For Release: January 7, 2008

MEN’S HOCKEY WINS HOLIDAY CLASSIC

The Middlebury College men’s hockey team captured the 16^th annual Middlebury College Holiday Classic with a pair of wins over the weekend.

Trailing 1-0 in the third period, Middlebury scored three unanswered goals en route to 3-1 win over Lake Forest in the title game. Junior Mack Cummins (SW Ranches, Fla.) had a goal and two assists to earn tournament M.V.P. honors.

Lake Forest struck first midway through the first period as Petter Andersson scored from the right wing with a low hard wrister through traffic at 10:25. The Panthers thought they had tied the game with a goal from junior Ian Drummond (Del Mar, Calif.) at 15:18, but the net was off its moorings.

Middlebury once again thought they had knotted the game early in the second on a goal from junior Jamie McKenna (Lake Placid, N.Y.) , but the net had again come off. The Panthers had a power play soon-after, including 49 seconds of five-on-three play, but could not get the equalizer. Middlebury failed on two other power plays in the period and ended the second with a 1-0 deficit.

Middlebury finally got on the board 2:57 into the third as Cummins’ shot from the right point found the back of the net. Cummins gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead just 1:41 later as he scored down low after a shot by senior Mickey Gilchrist (Ottawa, Ont.) was saved. Lake Forest had a great chance to tie the game at 14:16, but Blake O’Keefe’s breakaway was stopped by Middlebury senior Ross Cherry (Basking Ridge, N.J.).

The Panthers sealed the game with 2:02 left as senior Scott Bartlett (Pittsford, N.Y.) found first-year player Ken Suchoski (Bear Creek Township, Pa.) to make it a 3-1 final. Cherry ended the night with 20 saves in goal, while Scott Campbell made 40 stops for Lake Forest.

Middlebury advanced to the finals with a 6-4 win over Brockport. Middlebury jumped out just 27 seconds into the game as Suchoski scored on a rebound. First-year player Chaz Svoboda (Verdun, Que.) scored on a similar goal 1:04 later, as the power play tally gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead just 1:31 into the game. Brockport made it a 2-1 game at 4:20 as Steve Seedhouse scored after a nice give-and-go with Tom Crowley. Aaron Boyer scored on a rebound at 12:01 to tie the game at two. The Panthers regained the lead at 14:26 as Gilchrist converted a cross-crease pass from McKenna for a power play goal.

Middlebury took a 4-2 lead 8:45 into the second period as Gilchrist scored after a feed from rookie Trevor Dodds (Hanover, N.H.) for a power play goal. Boyer answered for Brockport, making it a 4-3 game at 14:36, as he finished a rebound after a shot from Seedhouse was saved.

Cummins found sophomore John Sullivan (Delmar, N.Y.) to make it a 5-3 game 3:23 into the third period, before Lucas Schott ripped a shot into the top corner of the net to cut the advantage to 5-4 at 8:29.

Suchoski gave Middlebury some breathing room with 2:16 remaining as he scored after a great feed from Scott Bartlett. Junior Doug Raeder (Needham, Mass.) ended the night with 13 saves to earn the win for Middlebury, while Greg Van’t Hof made 35 for the Golden Eagles.

Suchoski and senior Tom Maldonado (Bronx, N.Y.) were named to the all-tournament team.
• Men’s hockey record: 6-2-1
•Up next: 1/11 @ Castleton, 1/12 @ Skidmore

MEN’S BASKETBALL IMPROVES TO 9-2

The Panther men's basketball team played three games over the break, including a pair at the Land of Magic Classic in Daytona Beach, Florida in late December.

Middlebury outscored McDaniel 37-28 in the second half after a 26-26 tie at the break in Florida. Junior Ben Rudin (Scarsdale, N.Y.) paced the team with 12, junior Kyle Dudley (Scarsdale, N.Y.) scored 10, while sophomore Tim Edwards (Greenwich, Conn.) did the same with seven boards. Senior Mike Walsh (Needham, Mass.) ended the afternoon with eight points and four blocks.

The Panthers saw their seven-game winning streak come to an end, as they fell 80-71 to Ursinus in Florida. Middlebury shot 56% from the floor in the first half, but found themselves trailing 38-37 at the intermission. The Panthers cooled down to 29% in the second half as they suffered the nine-point loss.

Senior Andrew Harris (Waterbury Center, Vt.) led the squad with 21 points, Rudin scored 17, while Edwards had 14 points and six assists. Junior Aaron Smith (W. Hartford, Conn.) paced the Panthers with 11 boards.

Middlebury improved to 9-2 on the season as they earned a 71-52 road victory at Skidmore. The Panthers held a 50-36 advantage on the boards, holding the Thoroughbreds to 30 percent from the floor.

Middlebury came out strong, taking a 16-4 advantage with 12:23 remaining. Skidmore came within three before Middlebury entered the halftime break with a 31-25 lead.

Leading by two early in the second half, Middlebury went on a 17-2 run to take a 50-33 lead at the 12:12 mark. The Panthers would lead by as many as 22 as they cruised to the win.

Smith led all scorers with 18 points and nine rebounds on 7 of 9 shooting. Harris scored 13 with six boards, while Rudin netted a dozen and grabbed seven rebounds.
• Men’s basketball record: 9-2
•Up next: 1/8 – C. Sawyer – 7:30

WOMEN’S HOCKEY PICKS UP A PAIR OF WINS

The Middlebury College women’s hockey team improved to 6-1-1 on the season as the third-ranked Panthers picked up a 3-0 win over fifth-ranked R.I.T.

Following a scoreless first period, the game was delayed for 20 minutes early in the second period due to a power outage. Four minutes later, Middlebury struck for three goals in a 4:43 span to take a 3-0 lead at the 10:22 mark. First-year player Julia Ireland (Greenwich, Conn.) scored on the power play after a shot from sophomore Jessica Bennett (Surrey, B.C.) was saved. Junior Erika Nakamura (Boston, Mass.) tipped in a shot from the outside for the second tally, while rookie Nora Bergman (Concord, Mass.) scored when her shot deflected in off a defender. R.I.T. went 0/3 on the power play in the period, while the Panthers were 1/3.

Middlebury had a few chances to add to the lead in the third period, including a Nakamura shot off the crossbar, but could not increase their margin.

Sophomore Lani Wright (Reading Mass.) earned 21 saves in goal to pick up her first shutout of the season, including an impressive stop on a breakaway by Jerica Young. Sandra Grant made 22 stops for the Tigers.

Middlebury came from a 2-1 deficit to pick up a 4-2 win over Utica in Kenyon Arena. The Panthers outshot the Pioneers 35-15 en route to the win.

Rookie Andrea Buono (Ashburnham, Mass.) gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead with a shot just inside the blue line that deflected in off the pads of Utica netminder Kelley Peers.

Samantha Glockling scored a power play goal 9:26 into the second period to tie the game at one.

Sara George gave the Pioneers a 2-1 lead 2:18 later with a shot from the left side. Senior Tania Kenny (Toronto, Ont.) tied the game for Middlebury late in the period after a scramble in front.

Sophomore Heather McCormack (Rowley, Mass.) scored the eventual game-winner on a rebound at the 13:09 mark of the third. Senior Margaret MacDonald (Judique, Nova Scotia) gave the Panthers some breathing room just over two minutes later.

First-year goaltender Lexi Bloom (Highland Park, Ill.) ended the game with 13 saves to earn the win, while Peers made 31 stops for the Pioneers.
• Women’s hockey record: 7-1-1
•Up next: 1/ 11 vs. Bowdoin – 7:00, 1/12 vs. Colby – 3:00

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL HAS 1-1 WEEK

The Panther women’s basketball team opened up the new year with a hard-fought 73-69 loss at Eastern Connecticut. Having won its first 11 games this year by an average of just under 24 points and none by less than 17, Eastern raced to a 19-3 lead in the opening minutes against Middlebury (6-2) before the Panthers countered with an 18-4 run of their own to pull within two points with four minutes left in the first half.

Eastern never trailed in the game and took a 12-point lead into the final four minutes of play before Middlebury got four three-point field goals in less than a minute, three by junior Emily Johnson (Lower Gwynedd, Pa.), to remain within striking distance. After Johnson banked in a three-pointer to pull Middlebury to within five with 71 seconds left, the Warriors converted eight of their next ten free throws, with a pair by Ashley McFetridge with 34 seconds left pushing the Eastern lead to nine, 72-63.

After banking in her three-pointer with 71 seconds left, Johnson twice connected on three-pointers while being fouled inside the final 46 seconds, but both times missed the free throw.

Sara Paradis hit three of four free throws in a span of 13 seconds late in the game to help Eastern maintain the edge, and Stephanie Smith swished two after stealing the ball and getting fouled with 46 seconds left to improve the Warriors’ lead to seven, 70-63.

McFetridge led Eastern with 20 points and both teams with 15 rebounds and also blocked three shots. Smith added 15 points and six rebounds and turned the ball over only once in 27 minutes.

Poor free throw shooting hindered Middlebury’s effort to gain the equalizer in the final minutes. After senior guard Katie Fisher (Oakland, Calif.) completed a conventional three-point play with a free throw with three minutes left, the Panthers missed their final five chances from the stripe. Middlebury was 10-for-20 from the line in the game, 6-for-14 in the second half. Eastern was 21-for-31 from the stripe in the game.

Johnson of Middlebury led all players with 26 points and contributed nine rebounds. Fisher followed with 18 points and six rebounds, while senior Lani Young (Concord, N.H.) had 10 points, five rebounds and three steals before fouling out with 12.3 seconds left.

Middlebury made six of seven free throws in the final 1:38 of overtime to pick up an 81-78 road win at Skidmore. The Panthers shot 45 percent from the floor in the game, including 12 of 24 from three-point range.

The Panthers trailed by five in the first half before a 12-0 run gave them a 23-16 lead with 8:18 left to play. Middlebury led by as many as 12 in the second half, before Skidmore went on a 13-3 run to close the gap to a pair with 9:18 remaining. The Thoroughbreds hit a bucket with two seconds to go, forcing the game into overtime.

Johnson led the team with 23 points, junior Ashley Barron (Brockton, Mass.) netted 21, first-year player Lauren Sanchez (Edmonds, Wash.) scored 12, while Fisher added 10. Young had eight points and nine boards in the win.
• Women’s basketball record: 7-2
•Up next: 1/8 vs. Colby-Sawyer – 5:30, 1/10 @ S. Vermont, 1/12 @ Rensselaer

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