62 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(10/21/15 11:55pm)
After coming back to defeat Wesleyan 2-1 the week before, the Middlebury men’s soccer team had a similar performance on Saturday, Oct. 17, shocking Trinity 2-1 behind Kirk Horton’s ’17 two goals, including the game-winner just over seven minutes into overtime.
From the whistle, neither team controlled play in the opening minutes. But off a Panther foul in the 9th minute, Trinity’s Sam Milbury lined up for the free-kick from 35 yards out, and blew it by the Middlebury keeper Greg Sydor ’17.
That confidence displayed itself on the field as they started to control the game and move the ball forward dangerously. In the 14th minute, Adam Glaser ’17 blasted a shot from the edge of the box that hit the crossbar and bounced out. A little over six minutes later, center forward Greg Conrad ’17 set Tyler Bonini ’16 up with only Bantam goalkeeper Domenic Quade to beat, but Quade’s kick save kept his team ahead. Quade made another brilliant save on Daniel O’Grady ’19, who repeatedly sliced through the defense with impressive footwork and touch, left-footed strike, diving and corralling the shot attempt.
“[Trinity] just had the one free kick,” Horton said. “We created enough opportunities in the first half. We just had to keep doing what we were doing.”
Middlebury continued to possess the ball the majority of the time in the second half, and threatened to score a number of times early on. The Panthers, and the crowd, thought they had tied it up in the 60th minute, only for the referee to call the goal back on a foul, one of 44 in the contest.
“The NESCAC is a very tough conference,” Horton said. “This game was aggressive and physical. We can’t let the referees change the way we play.”
The Panthers persisted, and with a little under thirteen minutes to go, Glaser sent a free kick from 45 yards that Horton tapped in, knotting the game at one.
In overtime, the Panthers attacked aerially and the seemingly inevitable happened in the 98th minute when Glaser’s corner kick found its way to Horton who brought it to his feet and shot the game-winning goal.
The epic 2-1 victory moved the Panthers to 5-2-1 in the NESCAC, and gave them sole possession of second place in the NESCAC.
Middlebury was home again on Tuesday, Oct. 20 when they hosted Plymouth St., completely dominating en route to a 5-0 win.
The Panthers wasted no time exerting themselves as Glaser found Bean on a corner kick to take an early lead in the seventh minute. Conrad then held off a defender and fed Horton down the side who fed Bonini for a tap-in goal and 2-0 lead going into the half.
Glaser and Conrad took over in the second half to seal the 5-0 win for Middlebury. Conrad tallied his fifth and sixth goals of the season, while Glaser added his seventh goal and tenth assist of the season. With that assist, Glaser set the program’s single season assist record, breaking Josh Shapiro’s 20 year old record of 9.
The team will take their 10-2-1 record to Lewiston, Maine on Saturday, Oct. 24 to play Bates.
(10/15/15 12:18am)
The Middlebury men’s soccer team split its crucial weekend on the road, falling to Tufts 1-0 on Saturday, Oct. 10 before coming from behind to sneak past Wesleyan 2-1 on Sunday, Oct. 11.
“At our current level, we’re the best team in the ‘cac, but we know it won’t be handed to us,” Adam Glaser ’17 said.
Tufts, who would move past Middlebury in the standings with a win, certainly did not hand it to the Panthers, jumping on them immediately with a couple of good scoring opportunities in the first ten minutes of play. Greg Sydor ’17 saved Jason Kayne’s attempt and shots by Nathan Majumder and Zach Halliday just missed putting the Jumbos ahead early on. Luis Echeverria ’17 almost scored a stunning goal when he struck a bicycle kick that sailed over the bar in the 23rd minute. For the most part, Tufts had better success generating offense in the first half, outshooting Middlebury 7-1, but at the halfway point, the game was still scoreless.
In the 53rd minute, Kayne fed Majumder who dribbled into the left side of the box and let fly a shot that got by Sydor.
With a little over 12 minutes left in the game, substitute Tyler Bonini ’16 got into the box and found just goalkeeper Scott Greenwood between him and a tie game, but the Jumbos keeper handled Bonini’s shot that would have knotted the game at one. Bonini’s shot was only one of three the Panthers had all game, and they lost 1-0 to the Jumbos who jumped Middlebury in the standings.
Middlebury returned to the pitch the next day in Wesleyan with a chance to return to second place with a win. However, Wesleyan rode a hot streak into Sunday, going 5-0-1 in its past six games after having squashed Colby 3-0 the day before.
Less than three minutes into the game, Sydor had to make a heroic save to keep the game tied, diving to his right to corral a point-blank look by Komar Martinez-Paiz. Greg Conrad ’17 fired shot after shot in the first half, including a whistler in the 17th minute that Cardinal goalkeeper Jack Katkavich had to go to his knees to stop, but he could not put one in and the score remained tied at zero at the end of the first half.
Wesleyan looked more inspired to start the second half, with five shots on Sydor in the first ten minutes, and took the 1-0 lead in the 53rd minute when Adam Cowie-Haskell headed in a free kick from Brandon Sousa.
16 minutes later, the Panthers answered right back when Daniel O’Grady ’19 drove home his third goal of the season from 18 yards out to bring the game right back to even. Conrad finally broke through with just over ten minutes left. Philip Skayne ’17 crossed the ball into the center and 6’5” Conrad headed the game-winning goal past Katkavich.
“The success of the Middlebury team comes from the resiliency that the players have. We kept pushing until our opportunity came,” O’Grady said. “Once it did, we continued to press and were rewarded with a win. Many teams would easily wilt under such pressure, but our fighting spirit kept us alive.”
The Panthers earned the come-from-behind 2-1 win, largely on the back of Sydor’s career high 12 saves.
“We refused to let it happen again,” Sydor said. “We had to prove to ourselves that we are capable of coming back from behind.
The Panthers’ dramatic win put them right back into a tie for second place in the NESCAC standings with Tufts and Conn. College. They will try to improve upon their 7-2-1 overall record this week in three home games against Trinity and Plymouth St. on Saturday, Oct. 17 and Tuesday, Oct. 20 respectively.
(10/07/15 11:50pm)
The Middlebury men’s soccer team consistently outplayed Colby at home on Saturday, Oct. 3 en route to a 3-0 win. Adam Glaser ’17 sparked the Panther offense, setting up his fifth goal of the season and scoring his sixth goal of the season. Because he is now co-leader of the NESCAC in both assists and goals scored, the NESCAC named Glaser Player of the Week for his consistently spectacular efforts against Hamilton last Tuesday, and Colby on Saturday.
Just over a minute in, Glaser collected a clearance off a corner kick and used his speed to push the ball down the left side with incredible pace. He bent a cross in front of the net that Daniel O’Grady ’19 headed into the back of the net for a quick 1-0 lead, and his second goal of the season. Things seemed a little random for the rest of the first half, and the Panthers took their one goal advantage into the halfway point.
Middlebury dominated the game during the second half, and inevitably found weak spots in the Colby defense. Glaser was aggressive all game, firing five of his seven shots on target. In the 63rd minute, Deklan Robinson’s ’16 long pass soared over Greg Conrad ’17 and the Colby defense to Glaser, who tapped the ball just to the left of the Colby goalkeeper.
“Our offense has been much sharper recently,” Glaser said. “I think our midfield is doing a great job of winning the ball in dangerous areas and finding us quickly. Our offense has been more deliberate lately, which allows us to get more numbers forward, and press the ball in better spots. Conrad has been playing incredibly well. He holds the ball up for us and allows our offense to build, and he also attracts so many players when he’s on the ball that he opens up a ton of space for us. If our offense and midfield can keep having fun but also make smart decisions, it will be very hard for teams to stop us.”
A little over 12 minutes later, the Panthers added one more for good measure on a corner kick. Glaser put the ball in the middle, Tom Dils ’17 got a head on it, and Robinson flicked the ball to Kirk Horton ’17, who settled and finished it.
Greg Sydor ’17 preserved the Panthers’ 3-0 shutout with an outstanding lunging save in the 83rd minute.
The statistics illustrate well how the Panthers controlled the game and why they won 3-0, as they outshot the Mules 23-5 and held the ball for the majority of the 90 minutes.
Middlebury improved its record to 6-1-1 overall and 3-1-1 in the NESCAC with the win, and shot to second place in the NESCAC standings — only behind undefeated Amherst, who gave the Panthers their sole blemish of the season.
With the win, the Panthers also recaptured the Michael P. Russell Memorial Cup, after falling to Colby last year. Russell was a captain of the Middlebury soccer team who passed away in 2011 at the age of 36. Russel’s siblings, who attended both Middlebury and Colby, set up the memorial cup.
Middlebury has a huge weekend coming up. They will travel to play defending national champion, Tufts, on Saturday, Oct. 10, and Wesleyan on Sunday, Oct. 11. These teams occupy fourth and fifth place in the NESCAC standings respectively, so there are obviously big implications in this back-to-back for the Panthers.
“We have a huge weekend away at Tufts and Wesleyan this weekend,” Glaser said. “Tufts is currently on a skid but is an excellent team. We are hitting form at just the right time, and if our defense can keep this level up, we have nothing to fear. At our current level, we’re the best team in the ‘cac, but we know it won’t be handed to us, and it will take a great effort to have a successful weekend away from home against two very good teams.”
(09/30/15 9:57pm)
The women’s golf team traveled south on I-91 last weekend, Sept. 26-27, to The Orchards Golf Club in South Hadley, Massachusetts for Mount Holyoke’s fall invitational. The Panthers finished third in the 14-team field and collectively shot 646, good for 70 over par, for the weekend. Williams won the tournament by shooting 605, only 29 over par, for the tournament.
Middlebury’s Saturday score of 319, their lowest round this season, allowed them to walk off the course Saturday evening in second place, two shots ahead of Amherst and four ahead of NYU. However, NYU had a terrific Sunday and cut 11 shots off of their Saturday score to shoot a 312 on Sunday and overtake Middlebury in second place. The Panthers round of 327 on Sunday, however, was good enough to finish five strokes ahead of Amherst.
Katharine Fortin ’18 was Middlebury’s low scorer for the tournament. She fired a 76 (four over par) on Saturday, putting her four shots off the lead going into the clubhouse Saturday evening and extending her streak to three straight rounds under 80. Fortin lost that streak on Sunday when she shot an 84,12 over par, but still grabbed her second top ten finish in as many weeks as she tied for tenth place.
New additions Helen Dailey ’19 and Lilia Everson ’19 also had productive weekends for the Panthers. Daily, Middlebury’s second-lowest scorer, posted rounds of 80 and 82, and finished 18 over par for the weekend. Everson finished the weekend 25 over par with a two-day total of 169, but showed significant improvement from Saturday to Sunday. After shooting a 90 on Saturday, she bounced back on Sunday, firing a 79 for the seventh best round of the day.
Hope Matthews ’18, usually the team’s number two, struggled this weekend. After shooting rounds of 82 and 79 at the Mount Holyoke Tournament last year, she shot an 85 on Saturday and an 82 on Sunday to finish the weekend 23 over par. Without the presence of the team’s only senior Monica Chow ’16 at the tournament, Theodora Yoch ’17 was the most senior player who took the course for the Panthers. The inconsistency that plagued Yoch last year reared its ugly face again as sat in eighth place after a 78 on Saturday only to shoot 10 strokes worse on Sunday for an 88. On Sunday Yoch could not keep the pace she set on Saturday, as she added 10 strokes to shoot an 88 and finish in 22nd place.
No team’s performance last weekend came close to that of Williams, which has won both of the tournaments Middlebury has participated in. Williams followed up their impressive round of 614 two weeks ago at the NYU Invitational with an astoundingly low score of 605 last weekend. Their success at the Mount Holyoke invite was punctuated by their second round score of 298. All five Ephs players finished in the top five on the individual leader board, led by Cordelia Chan who was four under on Sunday and just one over par for the tournament.
Next up for the women’s squad is the Middlebury Invitational at Ralph Myhre Golf Course this Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 2-3. After a weekend off, the men’s golf team is primed for NESCAC qualifiers at Williams Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 2-3, where they will begin their defense of the NESCAC title.
(09/30/15 9:51pm)
The Middlebury men’s soccer team fought Bowdoin to a draw on Saturday, Sept. 26 in Brunswick, Maine as neither the Panthers nor the Polar Bears could muster up a goal in 110 minutes of action. Then the Panther offense erupted in a big way at home against Hamilton on Tuesday, Sept. 29, scoring four unanswered goals en route to a 4-2 win.
Evenly matched from the start, Bowdoin had the first good scoring opportunity in the 10th minute when Connor Keefe blistered a shot off the left post and out of play. Center back Deklan Robinson ’16 provided Middlebury’s best opportunities in the first half, coming forward on corner kicks to just miss on headers.
Both Greg Conrad ’17 and Kirk Horton ’17 almost scored the decisive goal, but Bowdoin keeper Stevie Van Siclen was there and regulation ended in a scoreless tie. While Middlebury just could not put one past Van Siclen, Robinson, a team captain, believes the team is generating scoring opportunities.
“We just need to find a way to score a goal in close games like that,” Robinson said. “We have plenty of attacking talent and we’re dangerous on set pieces so the goals will come. We just need to capitalize on our chances.”
Greg Sydor ’17 continued his sensational play between the posts for the Panthers, making a save in each overtime period. After regulation and two 10 minute overtime periods, the hotly-contested battle ended in a scoreless draw. Sydor and the Panthers recorded their fifth shutout in six games and have only conceded one goal all year.
“I think we’re a big, physical team and we defend well in all areas of the field, not just in the back,” Robinson said. “We’ve made that a point of emphasis this year and it’s something that we take a lot of pride in as a team.”
It was a different story in the scoring department for the Panthers on Tuesday when they played host to Hamilton. In the midst of a steady rainfall, the game opened as a wide open affair with neither team showing the ability to control the ball and move it forward effectively. In the 13th minute, the Continentals mounted a quick counter attack that led to the first goal of the game.
The Panthers did not lose their composure though and began to control the game with patience on the ball, probing the Hamilton defense and pressing deep in Hamilton’s half. That pressure paid off twice in the first half when Glaser and Tom Bean ’17 both scored on beautiful volleys to give Middlebury a 2-1 lead going into halftime
The Panthers added two more goals in the second half when Daniel O’Grady ’19 set Conrad up and Robinson fired in a penalty kick to build a comfortable 4-1 lead. Hamilton got one back when Alec Talsania’s shot from 18 yards out slipped through Sydor’s hands and just barely cleared the goalline. Despite Sydor’s uncharacteristic miscue, Middlebury controlled the game and easily held on to win 4-2.
The Panthers move into a tie for fourth place in the NESCAC standings with a 2-1-1 record (5-1-1 overall), and have a chance to move up when they host Colby on Saturday, Sept. 3.
(09/24/15 12:53am)
Despite a strong effort by the ladies of Middlebury volleyball in their first home game of the season, an efficient Bowdoin squad ultimately proved too much this past Friday as the Polar Bears wore down the Panthers over four sets (25-21, 25-22, 23-25, 25-18).
In a match that saw almost too many lead changes to count, Middlebury proved itself capable of competing against quality NESCAC competition, but untimely errors seemed to derail the squad’s momentum late in sets when they found themselves neck-and-neck with a Bowdoin team that more than doubled them in hitting percentage (.210 to .099).
Coach Sarah Raunecker felt that her Panthers gave Bowdoin too much freedom to dictate the flow of the game, “even though the set scores were close, we seemed to be playing catch-up most of the time,” Raunecker said. “They’d get ahead by a few points, and then we’d tie it up, only to go down a couple points again. I felt like they were controlling the action more than we were, and we’d like to change that.”
In the first set, neither side led by more than three points until the very end. The lead was traded back and forth until the teams finding themselves knotted at 19-19, the Polar Bears took control late and separated themselves to the tune of a 6-2 closing run. The second set went similarly, but with the score tied at 17, the Panthers failed once again and fell behind 2-0 in sets.
However, Middlebury showed some mettle with a hard-fought win in the third set. Strong play from Melanie English ’17 and Eliana Schaefer ’18 helped keep the Panthers within striking distance. After capitalizing on a pair of Bowdoin mistakes to take a 23-21 lead, Middlebury went on to dispatch the Polar Bears with kills from Becca Raffel ’18 and Isabel Sessions ’19.
The Panthers found themselves once again playing from behind in the fourth set. Although they managed to overcome an early deficit to tie things up at 17-17, Bowdoin wasted no time in racing to a 25-18 victory to finish the match.
Outside hitter Alice Roberts ’18, who suffered an unlucky sprained ankle during Friday’s warm-ups, noted from the sidelines that the squad had room for improvement.
“We’re definitely still trying to find our chemistry … It’s very early in the season,” Roberts said. “We sort of had some, well, I don’t want to say easier competition early on, but this was the second game where we were really challenged, which we have to be expecting for the rest of NESCAC.”
Other notable contributors to Friday’s match were Captain Hannah Blackburn ’17, who set up 32 assists and led Middlebury with 9 digs, and Emily Kolodka ’18, who chipped in with 8 digs. Raffel paced the team with 11 kills and English contributed in a big way on defense with 8 blocks.
Middlebury straightened things out to take care of business in Saturday’s Tri-Match against Cortland St. (25-18, 25-16, 22-25, 22-25, 15-13) and Colby-Sawyer (25-10, 25-17, 25-14). Although the opposition wasn’t quite as strong as Friday’s, Raunecker was nevertheless pleased with her team’s adjustments.
“On Saturday, I think our serve receive was a little better, and our hitters were trying to make more shots and see the court … in addition to the teams not being as good as Bowdoin.”
As the season rolls on with games at Hamilton on Friday, Sept. 25 and the Skidmore classic on Saturday, Sept. 26, Raunecker had good things to say about the team’s future.
“I’m very optimistic and excited about this team moving forward,” she said. “I think we have a lot of growth potential, and as we get used to switching things up and getting comfortable with those changes, that will make us a stronger team. We’ll also continue to work on our mental toughness knowing that many matches will come down to the wire and be decided by only a couple of points, so being able to perform in the heat of the moment with confidence and composure will be a key for our success in NESCAC.”
(09/24/15 12:38am)
The Middlebury men’s soccer team suffered a tough 1-0 loss at the hands of Amherst last weekend.
After breezing through a 10-0 victory against Green Mountain College last Tuesday, Sept. 15, the Panthers geared up to play their conference foe on Saturday, Sept. 19. Greg Conrad ’17, one of the team’s captains, believed that Tuesday’s victory was beneficial for his squad.
“There’s a takeaway from every game you play in,” Conrad said. “Regardless of whether you are the better side or not, it’s still the team’s responsibility to come into the game focused for a full 90 minutes. After reaching a comfortable lead, our objective then became a matter of keeping possession and pushing our speed of play.”
That mentality is necessary for a championship team, and Conrad, as one of the team’s leaders, recognizes that the Panthers can always get better as they try to achieve their potential as a contender for the NESCAC crown and beyond.
Entering the showdown at Amherst — ranked 10th nationally by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America — the Panthers had a chance to prove themselves. Both teams brought a 3-0 record to the matchup and neither team had yet to concede a goal in the 2015 season, so both offenses faced quite a challenge.
Amherst opened the game with the ball and quickly moved into the Middlebury half. The ball found its way to the head of Andrew Orozco on the left side of the box who sent it into the middle. Near the six-yard line, Christopher Martin headed the ball past Greg Sydor ’17 to give Amherst the lead just 27 seconds in.
After that point, the game became what it was expected to be: a dogfight. While Amherst outshot Middlebury 10-2 in the first half, both teams fired eight shots in the second half. With under 20 minutes left in the game, Sydor stepped up with two key saves on clear attempts at the goal, keeping the Panthers within striking range. Just minutes later, Adam Glaser ’17 controlled a cross around the six-yard line and shot. Amherst goalkeeper Thomas Bull denied the attempt and the ball rebounded into a scrum directly in front of the net, but the Lord Jeffs cleared the ball to keep their 1-0 lead intact. It would stay that way as the Panthers just couldn’t get one by Bull. In its tougher contests, the Middlebury offense has struggled to score, and Conrad and his teammates know that.
“In terms of the Amherst game, we definitely had our moments, but failed to convert,” Conrad said, “There has been a significant improvement in the quality of chances we have had and the overall buildup going forward over the past couple games, but we are still working on finding more creative ways to be dangerous in the final third.”
The offense certainly looked good, albeit against weaker competition in Colby-Sawyer, on Tuesday, Sept. 22 as the Panthers put up five goals in the first half of what was 6-0 romp. Controlling the game from the opening whistle, Glaser started the scoring for Middlebury in the 13th minute, finishing over the charging goalkeeper off the assist from Conrad and Daniel O’Grady ’19. The Panthers added three more goals in the next ten minutes as O’Grady scored his first career goal, Deklan Robinson ’16 headed one in, and Glaser notched his second of the afternoon and fourth of the season to continue his monstrous afternoon. In the 38th minute, Robinson, one of the team’s center backs, struck aerially again with his second header goal of the afternoon to give Middlebury a 5-0 lead heading into halftime.
With a continued emphasis on creating offense, Conrad powered one past the Colby-Sawyer netminder off a pretty setup by Philip Skayne ’17 four minutes into the second half as the Panthers cruised to a 6-0 win.
With the loss, Middlebury falls to 1-1 and a tie for fifth in the NESCAC. They return to the pitch on Saturday, Sept. 27 at Bowdoin and host Hamilton on Tuesday, Sept. 29.
(09/18/15 12:37am)
The Middlebury men’s soccer team opened its season with two 1-0 wins over Norwich and Connecticut College, giving the team its first 2-0 start since the 2010 season.
On Wednesday, Sept. 9, the Panthers traveled to Northfield, VT to face off with Norwich in their season opener. Just 3:58 seconds into the game, Tyler Bonini ’16 received a pass from Adam Glaser ’17 in front, and dealt with it nicely to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead. After playing in just six games last year, Bonini earned his start in the midfield with this second career goal.
Bonini’s goal would prove to be enough for Middlebury, as neither team would be able to score for the rest of the match. Glaser almost scored one for himself in the 16th minute, but Norwich goalkeeper Stefan Skoff made an excellent save to keep the slicing shot out, and Bonini sent the rebound over the bar to end Middlebury’s attack.
The Panthers held the ball for most of the first half, gaining a 16-3 shot advantage, but that changed in the second half as Norwich fought to tie the game. With just over 29 minutes to go, Norwich’s Colin Lozito missed wide from the top of the 18 in what might have been the team’s best chance at equalizing the score. Middlebury secured the 1-0 win, without conceding a shot, earning Greg Sydor ’17 his ninth clean sheet in just 18 games played between the posts for Middlebury.
In Middlebury’s home opener against Connecticut College last Saturday, Sept. 12, the Panthers — missing their group of seven first-years — struck early once again. In the third minute, Tom Bean ’17 pushed a header past Camel goalkeeper, Austin DaCuhna, into the top-right corner for a 1-0 lead. Tim Ogle ’17 set up the goal with one of his patented long throws, lofting the ball in from the right to find Bean’s head.
“[This] is the one area in soccer where real structure and repetition of practice can sometimes yield success,” Head Coach Dave Saward said. “We have good physical size and we have a player in Tim Ogle who has a long throw, which is a very dangerous weapon.”
Just seven minutes later, Middlebury almost doubled the lead with another header, this time by Philip Skayne ’17, but DaCuhna redirected it just above the crossbar. At the 12 minute mark, the Camels set up for a free kick from 25 yards after a Panther foul, and Colin Patch curled a shot, which was denied by Sydor. The rebound bounced to Conn. College’s Pat Devlin, whose shot was also denied by Sydor to end the Camel’s opportunity.
There weren’t many scoring chances for either side until Conn. College ramped up the pressure in the final minutes in a last ditch, desperate effort to get a goal. Devlin struck again only to be sent away by Sydor as he guided Devlin’s 15-yard shot from over the bar, clinching Middlebury’s second 1-0 win.
Praising the Panthers’ defensive efforts, Saward commented that “Rodlauer, Robinson, Weiner and Horton worked very hard all afternoon.”
The Panthers will take their 2-0 record into this Saturday, Sept. 19’s away match against Amherst, a game that could have major implications at the top of the NESCAC standings.
(05/06/15 12:40pm)
The Middlebury baseball team capped off this season with a 1-5 week, slugging its way past Skidmore before falling to Plymouth State and twice each to Bowdoin and Tufts. The Panthers end the season with a 4-24 overall record and a 1-11 mark in the NESCAC to finish last in the conference for the second straight year.
After a tightly contested ballgame for eight innings at Skidmore on Tuesday, April 28, Middlebury emphatically put the host away with a 10-run ninth to seal a 14-4 victory.
Down 1-0 heading into the top of the sixth inning, the Panthers put up three runs on four hits to take their first lead of the contest. Entering the ninth up 4-3, Middlebury sought to give their bullpen a little insurance. They did just that by stringing together eleven hits — including back-to-back home runs by first-years Raj Palekar ’18 and Drew Coash ’18 — to score ten runs, and eventually secure a 14-4 win.
Starting on the hill for the Panthers against Skidmore, Eric Truss ’15 tossed an excellent game, allowing two runs — neither earned — on five hits and no walks over six innings, while the offense tallied twenty hits in his support.
If only Middlebury had saved a little bit of that offensive firepower for the rest of the week. On Wednesday, April 29, the Panthers couldn’t overcome an early 7-3 hole to ultimately lose 8-4 to Plymouth St. in the seniors’ final home contest.
The Panthers went ahead 3-1 early behind consecutive singles from John Luke ’16 and Max Araya ’16 in the bottom of the first. Plymouth stormed back with six runs of their own as the Panthers couldn’t stop getting in the way of themselves, committing two costly errors. With a five-run deficit heading into the bottom of the ninth, Middlebury only managed one run and fell in its last game at Forbes of the season 8-4.
The Panthers traveled to Brunswick, Maine on Saturday, May 2 for a doubleheader with NESCAC East foe Bowdoin. The Panthers fell behind early as starting pitcher Robert Erickson ’18 surrendered three runs in the first frame.
Neither team could plate any runs in the next five innings as Erickson settled down nicely to toss his first career complete game. Middlebury entered the seventh with one last chance to extend the game. Rizzo doubled and scored on a wild pitch, and Dylan Sinnickson ’15 made it a one run game with his blast over the fence, but their efforts weren’t enough as Jason Lock ’17 grounded out to end the ferocious comeback attempt at 3-2.
In the second game of the doubleheader, Middlebury never led and lost 8-2, not scoring until the last inning. Starting pitcher Tucker Meredith ’17, returning from injury, got roughed up in his two innings on the hill as the Panthers fell behind 4-0. The deficit grew to eight after six, and once again it was too little too late for the Middlebury bats, putting up two when it needed eight in its last chance at the plate. Sinnickson keyed the Panther offense again with two hits and one RBI.
Middlebury was at Tufts on Sunday, May 3 for another NESCAC East doubleheader and its last two games of the season. The first game of two ended in heartbreak when the Jumbos walked off in the seventh on a single. Down 1-0 entering the fourth, Joe MacDonald ’16 knocked in the first Panther run of the day with a sacrifice fly. Then the Panthers took the lead in the fifth on an Araya double.
Up 2-1 with two outs and no one on base in the bottom of the seventh, Truss was one out away from recording a win in his final game on the mound in a Middlebury uniform when disaster struck. Two singles and an intentional walk set the stage for Matt Moser who knocked in the game-winning run for a 3-2 Tufts win by controversially beating out a groundball to the left side.
The Panthers jumped on the Jumbos early in the second game of the day behind a Palekar double to take a 1-0 lead after one. Tufts controlled the game after that point, scoring eight unanswered runs off starting pitcher Cooper Byrne ’15 — in his last game as a Panther. Middlebury added one more in the seventh on a Sinnickson sacrifice fly, but it wasn’t nearly enough as they fell 8-2 in their final game of the year.
With a final record of 4-24, the Panthers end 2015 with their eighth consecutive losing record. The 24 losses match last year’s team for the most in the program’s history, and the team’s winning percentage of .142 is the worst since the 1967 Panthers went 0-10.
It was another tough season for the Panthers, but Coach Bob Smith and his team have the potential to improve upon this season with 22 of their 27 players returning next year, including a number of key cogs in the lineup and the pitching staff. With a solid year’s development from some of these talented young players — and a bit of luck — 2016 could be the year that the Panthers turn the corner and make noise in the NESCAC.
(04/29/15 6:37pm)
The Middlebury baseball team won twice and lost twice last week , defeating St. Michael’s and St. Joseph 7-2 and 4-2 respectively before falling to Trinity in a doubleheader 4-2 and 8-0 on Saturday, April 25. The 2-2 record on the week brings the Panthers to 3-19 on the season.
In the first home game of the week on Tuesday, April 21, Middlebury fell behind to St. Michael’s 1-0 in the first inning, but erupted for a seven run second inning on five hits and three Purple Knight errors that would prove to be more than enough to earn the win.
After falling behind 1-0 in the first, Joe MacDonald ’16 led off the second with a double to centerfield. A St. Mike’s error put runners on first and third, and Raj Palekar ’18 did his job to tie the game with a sacrifice fly. Brendan Donohue ’18 drove in another run on a single to center, and two more defensive miscues gave the Panthers a three run lead. Dylan Sinnickson ’15 kept the inning going by continuing to do what he has done all year by driving in two more on a double into the left center gap. MacDonald made it a 7-1 game in his second at bat of the inning with an RBI single down the left field line.
With a six run cushion, Truss seemed to settle into a groove, shutting down St. Mike’s over his final five innings to amass an impressive stat line of six innings, six hits, one run, no walks, and four strikeouts. Cooper Byrne ’15 took over in the seventh and enjoyed similar success. Byrne shut the door to preserve the 7-2 win and record his first save of the year.
Dylan Takamori ’17 took the hill at home against St. Joseph on Thursday, April 23. Takamori answered his coach’s call with his most complete pitching effort of the season to earn his first win of the season.
Once again, the Panthers fell behind 1-0, but they were not easily discouraged and came right back in the bottom of the second with three runs of their own. Sticking with trends, MacDonald sparked the rally for the second straight game with a leadoff single. Jason Lock ’17 and Palekar followed up with singles of their own to tie the game at one, and Johnny Read ’17 knocked in another on a groundout to the shortstop. Donohue added on with a single of his own to make it a 3-1 in favor of Middlebury after two.
The Fighting Saints cut the lead to one in the fourth with a double in the right center gap followed by a single to center. Takamori exited after surrendering two runs on five hits while striking out four. Smith smartly employed his bullpen over the last four innings.
“I love coming in and giving everything I have for 1-3 innings,” Byrne said, “it has made me a much more aggressive and confident pitcher.”
Tucker Meredith ’17, Eddie DeArias ’15 and Byrne shut the Saints out over the last four innings. Byrne earned his second save in as many games after Sinnickson provided him some insurance with an RBI double in the eighth as Middlebury won its second in a row, 4-2.
The Panthers were not able to replicate their success as they reentered NESCAC play at NESCAC East foe Trinity as their bats failed them in both games on Saturday, April 25.
In the first game, Middlebury reverse roles, striking immediately with two runs in the top of the first. Sinnickson and Max Araya ’16 led off with back-to-back walks and John Luke ’16 plated them with a double. The Middlebury boat started to flood in the fourth when Adam Moossmann smacked a home run to give Trinity a 3-2 lead. The Bantams tacked on an insurance run in the sixth, and Middlebury couldn’t muster any more runs after the first to suffer a 4-2 defeat.
It was much of the same in the second game of the day as Trinity outmatched the Panthers in every facet of the game on the way to an 8-0 win. The Bantams tallied four in the bottom of the second, three more in the fourth and one in the fifth. Defensive miscues continued to cost Smith’s squad as four of Trinity’s runs were unearned.
With their final six games coming in a six-day span this week, the Panthers hope to end their season on a good note as three wins will mark an improvement upon last year’s record of 5-24.
(04/22/15 1:54pm)
The Middlebury baseball team couldn’t slow down a streaking Wesleyan team, which has won 11 of its last 12 contests, and was swept 8-5, 4-2, and 18-1 on April 17-18. The three home losses bring the Panthers to 1-17 overall and 1-11 in the NESCAC as the NESCAC West division slate comes to an end.
Entering the weekend, Wesleyan had given up the fewest runs in the conference so far this season — just over three runs per game — and was one of only two undefeated teams remaining in NESCAC play. In other words, it didn’t look promising for Coach Bob Smith and his team that entered with a 1-14 record.
Robert Erickson ’18 took the hill for the Panthers in the opening game of the series on Friday, and found himself in trouble from the get-go. With two outs and the bases loaded, a Cardinal single through the left side of the infield scored two. A solo home run the next inning, in combination with Middlebury’s failure to record a hit in the first two frames, gave the Cardinals a 3-0 lead after two.
“Scoring in the first inning, or just scoring before the other team, gives you a huge advantage,” Captain Joe MacDonald ’16 said. “It puts pressure on the other offense to come back, it forces the opposing pitchers to be a little more fine around the strike zone while also trying to avoid walks, and it allows our pitchers to throw with confidence to contact and let our fielders make plays.”
After both pitchers posted goose eggs over the next two innings, Wesleyan struck again with a double followed by a single to extend their lead to four. Middlebury answered with an identical sequence in the bottom half of the fifth as Raj Palekar ’18 stroked a double to left center and Johnny Read ’17 knocked him in on a single up the middle, scoring the first run for the Panthers.
In the top of the seventh, Eddie DeArias ’15 came on in relief of Erickson who surrendered four runs over six innings, giving his team a chance to win the ballgame. DeArias had similar problems as Erickson, allowing the first two batters he faced to reach base before conceding a two-run single. Down 6-1 after six and a half innings, the Panthers threatened to make it a game by loading the bases to start the bottom of the seventh. With one out, Read singled in another run bringing the Panthers within four, but they failed to come any closer, missing a huge opportunity and stranding three runners. They also left two runners on base in the eighth after MacDonald hit a sacrifice fly to make it a 6-3 game.
Wesleyan added two insurance runs in the top of the ninth, and Middlebury’s Andrew Corcoran ’18 responded with a two-run blast over the fence in left center to make it interesting. But it wouldn’t get any closer than that, and Wesleyan took the first game of three 8-5.
The first half of the doubleheader on Saturday, only a seven-inning game by NESCAC West rules, turned out to be another close game until the final out. Middlebury fell behind 1-0 early again on a single right back up the middle off Middlebury starting pitcher Eric Truss ’15 in the top of the first. Defensive miscues cost both teams in the second as both teams conceded one run on errors.
Neither team could muster any offense the next three innings as both pitchers seemed to settle into a rhythm. The Panther defense made amends for the error in the second by snuffing out a squeeze play to cut down a Wesleyan runner at the plate, and with centerfielder Dylan Sinnickson ’15 using his outstanding athleticism to make a diving catch on a sinking line drive.
In the top of the sixth, Wesleyan loaded the bases to start the inning and then efficiently scored two on consecutive sacrifice flies. After a Ryan Rizzo ’17 single down the right field line in the bottom half of the inning, Sinnickson crushed a double to score Rizzo and make it a 4-2 game. Unfortunately, MacDonald’s theory proved true when Middlebury couldn’t scratch out any more runs in its last chance at the plate, giving Wesleyan a 4-2 win.
“When you’re down five runs or so in the last inning, you can grind and fight as hard as you want, but you can also hit three line drives that get caught and you’re going to come up short,” MacDonald said.
After giving the Cardinals all they could handle in the first two games of the series, it seemed like the Panthers had nothing left in the tank for the second game of the doubleheader on Saturday as it was all Wesleyan. The onslaught began in the top of the second when MacDonald, who started on the mound, walked in a run then conceded a two run single to left. A two-run home run the following inning made it 5-0 after through three innings.
The game continued to slip away in the fifth when another two-run homer and an RBI double stretched the lead to eight. The Cardinals hit four home runs in the contest to power their offense, while starting pitcher Sam Elias tossed a gem, spinning seven masterful innings of shutout ball.
Down 18-0 going into the bottom of the ninth, the Panthers tried to rally and ended the shutout. Alex Deutsch ’18 and Sinnickson led off with back-to-back singles then Drew Coash ’18 singled in Middlebury’s lone run in the contest.
Middlebury will be at home again on Thursday Apr. 23 against St. Joseph before traveling to Hartford, Conn. to face off against Trinity in a NESCAC doubleheader on Saturday, Apr. 25.
(04/15/15 3:59pm)
The Middlebury baseball team finally got off the schneid this weekend, defeating Hamilton 11-5 on Saturday, April 11 before losing the final two games of its home-opening series, 10-8 and 5-1.
In the Panthers’ home opener on Saturday, Eric Truss ’15 took the mound for Middlebury. Both teams went down in order in the first frame, but Hamilton threatened in the top half of the second before Truss was able to get out of the jam unscathed.
Middlebury’s bats exploded in the bottom half of the second to take a 5-0 lead. Back to back singles and a hit batter loaded the bases for John Luke ’16, who smacked a single off the pitcher’s leg and into left field for two runs. A wild pitch scored Ryan Rizzo ’17, and Brendan Donohue ’18 added an exclamation point with a two-run double to right center to make the score 5-0 at the end of two.
The Panthers kept getting runners on base in the third as Jason Lock ’17 led off with a walk, Raj Palekar ’18 singled and Rizzo walked to load the bases. Luke knocked in another run and Johnny Read ’17 and Donohue both singled in runs. A double from Max Araya ’16, induced a Hamilton pitching change, and Dylan Sinnickson ’15, in his first game back from a hamstring injury, kept the pressure on, reaching first base on an error and scoring Araya for an 11-0 lead.Truss was dominant for much of the afternoon, allowing only three hits through six innings.
“I was able to locate my fastball and attack hitters in good areas,” Truss said. “I try to let hitters get themselves out and I’m fortunate enough to have a great defense out there to make all the plays behind me.”
Hamilton threatened to make a comeback in the top of the seventh, stringing six hits together to cut the lead to 11-5. With two outs and a runner on first, second baseman Donahue made a spectacular diving play to secure Middlebury’s first win of the season.
Araya and Donohue both had two base knocks while designated hitter Luke did his job driving in three runs to lead a well-balanced offensive effort. For most of the season, Middlebury’s hitting has done its job, and today Truss and the defense stepped up to the mound and field to give the team its first win.
“This was the first time we put it all together at the plate, in the field, and on the mound on the same day, and it was encouraging to show everybody what we’re capable of,” Truss said.
In the second game of the day, Cooper Byrne ’15 took the hill for the Panthers and conceded one run in the top half of the first. In the bottom of the second, Middlebury tied the game at one on a Hamilton miscue in the field after consecutive one-out singles by Rizzo and Joe MacDonald ’16.
Whether it was a matter of fatigue or something else, Byrne seemed to lose it in the third inning. He walked two batters, hit another and gave up four hits, including a two-run double that gave the Continentals a 7-1 lead.
Robert Erickson ’18 relieved Byrne in the fourth, and gave Coach Bob Smith five solid innings, conceding three runs while retiring five Hamilton hitters on strikes.
Down 10-1 with 2 outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, three Panthers walked to load the bases for MacDonald who ripped a base-clearing double down the left field line to make it a 10-4 game.
After Dylan Takamori ’17 retired the Continentals in order in the top half of the ninth, the Panthers loaded the bases again, this time with no outs. RBIs from Lock and Palekar cut the deficit to four. After a strikeout, Middlebury was down to its last out when Sinnickson hit a pinch-hit single to score two more and the score was 10-8. A Luke walk brought the winning run to the plate, but it wasn’t to be as Read grounded into a fielder’s choice, giving Hamilton the 10-8 victory in the second game of the series.
In their third game in two days and the rubber match between these NESCAC foes, the Panther bats did not have much pop against Hamilton’s Alex Pachella.
Pachella was the story of the game. After giving up two hits in the first two frames, he retired 16 in a row, and held a shutout going into the ninth. An Andrew Corcoran ’18 single scoring Lock ended Pachella’s shutout bid, but it wasn’t nearly enough as Hamilton took the game 5-1 and the series.
MacDonald was solid on the mound, scattering four runs over 7.1 innings, and Araya had another good day at the dish, leading the Panthers with two hits.
The team will play, weather permitting, Wesleyan at home this Friday and Saturday, April 17-18 in a three-game series.
(04/08/15 10:55pm)
The Middlebury baseball team’s struggles continued again this weekend as Amherst swept the Panthers in a three game series on Friday, April 3 and Saturday, April 4 by scores of 22-2, 18-2 and 20-10. The three losses in Auburn, Mass. brought Middlebury’s record to 0-12 on the season and 0-6 in the NESCAC at this early juncture in the season.
Over spring break, the Panthers began their season in Tucson, Ariz., but lost all nine games and verified their lack of experience — only 16 of the 27 players on the roster return from last year — by losing three straight games in walk-off fashion in what Coach Bob Smith describes as “the lack of ability where someone steps up and stops the bleeding.”
After this poor start to the season, it wasn’t going to get any easier for Middlebury against Amherst on Friday, especially with 2013 All-NESCAC second teamer Dylan Sinnickson ’15 out with a strained hamstring. Without Sinnickson, who has done it all for the Panthers by batting for a .484 average, slugging .1000 and even stealing two bases, it was clear the Panthers would have trouble keeping pace with the Lord Jeffs from the get-go.
After Middlebury went three up, three down in the top half of the first inning, senior captain Eric Truss ’15 took the hill, and hit the first batter he faced, epitomizing the team’s pitching woes that would hamper them all weekend. Amherst strung together three consecutive singles following the hit by pitch to take a 2-0 after the first frame.
It didn’t get any better for the Panthers after that, and after three innings the Lord Jeffs were leading 10-0. In the top of the fourth, first baseman Jason Lock ’17 led off with a single and second baseman Raj Palekar ’18 knocked him in with a single of his own to get the Panthers on the board. Shortstop Johnny Read ’17 singled in another run, but Middlebury stranded runners on second and third, missing a big opportunity to cut into the lead.
The game continued to get out of hand for the Panthers as Amherst scored in every inning to win the game 22-2. Middlebury committed eight errors and left 11 runners on base in the contest, although they did notch ten hits, led by centerfielder Ryan Rizzo ’17 with three, and were able to put the ball in play with only seven strikeouts.
The Panthers played two more against the Lord Jeffs on Saturday, with Cooper Byrne ’15 starting on the mound in the first game of the day. The team loaded the bases in the first, only to strand all three runners, and Amherst jumped out to a 5-0 lead in its first chance at the plate. Much like last game, the Panthers committed four costly errors in the field and left 10 runners on base, too many to be successful. After two innings, Amherst led 12-2, and after nine, the Lord Jeffs came away with an 18-2 victory.
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Panthers began to show some fight against the Lord Jeffs. After falling behind 4-0, Joe MacDonald ’16 led off the top of the fifth with a double, and ended up scoring on a wild pitch. Rizzo singled in another run to bring Middlebury within two after four and a half innings. Amherst tallied five runs in the bottom half of the inning, but the Panthers responded with four of their own. The Amherst bats eventually proved too much to handle for the Panther pitching staff, sealing a 20-10 win.
(02/19/15 12:37am)
The Middlebury men’s basketball team finished its season this weekend by splitting its two home games and failing to qualify for the NESCAC championships. On Friday, Feb. 13, the Panthers fell to Trinity 90-85 before defeating Amherst 82-69 on Sunday, Feb. 15.
Entering the weekend, the Panthers stood at 3-5 in the NESCAC, good for an eighth-place (the final spot in the playoff bracket) tie with Wesleyan — although Middlebury held the tiebreaker thanks to the Panthers’ 97-60 dismantling of the Cardinals earlier this year.
After getting significantly outplayed by Trinity in the first half and much of the second half on its home court, the Panthers frenziedly rallied to come within four points (conceivably a one-possession game), before eventually suffering a heartbreaking loss that would ultimately eliminate the Panthers from postseason play.
Middlebury took an early 8-4 lead, but Trinity quickly grabbed the driver’s wheel with several first half spurts to take a 39-24 advantage at the halfway point. The Bantams had their way on the offensive end, making more than half of their shots, including several dunks and a 6-9 mark from beyond the arc, while the Panthers crawled to a lowly 31 percent mark from the field.
Trinity came out with that same high level of play to begin the second half, scoring the first seven points of the half to build its largest lead of the game, 46-24, at the 17:52 mark. Over the next 13 minutes, Middlebury slowly chipped away, but the Bantams still held a significant 74-59 advantage with 4:30 remaining.
Matt St. Amour ’17 took over momentarily and scored 10 of his team’s next 11 points as the Panthers pulled within 10 with just over two minutes left. Hoping to extend the game, the Panthers started fouling if they failed to force a turnover quickly with their frantic defense, and a combination of Trinity turnovers and missed free throws gave the Panthers the opportunity to shrink the lead to only four, 87-83, on a Dylan Sinnickson ’15 tip-in with 26 seconds left.
The Panthers could not get any closer as Trinity’s Jaquann Starks knocked down one of two free throws, and Sinnickson missed a three to give the Bantams a 90-85 win.
Trinity played impressive defense on the Panthers all night, only allowing Middlebury to shoot 23-62 (37.1 percent) from the field and 7-22 (31.8 percent) from deep.
St. Amour scored all of his game-high 20 points in the second half, converting all eight of his foul shots and leading the Middlebury comeback. Hunter Merryman ’15 added 16 points, while Matt Daley ’16 tallied 13 points and 11 rebounds for his third double-double in the last six games. Jake Brown ’17 scored 11 points while assisting on seven other baskets and committing only one turnover.
After Wesleyan won on Friday and Saturday, the Panthers were mathematically eliminated, meaning the Amherst game on Sunday had no impact on the Panthers’ chances of making the postseason. However, intrigue remained as the result would be the difference for Amherst between the second and fifth seeds in the tournament and for Middlebury it was Senior Day for five Panthers (Sinnickson, Merryman, captain Dean Brierley ’15, Chris Churchill ’15 and Eamon Cuddy ’15), and they went out on a good note, defeating Amherst 82-69 and snapping the Lord Jeffs’ six-game winning streak.
Starting the four seniors who had never before beaten Amherst, the amped-up Panthers jumped out to an early 13-8 lead as all four seniors found the bottom of the net. The Lord Jeffs answered with a 7-0 run to take the lead, but that would last for all of eight seconds before the Panthers exploded to outscore them 20-7 over the next 5:30 and build a 33-22 lead. When the first half ended, Middlebury held a 41-34 lead behind a balanced offensive effort — all 10 Panthers who saw action scored.
For much of the second half, neither team made much headway in either direction as the Panthers still held a 67-61 lead with just under six minutes left in the game. That changed as the Panthers went on a decisive 9-0 run over the next three minutes to put the game out of reach. When the buzzer sounded on the game and the Panthers’ season, the scoreboard showed 82-69 in favor of Middlebury.
Merryman led the Panthers in scoring with 24, while St. Amour and Daley chipped in 18 and 14 respectively off the bench.
Sinnickson, a two-year starter and inarguably Middlebury’s most valuable player this year, reflected emotionally on his final season in the blue and white and his playing career as a whole.
“It’s great to end on a win,” Sinnickson said. “It was a bright spot in a tough season. It’s tough to leave Pepin Gymnasium. So many great memories. Thanks to all the fans and good luck to my teammates next season and the future of Middlebury basketball.”
(01/21/15 3:09pm)
Middlebury (13-2, 2-2) has now rattled off four straight wins, including two in-conference over Wesleyan and Conn. College.
For much of the first half on the road at Castleton St. on Tuesday, Jan. 13, neither team could distinguish itself from the other as the Panthers jumped out to an early lead before the Spartans responded with a 7-0 run to take a 14-12 lead.
Middlebury slowly began to extend its lead behind a balanced scoring effort. By the end of the first half, Middlebury had established a 46-38 lead. Connor Huff ’16 tallied 11 points while grabbing five offensive rebounds, and Matt St. Amour ’17 added 10 points while assisting on five baskets.
The Panthers announced themselves as the better team on that night with a 13-0 run over a span of two minutes early in the second half capped by a dunk and three-pointer from Dylan Sinnickson ’15 to give them a 61-41 lead. When time expired, the Panthers secured a 94-56 victory, outscoring the Spartans 48-18 in the second half.
The Spartans only recorded three made baskets in the second half, shooting a dreadful 10.7 percent from the field. Middlebury scored 26 second chance points, and assisted on 26 of its 32 baskets.
“We are best when we are in transition and that has been the main focus of our team,” St. Amour said.
Huff scored a career-high 20 points to lead the Panthers, while Sinnickson scored 17 points and just missed out on another double-double with nine rebounds.
In the first nine minutes against Wesleyan on Friday, Jan. 16, there was no indication the Panthers would run away with the contest as they trailed 14-13 at the 11:22 mark. Beginning with a transition dunk by Matt Daley ’16, the Panthers went on an 11-0 run to take a 10-point lead and force Wesleyan to take a timeout. The Panthers closed out the half with a decisive 27-10 run, including a 35-footer at the buzzer for St. Amour, giving them a 51-24 lead heading into the break.
With Middlebury on pace for more than one hundred points at the halfway point, guards St. Amour (12 points) and Jake Brown ’17 (11 assists) keyed the Panther offense, while the team’s defense forced more turnovers (10) than the field goals it allowed (eight).
A 25-10 Middlebury run to begin the second half squashed Wesleyan’s hopes of a comeback and gave the Panthers a 76-34 lead. Middlebury went on to secure their second lopsided victory of the week, 97-60.
St. Amour led the team in scoring with 20, Sinnickson added 19 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double and Jake Brown tallied 14 assists for a new career high.
Middlebury returned to the court on Sunday to play 7-7 Conn. College. From the opening tip, it was clear that the Panthers were not going to score more than 90 points for the third straight game. The team opened the game making only one shot of its first nine and quickly fell behind 9-2, culminating in a team timeout by Coach Brown. His team responded with a 7-0 run sparked by a Hunter Merryman ’15 three to tie the game. The game see-sawed to a 22-21 Conn. College lead, before Merryman was fouled shooting another three and sank three free throws to give his team a two point lead and ignite another 9-0 Panther run. At the end of the first half, the Panthers held a 32-25 lead.
Leading by six with 7:45 left on the clock, the Panthers went on another one of their patented 9-0 runs to take a 15-point lead, but the Camels battled back.
Conn. College’s Sean McNally converted an old-fashioned three point play off a Jake Brown turnover to pull his team within four, 58-54, with 33 seconds left. The Camels were forced to foul to extend the game, but the Panthers answered the call, making five out of six from the stripe to seal a 63-59 win for the Panthers.
The team’s solid defensive effort won the game as it held the Camels to 32.4 percent shooting and forced 15 turnovers, turning those miscues into 12 points on the other end.
“Coach Brown gave us the challenge of being the best FG defense in the country,” St. Amour said, “coming into the weekend we were number 2. Our defense allows us to win games even when we don’t shoot well, which is definitely a key for us. ”
Merryman recorded a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Bryan Jones ’17 tallied 11 off the bench on 4-5 shooting.
On Tuesday, Jan. 20, Middlebury blew out Johnson St., 102-54, behind Sinnicksons 21 points and eight boards and Jake Brown’s 16 points and seven rebounds. In all, 13 players contributed points to the offensive explosion.
(01/20/15 12:46am)
After defeating Plattsburgh State 63-53 on Jan. 6, the Middlebury men’s basketball team suffered its first two defeats of the season to Bates and Tufts and fell to 0-2 in the NESCAC this week on its three-game road trip.
The Panthers extended their unbeaten streak when they traveled to Plattsburgh and toppled the Cardinals in a relatively low-scoring affair. After no scoring for the first three minutes of the contest, Middlebury drew first blood and built a 10-4 lead seven minutes into the opening half. Much of the first half followed the general pattern of more defense than offense — neither team shot better than 31 percent from the field — and Middlebury took a 28-22 lead into the break.
The Cardinals began the second half on a 6-0 run to tie the game at 28. With a one-point lead at the 15:23 mark, the Panthers exploded on a 9-0 run behind four points from Dylan Sinnickson ’15 and a three from Nick Tarantino ’18.
The margin ballooned to 49-36 in favor of the Panthers as they held the Cardinals without a made basket for almost five minutes. Plattsburgh State refused to cave, cutting the lead to six with just under eight minutes left, but they couldn’t get closer than that. Once again the Panther defense responded by allowing only five points over the final 7:42 to secure a 63-53 victory.
Sinnickson led the Panthers in scoring with 13 points, while also pulling down 13 rebounds. Brown stuffed the stat sheet, tallying 10 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals. First-year Tarantino provided a welcome spark off the bench with 11 points, including nine from beyond the arc.
The team then traveled to Lewiston, ME to do battle with Bates in its first NESCAC game. The game began as a see-saw affair — foreshadowing what would turn out to be a very tightly-contested contest — only to see Middlebury gain a 19-11 lead with 7:36 left in the first half. The Panthers couldn’t muster much else offensively in the half, and even fell behind 24-23 on the heels of a 7-0 Bobcat run to end the half.
The beginning of the second half was reminiscent of that of the first half with the teams exchanging blows, including a Sinnickson three that would give the Panthers a 33-32 lead, its last of the game. Bates went on a 10-0 run to take a nine point lead as it held the Panthers scoreless for more than four minutes, but the game was far from over. Middlebury hung around and even made it a one possession game, 48-46, with 5:20 to go.
The Panthers just couldn’t do what they had to offensively to win the game, and the Bobcats took good enough care of the ball and made their free throws to put the finishing touches on a 57-53 win.
In defeat, Sinnickson was the only scorer in double digits for the Panthers, finishing with 17 points and 10 rebounds for his eighth double-double in eleven games.
On the final leg of this three-game road trip, the Panthers hoped to get in the win column in NESCAC play against Tufts. The fact that Middlebury’s largest lead was 2-0 at the 18:35 mark summarizes the game for the Panthers. Following a 13-5 run, they trailed 18-11, and were playing from behind for the remainder of the contest.
At the halfway point, Middlebury trailed 38-26, with its only comfort being there are two halves in a basketball game. The tables turned at the beginning of the second half as the Panthers came out firing on all cylinders to knot the game at 47, scoring 21 points before the 13:50 point in the second half. The Jumbos answered right back with a 7-0 run and never looked back, extending its lead to 19 with a little of over five minutes left.
The final score read 80-63 in favor of the Jumbos who shot a blistering 61% in the second half, and got an amazing contribution of 41 points from its bench (compared to only nine from the Middlebury bench). Despite the loss, Sinnickson turned in another outstanding effort, scoring a very efficient 26 points on 10-16 shooting.
The Panthers hope to get back on track after its disappointing opening weekend in the NESCAC against Castleton in another nonconference game on Tuesday, before returning home for NESCAC games this weekend against Wesleyan on Friday and Connecticut College on Sunday.
(12/03/14 10:17pm)
The Middlebury men’s basketball team was able to stay unbeaten on the season, defeating Rensselaer 87-78 in its home opener on Sunday Nov. 30 to advance to 5-0 on the season.
After a week of rest, the Panthers were ready from the get-go as Matt St. Amour ’17 opened the scoring with a three-pointer just 14 seconds into the game. The game went back and forth for the opening 10 minutes, and the Engineers held a 15-14 lead with 10:30 left in the half. However, the Panthers did not stay behind for long, stringing together a 16-5 run over the next seven minutes to take a 31-19 lead.
They held onto the double-digit lead for the remainder, leading 39-29 at the halfway point behind a balanced effort that saw nine Panthers score. Starting guards Jake Brown ’17 and St. Amour led the way in the first half with eight and seven points respectively while Dylan Sinnickson ’15 and Connor Huff ’16 both chipped in five.
Middlebury opened the second half with another bang when Hunter Merryman ’15 splashed a three at the 19:49 mark to give the Panthers a 42-29 lead. However, it was not that easy for the Panthers though, as the Engineers fought back with a 16-4 run of its own to make it a one point game at 46-45 with more than 14 minutes left. Neither team could gain any decisive momentum over the next five minutes and the score remained within one possession until the nine-minute mark.
That fateful stretch began when Sinnickson drained a step-back three and finished a layup off Brown’s steal from Rensselaer’s Jonathan Luster, and St. Amour swiped the ball and recorded two points of his own to make it a 10 point game, 64-54. The Panthers put the game out of reach over the next five minutes, extending their lead to 17, 80-63, with just three minutes remaining.
The last three minutes were merely a formality as the Engineers managed to make the game a single-digit game, 87-78, when the final buzzer sounded.
However, the final score doesn’t really mirror the overall complexion of the matchup. The Panthers took much better care of the basketball, holding an 8-18 edge in the turnover battle. They were able to force turnovers and then capitalize on Rensselaer’s miscues by scoring 27 points off turnovers.
Brown attributes his team’s ability to create chaos defensively to a number of factors; “I think we’ve found certain lineups that allow us to pressure defensively while turning it into an up-tempo offense,” Brown said. “As the season goes on, I think guys are becoming more confident in their individual defense and team defense.”
While Rensselaer shot better from the field, 55.8% to only 49.3% for Middlebury, the Panthers made four more shots due to the fact that they attempted 15 more than Rensselaer.
Sinnickson once again cued his team offensively by tallying 18 points, while Brown added 14 points, five assists and six steals. Middlebury also got much more help from its bench, which scored 29 points to Rensselaer’s 12. First-year Jack Daly ’18 contributed 20 solid minutes off the bench, scoring three points and assisting three baskets, while fellow first-year Nick Tarantino ’18 added eight points and eight rebounds.
The Panthers traveled to Rutland to do battle with St. Joseph on Tuesday, Dec. 2, hoping to repeat their success against the Fighting Saints, whom they have defeated for the last five years—including a resounding 115-74 victory last year.
(12/03/14 10:08pm)
2013-14 record: 17-9
Captains: Dean Brierley ’15 & Hunter Merryman ’15
At first glance, it is easy to assume that this is a rebuilding year for the Middlebury men’s basketball team since it lost six seniors to graduation, including three-time all-NESCAC recipient and the program’s fourth all-time leading scorer Joey Kizel ’14. However, the team has exploded out of the gate en route to a 5-0 record to begin the season, and it is clear the Panthers have the potential to do much more than rebuild this year.
“I think replacing Joey starts with other people stepping up,” said senior captain Dean Brierley. “Our teams are always deep, so when one player graduates or gets hurt, we have someone who can step in and make an immediate impact. Our depth is one of our strengths, and we’re excited to have a very balanced contribution this year.”
As Brierley says, the team returns plenty of talent from last year as four of the six leading scorers are returning to lead the Panther offense. Seniors Dylan Sinnickson and Hunter Merryman give the team valuable experience as returning starters. Fellow senior Chris Churchill has joined Sinnickson and Merryman in the starting frontcourt so far this season and provides size inside with his 6-9, 220-pound frame.
In the backcourt, Jake Brown ’17 replaces Kizel in the point guard role, and Matt St. Amour ’17 rounds out the starting five at the shooting guard position as he returns from an injury sustained last winter.
The Panthers also add four gifted first-year players to their already talented squad in Jack Daly, Jack Gale, Nick Tarantino and Adisa Majors.
While the Panthers are currently undefeated, it won’t be this simple for them all season. NESCAC play begins on Jan. 9 when they travel to Bates. Later that month, on Jan. 30, they hope to exact revenge upon a Williams squad that defeated them in the NESCAC semifinals last year. The team matches up against Amherst on Feb. 15 in its final regular season game for what it hopes to be an outstanding test and a final tune-up before a postseason run.
(11/19/14 10:01pm)
The Middlebury men’s basketball team began its season as well as it could have by winning the Ramada Roundball Invitational this past weekend, Nov. 15-16. On Saturday, the Panthers routed Mitchell College 101-71, setting up a matchup with the host University of New England in the final. The squad squeaked out a 69-67 win over the Nor’easters to capture the championship and extend its streak of tip-off tournament titles to seven consecutive years.
In the first game of the season, Middlebury had no trouble dismissing Mitchell behind the trio of Hunter Merryman ’15, Dylan Sinnickson ’15, and Matt St. Amour ’17 who combined to score 75 of the team’s 101 points.
After falling behind 7-4, St. Amour drilled a three-pointer and Middlebury never looked back, not trailing again and building to a 46-35 lead by the break. St. Amour led the team in scoring in the first half, tallying 17 points, while Sinnickson scored 11 points and rebounded 7 misses including a stretch of six points in less than two minutes that helped the team gain its first double-digit lead.
If the game wasn’t out of reach before the second half began, it was shortly after as the Panthers exploded out of the locker room with a 17-4 run, extending their lead to 27 points, 66-39, within the first four minutes of the second half. The team was firing on all cylinders offensively for most of the half, shooting a blistering 54.3 percent. Merryman led the charge, scoring 18 points in the half with four makes from behind the three-point arc, and guards Jake Brown ’17 and Jack Daly ’18 facilitated an offense that moved the ball exceptionally all night, each of them assisting eight baskets on the night.
Such a large lead also afforded Head Coach Jeff Brown the opportunity to rest his key contributors for the conclusion of the game in anticipation of the championship the following afternoon, which would prove very valuable.
Middlebury took the court on Sunday afternoon against the host to decide the championship of the opening weekend tournament. Sinnickson saw this game as a good measuring stick early in the season. “It was great that we were able to play the tournament host team, so there was a big crowd and a lot of energy in the gym,” he said. “It’s nice to be tested early in the season.”
Sinnickson and his teammates got exactly what they wanted. The teams see-sawed back and forth for the entirety of the first half, with neither team leading by more than five points and the lead changing eleven times, before Sinnickson converted a lay-up with 3 seconds remaining to give the Panthers a 34-32 lead and add to his team high 12 points going into the locker room.
Scoring runs marked the beginning of the second half as the Panthers opened up a seven point lead early in the second half, only to see the Nor’easters come storming back with an 8-2 run to bring the score to 42-41. Daly, co-captain Dean Brierley ’15, and Connor Huff ’16 provided a spark off the bench and the next run, adding 2, 5, and 2 points respectively, to make it 52-45 in favor of the Panthers. However, once again the game tightened up when the Nor’easters knotted it up at 54 with just under eight minutes left.
After that point, the lead was never more than three for either team. The two teams found themselves tied with each other at 67 with 16 seconds remaining when UNE’s Devin Thompson sank two free throws. With one possession to end the game in regulation, Coach Brown turned to his best player—and the best player in the tournament since he was named MVP of the event—the weekend in Sinnickson whose runner from the left side rebounded off the goal into the hands of Huff who laid the ball in as time expired to end the tension-packed game fittingly 69-67.
Although the Panthers didn’t shoot the ball well, only making 30.9 percent of their shots from the field and 17.4 percent of their triples, they were able to grind out a win by attacking the basket and playing stingy defense. Sinnickson, who missed all four of his three point attempts, echoes that sentiment, “I was still ready hit the three, but continued to drive to the rim, since I was getting to the basket well this tournament and they were in foul trouble in the first half.” UNE only shot 34.5 percent from the field and were held to 6 offensive rebounds and only 7 second chance points, while Middlebury rebounded 20 of their own misses and converted those into 16 points.
Middlebury will return to action again this weekend, Nov. 22-23, when it travels to Bridgewater, Mass. to do battle with Medger Evans, Bridgewater State, and Clark in the BSU Bears Invitational.
(10/22/14 8:54pm)
The women’s tennis team capped its fall season off at the New England Women’s Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament in Mount Holyoke this past weekend, Oct. 17-19. All three Panther duos recorded at least one victory.
According to the tournamen’s format, opposing pairs would play two singles matches, as well as a doubles match against each other, and the winning pair would advance to the next round of play.
In the Gail Smith flight ‘A’ draw, — named in honor of the longtime Middlebury coach and her substantial contributions to the program — the pair of Alexandra Fields ’17 and Jennifer Sundstrom ’17 defeated its counterpart from Babson 2-1 in its first match. But Fields and Sundstrom were not able to repeat their success in the following round, ending up on the wrong side of the 2-1 this time against a pair from Williams.
Kaysee Orozco ’17 and Lily Bondy ’17 also triumphed in the first round of the Gail Smith draw, felling their opposition from MIT 2-1. The pair failed to get anything going in the second round against Amherst as they lost 3-0, ending their weekend earlier than they would have hoped.
Without no duo in the ‘B’ flight, the third Panther combination of Katie Paradies ’15 and Shannon Gibbs ’18 competed in the Chris Davis flight ‘C’ draw.
Paradies commented that she viewed this weekend as an opportunity to showcase their hard work.
“Shannon and I have been working to develop a strategy that maximizes both of our strengths,” Paradies said.
On Friday afternoon, Paradies and Gibbs trounced Smith in the first round, winning all three matches. They continued that impressive display on Saturday by sweeping Wesleyan and Nichols to continue on their quest to win the tournament in the final match that was set for the following morning.
Paradies attributed their success to their aforementioned strategy.
“This weekend we were able to see our patterns and take advantage of offensive opportunities,” she said.
It was not meant to be though; Paradies and Gibbs made all three matches count, but they fell to Babson Sunday morning in a close 2-1 defeat, ending their inspired run.
“We are not viewing this weekend as an end point but instead as a tournament upon which we can build,” Paradies said.
The team will have a chance to do exactly that this upcoming spring when NESCAC and NCAA competition begins.