Saward said. “We will miss them all.”
The Panthers will have nine players who started at least ten games this year returning for the 2016 season, including Glaser, Conrad, Horton and Bean, who started all 17 games this season.
(11/11/15 9:31pm)
After taking down fifth-seeded Tufts last Friday (25-21, 25-20, 19-25, 25-16) to advance to the semifinal round of the NESCAC championship, the Middlebury volleyball team saw their season come to a close with a difficult loss to Bowdoin on Saturday (21-25, 24-26, 13-25). The Polar Bears would go on to defeat Williams in the championship round on Sunday, earning a berth in the NCAA tournament; the Panthers, finishing their season at 18-7 and 7-3 in the conference, were left to wonder at what could have been, despite having thoroughly exceeded the on-paper expectations for a team with no seniors that finished 12-12 last year.
“We’ve had some lopsided matches recently (good wins, and tough losses), and I think we’re learning what it feels like to really play well together, and we just need to do that consistently this weekend,” Head Coach Sarah Raunecker said. “I like where we are now heading into NESCAC’s. If we play well, we can compete with anyone there so we feel like we’re in control of our destiny.”
After defeating Tufts in their last regular season game, Middlebury drew the Jumbos in the first round of the NESCAC tournament. The Jumbos showed up ready to play, hoping to exact their revenge, but the Panthers refused to budge. The score ran all the way to 22-22 before some strong play from middle hitter Gabi Rosenfeld ’17 and outside hitter Becca Raffel ’18 allowed Middlebury to wrap up the first set. The Panthers capitalized upon that momentum in the second, racing out to going ahead 13-4 and then coasting to a 24-16 lead. Tufts stuck around for a bit, stringing together four straight points, but ultimately fell on a service error that gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead.
With their backs against the wall, the Jumbos fired off a quick eight points to start off the third and would lead the rest of the way. Middlebury made a push to get within five at 19-14, but Tufts regained control with three straight and went on to notch their first set victory, 25-19.
In the fourth set, the match concluded with some hard-nosed play. The two teams fought to a 13-13 tie before the Panthers began to distance themselves from the Jumbos, building a 17-14 lead and then running away with a 25-16 victory and the match. Notable players for Middlebury include Raffel, who led both sides with 15 kills, Rosenfeld, who had 1 solo block and 4 block assists, libero Emily Kolodka ’18 who dug up 25 balls and setter Hannah Blackburn ’17 who dished out 36 assists.
“We weren’t even thinking about the fact that it was Tufts,” outside hitter Alice Roberts ’17 said. “This tournament, we went in saying that we can only focus on what we’re going to do — and we want to win the whole thing. Tufts came back and definitely fought, but we were playing too well.’”
On Saturday, the Panthers found themselves in the opposite situation, trying to get back at a Bowdoin team that had handed them their first conference loss back in September. However, some of the consistency problems that plagued Middlebury at times earlier in the season reared their heads once more, and little errors prevented the Panthers from stringing together runs when they needed them. In the first set, the Panthers stuck with the Polar Bears until Bowdoin, leading 15-14, rattled off seven straight points to go up 22-14. The Panthers fought back to make it 24-21 before the Polar Bears finished off the set.
Always resilient, Middlebury pushed Bowdoin to a 19-19 tie in the second set. The Polar Bears scored four straight points, but the Panthers responded with a 5-1 run of their own to tie things up at 24-24. The Polar Bears took control, scoring two quick points to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
In the third set, nothing seemed to go Middlebury’s way. Bowdoin jumped out to an early lead and never took their foot off the pedal, closing things out with a 25-13 third set victory.
“Our serve-receive went very well in the first two sets,” Roberts said. “Once Bowdoin started to control the match a little bit, we got a little disjointed.We kept bringing ourselves back — we were composed the entire time — but Bowdoin just played a great game. They had almost no errors, whereas we had some unforced errors here and there.”
Looking forward, good things seem to be on the horizon for the Panthers. They return every member from a squad that featured a number of players on NESCAC leaderboards. Raffel finished third in the conference in kills per set with 3.80. Middle blocker Melanie English ’17 was second in blocks with an average of 1.04 each set, and Blackburn was third in assists with 9.68 per set.
Roberts shared that the team is even more excited to see where the added experience, along with a handful of incoming freshmen, might be able to take them next time around.
“Honestly, people were looking at our team as though we weren’t going be great this year, but I was very much expecting us to play well because our team was first-year and sophomore heavy last year, playing-wise,” Roberts said. “Now I’m extremely excited for next year because we went this far, with this team that’s not changing—if anything, we’ll just be adding some more players,” she said.
(11/11/15 9:23pm)
The men’s and women’s cross country teams competed at Mt. Greylock High School this past Saturday, Nov. 7. The men competed in a field of 40 teams, placing third with 117 points total. They followed Amherst, with 53 points and Williams with 77. The women also had an impressive finish, ending fourth overall with 78 points in a field of 46 teams. This was an upset for the other teams in the competition, as the women entered the ECAC Championship ranked eighth. They followed Tufts with 45 points, University of New England with 63 and Williams with 73 points. Both teams rested their top eight runners in preparation for NCAA Regionals this weekend, and the NCAA National Championship the following weekend.
The women had five runners finishing in the top 20 runners of a 311-runner field. The top finisher for the women was Robin Vincent ’18 who finished fifth. She was followed closely by a tight pack of Olivia Artaiz ’16 (18), Caroline Guiot ’16 (19), Claire Gomba ’19 (20) and Read Allen ’18 (66). Artaiz and Guiot finished out their final season and final race on a high note, crossing the finish line at nearly the same time. Tiana Thomas of University of New England won the race with a time of 22:54.20.
Artaiz was proud of her team after running her last race for the Panthers.
“I would say that we went into this weekend all knowing it was our last race so wanted to have fun with it,” she said. “We were all in a good mood in the line and it was a symbolic race for Caroline and I as it was out last race ever wearing a Middlebury uniform. We ran the entire race together and finished at the exact same time. We had plans to hold hands across the finish but we found out you can’t actually do that in cross country or you get disqualified. It was a good close to the season and we were all happy to race one last time for each other.”
On the men’s side, Samuel Klockenkemper ’17 was the top finisher for Middlebury, finishing in 10th place. He was followed by Kevin Serrao ’18 in 15th, Harrison Knowlton ’19 (18), Benjamin Hill ’19 (25) and Andrew Michelson ’19 (50). The men competed against a field of 277 runners, making their top five finishes all the more impressive. Liam Simpson of Williams College topped the competition with a time of 26:24.13.
“It was a great day,” Klockenkemper said. “We ran a team of mostly first-years and to get third like that speaks to the depth of our team. We’ve got a lot of positive energy moving forward from this meet and our performance at NESCAC’s, and I think we’re all just excited to see what this team can do. We’re running fast when it counts.”
While many of the Panthers finished out their season with this meet, the runners who were rested this weekend will compete again this Saturday, Nov. 14 at regionals. The women race at 11 a.m. and the men follow at 12:30 p.m.
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Men’s Soccer
Both of the Panthers’ losses this season came in 1-0 road losses against Amherst and Tufts. Amherst ended the regular season undefeated and as the top-ranked squad nationally, while Tufts began the campaign as the pre-season number one. Yet, after the both squads were improbably bounced from the conference tournament on the first weekend, Middlebury (13-2-1, 7-2-1 NESCAC) appears to have jumped onto the fast track to its first conference title since the 2010 edition of the team squeaked by Bowdoin on penalty kicks.
The Panthers are set to take on Wesleyan this Saturday Nov. 7 at 11 a.m. at the soccer field. Wesleyan was the team responsible for knocking off the top-ranked Lord Jeffs. In their first match up this season, Greg Conrad ’17 headed in a beautifully centered ball by Philip Skayne ’17 in the 80th minute to seal a 2-1 victory for the Panthers.
Saturday’s match figures to be high scoring as well, as Middlebury’s 2.49 goals-per-game average is the highest in the conference, while Wesleyan’s 1.9 goals-per-game is the third-highest. Defensively, however, the Panthers hold the edge over Wesleyan by a wide margin, as Middlebury’s goals-against-average is under half a goal-per-game, while Wesleyan’s 1.5 goals-against-average ranks in the bottom half of the conference.
Rounding out his 31st season at the helm of the men’s soccer squad, head coach David Saward’s team knows all it needs to do this weekend is execute and he will be heading to his 11th trip to the NCAA tournament.
“I think their record completely belies their ability,” Saward says of Wesleyan. “I think they’re really a very good team. Beating Amherst on Saturday does not surprise me…I think they’ve got a number of very good players. It’s not going to be easy. They’re going to come full of confidence now even though they’ve had a tough run. I know a number of their players, and I really think they’re very, very good. Well-coached. I think it will be a very even game. It’s going to be who can find the special moment to win the game.”
If the Panthers execute against Wesleyan on Saturday, they would take the field again Sunday Nov. 8, playing either Connecticut College or Bowdoin for the NESCAC title.
Women’s Soccer
The women’s soccer team (7-4-5, 4-3-3 NESCAC) heads to Bowdoin this weekend on the heels of its 3-2 upset over Amherst on Halloween.
Turning attention to the task that awaits them in Williamstown, Captain Katherine Hobbs ’17 said that although the Amherst game was more nerve-wracking than the team would have hoped, it provided a spark for the team.
Hobbs emphasized that “by coming back from behind and battling through the final minute, we proved to ourselves that we can get the job done when it counts most.”
The Panthers face a tall task this Saturday Nov. 7 when they head to Williamstown to take on the Ephs, who were undefeated until last week then the Panthers knocked of Williams at home 2-0. Last week’s result against Williams proved that though the Panthers are the sixth seed in the NESCAC tournament, they are certainly a legitimate contender.
“Saturday’s game is going to be another huge battle and is going to come down to little moments like those that won us the game this past weekend at Amherst. We definitely rattled Williams this past week,” Hobbs said.
The Panthers shut-out Williams in last week’s match, which was only the second time this season that Williams failed to find the back of the net for only the fourth time over the last three seasons, and it was Kate Reinmuth’s ’17 fourth clean sheet of the season.
“Williams is certainly a worthy opponent,” said Reinmuth, who saved all three shots on goal registered by the Ephs. “We know that it’s going to be a battle every time we face them, no matter the week or the field – or the year for that matter. We beat them last week, but that’s no guarantee of anything, so we’re working to fine tune our game in anticipation of Saturday.”
The Panthers’ defense needs to limit Williams’ dangerous duo of junior forwards, Audrey Thomas and Kriste Kirshe – the top two goal scorers in the NESCAC – as they did in their first meeting when Thomas and Kirshe were held without a shot-on-goal.
Hobbs reflected how the team is embracing the rematch with the top-ranked Ephs, who she says “will be coming into this rematch with a vengeance, but that makes the game that much more fun. We have already taken away their perfect season and now we are excited to end their NESCAC run as well.
Field Hockey:
If the Panthers (15-1, 9-1 NESCAC) are going to repeat as NESCAC tournament champions, the odds are that they will likely have to go through Bowdoin, as the last four NESCAC tournament finals pitted Panthers against Polar Bears. The Panthers have only been the higher seed in two out of the six meetings between Middlebury and Bowdoin in the finals.
Field hockey almost certainly does not need to win its game Saturday Nov. 7 in Brunswick, Maine against Tufts to guarantee it a spot in the NCAA tournament; however, the team would relish a chance to avenge its only loss of the season, off of a penalty stroke in the last minute, to Bowdoin in Brunswick on Sept. 26.
If the Panthers are going to repeat as NESCAC tournament champions, the odds are that they will likely have to go through Bowdoin, as the last four NESCAC tournament finals pitted Panthers against Polar Bears.
After easily handling Hamilton last Saturday afternoon Middlebury leads the nation by wide a wide margin in assists-per-game with 3.63, more than half an assist better than the next-best team. The Panthers also lead the nation in average margin of victory at almost 4 goals-per-game and rank fourth in goals scored per game at 4.56.
Moreover, it could easily be argued the Panthers have the best scoring duo in the country in Pam Schulman ’17 and Annie Leonard ’18 with 33 combined goals on the year thus far. The Panthers’ goalkeeper, Emily Miller ’17 is also having a tremendous year for the Panthers, as she ranks 8th in the nation in goals-against-average, having allowed only 11 goals in 977 minutes.
Nevertheless, Leonard says that the team is not looking beyond the next game.
“We are just focused on taking everything day by day and not looking too far ahead,” she said. “The team is working hard to get better, and we are just focusing on doing our jobs. We can only control what we do as a team, so we’re working our hardest to prepare ourselves. We are certainly excited for the road ahead.”
Volleyball:
The volleyball squad (17-6, 7-3 NESCAC) has enjoyed a successful regular season especially for such a young team: the Panthers have no seniors on this year’s roster.
The talented young team is headlined by Becca Raffel ’18 who currently leads the NESCAC in kills with 334, and has more than avoided a “sophomore slump” after being named co-Rookie of the Year in 2014. Raffel is joined by veteran presence Melanie English ’17, who is also the conference blocks leader, as well as fellow outside hitter Emily Kolodka ’18 and Hannah Blackburn ’17 as the team’s key contributors.
Middlebury enters the NESCAC tournament as the fourth seed for the second straight year. No one on the current roster has advanced passed the quarterfinal round of the NESCAC tournament, but their match with Tufts this Friday evening Nov. 6 in Brunswick, Maine provides an opportunity for this team to have a breakthrough.
“Tufts is a very strong team,” Raffel said in preparing for the Jumbos early this week. “We had a competitive match with them last week and [so] we know their tendencies and their game. It’s nice to be able to go into the game having proved to ourselves that we are capable of beating them, but at the same time it’s never easy to beat a good team twice, especially at NESCACs.”
The Panthers’ mental toughness certainly cannot be questioned, especially with the way that it handled the highs and lows of this season. At the times when the Panthers faltered they got right back up again – the most notable example being how they followed losing two-straight hard-fought matches to NYU and Bowdoin in mid-September with a ten match winning streak.
“No one on our team has won a NESCAC championship,” Kolodka. “We are hungry for the opportunity to play Saturday and Sunday, and that’s driving us to bring our best volleyball on Friday.”
(11/05/15 1:02am)
The Middlebury men’s soccer team advanced to the NESCAC tournament semifinals on Saturday, Oct. 31 by stomping Trinity 5-0. Adam Glaser ’17 continued his record-breaking season by setting the program’s career assist record and earning NESCAC player of the week.
The Panthers defeated Bates 4-1 on Saturday, Oct. 24 and Williams 1-0 on Wednesday, Oct. 28 to clinch the second seed in the tournament, hold off Tufts, and extend their winning streak to six games.
At Bates, Middlebury fell behind 1-0 for the fifth time in their last six NESCAC games when Noah Riskind found the back of the net in the third minute for the Bobcats. Playing from behind, the Panthers outshot the Bobcats in the first half, but the score remained 1-0 entering the halfway point.
Greg Conrad ’17 tied the game in the 60th minute off an assist from Glaser, and less than a minute later, Tim Ogle ’17 put the Panthers ahead.
“The team has shown resilience,” Head Coach David Saward said. “We’ve got an inner belief that even when we give up a goal we can get back into it.”
In the 78th minute, Conrad scored his second goal of the game off another brilliant setup from Glaser. Daniel O’Grady ’19 added one more for Middlebury in the 86th minute, as the Panthers sealed a 4-1 victory, outshooting Bates 26-3 and staying a half-game ahead of Tufts in the standings.
Heading into their regular season finale against Williams, the Panthers could clinch second place in the NESCAC with a win.
The Panther defense did its job all afternoon, but the offense could not breakthrough in regulation so the game went to overtime. A little under five minutes into overtime, Glaser passed to Kyle Moffat ’19 who attacked Williams’ net. Drawing the keeper out, Moffat went back to Glaser, and the junior one-touched Moffat’s feed into the empty net from a difficult angle for the game-winning goal.
The Panthers finished the regular season with a 13-2-1 overall record and a 7-2-1 mark in the NESCAC. With that record, Middlebury grabbed the second seed in the NESCAC tournament and drew seventh-seeded Trinity in the quarterfinals on Saturday, whom they had come behind to beat 2-1 two weeks earlier.
Trinity almost struck first again when Sam Milbury got free down the right side and launched a shot from 12 yards out but missed just over the crossbar in the 17th minute.
Three minutes later, Glaser drove down the left side with pace, feeding the ball to Conrad in the middle, who touched it back to O’Grady. The midfielder played a beautiful little chip over the defense to Luis Echeverria ’17, who slid his shot past the Trinity keeper for the first goal of the contest.
Glaser put tremendous pressure on the right side of the Trinity defense when he attacked carried the ball along the left again and sent a cross through the air to the middle. Echeverria was in the right place at the right time once again, and headed the ball towards the net. Domenic Quade stopped the first attempt, but Echeverria got to the rebound first and knocked his second goal past Quade.
Middlebury persisted offensively, but Quade made a nice save on a shot by O’Grady off a pretty setup from Conrad. O’Grady then set substitute Jeremy Barovick loose down the left side with a pass, and Barovick made a nice cut into the middle only to see his left-footed shot sail way left of the mark. The Panthers still held their two-goal lead with 45 minutes between them and a berth and the semifinals, and needed one more strong half to get there.
“In the first fifteen minutes of the second half, we defended efficiently. They never really got a look at the goal,” Saward said. “But we didn’t really have the ball much, and we didn’t really make any inroads.”
In the 72nd minute, Glaser sent in a corner kick that Moffat directed from his head to Conrad’s before Conrad finished it off.
“The corner kick is a bit of our bread and butter right now,” Saward said. “We’re big and strong and pretty good in the air. That goal really killed the game off.”
With that assist, Glaser became the all-time assist leader in program history with 23, breaking Baer Fisher ’09’s and Kyle Dezotell ’03’s record of 22. Three minutes later, Conrad’s deft pass set up the speedy Glaser who raced past the defense and powered a shot past Quade.
“Glaser’s goal was wonderful,” Saward said. “He can do that.”
Tyler Bonini ’16 made history for the Panthers in the 82nd minute when he tapped in a goal off assists from Echeverria and Tom Dils ’17, scoring Middlebury’s record-setting 46th goal of the season and breaking the 1998 team’s record of 45 goals in a single season.
Middlebury secured the 5-0 win, and Greg Sydor ’17 did not have to make a single save.
As the highest seed remaining, the Panthers host the semifinals and championship on Nov. 7-8. They will matchup with eighth-seeded Wesleyan on Saturday while Connecticut College and Bowdoin will play in the other semifinal game.
