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(04/17/13 11:37pm)
The Middlebury women’s lacrosse team suffered its first loss of the season this past Saturday, April 13 against top-ranked Trinity College. Middlebury fell to the Bantams by a score of 10-9 in a nail-biting game that was tied at nine going into the last two minutes of play. On Tuesday, April 16 the team defeated Union College by a score of 19-9.
The Bantams came out firing early on in the first half, notching two goals for a 2-0 lead less than five minutes into the contest. Following a goal from Emma Kramer ’13, Trinity added two more markers to extend their lead to 4-1 at the 17:22 mark. Middlebury kept pace with the Bantams’ high-powered offense, however, with three goals coming from Laurel Pascal ’16, Ellen Halle ’13 and Liza Herzog ’14 to keep the Panthers trailing by a manageable 7-4 going into the second half.
Trinity ramped up the pressure on Middlebury early in the second half, with the score moving to 9-5 with 17 minutes left in the game. Then, two goals from Alice Pfeiffer ’13 gave the Panther offense the spark it needed to mount a comeback. After Pfeiffer’s two goals, Kramer netted two more to tie the game at 9-9 with five minutes left in game play.
Despite the late-game run, Middlebury’s comeback was thwarted with 1:53 remaining off of a crease-shot from Trinty’s Shea Kusiak.
Kramer, who finished the game with three goals, led Middlebury’s offensive effort against Trinity. Kramer’s performance was supported by two goals and an assist finish from Pfeiffer, three helpers from Margaret Souther ’13, and two points from Pascal. Halle, Herzog and Katie Ritter ’15 each added a goal while Chrissy Ritter ’16 added an assist for the Panthers. Alyssa Palomba ‘14, who played all 60 minutes for the Panthers, finished the game with six saves.
The Panthers were out-shot by the Bantams by a count of 19-17. Middlebury and Trinity were relatively even in the ground ball and draw matchups, with both teams scooping 16 loose balls, and Middlebury edging the draw battle at 11-10.
Halle reflected on her team’s uneven showing.
“We have moments of brilliance, but couldn’t string a full game together,” she said. “Alyssa was key in goal with really important saves, and Emma and Alice sparked an awesome comeback that fell short.”
Trinity, after defeating Middlebury, remains undefeated with a record of 11-0 overall, 7-0 in the NESCAC, while Middlebury drops to 10-1 overall, including a 7-1 mark in the NESCAC.
Halle also put the loss in perspective of the team’s push for the postseason.
“Unfortunately the end result wasn’t what we had hoped for as we were really geared towards beating Trinity,” said Halle. “We definitely had a lot of takeaways from the game that we’ll look to improve upon as we wrap up the season. A loss can sometimes be healthy as it just adds fuel to the fire. This in no way deflects from how incredible our season has been and were excited to keep pushing ourselves for NESCACs.”
This past Tuesday, the women came out in full force against Union College. Despite trading goals with Union for the first six minutes of the first period, the Panthers went on two five-goal scoring streaks, with one goal from Union’s Brittany Fraser in between, to end the first period ahead 12-3.
Union, however, was ableto close the goal differential by scoring three consecutive goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Tough Middlebury defense, and a spark from Ali Sciaretta’s ’16 goal off of Megan Griffin’s ’16 feed sparked another five-goal streak of Middlebury scoring to give the Panthers a substantial lead over the Dutchmen.
Middlebury will play Colby this coming Saturday, April 20, followed by Williams next Wednesday, April 24 in its regular season game.
(04/17/13 11:36pm)
The third-ranked women’s tennis team traveled to Maine April 13 and 14 to take on NESCAC foes Bowdoin and Colby, falling just short against the Polar Bears on Saturday before returning to rout the Mules in nearby Waterville the following day.
The first match of the weekend was a significant test for the Panthers, who lost to Bowdoin in the round of 16 in last year’s NCAA championship.
The women started the match on a high note as they snagged two of the three doubles points. Lok Sze Leung ’15 and Ria Gerger ’16 continued their domination in the second doubles position with an 8-3 victory. The senior duo of Brittney Faber ’13 and Leah Kepping ’13, meanwhile, survived a back-and-forth match, eventually defeating their opponents 8-6. The Panthers’ no. 3 doubles team was defeated 8-4, however.
Heading into singles play, the women carried a 2-1 advantage, and needed just a split of the six singles matches to guareantee a victory. Despite a pair of wins, Bowdoin grabbed four of the six singles points — including a decisive three-setter — and the match.
Margot Marchese ’16, Katie Paradies ’15 and Gerger lost in straight sets, while Kepping lost in three sets. Coming away with wins for Middlebury were Leung – who dominated 15th-ranked Kellen Alberstone 6-4, 6-1 in the no. 1 singles match – and Dorrie Paradies ’14, who fought hard to win a tight contest 7-5, 6-4.
Despite the loss against Bowdoin, the Panthers confidently await the approaching NESCAC tournament with a potential rematch against the Polar Bears in the future.
“It was definitely a disappointing loss for us, but we know Bowdoin is a team that we will see again later in the season, possibly in two weeks’ time,” said Leung.
The next day, the women traveled to Waterville, Maine to take on the Colby Mules. From the start, the Panthers began play in impressive fashion against tge Mules, capturing all three doubles points.
The lefty-righty combination of Leung and Gerger was overpowering in the first doubles match, as the pair thrashed their opponents 8-2. The Paradies sisters, meanwhile, came away with an 8-4 win at no. 2 doubles, while Marchese and Kepping eased their way to a convincing score of 8-3.
Singles began with Gerger, who took over for Leung at the no. 1 position to win a seesaw match 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. Gerger used her all-court style of play in the match and showed her resilience in the three-set win for Middlebury. In the second singles match, Kepping used craftiness and aggression to dominate her opponent 6-2, 6-1. At the no. 3 position, Marchese barely let her opponent in the match, winning 6-1, 6-0. Sarah Macy ’15 and Sadie Shackelford ’16 also claimed wins for Middlebury, defeating their opponents 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 and 8-2, respectively.
The match of the day, however, belonged to Katie Paradies, as she climbed back from a tremendous deficit to win 9-8 (4). Paradies trailed 7-3 at one point in the match and saved multiple match points before clawing her way back to victory.
“Everyone on the team is pretty fired up right now in terms of narrowing down our practices to the specifics and pushing each other to raise our games to the next level,” said Leung. “On top of our work ethic and talent, I think our determination, honesty, confidence and closeness will take us very, very far.”
The women travel to Boston this weekend, April 19 and 20, to take on M.I.T. and Tufts. They will then have only two more matches before the NESCAC championships begin May 3.
Middlebury’s final match of the regular season will take place on April 28 at home against Amherst (12-1, 5-0 in NESCAC).
The Panthers currently sit in second place in the NESCAC with a 5-1 conference record.
“At this moment, we are trying to take one match at a time and focus on the coming weekend against M.I.T. and Tufts,” said Leung.
(04/17/13 11:26pm)
The Middlebury baseball team walked away from a tough home series against Hamilton this weekend with two more NESCAC wins under its belt. Coupled with a mid-week victory against Norwich on Tuesday, April 16 the Panthers have made a strong rebound since enduring a five-game losing skid.
A bout of poor weather delayed the weekend series against the Continentals until Saturday, April 14, which kicked off with a low-scoring pitcher’s duel primarily between Logan Mobley ’15 for the hosts and sophomore Jonathan Lane for Hamilton. Though the Continentals were held to only two hits throughout the game, it would prove to be enough as Hamilton took the opener by a score of 2-1.
Middlebury jumped into the lead early in the bottom half of the first inning. Thomas Driscoll ’13 took advantage of an error made by third baseman Colin Henneberger to reach base and promptly stole second to get into scoring position before a single by Michael Morris ’13 moved him over to third. Tom Rafferty ’13 drove in the run with the sacrifice fly to center field, accounting for the team’s lone run of the game.
The game remained dormant for the next three innings, with Middlebury notching two hits compared to Hamilton’s lone single in the fourth. In the fifth, however, a hit-by-pitch to start off the inning came back to haunt Mobley as an error on a sacrifice bunt created a situation with two runners on with no outs, setting up another sacrifice to put both men in scoring position. Following an intentional walk to set up the force out at home, a fielder’s choice hit to shortstop Garrett Werner ’16 brought in the tying run.
The pace cooled again until the top of the seventh in which back-to-back no out walks gave Hamilton further momentum. A balk by relief pitcher Mark Dickerson ’15 moved the runners to second and third before an infield bunt single loaded the bases. Noah Bakker ’15 came in to control the inning but Hamilton hitter Gabe Klein got a free pass on balls, bringing in the game-winning run. The Panthers managed to get two runners on in the bottom half of the inning in response but failed to push them across.
Game two of the Saturday double-header saw similar dominant pitching, this time from Middlebury starter Eric Truss ’15. In eight-plus innings of work, he allowed six hits and fanned four without surrendering a lone walk. Unfortunately he was backed by an uncharacteristically sloppy performance from Middlebury’s normally consistent defense in which six errors turned two earned runs into four total and allowed Hamilton to hang around throughout the game. Behind three Middlebury errors in the second inning alone, Hamilton grabbed the lead early.
The Panthers responded in the third with two quick singles by Dylan Sinnickson ’15 and Driscoll, but Sinnickson was caught stealing at third and Morris flied out to center as the team conceded two outs just as quickly. Hunter Merryman ’15 knocked in Driscoll with a clutch single to tie the game and two straight walks by Hamilton starter Cole Dreyfuss brought in another run to give Middlebury the lead. He would walk six total along with nine hits on the day in four-and-a-third innings.
Though the Panthers found a way to get runners on base in all but one inning, they struggled to push runs across the plate, ultimately stranding 15 base runners in the game. The low run support for Truss gave little cushion as the ninth inning rolled around and Hamilton took advantage of his fatigue. Andy Dittrich ’13 entered the game in relief with no outs and one runner on. An errant pick-off attempt and a sacrifice bunt brought in another run to tie the game, but Middlebury won the game in the bottom half with a walk-off wild pitch following two hit-by-pitches and a walk.
Sunday saw a 12-inning marathon in which both teams combined to throw 10 pitchers on the mound who gave up a cumulative 31 hits in a whopping 99 total at-bats. After Hamilton struck first with a run to open the game, the Continentals and the Panthers traded big innings early: Middlebury scored two runs on three hits in the second, while Hamilton responded by knocking in three runs on four hits in the third. The Panthers then reciprocated in the fifth to bring the score to five-all.
After tacking on another run apiece, an eighth-inning RBI double from Alex Kelly ’14 put the Panthers ahead going into the final frame of regulation. An infield single by Hamilton’s Henneberger followed by a throwing error from catcher Andrew Lind ’13 allowed for Stephen LaRochelle to tie the game at 7-7 with an RBI single. The Panthers flirted with victory in the bottom of the ninth and again in the 11th inning after two men reached base, but it wasn’t until the 12th that a hit by Merryman and a couple of Hamilton errors brought home the game winning run three hours after the game’s start.
“I was a little disappointed that we lost the first game, but we rebounded well to finish the weekend,” said Merryman. “We feel like we’ve got some momentum now which we can hopefully carry over to the rest of our season.”
The Panthers pitching again proved effective on Tuesday, April 16 against Norwich as Dylan Kane ’14 and Edmund Murphy ’15 combined to blank the Cadets, giving up just three hits in a 6-0 shut out.
The third inning saw an offensive surge for Middlebury, as the team tallied three runs on five hits and one error. Norwich responded with an infield single to start off the fourth, but Kane shut down the Cadets offense and did not allow another hit.
The Panthers extended their lead in the fifth when Morris drove in Kelly with a single to right center field. For added insurance they tacked on two more in the eighth on a wild pitch and a fielder’s choice RBI by Driscoll.
Though pitching dominated the game, Middlebury bats have been heating up back to early form as Kelly, Merryman, Morris and Sinnickson each had a multiple hits. The Panthers look to be in good form heading into the second half of their season.
The Panthers look to build on their momentum this weekend, April 19 and 20, at home against Wesleyan where a series win could propel the Panthers to third place with hopes of a playoff run.
“The [two wins over Hamilton] put us back on track just in time for a crucial series with Wesleyan,” Sinnickson said. “Hopefully we can keep the momentum and beat Wesleyan this weekend, while keeping our playoff hopes alive.”
(04/17/13 11:17pm)
The Middlebury softball team extended its winning streak to 11 games unbeaten with a strong run of games against Skidmore on Wednesday, April 10 and a three-game sweep over Hamilton on Saturday and Sunday, April 14 and 15.
The Panthers dominated Skidmore in a double-header sweep, winning the opener 9-0 in six innings and took the night-cap 8-0 in five innings. Middlebury scored the opening runs of the game with a bases-loaded walk by Christina Bicks ’15 and an RBI single to center by Sarah Boylan ’13. Jessica Poracky ’13 hit her first home run of the game in the third inning to make it a 3-0 game.
Middlebury pulled away from Skidmore in the fifth inning, knocking in four runs on four hits. After a walk by Poracky and singles by Jessa Hoffman ’13 and Carlyn Vachow ’16, Emily Kraytenberg ’14 brought them in with a two-run triple down the right field line. Alex Scibetta ’14 then singled in Kraytenberg.
Poracky ended the contest as her second homer of the game plated two runs. Alexa Lesenskyj ’14 scattered four hits over six innings of work to pick up the win. Poracky finished 2-2 with three RBIs and three runs scored while Hoffman went 2-4 with three runs scored.
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Panthers picked up where they finished the first game by scoring two early runs. Middlebury then racked up three more in the third inning to take a 5-0 lead. Kimber Sable ’14 scored on a one-out double by Hoffman, before a single from Poracky advanced Hoffman to third.
With runners on the corners, the Panthers successfully executed a double-steal of home. While Poracky was thrown out at second base, Hoffman scored from third giving Middlebury a 4-0 lead. Vachow then belted a triple to left-center and made her way home on an RBI from Boylan.
In the fourth, Bicks laid down a sacrifice bunt with Panthers on second and third to add another run to the scoreboard. Hoffman followed with a stand-up triple to left-center to bring yet another Panther home for a 7-0 advantage.
Middlebury ended the game in the fifth inning after Boylan brought in Vachow after she led off the inning with a triple to left-center.
Hoffman went 3-3 in game two, recording a single, double and her school-record 23rd triple, adding two RBIs and two runs scored. Vachow, meanwhile, finished 2-3 with a triple and two runs scored.
Elizabeth Morris ’14 recorded the win, allowing a lone double and struck out three in three innings. Neve Stearns ’16 provided effective relief, pitching the final two scoreless innings, walking one and striking out another.
“Against Skidmore we had some great pitching in both games, and people really stepped up at bat,” said coach Kelly Bvere. “We had 11 hits in both games, so we did a nice job of being consistent.”
Due to weather conditions, the Panthers’ weekend series against Hamilton was moved from New York to Middlebury’s fields. On Saturday April 14, the Panthers cleaned up against the Continentals, claiming the first day with a 4-2 and 10-1 win before finishing the series sweep with a 10-8 win on Sunday, Apil. 15.
In the opening game of the series, Poracky gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead in the first when she singled in Jackie Stern ’16 who had tripled. Hamilton tied the game in the bottom of inning as Olivia Gozdz scored on a field error. Sable and Stern led off the third with back-to-back singles, before Hoffman hit a two-run triple to secure a two-run lead. Hoffman then scored on a groundout to second by Vachow. While Hamilton cut the lead to two with a run in the fourth, Middlebury managed to hang on for the 4-2 win.
Stern finished the game with two runs scored, while Hoffman drove in a pair. Morris struck out six and allowed just one earned run en route to her seventh win of the season.
The Panthers started off the second game slowly, scoring one run in the third on a Poracky RBI single. However, Middlebury ran away from Hamilton in the fifth inning scoring four runs. Poracky initiated the offense, driving in both Stern and Hoffman on a double. Vachow followed with another double to score Hoffman. Kraytenberg finally brought Vachow home with an RBI single.
In the top of the sixth, the Panthers drove in five more runs on six hits to take a 10-0 lead. After singles from Sable and Stern, Hoffman added another single to plate Sable. Poracky then drove in both Stern and Hoffman with another single. Bicks pinch ran for Poracky followed by a one-out walk to Boylan. Another single from Scibetta then scored Bicks. With the bases loaded, a single from Sable pushed Boylan home. Hamilton finished the game with one run on the board in the home half of the sixth inning.
Poracky had three hits including a double with five RBI. Sable finished with three singles, an RBI and two runs. Lesenskyj earned the win evening her record at 4-4, scattering seven hits and striking out one.
Hamilton looked to bounce back the second day, opening up a 3-2 lead after four innings, before Middlebury scored four runs in the top of fifth through an RBI from Hoffman, a double from Poracky and a single from Boylan.
The Continentals benefited from fielding errors in the bottom of the sixth, as they scored two runs without garnering a hit. However, Middlebury added an insurance run in the top of seventh with a home run from Vachow.
Trailing 7-5 in the bottom of the seventh, Hamilton came back to score two runs to tie the game.
In extra innings, Middlebury led off with singles from Sable and Stern. Hoffman was plunked to load the bases for Poracky who skied a high fly to center field, advancing all runners and scoring Sable. A single from Vachow scored both Stern and Hoffman, giving the Panthers 10-7 lead.
In the bottom of the frame an errant throw to first allowed a final Hamilton run to be scored, but the Continentals were unable to extend the game further.
Vachow went 2-4 with a homer and three RBI, while Poracky went 2-4 with a double and three RBI. Stearns went the first three-and-two-thirds innings allowing three earned runs, before being relieved by Morris who went the final four-and-a-third innings allowing five runs.
Despite extending their unbeaten streak to 11 games, the Panthers are still looking to improve on various aspects of their game.
“We are hoping to improve on getting ahead early in games and staying ahead by scoring in every inning and staying aggressive at the plate,” co-captain Emma Katz ’13 said. “We also want to continue our success by staying relaxed and coming through on the defensive end as well.”
(04/17/13 11:14pm)
This past weekend April 13 and 14, the men’s lacrosse team faced off against Trinity College on Youngman Field at Alumni Stadium. The Panthers came away with a win against the Bantams, advancing to a 6-2 NESCAC record. Then, the team traveled to Skidmore to down the Thoroughbreads 12-5 on Tuesday, April 16, in a non-conference tilt to push its overall record to 10-2. The 12th-ranked Panthers will play two more regular season games and two more NESCAC games before the NESCAC quarterfinals begin on April 27.
“One of the team mottos that we’ve had over the years is ‘Do what we do,’” said senior tri-captain Stew Kerr ’13.
“Every time we step out on a field we try to play our game, no matter who the opponent is. That being said, we were definitely motivated to beat Trinity after losing a close game to them last year. I think that mentality was in our heads the entire game, and it pushed us to keep our focus even when Trinity made a comeback.”
After a back and forth start to the game, Middlebury shot ahead of Trinity at the 9:08 mark, with five straight goals. Mike Giordano ’13 started off the streak for the Panthers with and then continued shortly after to assist Kerr at 7:44. Giordano scored once again 22 seconds later, and was followed by goals from underclassmen Joel Blockowicz ’15 and Jon Broome ’16.
The Panthers held a very comfortable 8-1 lead over the Bantams in the second quarter. Broome tallied two goals followed by fellow first-year Steve Brown ’16 with one. Trailing by seven goals,
Trinity came back hard and brought the score back to 8-6, after a series of five quick goals.
The third quarter was more of a back-and-forth game, as both teams traded goals, maintaining a two-to-three-point score differential. The score stood at 10-8 when Giordano executed a tremendous wrap-around shot from behind the net with his left hand to score his third goal of the game with 0.4 seconds remaining, giving is team an 11-8 lead to end the quarter.
The Panthers started the fourth quarter off strong as tri-captain Billy Chapman ’16 grabbed the ball after the faceoff and scored unassisted. After trading goals back and forth, the score remained 14-10 with just over seven minutes left in the game.
Trinity was not going to give up and scored twice more before the game ended, bringing the score to a tight 14-12 finish. Middlebury’s defense stayed strong and the offense played smart as they let the time run out to ensure the two-point lead. With this close win over Trinity, the Panthers advance to 9-2, a record already far and away better than last year.
Broome tallied four goals, Giordano three, Kerr and Blockowicz two, Darric White ’14 one, Steve Brown ’16 one and Chapman one. Giordano, George Curtis ’14, Erich Pfeffer ’13 and Scott Redmond ’13 made assists for the Panthers in the close win.
Middlebury outshot the competition by 21 goals, picked up 26 more ground balls and won 21 out of the 28 face-offs.
“At this point in the season it’s easy to look ahead at NESCAC playoffs or NCAAs, but we’re really focusing on taking each game one at a time,” said Kerr. “All three left are big games, and we need to make sure that we are extremely focused in our preparation. We’d like to keep getting better every day and make sure that we’re playing our best lacrosse during these last few games.”
In its midweek tilt against out of conference opponent Skidmore, the Panthers used a dominant first half run to cement an 8-2 lead at the end of the first frame.
Despite allowing the game’s first goal just under three minutes into the contest, Middlebury came back with a 4-0 streak to lead 4-1 at the end of the first quarter. This included tallies from Kerr and Broome, with Andrew Metros ’13 netting two.
Broome went on to record three goals and an assist in the contest, stretching his team lead in goals to 33.
In the second quarter, Cal Williams ’15, Harrison Goodkind ’15, Broome and Pfeffer anchored another 4-1 Middlebury run.
The third quarter started in Skidmore’s favor, with two Thoroughbread goals bringing the home side to 8-4.
That’s the closest the host’s would get to the Panthers, however, as another four straight goals from Blockowicz, Kerr, Giordano and Broome would see the visitors to a 12-4 lead.
The Panthers will play Colby on Saturday, April 20 at home in their second to last NESCAC game before the playoffs.
The team, now with a record of 10-2, has already far surpassed last year’s 4-9 mark. The Panthers also sit at second in the NESCAC and have almost surely secured a spot for the upcoming NESCAC tournament — a clear improvement over last year’s absence.
(04/17/13 4:18pm)
The Student Government Association (SGA) held meetings on Sunday, April 7 and Sunday, April 14.
Election Season
SGA President Charlie Arnowitz ’13 announced that elections for next year’s open SGA positions will be held on Wednesday, May 1. A meeting for prospective candidates was held on Tuesday, April 16. A separate meeting at a time to be determined will be held for Ross Commons students who will be in room draw during the original meeting.
Appointments and Approvals
New Student Liaison to the SGA on Endowment Affairs Josh Rombach ’14 was approved unanimously by the SGA. Additionally, the SGA approved the Executive Accounts Restructure Act unanimously.
Finance Committee Concerns
Evan Allis ’15.5 addressed concerns that were raised against him to the Finance Committee regarding financial oversight.
“In advocating for continued oversight of Finance Committee spending, I referenced student body support for divestment efforts, hoping to illustrate a larger point about the community’s concern for the way in which money gets spent at Middlebury,” said Allis.
Allis clarified that his intention was not to prevent students from serving on the committee based on their personal opinions about divestment.
“Furthermore, as I understand it, the bill coming before the Senate next week has been amended to accommodate the very concerns I raised, including providing advance notice for which groups will be seeking funding on a given week, and regular reports concerning the Finance Committee’s approach to approving or denying these requests. If you ask me, this whole thing blew up over a misunderstanding.”
A bill relating to this subject will be presented to the SGA at the meeting on Sunday, April 21.
Constitution Committee
Dan Tenner ’13, the SGA Constitution Committee Chair, came to the meeting on the April 14 to discuss manners relating to constitutional review. He informed the SGA that steps were being taken to improve this process and make it more than a process of simply copying and pasting new information into constitutions.
A new bylaw to the constitution was approved by the SGA. The language of the bylaw was not significantly different, but the big change is that organizations cannot be formed during winter term, and that all groups must have leadership or they will be classified as inactive.
We the Middkids
Without a great deal of business on the table, the SGA was able to discuss student concerns that have been voiced on the new online forum “We the Middkids.” Arnowitz was pleased by the discussion.
“The “We the Middkids” initiative is going well and we’re very happy about the high rates of participation and the diversity of petitions on it,“ he said.
Issues related to new printers, party registration and lounge spaces were all discussed, but no action has been taken yet.
Party Registration
Associate Dean of Students for Residential and Student Life Doug Adams spoke to the SGA about the College’s party policy. He spoke briefly about the College’s party regulations, answering senators’ questions as to how the party scene at the College has changed over the past ten years.
Adams cited a significant reduction in larger registered parties hosted in campus social houses and lounges along with a corresponding increase in the more problematic unregistered events. Adams asked for SGA senators to volunteer to serve on a committee to review current policies and make recommendations for changes. Four Senators signed on.
Ross Commons Lounge Space
Firas Nasr ’15 voiced his support relating to a petition to turn the current language table space in Ross dining hall into a lounge space.
“Due to a crunch in housing space on campus, new students are now being housed in the lounge spaces on every floor in Hadley and Miliken in Ross Commons,” said Nasr. “Unfortunately, this takes away from our ability to connect with each other and build community. We would like to bring back the Fireplace Lounge to remedy this situation.”
No decision was made on the fate of the lounge space.
(04/10/13 9:57pm)
The Middlebury women’s lacrosse team has continued to dominate every opponent they match up against, holding a record of 10-0 after two NESCAC victories over Amherst and Tufts this past weekend, April 6 and 7.
Middlebury has had a packed schedule over the last two weeks with wins in four spring break games against Wesleyan, Gettysburg, Stevens Institute and Bowdoin. The Gettysburg and Bowdoin wins were particularly key for the Panthers, as both opponents entered ranked in the national top 10.
Despite their grueling schedule over break, the Panthers returned to beat Hamilton before defeating Amherst by a score of 13-4 and Tufts by a score of 15-8.
Middlebury was led against Amherst by Katie Ritter ’15, who netted three goals on the day. Michaela Colbert ’13, Ellen Halle ’13 and Laurel Pascal ’16 each added two goals in the win.
Middlebury’s offense got out to a quick start early, jumping to a 5-0 lead. From that point, however, it was the Panther defense which stepped up to assure the victory. Hannah Deoul ‘14, Heather Marrison ’13, Chrissy Ritter ’16 and Neile Weeks ’13 each contributed to the defense’s stellar performance, while goalie Alyssa Palomba ‘14 recorded three saves.
“One thing we have been working on has been our re-defend which we executed well especially on Saturday, one time ending up in a beautiful goal from Emma Kramer [’13] and Ellen Halle,” said Margaret Souther ’13.
Middlebury tied Amherst for the day on ground balls, but were able to outshoot their opponent 31-12. Middlebury was able to dominate draws throughout the game, winning 14 of 18. The Panthers also completed 70 percent of their clears, making it easy for them to gain possession of the ball on Amherst’s half of the field and allowing them to work their offense.
After dominating Amherst, Middlebury quickly reloaded and triumphed over Tufts the following day by a score of 15-8. The Panthers jumped out to an 8-5 halftime lead, but quickly separated themselves from the Jumbos by scoring the first seven goals of the second half.
Kramer finished with four goals against Tufts, while Halle and Pascal each finished with three goals and an assist. Palomba recorded five saves in 50 minutes of play, before being relieved by Katie Mandigo ’16, who recorded a save in the game’s final 10 minutes.
The Panthers dominated Tufts in the faceoff circle, grabbing 18 of 24 draws in the game to keep their momentum going in the second half. Middlebury was near perfect in clearing against Tufts, successfully clearing 15 of 16 attempts.
“Both Amherst and Tufts are always great opponents, but we showed how much depth we have with our multiple scorers and assisters,” said Souther. “Liza Herzog [’14] was incredible on the draw for both games while Heather Marrison and Hannah Deoul made some key defensive blocks to keep the score low.”
Herzog was named NESCAC Player of the Week for her performance in both games during the weekend.
The Panthers have a brief respite this week, playing their next scheduled game on the road at Trinity on Saturday, April 13. The Bantams are currently ranked second in the national poll.
“Our team is very confident. We will have some things to work on in practice this week but should be 100 percent ready to win on Saturday,” said Souther.
(04/10/13 9:54pm)
Since students departed for spring break on March 22, the men’s lacrosse team has played six games, recording four wins and two losses. The Panthers’ record currently stands at 8-2 overall, with a 5-2 mark in NESCAC play.
Recently, the Panthers faced off on the road against Tufts and Amherst, recording a 10-8 win and a 14-13 loss on April 6 and 7, respectively.
Mike Ford ’15 commented on the team’s mentality before the games.
“The team was definitely feeling good going into the weekend, but we still knew that we hadn’t played our best lacrosse yet so we were excited to go out and compete against two great teams,” he said.
Over the break, the team earned wins over Wesleyan, Hamilton and New England College, while falling in a one-goal game to Bowdoin. Since then, the team played conference road games against Amherst and Tufts on Saturday and Sunday, April 6 and 7.
“We were looking to rebound from our first loss on the season, and in the NESCAC, against two great teams in Amherst and Tufts,” said tri-captain Billy Chapman ’13. “This was our biggest weekend of the season thus far and we were excited at the opportunity we had in front of us.”
Ford also spoke of the loss to the Polar Bears as a reality check for the squad.
“I think the loss to Bowdoin was a good thing for us as a team,” said Ford. “It showed us how competitive the NESCAC is and that any team can win on any given day. We all learned a lot from that game and it definitely made us better and will for sure help us down the road.”
On this past Saturday against Amherst, the squad scored three goals in 68 seconds as part of a 4-0 second-quarter run to take an 8-3 halftime lead. The run featured Jon Broome ’16, Christian Johansen ’16 and Joel Blockowicz ’15 all scoring in just over a minute to run the Panther lead to 8-3 at the half.
In the second half, the Lord Jeffs mounted a late comeback, but ultimately fell short, and Middlebury went on to win by a final tally of 10-8.
Broome tallied a game high three goals, while George Curtis ’14, Blockowicz, tri-captain Stew Kerr ’13, Mike Giordano ’13, Scott Redmond ’13, Spencer Macquarrie ’14 and Tim Giarrusso ’16 each added one to the winning effort.
The Panthers outshot the Jeffs 49-44 in the game, while Amherst held advantages in faceoffs and ground balls.
“It always feels good to win a NESCAC game, but the Amherst win felt especially good,” said Chapman.
The next day the Panthers traveled to Boston to challenge conference foe Tufts. The Jumbos took control for the majority of the game and came out with a one-point lead to end the game with a score of 14-13.
The Panthers started the game off with a 4-1 lead before Tufts turned the momentum to tie the score at the beginning of the second period. Early in the fourth period, the Jumbos took control of the game, running their lead to six at 14-8.
In the final nine minutes of the game, Redmond started a run of goals that led to four more Panther goals. Even with the final run, however, Middlebury fell just short and the final buzzer blew with Tufts holding a 14-13 lead.
Middlebury once again outshot their components, this time 47-41. The Jumbos held advantages in faceoffs and ground balls.
“Our plan for our last four games is to get better each game and play a complete game for all 60 minutes and our goal going into NESCACs is to be clicking on all cylinders and playing our best lacrosse,” said Chapman.
Middlebury returns to action when they play host to Trinity this Saturday, April 13. The Panthers then travel to Skidmore for a non-conference game against Skidmore on Tuesday, April 16.
“Coming off a disappointing season last year the mentality of the team this year was to play with a chip on our shoulder,” said Ford. “We had something to prove this year and that was to carry on the tradition of Middlebury lacrosse. The next four games are all equally important, as every team we play has a great program, and we need to come out and play our best to get some momentum heading into NESCACs.”
While the Panthers certainly have much left to prove, the team has already recorded twice as many wins as last year’s squad, which finished 4-9.
With just four contests remaining before the start of the NESCAC playoffs, the Panthers are inching towards a trip back to the conference tournament after not making the tournament last year.
They will face their next NESCAC opponent Saturday, April 13, at home against Trinity, and then will only face two more NESCAC opponents before playoffs begin.
(04/10/13 9:51pm)
After a strong start to the season during spring break where the Middlebury softball team posted a record of 5-5 on its Florida trip, the Panthers went on to collect two wins against Castleton and Union during the week of April 2. This puts the team in a strong position to play Hamilton this coming weekend, April 12 and 13.
Head coach Kelly Bevere outlined some of the team’s expectations heading into the regular season.
“Going into Florida, we were working off some injuries, so we were looking to get players back into action,” said Bevere.
The team opened up its season with a 12-3 win over Western Connecticut in Clermont, Florida. Pitcher Kat Maehr ’16 earned the win in her collegiate debut, allowing three runs over four innings. Sarah Boylan ’13 went 2-3 with two doubles, three runs scored and three RBIs, while Emma Katz ’13 was 2-2 with a double and four RBIs.
Middlebury fell 6-5 to Tufts in the second game of break and first game against a NESCAC opponent after a hard-fought battle. With the game tied at 4-4, the Jumbos scored solo runs in the fifth and seventh innings before holding off a Panther charge in the bottom of the seventh inning. Jessa Hoffman ’13 went 3-4 with a double and two RBIs in the game, while Kimber Sable ’14 was 2-3 with a double and two runs scored.
While Middlebury fell 12-5 to Oberlin on day two of spring break, the Panthers bounced back beating Grove City 11-2. Middlebury held a 9-0 early lead in the five-inning contest as Elizabeth Morris ’14 allowed one run in four innings and Jessica Poracky ’13 went 2-2 with a double and two runs scored. Carlyn Vachow ’16 went 2-3 with a double, two runs scored and three RBIs.
Middlebury continued its strong spring break with a 6-5 win over Colby and an 8-4 win over Eastern Connecticut. Against Colby, Vachow went 2-3 with a double while Hoffman was 2-4 with a triple. The Panthers built up a 5-0 lead over Eastern Connecticut as Sable went 3-3 in the game, while Hoffman was 2-3 with a triple and Morris picked up the complete game win as pitcher.
Middlebury was unable to build off these wins, falling to both Union and Luther. Against Union, the team gave up four runs in the seventh and then one in the eighth as they dropped an extra-inning affair. The Panthers gave up seven runs in the third inning against Luther as Hoffman went 2-2 in the game with a double while Poracky also doubled.
The Panthers then managed an 11-3 win over Elmhurst in which Morris earned the win with five innings of work. Jackie Stern ’16 finished the game 3-5 with two runs scored and three RBIs. The team was unable to end their visit to Florida with a win, dropping their final game of the trip 9-0 to Wisconsin-Whitewater in six innings. Poracky finished 2-3 in the game, while four other Middlebury players singled.
Middlebury capped the spring break trip with a 2-1 series win over Amherst. The Panthers faltered with an opening loss, despite rallying in the bottom of the seventh trailing 4-0 to score three runs. Hoffman went 4-4 with two doubles and two RBIs, while Boylan claimed a double.
The Panthers bounced back on the second day of their three-game affair against the Jeffs. Middlebury scored 21 runs on 23 hits to claim two victories, taking the first game 10-4 before earning an 11-3 win in game two. Hoffman finished the three-game series going 8-10 with three doubles, five runs scored and five RBIs. This performance put her batting average at .545 on the season to earn NESCAC Player of the Week Honors.
Middlebury continued non-conference play after spring break spring starting with a doubleheader win against Castleton on Tuesday, April 2, earning a 10-2 win in five innings for a game one victory and a 7-0 win in the nightcap.
The Panthers scored in each of the five innings of their first game, starting with an RBI single in the top of the first by Poracky that drove in Sable. They then added an unearned run in the top of second and three more tallies in the top of the third. Vachow knocked a run with a single in the top of the fourth and came around to score on error before Hoffman ripped a two-run single to center, and was then driven in by Vachow on sacrifice fly to extend their lead to 10-0.
The Spartans notched their only runs in the bottom of the fifth to break-up the shutout in which Maehr held them to just five hits, allowing two unearned runs and striking out six. Hoffman finished the game 3-4 with two runs scored and three RBIs, while Vachow went 2-3 with three RBIs.
In game two, the Panthers started with a two-run home run by Boylan in the top of the second inning, adding to their lead in the fifth after a double from Vachow. In the next inning Poracky popped an RBI double to center and was driven in by Alex Scibetta ’15 on a sacrifice fly to gain a 6-0 lead. Poracky finished the scoring earning another RBI on a single to left-center in the top of the seventh.
The Spartans were held to just three hits by Alexa Lesenskyj ’14 and Neve Stearns ’16, who combined to pitch a shutout. Poracky finished 2-3 with two runs scored and two driven in.
Middlebury finished off the week strong with a two-game sweep at Union on Thursday, April 4, ending the first game 7-1 before only needing six innings to pick up a 10-2 victory in the second game.
The Panthers jumped out to an early lead through a long ball from Hoffman, before she struck again in the top of the third with a single good enough to double the lead. A solo shot from Sable gave the Panthers a 3-1 edge before Stern followed up with a home run. Poracky extended the lead with a RBI single to score in Stern, before Middlebury added yet another run as Vachow lined the ball down left field to bring Stern home. Hoffman hit her second home run of the game to tie the school record on a two-run shot to finish off the scoring for Middlebury.
Morris shut down the Dutchwomen offense, limiting Union to just four hits in the game and one run.
The Panthers followed up their first win with another strong showing, responding in the first inning with an RBI single from Stern. Hoffman continued the surge with a double to the gap to level the score. Middlebury was able to add on three more runs with RBI singles by Emily Kraytenberg ’14 and Alex Scibetta ’14. Vachow was able to get Hoffman home as she reached on a double before Sable added on her RBI tally in the top of the fifth as she doubled to score in two more runs. Middlebury added a final run to make it 10-2 as Sable reach on an error.
While Bevere is happy with the start her team has made, she knows there is much to be improved upon.
“One thing we’re looking at is communication, [between] outfield and infield and vice versa, staying sharp defensively and being more efficient offensively,” she said.
The Panthers return to action against Skidmore on Wednesday, April 10 before traveling to NESCAC rivals Hamilton on Friday, April 12.
(04/10/13 9:48pm)
The Middlebury men’s and women’s track and field teams competed in two meets in California over spring recess, March 23 and 30, and in a three-team meet at Springfield College on Saturday, April 6, with the teams competing well in all three meets.
The Panthers opened up the season at Point Loma Nazarene University on March 23 in the Ross and Sharon Irwin Invitational. After practicing outside only sporadically during the preceding weeks, the Panthers were excited to get outside in California.
“They’re two different sports, indoor track and outdoor track,” said coach Martin Beatty. “So we jumped into our first meet almost cold. And I was really happy with the performances that we had.”
Kevin Chu ’14 won the 100-meter hurdles and placed third in the 400-meter hurdles. Panther men Bryan Holtzman ’14 and Diego Galan Donlo ’14 also captured victories in the 100 meters and high jump, respectively. Additionally, the 4x800-meter relay team, comprised of Jack Davies ’13, Patrick Hebble ’13, Sam Craft ’14 and Wilder Schaaf ’14 paced the field with a time of 7:50.44.
The women’s 4x800-meter team of Juliet Ryan-Davis ’13, Addie Tousley ’13, Alison Maxwell ’15 and Sarah Guth ’15 also finished first. Ryan-Davis also won the 400 meters while Tousley won the 1,500 and Dana Tripp ’14 out tossed the rest of the field with a hammer throw of 128’8”.
There were more impressive finishes on both the men’s and women’s sides. Davies placed second in the 1,500 meters. First-years Mark Perry ’16 and Aaron de Toledo ’16 finished 2-3 in the 5,000 meters. The 4x100-meter relay team of Holtzman, Chu, Fritz Parker ’15 and Sam Rives ’15 also finished second. Also finishing 2-3 were Jason McCallum ’14 and Conor Simons ’16 in the pole vault. Peter Hetzler ’14 placed second in the 400 meters. For the women, Maxwell finished third in the 1,500 meters. Also finishing third were Grace Doering ’13 in the high jump and Carly Andersen ’16 in the javelin.
Middlebury competed at the same venue on March 30 and again experienced a great deal of success.
“We’re working pretty hard during the week,” said Beatty, “so the second meet, the people who are well prepared from the whole year, who are in great shape, they’re going to respond well from the hard work and do well.”
Craft defeated the field of 68 in the 800 meters, while Hebble won the 1,500 meters, Louis Cornacchione ’13 won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 56.55. In the women’s 800 meters, Ryan-Davis, Tousley and O’Brien finished 1-3. In the 5,000 meters, Katie Carlson, Guth and Caroline Guiot pulled off the same feat. Emily Dodge ’13 won the 100-meter hurdles. Andersen bested the field with a javelin throw of 130’. Tripp finished second in the women’s hammer throw, while Chu placed second in the men’s 110-meter hurdles and Deklan Robinson ’16 finished second in the high jump.
Additionally, Davies won the 3,000 steeplechase, earning himself NESCAC Performer of the Week accolades
“He’s a stud,” said Beatty. “He’s expected to do really well. We’re hoping he’ll end up being a national champion; he has that type of capability.”
When asked if any newcomers had impressed during the week in California, Beatty singled out thrower Carly Andersen. Andersen finished second in the javelin throw at the first meet and won the second meet. She also competed in the discus and hammer throws.
“She cranked out a great throw of 130 feet in the second meet. And there’s more there, she has a couple of technique things that she needs to work on. She can go even further and hopefully go to NCAAs.”
“I was throwing okay in practices,” said Andersen, “The first throw of the second meet was a PR by about two feet, and I hadn’t thrown that far since junior year of high school.”
Andersen has received coaching and guidance from older throwers and assistant coach Luke Hotte.
“There are a lot of little tips that people have about how to prepare for a meet,” said Andersen, “Just how to practice and how to be deliberate so you get the best results. NCAA nationals is the top 22 women and I think I’m 16th or something now so hopefully I keep it up and get to go.”
Beatty commented on the team’s trip to California and its value to the team.
“It’s a great bonding trip,” he said.
On Saturday, April 6, Middlebury competed against Springfield and Bowdoin in a meet hosted by Springfield. Both the men’s and women’s teams won the three-team meet.
Alexandra Morris ’16 won the 400 meters. Andersen again was victorious in the javelin throw. The women dominated the 1,500 meters, with Ryan-Davis, Maxwell, O’Brien and Guth finishing 1-4.
For the men, Holtzman won the 100 meters and Hetzler the 400 meters. Schaaf took home the victory in the 1,500 meters. Stu Fram ’13, Taylor Shortsleeve ’15 and James Lynch ’16 swept the podium in the 110-meter hurdles. Chu and Jake Wood ’15 went 1-2 in the 400-meter hurdles. Anthony Lee ’13 won the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:23.29. The Middlebury men’s teams won both the 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays. Kyle Harrold ’13 also won the pole vault and Dan Bent ’13 won the triple jump for the Panthers.
(04/10/13 9:45pm)
The Middlebury men’s tennis team is the ninth-ranked team in the country after starting 13-1 on the season thus far. This past weekend, April 6 and 7, the Panthers scored a pair of victories over Wesleyan and Trinity. In addition, the team concluded its week-long spring recess trip to Southern California by winning eight of the 10 contests, losing only to top-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) and to Ventura College in an unrecorded match.
On Saturday, despite a 7-2 verdict, the men saw unanticipated resistance from Wesleyan. The Cardinals managed to pull out victories in the no. 1 and no. 2 doubles matches. However, they were no match to the Panthers in singles, as Middlebury snatched wins on all six courts in singles, including a three-set conquest by junior Brantner Jones ’14 at the second singles match.
After some reshuffling in the doubles lineup, the team had a decisive 8-1 sweep over 28th-ranked Trinity on Sunday. The doubles duos of Alex Johnston ’14 and Andrew Lebovitz ’14 and James Burke ’14 and Jones handled their opponents with relative ease in the first and second doubles matches, respectively. Senior tri-captain Will Oberrender ’13 and Chris Frost ’15, meanwhile rallied to a tight 9-7 victory in the third doubles slot.
The team then won five of its six singles matches. First-year Ari Smolyar ’16 proved his ability and competitiveness, dropping just two games in the fourth singles match. Classmate Allen Jackson ’16 went through a see-saw battle before falling 4-6, 4-6 at the no. 5 spot. Relying on his lengthy strokes, fellow first-year Jackson Frons ’16 seized a victory in a 10-point super-tiebreaker after splitting the first two sets.
The Panthers’ run in California was highlighted by their four clashes against top-25 teams, including 10th-ranked UC Santa Cruz, 12th-ranked Redlands, number 24 Pomona-Pitzer, and CMS, which tops the national polls.
The team’s encounter with UC Santa Cruz on March 24 was an emotional one for head coach Bob Hansen, who was the head coach of the Banana Slugs tennis program for 30 years before making his way to Middlebury two years ago.
In contrast to the final score of 8-1, each of the matches came down to the wire. After taking two of the tree doubles matches, juniors Zach Bruchmiller ’14 and Jones both recorded quick two-set victories. Yet the Panthers faced much resilience from the spirited Banana Slugs as all four remaining singles matches went into third sets. Eventually, the combined determination and fight of Johnston, first-year Palmer Campbell ’16, tri-captain Spencer Lunghino ’13 and Teddy Fitzgibbons ’14 propelled the team to victory.
Two days later, the squad faced Redlands in a tricky environment on the Bulldogs’ home turf. In doubles play, Fitzgibbons and Lebovitz were the only Middlebury pair to come out on top, with an 8-4 win. And despite Jones’s dominant performance in the no. 2 singles match, both Johnston and Lunghino succumbed to two gusty opponents.
At this point, the Middlebury men knew they would need to take the three remaining singles matches in order to win. With his consistent groundstrokes and exceptional willpower, Fitzgibbons counterpunched to a 6-4, 6-3 victory, leaving the job of completing the comeback with Campbell and Bruchmiller. Both Panthers exhibited remarkable mental toughness as they rode the momentum of one another’s matches and pulled off the tremendous comeback. Soon after Campbell’s 6-4 win in the third set, Bruchmiller gave Middlebury the fifth point in a thrilling 7-4 tiebreaker in the deciding set. The squad had its first 5-4 triumph of the season.
The Panthers then faced the Sagehens of Pomona, a traditional West Coast tennis powerhouse. At Pomona’s Pauley Tennis Complex, doubles contests were close throughout. The big-serving pair of Johnston and Lunghino as well as the combination of Fitzgibbons and Lebovitz were winners in a pair of tiebreakers as Middlebury swept the three matches.
There were a lot of tight sets in singles play, as well. Campbell pulled out a 6-4 7-6 (4) decision, while Jones went down against an in-form regionally ranked player. At the top spot, however, Johnston did not give his opponent any breathing space as he pounced on a 6-3 6-0 verdict, cementing the Panthers’ 8-1 victory.
In the final match of the trip, CMS backed up its number one ranking by taking all three doubles points and five of the six singles matches. The Middlebury men fought hard, but were unable to turn the table as they suffered a 8-1 loss, their first this season to a Division III foe. Campbell was the lone bright spot that night. After trading blows for more than an hour-and-a-half, he squeezed out a three-set victory. Johnston and Fitzgibbons, meanwhile, suffered heartbreaking losses. Johnston went down in the third-set super tiebreaker while Fitzgibbons was defeated by a two-point margin in the tiebreaker of the final set.
“We are happy with some of our good performances in California and are looking forward to the upcoming conference matches,” said Lunghino.
Due to the cancelation of a much-anticipated clash with NESCAC rivals, and sixth-ranked Bowdoin, the Panthers will return to action when they travel to Waterville, Maine to play Colby on Sunday, April 14.
(04/10/13 9:39pm)
The Middlebury women’s tennis team’s rise to the top seems even more clear after an 8-3 start to the season. After the team won three of its five matches during its trip to California over the spring recess, the Panthers split a pair of home matches against third-ranked Emory and NESCAC foe Wesleyan, April 5 and 6.
The spring break trip is usually a good indication as to where the team is at this part of the season, and they showed that they are a force to be reckoned with going forward. The five matches in California consisted of a match at Cal State Northridge, a Division I team, Claremont, Depauw, Williams and Pomona-Pitzer. The four Division III teams were ranked second, 11th, fifth, and 12th in the country, respectively. The ninth-ranked Middlebury women were able to come away with three wins, besting Depauw, Williams and Pomona-Pitzer while falling to Claremont and Cal State Northridge.
The victory over fifth-ranked Williams was particularly significant for Middlebury as the Ephs, in addition to being a conference rival, have won five consecutive national championships.
“The ladies all know that we have to beat teams like that sometimes three times in a season, so there is a lot of work still to do,” said head coach Mike Morgan. “But for that match, against that team, playing at a beautiful location in Southern California, it was a lot of fun.”
Held at the prestigious Riviera Tennis Club, the match started with Middlebury sweeping all three doubles points, including the first-year pair of Lauren Amos ’16 and Margot Marchese ’16 squeezing out an 8-6 win at the third position. Seniors Brittney Faber ’13 and Leah Kepping ’13 brought their experience into the match and rolled through their opposition 8-1. The singles matches were tighter, in which Middlebury took three of the total six singles matches. The singles wins came from Lok-Sze Leung ’15, Ria Gerger ’16 and Margot Marchese ’16. Gerger ran through her opponent on her way to a 6-4, 6-0 victory at the no. 2 position. Leung, meanwhile, gave Middlebury the necessary fifth point by a score of 6-3,7-5 over Kara Shoemaker who has defeated Leung — the second-ranked singles player in the country — in the past. Marchese, meanwhile, fought against the 42nd-ranked player in the country as she outlasted the experienced Nancy Worley of Williams 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. Marchese demonstrated her ability to excel under pressure with wins in both singles and doubles. The 5-4 outcome marked Middlebury’s first victory over Williams in six years.
“It’s always a great feeling to beat someone or a team that we’ve struggled with,” Gerger said. “I think that it shows our potential for this year, and the hard work we’ve put in. However, we aren’t satisfied yet. We want to beat them again in the NESCAC tournament and hopefully at the NCAA [championships].”
The Middlebury women then blanked Depauw 9-0 and downed Pomona-Pitzer by 7-2.
With Gerger out for the singles matches, however, the team dropped its first match of the season to a Division III team, falling to Claremont 7-2. While the Panthers only picked up two wins, they lost a number of close finishes. Leung lost 2-6, 7-6 (4), 10-7 to Kristin Lim, the third-ranked singles player nationally, while Marchese fell 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 and Sadie Shackelford ’16 dropped another three-setter 4-6, 6-2, 6-0. Shackelford competed well in her match given she was unaware she would be competing until shortly before it began.
A week later, the Panthers held matches against Emory and Wesleyan. They lost Emory by a score of 7-2, with wins coming at the no. 1 and 2 single positions. Leung avenged her loss in the ITA Finals to Gabbie Clark, the top-ranked player in the country, with a dominant 6-1, 6-3 victory. Gerger also won comfortably, defeating Emory’s Marissa Levine 6-3, 6-4. Kepping was unable to compete in the singles against Emory, so first-year Lauren Amos ’16 took over at the number six position and showed moments of brilliance, but eventually went down 6-4,6-1.
Head coach Mike Morgan had many highlights from the California trip and the weekend of matches they held at home, but he highlighted the importance of improving in doubles a key to moving forward.
“I think the team is playing incredibly well, for being tested so early in the season,” he said. “It is really nice right now to feel like we can get back to work on some of our projects as we get ready for the end of the season.”
The team will have an opportunity to demonstrate their improvements this coming weekend when they travel to Maine. The Panthers play at Bowdoin on Saturday, April 13 and at Colby on Sunday, April 14.
(04/10/13 4:44pm)
Four years ago, 35.5 percent of students reported cheating at least once. Ninety-seven percent of students who saw infractions did not report it. With few signs of improvement since 2009, it is clear that cheating, nonexistent peer proctoring and student apathy are still sickening the honor code, putting its long term health in danger.
The Honor Code Review Committee — two faculty members, two students and one member from Dean of the College’s office — is currently gauging the health of the code as they do every four years. The final report is due for release at the end of April.
Touted by tour guides to prospective students and signed by every incoming first-year, the academic honor code is designed to be the foundation behind the integrity of student work.
The most salient feature of the code is peer tutoring, in which both students who cheat and their peers who witness it are “morally obligated” to report the infractions, according to article three of the code.
But the strong data conducted during the last honor code review point to a fundamental problem undermining the code’s strength and effectiveness at the College: students are cheating, but neither faculty nor students themselves are willing to hold them to account. Numerous conversations with students, faculty and administrators have called into question whether the honor code can survive the status quo.
A STINGING REBUKE
This year’s review follows the committee’s contentious conclusions it arrived at the last time it was convened, four years ago. The headline recommendation was to remove language restricting faculty members from being present during exams, essentially killing the most visible feature of honor code.
Dean for Judicial Affairs Karen Guttentag described the privilege of taking un-proctored exams as a three-point agreement between faculty and students.
“The faculty agree not to proctor in exchange for students not cheating and proctoring each other,” said Guttentag, who served on the 2009 council and is heading this year’s review. “If one piece of that is missing, it doesn’t work.”
“We concluded [in 2009] that to a certain extent, neither of the student responsibilities were being help up. We could not in good faith continue this process.”
The recommendation was largely driven by a study conducted in the spring of 2008 by a student in the Economics of Sin, a 400-level class taught by Associate Professor of Economics Jessica Holmes.
Of the 484 students who responded, 35.5 percent admitted giving or receiving unauthorized aid on exams, papers, labs or homework some time during their four years at the College, according to data provided by Holmes.
Among the students who reported violating the honor code, 33 percent reported breaking it more than once a semester.
Student responses to questions on peer proctoring revealed that 63 percent of students witnessed violations more than once a semester. But only three percent of those who witnessed cheating actually reported the violation.
When asked why they did not report the violations, the most common responses were “not my problem/none of my business,” “do not want to be a rat or snitch,” and “so many students do it that it is unfair to single a few out or it would be hypocritical of me.”
“Of course I was dismayed but sadly, not surprised,” wrote Holmes — who served on the 2009 committee — via email. “I am in favor of having an honor code, but I don’t think the current honor code is effective (at least not for exams).”
Holmes expressed that if she served on this year’s committee, she would re-consider making “faculty presence” the default.
“Faculty can elect not to proctor exams if they so choose, but by changing the default, you remove the transaction cost associated with getting special permission to proctor,” she wrote. “This should increase proctoring which would better ensure the academic integrity of the exam environment.”
WHY NOBODY REPORTS CHEATING
Reporting honor code infractions can be a stressful process for both students and faculty. Students who report cheating must go in front of the Academic Judicial Board and face the person they have accused, which has become a challenging deterrent in a such a small community.
“There’s no carrot besides feeling good about your personal integrity, which is important, but hard to institutionalize,” said Bree Baccaglini ’15.5.
Professor of Mathematics Steve Abbott said he understands student trepidation with reporting their peers.
“It takes an emotional toll, there’s no way around that,” he said. “But if a student were to bring a case forward, their responsibility would only be to tell what they know. They don’t have to be a trial lawyer — it really is the system’s job.”
Abbott called the low peer reporting numbers “potentially scary,” and raised the possibility of changing the language in the code to make failing to report a peer cheating an actual violation in itself — similar to criminal complicity laws — instead of a moral infraction.
“If it became a violation for you not to say what you knew, it might be easier for people to report their peers,” he said.
Abbott said that the focus on enforcing the honor code across the faculty is “uneven.”
“There are instances of faculty members handling cases on their own and their reasoning is that their perceived impressions of the judicial process are unpleasant and inefficient and that the system doesn’t work,” he said. “But people who go through the process say it is fair, reasonable and difficult, but that it fundamentally works.”
Abbott chose to go through the Judicial Affairs Committee for all of the infractions he encountered and endorsed it wholeheartedly.
“In every case, things have gone in a positive way,” he said. “It has relieved me of having to be judge and jury.”
Holmes uses her experiences going through the Academic Judicial Board as a reminder to her students of the consequences of cheating.
“I also remind my classes that I have brought several students before the Judicial Academic Judicial Board for cheating and plagiarism over the years, and while it is not a pleasant experience for me, it is something I will do to uphold my responsibility. I warn them [cheating] is just not worth it.”
MAKING UP FOR PAST SGA BLUNDERS
The recommendation to strike the no proctoring clause was never implemented because of strong opposition from the Student Government Association (SGA), who asserted it would not pass the two-thirds student vote needed to make structural changes to the code. This led SGA, Faculty Council and Community Council members to hash out the current language of the code.
“I think both the faculty and the students came away from those meetings thinking they had won, which in essence is the perfect agreement,” said Guttentag.
A major aspect of the agreement was the establishment of a new cabinet post in the SGA dedicated to chairing the Academic Honesty Committee. Aseem Mulji ’11.5 was put in charge of the committee, according to faculty meeting minutes from May 13, 2009.
“He explained their goal to make the honor code more visible, and provide broader discussion of philosophical and practice issues,” read the notes. “Mr. Mulji stressed that students still care about the honor code and are committed to making it work.”
But the Academic Honesty Committee never materialized.
“It needs to be acknowledged that last time, promises were made that did not happen, but I’m hopeful that something really positive can come out of that,” said Guttentag, who praised this year’s SGA leadership. “There is no way that this can be entirely on the faculty and administration. Students need to take on shared responsibility.”
Current SGA President Charlie Arnowitz ’13 is trying to hold up the students’ end of the bargain. While he pointed out that the yearly turnover within the SGA results in promises easily falling through the cracks from one administration to another, he made no excuses for the 2009 SGA blunders.
“We’re going to do what wasn’t done in 2009, and do it better,” he said.
The result would be the Honor Code Student Committee, which Arnowitz is helping to create before he leaves office and will transition responsibilities to his successor.
Arnowitz said the goals of the committee would be to solicit student participation, conduct research on best practices at peer institutions with honor codes and find ways to involve the code into the broader student culture at the College.
“This is totally student driven,” he said. “We need to inculcate the honor code into everyday student life. One hard question we will have to answer is whether an honor code is worth it.”
Arnowitz said he had already received “a lot” of applications for the committee. But the SGA is fighting a pitched battle against what some see as student apathy about the future of the honor code.
On March 7, the SGA sent out an all-student email inviting students to attend a “community forum” surrounding the honor code with Collado, Guttentag and members of the SGA. But when the night came, only two students showed up — the Campus had three people covering the event.
While Arnowitz blamed the low turnout mainly on the remoteness of the Atwater location, he acknowledged the low turn out was “a little troubling.”
Failings on the part of the student body to uphold its end of the honor code — abysmal peer reporting, general student apathy and past SGA blunders — have led some faculty to question whether the honor code is nothing more than a first-year signature.
“I think students themselves have to decide if they want a strong honor code on campus — if so, then they should look for ways to create a student community that is not tolerant of cheating,” wrote Holmes in her email. “Perhaps students are content with current levels of cheating and enforcement?”
“I don’t think that’s the case, but maybe things have changed,” said Arnowitz, sighing. “It’s key to make sure students know what is at stake here.”
One of the main goals of the Honor Code Student Committee will be to show faculty and administrators that things have changed since 2009, according to Arnowitz.
Jackie Yordan ’13, who is serving on the Academic Judicial Board and the Honor Code Review Committee, said the key is to get students talking more about the code. She pointed to the It Happens Here campaign to promote awareness of sexual assault as a roadmap.
“We need to make the honor code as talked about as we have made the issue of sexual assault this year,” said Yordan. “We want the changes to come from students.”
The level of value placed on the honor code runs the gamut depending on the student.
“Having students take responsibility for their work is huge, because if you don’t take responsibility now in college, then why will you take responsibility for your work at any time subsequent?” said Ian Thomas ’13.5, who is on the Academic Judicial Board. “This is your last real opportunity to learn it.”
Baccaglini said that after First-Year Orientation, there isn’t enough follow up.
“I’ll run into tour guides in McCullough saying, ‘This is one of the hallmarks of Middlebury,’ and I’ll walk away saying, ‘Maybe it is, but I don’t know,’” she said. “Theoretically, students take it as an indication of trust from professors, but I’m hesitant to say students really care about it. Who here wakes up every day saying, ‘I’m so glad I go to a school with an honor code!’ Nobody.”
But Baccaglini said that both students and the College have a long-term interest in the code.
“I think Middlebury has an investment in keeping [the honor code] and that students, at least on an abstract level, do as well,” she said. “Every time I sign a test, I’m not bathed in the light of honor, but I think that students feel it’s a valuable part of our experience.”
POISONING THE WELL OF TRUST
Guttentag said that one of her primary goals this time around is to elucidate what she called “the real tangible costs of my cheating on you.” One tangible result is the loss of some faculty members’ trust in students.
“Many students assume that because of the honor code, professors have to inherently trust them,” said Guttentag. “But that’s not the way trust works.”
Abbott, the math professor who serves on the Honor Code Review Committee, was tapped to serve on the current committee because of what he described as “my unusually high number of encounters with [Guttentag] in the last two or three years.”
He estimated that he has had to bring five accusations of cheating to the judicial board over the past two or three years. While Abbott stressed that his experiences are not the norm among his colleagues, he acknowledged that the infractions have changed the way he grades.
“I do now approach grading in a mindset that’s more suspicious than I used to be,” he said. “And it doesn’t feel good.
“I have had experiences where I will see a solution by a student that surprised me in its elegance and ingenuity and the natural reaction to that as a professor is a sense of elation at the success of the student. Now that has to be filtered through a lens of, ‘Is this a real event based on this person arriving at a point of insight or did something improper happen to produce it?’”
Abbott is also attacking the notion some people at the College hold that cheaters are “only hurting themselves.”
“The freedom to think up the best possible assignment is dependent on the honor code working in some kind of robust way,” he said. “When you get out of that mode and start second-guessing whether or not the student’s approach to an assignment is an honest one, then you’ve given up something. Everybody loses.”
While Abbott is concerned about the vitality of the code, he repeatedly stressed his optimism in a bright future.
“Have I lost the rose-colored glasses? Yeah. But I don’t think we’re in a crisis. […] I haven’t gotten the feeling that we’re on some precipice.”
CHANGING PEDAGOGY
The affect cheating has had on faculty already depends greatly on whom you talk with. But even the most ardent faculty supporters of the honor code said they’ve changed their pedagogy in response to cheating.
“I’ve been a supporter of the honor code for decades,” said Charles A. Dana Professor of Mathematics John Emerson. “I’m happy to say that it’s been a very long time since I’ve had a plagiarizing issue with my students.”
Emerson’s perspectives come from a long involvement with the code, including stints as the chair of the Judicial Review Board and as the head of the Academic Judicial Board in the past. He said the effectiveness of the code can be enhanced by drawing attention to the importance of the Middlebury Honor System.
“It can be very constructive for any faculty member to take a few minutes at the beginning of a course to explain the relevance of the honor code as it applies to a particular course,” he said.
While Emerson always advises students that he will return to the classroom halfway through exams to respond to questions or provide clarification, he does not support making proctoring exams the default.
“Proctoring would change the psychology of the classroom,” he said. “My concern is that you don’t want to create a game where students try to cheat by outsmarting the teachers.”
Despite his unwavering support for the honor code, Emerson said that over the years he has adjusted his pedagogy by limiting the use of take-home exams.
“The reason I don’t offer take-home exams is because good people who care about honesty can still cheat if they are under enough pressure,” he said. “You get sick or you have a fight with your girlfriend and you still need to take that exam tomorrow and you are distracted and you panic.”
All of the faculty members interviewed recognized the immense pressure many of their students were under to perform at high levels and the importance of limiting situations where students might be tempted to cheat.
For example, Abbott refuses to give self-scheduled exams for multi-sectional calculus because of what he called math’s “ability to produce anxiety.”
But Guttentag said that even professors accounting for these situations is a cost of cheating.
“Instead of faculty saying, ‘What is the most engaging, creative way I can teach this material?’ they have to say, ‘How can I create a cheat-proof exam?’” she said. “You’re not getting the best pedagogy from your professors.”
IS PROCTORING THE ONLY ANSWER?
The answer — almost unequivocally — is no. For now.
“I don’t want to support a shift in the climate that surrounds an honor system,” said Emerson, who proctored students during his graduate years at Cornell University. “That was definitely a more negative climate than is the case here at Middlebury in my classroom when my students are taking tests. I treat students with respect and I think they know intuitively that I don’t assume that they want to cheat.”
Abbott said that while the code isn’t functioning at the highest level, restricting it would only make things worse.
“It really boils down to a sense that the honor code gets stronger when it’s put to use,” he said. “The best way to infuse it with meaning is to continue to invoke it by not proctoring. I think we’re better putting it to use than restricting it due to abuse.”
Administrators, faculty and students all agreed that dismantling the academic honor code would have negative consequences.
“Quite a bit would be lost without an academic honor code,” said Joseph Flaherty ’15. “You would lose the contract between students and faculty that says, ‘We’re going to treat our academic work with honesty and integrity.’”
“The culture would suffer for it,” said Guttentag. “I think the majority of students are behaving honorably and that the honor code is a point of pride for them.”
She said the administration is wary of creating a police state pitting students versus the administration.
“That’s not the kind of culture we want to have here and the relationships we hope to foster,” she said.
But at the end of the day, the health and fate of the honor code will rest with the students, something Arnowitz is acutely aware of.
“If the faculty and administration see students really making an honest effort in a way that is going to concretely continue next year, we will buy ourselves a couple years,” said Arnowitz. “But that by no means ensures that when I come back for a reunion in five years, the honor code will still be here.”
(04/10/13 4:33pm)
On Thursday, March 28, Middlebury received the Food Recovery Challenge Achievement Award, earning recognition from the Environmental Protection Agency for increasing organics diversion in 2011. By using disposed food products for higher and better purposes such as composting, the college has contributed to the recovery of more than 2,000 tons of food waste amongst seven New England colleges.
Middlebury has been part of a composting program since 1993, celebrating its 20th year this spring. Approximately 7,000 meals are prepared daily on campus and over 90 percent of food waste generated is diverted to produce 15,000 cubic yards of compost annually. The mixing and turning process is carried out on Middlebury’s own site, located on South Street. All compost produced is utilized on campus and is continuing to sustain the schools 66 percent diversion rate.
However, despite the success with which campus composting efforts have been met, food waste levels at Middlebury have not been cut. According to Missy Beckwith, manager of the Bread Loaf campus and waste management, food waste levels have increased just as much as composting has grown.
“To say that we’ve reduced food waste I don’t think is accurate,” she said.
In discussing the EPA award, she brought attention to the most important step in decreasing food waste levels on campus, which begins in the dining hall, and more specifically, on the server line.
Students are returning plates with larger amounts of food that, sometimes, appear to be untouched, according to dining staff at dish returning stations. Perhaps, composting is giving some students the idea that discarding food is not a form of waste since most food waste becomes compost, but this would be inaccurate to believe, as Beckwith explained.
“If compost goes up, it means that we are potentially wasting more food and the resources that go into making that food,” she said.
Along with the issue of stolen plates from the dining hall, which has persisted for three years, excessive food waste has also become a consequence of the liberal meal plan Middlebury offers. Students are often serving themselves unreasonably large portions of food, generating greater post-consumer waste and in turn, sending an inaccurate indication to dining staff of the amount of food that should be prepared. Food dropped on the counter or the floor has also become another form of food waste, which has been brought to the attention of many by the display in Proctor Dining Hall, where a bucket with food scraps gathered up off the floor has been placed.
Noah Berman ’13 shared his opinion on the display and issue. “I think that [the display] is an effective way to demonstrate to people that the problem exists,” he said.
In the discussion of the EPA Award, which has been well earned and proudly received, facilitators commended Middlebury on its 20 years of composting and its continued efforts to recover food waste, but they also expressed strong encouragement of students to recognize their position of influence in the reduction of food waste.
(03/25/13 3:32pm)
The Middlebury men’s basketball team fell 67-55 to North Central (Naperville, Ill.) in the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament, Friday, March 22. The 12-point loss marked Middlebury’s largest margin of defeat since the Panthers were ousted from the 2010 tournament by Rhode Island College, 75-59.
“I feel like we ran into a buzz saw of a team,” head coach Jeff Brown said. “They dominated us on the boards, we struggled to finish our shots and it was a real challenge for us to cover them defensively — areas where we’ve been strong all season long.”
Junior guard Joey Kizel ’14 led the team with 16 points, but struggled from the field, converting just five of his 13 field goal attempts as he and his teammates failed to finish good looks inside and open shots from the perimeter. A week after shooting better than 54 percent from beyond the arc in a 73-72 win over Ithaca, the Panthers made just four of 14 three-point attempts.
“We ran them off the three-point line,” North Central head coach Todd Raridon said. “When you look at their stats [some of those guys] shoot 40-something percent from three — that’s something we had to have.”
Middlebury opened the game with easy baskets inside as tri-captain Peter Lynch ’13 and Jack Roberts ’14 combined to score the first 10 points of the game for the Panthers. Twice in the first half Middlebury opened a seven-point lead, as Kizel scored eight of Middlebury’s next 11 points over 4:48 to spark the Panther run. Roberts gave Middlebury a 23-16 lead with 9:08 remaining in first half with his fourth basket in four attempts off a feed from tri-captain Jake Wolfin ’13.
North Central responded with a 24-14 run over the final 8:41 of the first half. Cardinals guard Vince Kmiec provided the catalyst, pouring in 12 points over a 4:24 stretch. The 6’4’’ junior guard gave his team its first lead since the Cardinals scored the first basket of the game, draining a three with 4:39 remaining in the half. The Cardinals never trailed from that point on as Kmiec, who scored 17 points in the first half and 31 points for the game, made key shots to keep the Panthers at arm’s length.
“Kmiec had a tremendous game,” said Brown. “We were so concerned about Raridon and Gamble that maybe we lost some focus defensively.”
With 1:33 remaining in the first half, tri-captain Nolan Thompson ’13 drained a three pointer to tie the game at 36, but back-to-back layups from North Central’s All-American Derek Raridon and big man Landon Gamble gave the Cardinals a 40-37 advantage at half time.
Kizel led Middlebury with 10-first-half points, but it was the Panthers’ inside scoring that kept them in the game as Lynch, Roberts and James Jensen ’14 combined to score 23 of the team’s 37 first-half points.
Consecutive mid-range jumpers from Thompson followed by an acrobatic reverse layup from Wolfin cut the North Central lead to one just over three minutes into the second half. The Cardinals then orchestrated a 16-2 run, opening a 60-45 lead with 11:12 remaining as Kmiec and company knocked down four treys during the run, while the Panthers missed 12 of their next 15 shots from the field.
Kizel engineered a brief 7-2 run for the Panthers beginning at the 6:51 mark, finding a cutting Hunter Merryman ’14 for a layup off the high pick-and-roll and culminating with Kizel contorting his body through traffic for a twisting layup at the 3:53 mark to reduce the deficit to eight.
That was as close as the Panthers would come, however, as the furious rally to tie the game or retake the lead that Panther fans have come to expect never materialized.
“In a lot of our games — especially when we’ve been down eight to 10 points — we’ve been able to put together a three or four basket run to close the gap,” Brown said. “We were reaching and trying to get that but never did because of North Central’s defensive intensity and focus.”
Middlebury made less than 36 percent of its shots in the second half, including two of its nine three-point attempts as a team en route to scoring just 28 second-half points. Kizel led the team with 16 points, while Lynch ad Roberts had 12 and 10, respectively, as the only three Panthers to reach double-digit point totals. A week after Thompson, Wolfin and Kizel combined to shoot 17-31 in the Sweet 16, Middlebury’s backcourt trio converted 11 of their 33 shot attempts. The offensive struggles in the second half were team-wide, however, as the Panthers’ frontcourt of Lynch, Roberts and Jensen totaled just 7 second-half points on two-for-eight shooting.
Middlebury’s loss in the NCAA quarterfinals brought an end to the careers of Thompson, Wolfin and Lynch, who finished as the winningest players in program history, compiling 104 wins and just 14 losses, including a NESCAC championship and a 15-7 postseason record.
“It has been a terrific class,” said Brown. “It has been a dream to coach them. The trio of seniors are really unselfish. I’ve probably never been involved with a team that throws the extra pass as much as this year’s team has on the offensive end.”
Thompson finished his career with the ninth-most points in Middlebury history and will be remembered as one of the best defensive players in school history. Thompson was named the NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year, while collecting first-team All-NESCAC honors.
Wolfin, meanwhile, is Middlebury’s all-time assist leader with 553 assists. Both he and Thompson were four-year starters for the Panthers.
After playing a reserve role for the better part of two seasons, Lynch developed into one of the NESCAC’s best big men and the most efficient scorer in Middlebury history, setting a new program record with a career 60.2 shooting percentage while leading the team this year, averaging 14.9 points per game.
While three senior captains graduate, the team returns Kizel, a two-time first team All-NESCAC selection, and a group of talented players around him for the 2013-14 season.
(03/20/13 9:00pm)
Following a 4-9 season that saw last year’s Middlebury men’s lacrosse team fail to qualify for the NESCAC tournament and record its first losing season since 1990, this year’s season is off to a far more auspicious start. The team improved its record to an unblemished 3-0 with an 11-4 win on the road at Connecticut College on Saturday, March 16.
Earlier in the week, the squad romped to an 18-12 victory at home against Springfield on Wednesday, March 13.
With last season’s underwhelming results in mind, sophomore Joel Blockowicz ’15 spoke of his team’s attitude during this early part of the campaign.
“We are all aware of the amount of talent on the roster and the potential we have to be a very successful team,” said Blockowicz. “After a very disappointing season last year, the guys understand that nothing is going to be handed over to us. The dynamic at practice has become much more competitive and upbeat with guys really trying to make each other better. To me, this is the most important aspect of being a great team. Also, I think the seniors and captains have done a really good job laying out our goals and expectations for the season.”
Despite the Panthers’ offensive dominance, the Camels built an early 2-1 lead by the end of the first quarter. Andrew Metros ’13 opened the scoring for Middlebury 5:31 into the game before Conn. College responded with two unassisted tallies at the end of the period.
The home team added another goal to extend its lead over Middlebury to 3-1 with 13:45 remaining in the second quarter.
From there, however, the Middlebury offense kicked into high gear. Metros added his second of the game with 8:59 to go before first-year sensation Jon Broome ’16 tied the game at three with his ninth goal of the year on an extra-man opportunity for Middlebury. Stew Kerr ’13 recorded the Panthers’ final goal of the half with 26 seconds left, putting them ahead 4-3.
To open the scoring in the second half, Mike Giordano ’13 found a helper from George Curtis ’14 – again on the man-up – with 8:59 remaining. After another Camels’ goal with 7:06 on the clock in the third, Middlebury controlled the game.
Broome scored his second of the game to close out the third quarter before Blockowicz, Metros and Kerr pushed the lead to 9-4 with 7:05 left in the game. Then, Brian Ayers ’14 and Broome piled it on in the game’s last 1:30 to cement an 11-4 win.
With his hat trick, Broome has now recorded at least three goals in his first three college lacrosse games. He is now tied for second in the NESCAC with 11 goals on the year, behind only Ian Deveau’s (Colby) 12.
Harrison Goodkind ’16 reflected on his team’s performance in the win.
“For this game especially, being able to win 11-4 after being down 3-1 in the beginning of the game shows our team’s mental toughness and level-headedness,” said Goodkind. “Also, for our defense to come back after an unacceptable game against Springfield and hold Conn to only four goals is huge.”
Blockowicz is excited about the team’s chances headed into the teeth of the NESCAC schedule.
“I think the first three games have shown our team potential,” said Blockowicz We have shown we can win in many different ways with strong defense, a balanced offense and great communication and goaltending. When we are playing our best lacrosse it has become apparent that many teams cannot hang with us.”
The Panthers take on conference foe Wesleyan at home this Saturday, March 23, before facing Hamilton and Bowdoin over spring break on March 27 and 30, respectively.
“As we get deeper into the season it will be interesting to see if we can have this explosion and consistency throughout the whole game,” said Blockowicz. “The goal is to be playing our best lacrosse in May.”
(03/20/13 8:55pm)
The Middlebury men’s basketball team advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament with a 73-72 win over Ithaca College on Saturday, March 16. Junior guard Joey Kizel ’14 made a pair of free throws with 1.8 seconds remaining in the game to give his team the decisive points. On the final play of regulation, Ithaca’s Travis Warech attempted a desperation heave at the buzzer, but his shot bounced harmlessly off the backboard, cementing Middlebury’s return to Salem, Va., where the Panthers played in the Final Four just two years ago.
Nolan Thompson ’13 and Jake Wolfin ’13 led all scorers with 20 points apiece for the Panthers, as the senior guards combined to shoot 12-20 from beyond the arc.
“[My shot has] been feeling good, but it just wasn’t going in,” said Wolfin, who entered the game shooting 28 percent from beyond the arc. “I got out there and felt confident. It was the biggest game of any of our careers in front of our home fans [and] my last home game. I felt like I needed to have a performance that would take us to the next level.”
Middlebury as a team combined to shoot 15 of 24 from three, including a streak of seven straight to start the second half. Kizel, meanwhile, chipped in 13 points of his own as Middlebury’s trio of starting guards combined to score 53 of the team’s 73 points.
“[The threes] were all good looks,” said Kizel. “It’s all about inside-out. We’re moving the ball really well and getting touches in the paint first, either through [Lynch] or [Roberts] or [Jensen] or by dribble penetration.”
Ithaca opened the game, and played much of the first half in a triangle-and-two defense. Despite limiting the offensive looks for Kizel and Thompson early, the defense conceded open shots for Wolfin. After missing his first attempt of the game, Wolfin knocked down his next three shots, including two threes, as the New Jersey native scored seven of his team’s first 13 points.
“We anticipated that they would play triangle and two and face-guard [Kizel] and [Thompson] and bait [Wolfin] into taking some perimeter shots,” said head coach Jeff Brown. “I was a little concerned when he missed the first, but he made some really big shots for us and got them out of that defense and into man-to-man.”
Behind Wolfin’s early contribution, the Panthers maintained a narrow lead for much of the first half, taking a six-point lead — their largest of the half — with 2:29 remaining in the half. Ithaca ended the half on an 8-4 run, however, as guard Eli Maravich — the nephew of the great “Pistol Pete” Maravich — drained one of his team-high five three-pointers just seconds before the first-half horn sounded to cut the Middlebury lead to two at the break.
Kizel led all scorers at the break with 11 points, while Wolfin and Thompson each had eight and junior swingman James Jensen ’14 contributed seven points off of the bench. Collectively, Middlebury shot a scorching 59 percent from the floor in the first half on 13-22 shooting, while holding Ithaca under 38 percent as a team. The Bombers, however, kept the game close by crashing the offensive glass and limiting their turnovers.
Out of the half-time break, Ithaca took advantage of a slow restart from the Panthers, scoring on each of their first three possessions to take the lead for the first time since the 7:02 mark in the first half. Middlebury responded, however, making seven threes in seven attempts after missing its first four shot attempts in the second half.
The barrage of threes reached its apex at the 11:35 mark, as Thompson sank three treys over a 2:35 stretch, catalyzing a 12-2 Middlebury run and extending the Panther lead to 10, the largest of the game.
Trailing by double digits, Ithaca launched a run of its own, scoring the game’s next eight points as Maravich knocked down a pair of threes to cut the Middlebury lead back to two. Then, after another Wolfin three followed by a pair of free throws from tri-captain Peter Lynch ’13 gave Middlebury a 62-55 lead at the 6:29 mark, the Bombers answered with another mini-run of their own, cutting the deficit back to one with less than five minutes remaining in regulation.
The visitors completed the comeback minutes later as Maravich hit yet another three to give his team a 68-67 lead, completing a 21-10 Bombers run over a period of 9:57 to take the lead with less than two minutes in the game.
The Ithaca advantage was short-lived, however, as Lynch recaptured the lead for the Panthers with a pair of free throws.
After a pair of misses on the other end, Ithaca elected to put Middlebury on the line in the one-and-one rather than allow the Panthers to run the clock below 30 seconds and potentially convert on a shot at the end of the shot clock. Thompson, who entered the game as Middlebury’s best free throw shooter on the season missed the front end off the back rim, resulting in a high-arching rebound, which Jensen tipped in the air once, and then corralled before being fouled.
A year ago, in Middlebury’s Sweet 16 loss to Scranton, Jensen made just two of his 10 free throws, a statistic that loomed large in the Panthers’ three-point loss at the buzzer. Saturday, however, Jensen converted three of his four attempts from the line, including both in the final minute, extending Middlebury’s lead back to three.
On the other end, Ithaca put the ball in the hands of Maravich, who drove to the basket and, with 19 seconds remaining, converted a hanging layup to cut the deficit back to one.
Following a timeout, the Bombers put Thompson on the line once again, and again Thompson missed on the front end of the one-and-one. Off the miss, Ithaca point guard Sean Rossi found his teammate Frank Mitchell who blew by Lynch, and finished at the hoop with six seconds remaining, setting the scene for the final sequence.
“I’m [thinking] ‘just go to the basket,’ said Kizel of the final play. “I was trying to get a layup, but they did a good closing me down. They were a little too aggressive, and I got fouled. I was just trying to make a play and get a shot off, and we were able to.”
“Our philosophy is to push [the ball] and try to make a play,” Brown said, “and Joey Kizel made a great play, drawing that foul and getting to the free throw [line].”
Kizel then stepped to the line with a chance to tie or win the game with 1.8 seconds left.
“When I got to the line I was hoping the first would trickle in, because I knew the second one would go in if I hit the first,” said Kizel of his game-tying and game-winning free throws.
The victory Saturday gave Middlebury’s three seniors 104 career wins, the most in team history. Middlebury will play North Central (Ill.) in the Elite Eight on Friday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m. in the Salem Civic Center. The winner will advance to the Final Four and play the winner of the Amherst-Cabrini game.
A version of this article ran in the Addison Independent on March 18.
(03/14/13 12:39am)
The Middlebury men’s basketball team (24-3) advanced to the Sweet 16 for the third consecutive season after a 67-63 win at Cortland State on Saturday, March 9. The Panthers handed the Red Dragons their first home loss of the season, ousting the 23rd-ranked team nationally in the process.
Junior guard Joey Kizel ’14 controlled the game offensively for the visitors, pacing the Panthers with 11 points in either half, and employing a dazzling array of scoring moves. Kizel, who is averaging 14.2 points per game this season, has been on a tear over the last month, scoring more than 20 points per game in his last five games.
“It’s pretty mental, confidence-wise,” Kizel said of his play of late. “Depending on the way defenses are playing I’ll impact the game — I’m not going to force anything. If I start making shots, it’s going to be very hard for defenses to contain us.”
Middlebury knocked down open shots on the first two possessions of the game — one an 18-foot jump shot from 6’8’’ forward Jack Roberts, the next a long pull-up three-pointer from Kizel.
Cortland, which entered the game 13-0 at Whitney T. Corey Gymnasium this season, gradually found a rhythm offensively, capitalizing on a number of errant, long-range shots from Middlebury early in the shot clock to find passing lanes in transition. Red Dragons’ guard Harrison Hefele was the primary beneficiary of his team’s up-tempo play and good ball movement early on, scoring five consecutive points, including a three from the left wing.
Both teams traded baskets early as the game witnessed six lead changes in the first 8:06 of play. Ten early points from Cortland forward Brian McMahon, including a pair of dunks, spurred the Red Dragons to a 23-17 lead with 8:08 remaining in the first half.
Middlebury then engineered a furious 19-4 run to end the first half, heading into the halftime tunnel with a 36-27 lead as Kizel scored eight points over the final 5:24 of the half.
James Jensen ’14 added nine points of his own in just nine minutes off the bench as the junior swingman consistently attacked the rim offensively while affecting long-range attempts with his length defensively. Jensen notched the first double-double of his Middlebury career, finishing the game with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
“Last year [Jensen] impacted the game in so many different ways, but his shot wasn’t there, and now that’s not holding him back,” Kizel said. His shooting ability has given him a lot of confidence. If teams are giving him an open shot, he wants to knock it down. That makes defenses guard him and respect his shot and then he’s able to drive past them which is definitely a huge strength of his game.”
The Red Dragons struggled to make outside shots despite good looks as guard Jeremy Smith, the team’s leading scorer and a 43-percent, three-point shooter on the season, finished the first half 1-7 from the floor, and 1-4 from beyond the arc. McMahon, however, wreaked havoc in the first half, pulling down eight boards and recording two blocks in addition to his 10 points on five of seven shooting.
Cortland shot just 41 percent as a team in the first half as Middlebury held the hosts to just eight three-point attempts in the first half, far below their 24-attempt pace per game. The Red Dragons also failed to get to the free throw line in the first half, all of which culminated in the nine-point half-time deficit.
For the Panthers, Saturday’s game marked the second straight week that they led by nine or more points at the half, and the second straight week they saw their lead disappear in a matter of minutes.
The hosts opened the second half on a 7-2 run, cutting the Middlebury lead to four. As McMahon scored his team’s first seven points of the second half, giving him 17 points in just 22 minutes of play, while shooting 8-10 from the field.
The Panthers extended the lead back to eight as five different players scored to open the second half. At the 13:20 mark, however, the Red Dragons launched their assault, outscoring Middlebury 17-2 over the next 5:34 to take a 55-48 lead with 8:53 remaining in the game. McMahon and Cortland’s senior point guard Jesse Winter sparked the run, scoring 14 of the team’s 19 points over a 6:02 span.
With his team trailing by seven and less than nine minutes remaining, tri-captain Jake Wolfin ’13 made the seminal play of the game, stepping into a shot at the top of the arc and knocking down a straightaway three off a perfect feed from Kizel. Prior to the make, Wolfin was 0-7 from the floor, but rebounded to sink the game’s decisive shot.
“[Losing by] seven there, if we don’t score on that possession and they score, the game goes in a different direction,” Wolfin said. “Throughout my career I’ve loved to take big shots and my team has had the confidence in me to take those shots. Joey gave me a great pass and I was open and the shot went in and that started a 5-0 spurt for me and a 5-0 spurt for us that was really important in the game.”
Wolfin struck again just over a minute later; after deflecting an entry pass intended for McMahon into the air, he collected the loose ball and took it the ball coast-to-coast, where he finished between a pair of closing Cortland defenders.
“A big focus of our preparation for Cortland State was on the defensive end,” said Wolfin. “On a lot of their sets they swung the ball up to the big guy at the top of the key, so I read the defenders eyes, jumped the pass and was lucky enough to get a deflection and finish the play. I took a gamble on defense and it was a big part of the game so I’m glad it worked out.”
McMahon responded on the Red Dragons’ next possession with another basket in the lane to extend the lead back to four with 6:59 remaining, giving the junior, and the nation’s second-most efficient scorer, 24 points for the game. It was McMahon’s final basket of the game, however, as Middlebury outscored Cortland 14-6 down the stretch.
After tri-captain Nolan Thompson ’13 and Jensen combined to make three of four free throws, Kizel gave Middlebury its first lead since the 11:02 mark, banking an off-balance runner off the glass and in, all the while falling away from the basket.
Now trailing by one, Cortland entered the ball to McMahon. The Panthers collapsed on the 6’6’’ forward, but once again McMahon got the better of them, this time with his passing, as he found a wide-open teammate at the top of the key who buried the three.
Kizel continued to attack the rim, this time drawing contact and earning a trip to the free throw line. The New Jersey native sank the pair to tie the game again at 60. On the ensuing Cortland possession, the Red Dragons had two good looks from three, but neither shot fell, giving Middlebury another chance to take the lead.
This time the Panthers swung the ball around the perimeter and entered the ball into the post with tri-captain Peter Lynch ’13, the team’s leading scorer on the season. While Lynch had been contained for much of the afternoon, on this occasion he pirouetted his way inside and finished over his defender.
On the following possession, Cortland’s shifty guard Jesse Winter slithered past Thompson, but couldn’t convert the layup. On the other end, Kizel drew contact again and sank two more free throws to give his team a 64-60 lead with 49 seconds remaining.
After another missed three from the trailing team, Kizel had an opportunity to ice the game. At the line with 27 seconds to go and leading by four, the 79-percent free throw shooter made only one of two, however. The Red Dragons then responded with a made three from the right wing to cut the Middlebury lead back to two with 17 seconds remaining.
Cortland, desperate for a turnover, forced Middlebury to burn two timeouts before Thompson finally located Lynch on an inbound pass.
With 12 seconds remaining in the game Lynch stepped to the line and drained both free throws, sealing the victory for his team.
“Those were two of the biggest free throws all year,” Kizel said. “Because if he misses one, we’re back in the same situation [up three with seconds remaining] that we were in against Curry, Amherst and Wesleyan. So we’d really prefer not to be in that situation. Up four versus up three is a huge difference.”
“It was our first signature win,” Wolfin said. “For us to [win at] Cortland State where they hadn’t lost all year shows the character of our team — how tough, how gritty we are. We did a great job closing out a team that easily could have made a run in this tournament. It means a lot going forward.”
With the victory Jeff Brown’s team advanced to the Sweet 16 for the third time in the past three years, something only two other schools have accomplished in that time.
The Panthers host Ithaca College (21-8) on Saturday, March 16. A win would advance Middlebury to the Elite Eight and a return to Salem, Va., where the Panthers were a Final Four team in 2011.
(03/14/13 12:04am)
The Middlebury men’s tennis team opened its season by fending off three teams at home this past weekend, including NESCAC foe and no. 12 Bates College. The depth of the Panther squad came into play once again, as it remained dominant in the lower part of the singles and doubles lineups. This crucial win over the Bobcats might prove to be useful at the end of the season in NCAA selection, as it did last year.
On Saturday, Middlebury’s bench strength was on full display. The men scored a complete 9-0 sweep against SUNY Oneonta. All the players won their matches in a convincing manner.
Senior captain Will Oberrender ’13 and Chris Frost ’15 stormed to an 8-0 win at no. 1 doubles. First-years Allen Jackson ’16, Ari Smolyar ’16 and Jackson Frons ’16 came out on top with relative ease in their debut performances, combining to lose only seven out of 36 games. Sophomore Courtney Mountifield ’15 had a seesaw first set but capped a 6-4, 6-0 verdict at no. 3. Frost and junior James Burke ’14 did not encounter any problems at the fifth and sixth spots in singles play.
Later that day, the top half of the team went up against unranked Brandeis University.
The squad pulled out a 2-1 lead after the doubles contests. The duo of Brantner Jones ’14 and Palmer Campbell ’16 wasted little time and won their match 8-2 at no. 3 doubles. While the lefty-righty pair of Andrew Lebovitz ’14 and Teddy Fitzgibbons ’14 battled to a lengthy 8-6 victory at no. 2, the top pair of Alex Johnston ’14 and captain Spencer Lunghino ’13 fell by the same score in a close margin to the talented Judges.
In singles play, the Panthers only dropped one set and had straight-set victories across the board. The matches were closer than it seemed on paper, however, especially in the upper lineup. Johnston displayed his mental toughness and ability to handle pressure with his win in the third-set super-tiebreaker at the top spot. Jones, returning from abroad, relied on his fight and squeezed out a tight 6-4, 6-4 victory. With his aggressive baseline play, Campbell came away with the score of 6-1, 6-4 in his first dual match appearance.
Sunday’s clash with Bates College proved to be less tricky than previously anticipated, as their no. 1 player Rob Crampton was absent due to sickness. Crampton was last year’s NCAA singles semi-finalist.
The Middlebury men showed no mercy, proceeding to a 7-2 decision. The two losses came from Johnston/Lunghino in a competitive matchup and Campbell at no. 3 singles against Pierre Planch, an on-fire Bobcat. The scores of the two matches were 6-8 and 4-6, 4-6 respectively.
Later, both Johnston and Lunghino bounced back in singles play. Lunghino, with his powerful serve and forehand, took down his opponent in the no. 4 spot swiftly. Johnston faced Matt Bettles, the crafty lefty. Relying on his simple, yet effective tactic of attacking his opponent’s backhand, Johnston snatched the win with a tiebreaker in the second set.
At no. 2 singles, Jones rallied to a 7-5, 6-2 conquest by breaking down his rival’s confidence early on. In the bottom of the lineup, the “top-heavy” Bobcat squad was no comparison to the Panthers. The one-two punch of baseliners Fitzgibbons and classmate Zach Bruchmiller ’14 dropped only five out of a total of 24 games at the no. 5 and no. 6 spots.
Although senior captain Alec Parower ’13 was sidelined due to sickness, he was happy with how the weekend turned out.
“We competed really hard regardless of how well we were playing, which is a great starting point,” he said. “We have some work to do before our trip to California, but the opening weekend was a great start.”
The Middlebury men will return to action in less than two weeks’ time during a spring break to California.
The team will look to take up the physical and mental challenge of playing ten matches in the span of six days. High points of the trip will include matches against 11th place UC Santa Cruz, 17th place Redlands, 16th place Pomona-Pitzer, and fourth-place Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
Last year’s trip to California proved successful for the team with wins again Pomona and Concordia, losing only 6-3 at Claremont.
(03/14/13 12:01am)
For the first time since last May, the Middlebury women’s tennis team was able to experience the thrill of a dual match. Head coach Mike Morgan wanted a strong start to the season, and he got his wish as his team took all three matches this weekend as the Panthers dominated their opponents with final match scores of 8-1 against Brandeis, 7-2 versus Trinity and an 8-1 win against Bates.
On Saturday morning, the Middlebury women opened up against Brandeis and took a 2-1 lead after doubles. The Panthers went on to sweep the singles matches. Ria Gerger ’16 and Margot Marchese ’16 made their debut in singles play and came up with impressive scores of 6-4, 6-1 and 6-0, 6-0, respectively.
A few hours after blanking Brandeis, the Panthers had to keep their game faces on as they faced fellow NESCAC school, Trinity. The doubles started in an even more impressive fashion, taking all three doubles matches. Lauren Amos ’16 won in her first dual match alongside fellow first-year Marchese in the no. 3 doubles place. Katie Paradies ’15 won her second singles match of the day with a score of 6-2, 6-1. Lok Sze Leung ’15 and Dorrie Paradies ’14 also won their singles matches in straight sets.
It was an early start again on Sunday, as the Panthers faced off against Bates. Middlebury won two out of the three doubles contests, including Gerger and Leung’s third consecutive 8-1 win of the weekend at the no. 2 doubles spot. Brittney Faber ’13 and Leah Kepping ’13 finished off the weekend at no. 1 doubles spot with an impressive 8-1 victory.
The team of Faber and Kepping showed their prowess this weekend, winning two out of their three matches. Faber’s finishes were made more impressive by the fact that she has recovered from a torn ACL that she experienced at the NCAA tournament last May, coming back for her final season with the team. With two wins already at the no. 1 spot, Faber and Kepping are only going to improve.
With two of the six singles starters sick or injured, the Panthers had to look to their other teammates to step in at the no. 5 and no. 6 positions. Playing at no. 5 was first-year Sadie Shackelford ’16 and at no. 6 was DeeDee Myers ’13. Both came away with wins in their first matches of the year. At the no. 3 position, Kepping fell in the first set, but pulled through 2-6, 6-2, 6-2. Despite missing several top players, the team proved their depth in their convincing win.
“It was a great start to the season,” Kepping said. “We brought a strong presence and tons of energy to each match. Our first-years and sophomores were really confident and showed that they will bring a lot to the table this year ... We are striving to be the best competitors.”
After a successful weekend, the women’s tennis team looks to build on their performances this past weekend. They have just under two weeks to fine-tune their games before heading to California for their spring break trip. The trip consists of five matches, including one against the number one-ranked team in the country and fellow NESCAC school, Williams.
“Everybody has a couple of projects to work on [during] the next two weeks, and competing was the best way to realize what we should work to improve,” Paradies said. “We cannot wait for a great spring break and to continue to put our games to the test.”
