For Release: May 14, 2007
WOMEN’S GOLF COMPETES AT NCAA’S
The Middlebury College women's golf team made its first appearance in the NCAA Championships after an impressive season. The Panthers finished the 20-team tourney in an eighth place tie with a four-day total of 1,370. Methodist won the tournament with a 1,215, with Williams placing 10th and Amherst coming in 13th.
Senior Kerry Ortega (Clinton, N.Y.) led the Middlebury women, finishing in 30th place with a four-day total of 334. Senior Heather Gallagher (Toronto, Ont.) was next in 50th with a 345, followed by senior Allison Ortega (Clinton, N.Y.) and sophomore Julie Ellenberger (Concord, Mass.) both in 52nd place with 348’s, while junior Karen Levin (Morton Grove, Ill.) finished 62nd, shooting a 353.
The championship took place at the El Campeon Golf Course at the Mission Inn Resort & Club in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida. The event was hosted by Oglethorpe University and the Central Florida Sports Commission.
• end of season
WOMEN’S LACROSSE RETURNS TO FINAL FOUR
The Panther women’s lacrosse team has advanced to the NCAA semifinals for the 14th consecutive year after an 11-10 win over The College of New Jersey on Kohn Field. The win snaps the Lions streak of 23 consecutive trips to the semifinals, each year the tournament has existed. TCNJ ends its season with a 12-3 record, while the Panthers will meet Salisbury in the semifinals next Saturday at William Smith. Gettysburg will meet Franklin & Marshall in the other semifinal contest.
Middlebury moved into the NCAA Regional final as they had little trouble with Drew, defeating the Rangers by a score of 19-2 on Kohn Field. After a scoreless 4:14, Middlebury scored six goals in the next 6:51 to take a 6-0 lead at the 18:55 mark of the first half. The lead grew to 10-0 before Courtney Cunningham put the Rangers on the board with 4:45 left in the first half. Senior Kim Walker (Ridgewood, N.J.), junior Katherine Entwisle (Lower Gwynedd, Pa.) and senior Claire Edelen (Sparks, Md.) each had two goals for the Panthers in the 10-0 opening run.
Middlebury answered the Drew goal just 36 seconds later with a tally from senior Liza Humes (Greenwood Village, Colo.). The Panthers would score three goals in the final 49 seconds of the half to hold a 14-1 lead at the intermission.
Cunningham opened the second half scoring for Drew at 21:48, but that would be the Rangers’ final tally of the game. Junior Amanda Smith (Greenwich, Conn.) scored on a free position at 19:45, followed by three straight goals from junior Mimi Schatz (Baltimore, Md.). First-year player Carrie Sparkes (Wayne, Pa.) ended the scoring with 16 seconds remaining.
Eight different players scored for Middlebury, led by four from Smith and Schatz. Walker netted three on the afternoon, while Entwisle, Edelen and rookie Dana Heritage (Cheshire, Conn.) each scored twice. Humes dished out three assists in the victory, while Smith had a pair. Sophomore Blair Bowie (Washington, D.C.) made 11 saves in 50 minutes, while junior Whitney Wildrick (Flourtown, Pa.) stopped three shots in 10 minutes of action.
In the regional final, TCNJ came out strong, dominating the first 20 minutes of play. Five different players scored the first five goals for the Lions, giving them a five-goal lead at the 12:48 mark of the first half.
Walker hit the crossbar for Middlebury at 10:25, before Entwisle put the Panthers on the board with a transition goal. Karen Doane scooped up a ground ball and answered for TCNJ before the Panthers scored the final two goals of the half to trail 6-3 at the intermission.
The teams exchanged the first two goals of the second half before Middlebury went on a 4-0 run to take an 8-7 lead at the 17:05 mark. Edelen scored the first on a free position, followed 53 seconds later by Walker, who scored her 45th of the year with a quick-stick shot on a feed from Edelen. Schatz tied the game in transition, before Edelen hit a cutting Walker for the 8-7 advantage.
Kristin Zucconi scored on a free position for the Lions, before Smith scored twice to give Middlebury a 10-8 lead with 11:08 left to play.
TCNJ came right back as Doane scored her 49th goal of the season on a free position at the 9:39 mark. Doane then made a nice feed to Angela Wilmer, who tied the game at 10 with 7:59 to play.
Middlebury gained possession of the ball at the four-minute mark and worked the ball offensively until the final seconds of the game. Following a TCNJ foul, Edelen had the ball at the top of the circle on a restart. Following the whistle, she quickly moved towards the goal and scored with a low shot with just 12 seconds remaining for the game-winner.
Smith and Entwisle led Middlebury with three goals apiece, while Walker and Edelen scored two apiece. Edelen added two helpers on the afternoon, as Blair Bowie made six saves in goal.
• Women’s lacrosse record: 16-1
• Up next: 5/19 vs. Salisbury (NCAA Semifinals at William Smith) – 2:30 – if win, 5/20 – NCAA Championship vs. Gettysburg/Franklin & Marshall – 12:00 (live on CSTV)
MEN’S LACROSSE ENDS SEASON IN NCAA’S
The Middlebury College men's lacrosse team saw its season come to an end with a 13-9 loss at Wesleyan in an NCAA second-round game. Earlier in the week, Middlebury moved to 26-7 all-time in NCAA tournament play as they cruised to a 21-2 win over Mount Ida in a first-round game played on Kohn Field.
Middlebury jumped on the board at the 11:56 mark as sophomore Mike Stone (Boston, Mass.) scored cutting to the goal. Junior Jim Cabrera (Old Greenwich, Conn.) made it a 2-0 game with a similar goal with 10:38 left in the first quarter. The Middlebury defense was stellar early, causing several failed clears by Mt. Ida, as the Mustangs failed on seven of 10 clearing attempts in the first quarter.
Middlebury kept up the pressure with four goals in the final 4:43 of the first quarter to hold a 6-0 lead after one. Mount Ida scored the first goal of the second quarter as Vince Pizzimenti made a nice feed to Leo Shidler for the man-up goal at the 11:25 mark.
The Panthers scored the next three goals, including a pair by sophomore Skyler Hopkins (Easton, Md.) to hold a 9-1 lead at the intermission.
Middlebury earned the game’s next 11 goals to take a commanding 20-1 lead late in the fourth quarter. Trevor Bergerson broke up the run at the 4:03 mark, before senior Will Simpson (Chevy Chase, Md.) scored the game’s final goal with a nice over-the-shoulder shot with 3:13 remaining.
Middlebury dominated the face-off circle, winning 20 of 27 on the afternoon. Senior Peter Mellen (Cherry Hill, N.J.) won 17 of 22, to go along with his 13 ground balls. The Panthers out shot the Mustangs 61-19, held a 65-29 ground balls advantage, while holding them to 15 of 20 clears.
Stone and Simpson led the balanced scoring attack with three goals each, while Cabrera, Hopkins, senior Nick Bastis (Old Greenwich, Conn.), sophomore Tom Petty (Newburyport, Mass.) and first-year player Pete Smith (Wilton, Conn.) each had a pair. Senior goalkeeper Alex Palmisano (Southport, Conn.) made eight saves in 41 minutes of play, while sophomore Pete Britt (Summit, N.J.) made a save in 19 minutes of relief.
In a second-round game at Wesleyan, the Cardinals jumped out to a 4-0 advantage before the game was eight minutes old as Jason Ben-Eliyahu got it started with a sharp-angled bouncer from the right side 1:18 into the contest, his 34th goal of the year. Grayson Connors netted the first of his four goals at 12:11 followed by Lonnie Blumenthal and Dan Latzman. Middlebury settled in as sophomore defender James Guay (N. Scituate, R.I.) and Simpson got goals before the end of the period to cut the gap in half.
With the score 5-3 midway through the second period, Connors got a great feed across the front of the net from Mike Hines to make it a 6-3 game at 7:28, igniting a five-goal run which gave Wesleyan a 10-3 cushion at halftime. When Connors opened the second-half scoring at 12:09 and added an assist on Adam Kirk's tally at 9:15, Wesleyan had the game's largest lead at 12-3.
Once the score reached 13-4 at the 5:13 mark of the third stanza, Middlebury came alive and scored the final five goals, two by Cabrera, who finished the year with a team-high 30 goals to go with 11 assists for 41 points. Stone, with a pair of goals, was right behind with 29 markers and 36 points while Bastis added a goal and an assist for a 26-13-39 season.
Wesleyan goaltender Charlie Congleton collected 17 saves in a solid day's work, while Palmisano made nine stops for Middlebury.
• Men’s lacrosse final record: 11-7
TRACK & FIELD COMPETES AT OPEN NEW ENGLANDS
The Middlebury College track & field teams were in action at the Open New England hosted by Dartmouth over the weekend. Thirty-three division I, II and III schools from New England were in action at the meet.
Sophomore Kelley Coughlan (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) was Middlebury’s top individual finisher, placing seventh in the triple jump with a leap of 35’10.75”. Placing eighth in the 800 was senior Claire Schultz (W. Barnstable, Mass.) in 2:13.33, followed by senior Beth Butler (Bronxville, N.Y.) in 10th (2:14.50). Sophomore Alexandra Krieg (Wellesley, Mass) placed 10th for the Panthers in the 5,000, finishing with a time of 18:06.56.
The women’s 4x400 relay team comprised of Butler, Schultz, sophomore Simone Weisman (Newton, Mass.) and first-year racer Anjuli Demers (Dracut, Mass.) finished seventh overall in 3:59.24.
• Track teams race at open N.E.’s
• Up next: 5/18 @ M.I.T. Invitational
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