For Release: May 5, 2008
MEN’S TENNIS WINS NCAA REGIONAL
The Middlebury College men’s tennis team advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals after a 5-1 win over Trinity in an NCAA Regional on campus. The Panthers will meet Mary Washington in a quarterfinal match on Tuesday, May 13th at Bates College. Middlebury improves to 17-5 on the season, while Trinity ends the year with a 13-3 mark. The match took place at the Nelson Recreational Center on campus after wet courts forced it to be played indoors.
Middlebury took a 1-0 lead early as first-year players Rich Bonfiglio (Bronxville, N.Y.) and Andrew Peters (Baltimore, Md.) were 8-3 winners over Spencer Feldman and David Patrick at #3 doubles. Trinity tied the match with an 8-4 win at #2, as Brett Ramsay and Tom Dolan defeated sophomore Andrew Lee (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and sophomore Chris Mason (Owings Mills, Md.). The Panthers took two of three doubles matches as senior Filip Marinkovic (Toronto, Ont.) and sophomore Andrew Thomson (W. Bloomfield, Mich.) earned an 8-4 win over Gautam Samarth and David Yahng.
Marinkovic was the first singles winner, as he defeated Ramsay 6-2, 6-3 in the #2 spot. Thomson quickly gave Middlebury a 4-1 lead, earning a 6-4, 6-1 win over Yahng at #3 singles. Lee sealed the match for the Panthers as he defeated Feldman 6-4, 6-4 in a lengthy #1 singles contest.
Middlebury advanced to the regional final after a 5-0 win over M.I.T. in a match played in the Nelson Recreational Center.
Middlebury held a 3-0 lead after doubles play, with two of the matches highly contested. Marinkovic and Thomson cruised to an 8-2 win, while Bonfiglio and Peters were 9-7 winners over Peden Nichols and Jonathan Farm of M.I.T. The final doubles match saw Lee and Mason of Middlebury earn a 9-8 (8) win in a tie-breaker over Kevin Pang and David Iba.
For complete match summaries, see: http://www.middlebury.edu/athletics/sports/mens/tennis/
• Men’s tennis record: 17-5
• Up next: 5/13 vs. M. Washington @ Bates (NCAA Quarterfinals)
TRACK & FIELD COMPETES AT
NEW ENGLAND ’S
The Panther track and field teams competed at the Division III New England Championships at the Coast Guard Academy over the weekend. The Middlebury women placed fourth among the 28 teams scoring, while the men earned a 19th place finish. Senior Jennifer Currie (Milton, Vt.) was the lone individual N.E. Champion, capturing the hammer with a toss of 158’5”. The women’s 4x800 relay team comprised of senior Kate Hirschboeck (Coto De Caza, Calif.) and rookies Kaitlynn Saldanha (Scarborough, Maine), Sophie Spring (Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y.) and Christina Kunycky (Marlborough, Mass.) won the N.E. title with a time of 9:20.30.
Finishing fourth in the 3000 and qualifying for the NCAA’s with a time of 11:10.34 was senior Ceara Danaher (Simsbury, Conn.). Junior Kelley Coughlan (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) earned a fourth place finish in the triple jump (35’5.75”), Hirschboeck was fifth in the 1500 (4:41.52), while junior Jen Katz (Winchester, Mass.) came in fifth in the 200 (26.40). Earning a sixth place finish in the 400 was first-year racer Grace Close (Fox Point, Wis.), with a time of 59.87, while Saldanha came in seventh in the 800 (2:18.61). Finishing in sixth and seventh place respectively in the pole vault were senior Sarah Wilson (Winchester, Mass.) and rookie Nicole Dvorak (Essex, Vt.), both clearing 10’2”. Other top finishers were first-year athlete Hannah Meier (Charlotte, Vt.) with an eighth place finish in the 5000 (18:07.48) and sophomore Laura Dalton (Simsbury, Conn.), who finished eighth in the 400 hurdles (1:06.44).
A pair of Middlebury relay teams earned third place finishes on Saturday. Katz, Dalton, senior Elizabeth Huntley (Coralville, Iowa) and sophomore Anjuli Demers (Dracut, Mass.)accomplished the feat in the 4x100, finishing with a time of 49.82. Dalton, Close, Demers and first-year runner Katie Magill (Boxford, Mass.) made up the 4x400 team, that finished with a time of 4:01.29.
Senior Jimmy Butcher (Garden City, N.Y.) was the top finisher for the men, breaking his own school record and earning a second place finish in the 5000 with a time of 14:53.03. Sophomore Micah Wood (Tacoma, Wash.) finished fourth in the 400 (50.21) and 10th in the 200 (22.86), while rookie Adam Dede (West Chester, Ohio) came in ninth in the pole vault (13’3.5”). First-year thrower Nicholas Plugis (Bedford, Mass.) earned an 11th place finish in the javelin (163’7”), while senior Ian O’Reilly (Meriden, N.H.) came in 13th in the 800 (1:56.33).
The men’s 4x400 relay team comprised of O’Reilly, Wood, junior Ben Fowler (Bethesda, Md.) and sophomore Glen Frieden (Manchester, N.H.) earned a sixth place finish with a time of 3:26.25.
• Track& Field competes at New England’s
• Up next: 5/10 @ Open N.E.’s (UNH)
MEN’S LACROSSE FALLS IN NESCAC SEMI’S – HEADED TO NCAA’S
The Panther men's lacrosse team suffered an 11-10 overtime loss to Williams in the semifinals of the NESCAC Tournament on campus. With their impressive 12-2 record, Middlebury earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and will host a second-round game on Saturday, May 10th at 1:00 p.m.
Richard Reuter converted a quick pass from Michael Vrla with 1:52 left in overtime to lift Williams to an 11-10 win over top-seeded Middlebury.
Williams entered the tournament as the sixth-seed, knocking off third-seeded Tufts 14-6 last Sunday to advance to the semifinal round. The Ephs went on to defeat Bowdoin in the championship game on Sunday.
Williams took a 2-0 lead in the first quarter behind a goal from Tim White and a man-up tally from Vrla. Junior Tom Petty (Newburyport, Mass.) put the Panthers on the board before the Ephs opened the second quarter with a goal from Marco DeMeireles to take a 3-2 lead. David Hawley made it a 4-2 game with a high shot from the left side, before Middlebury answered with a pair of tallies to knot the game at four. Williams closed the first half with a rocket from David Hawley at the seven-second mark following a timeout.
The third quarter saw the teams exchange six goals as the Ephs took an 8-7 advantage into the fourth quarter. Senior Jim Cabrera (Old Greenwich, Conn.) tied the game for Middlebury driving to the goal early in the fourth. Kevin Connolly scored the next two goals for the Ephs with a junior Mike Stone (Boston, Mass.) tally in between to give the Ephs a 10-9 lead with 54 seconds left to play.
Following a timeout with possession, Middlebury set up the offense to attempt to tie the game. With just 25 seconds left, Stone made a nice feed to junior Matt Ferrer (Darien, Conn.), who scored from 15 yards out on the left to send the game into sudden-death overtime.
Middlebury won the face-off to open OT, calling a timeout to set-up a shot at the game-winner. An errant pass gave the ball back to Williams, who cleared the ball and took a timeout with 2:09 left in overtime. Following a few passes around the perimeter, the Ephs found themselves with some room as Vrla set up Reuter for the game-winner.
Rueter paced the Ephs with three goals in the game, while Connolly and Hawley netted two apiece for Williams, winners of their last five games. Petty scored three for the home team, while Ferrer added a pair.
Michael Gerbush made 16 saves in goal for Williams, while junior Pete Britt (Summit, N.J.) made 11 stops for the Panthers.
• Men’s lacrosse record: 12-2
• Up next: 5/10 vs. Bowdoin/Mt. Ida – 1:00 (NCAA second-round game)
BASEBALL ENDS SEASON
The Middlebury College baseball team ended its season with a trip to Maine to take on Bates and Bowdoin. The Panthers and Polar Bears split a doubleheader at rainy Pickard Field on Saturday with the Polar Bears taking game one 17-11 before the Panthers claimed game two, 9-6. Middlebury closes their season with a record of 14-16.
Game one did not have a single 1-2-3 inning by either team as the bats ruled the contest. Down 7-5 in the sixth inning, Bowdoin rallied to score a season-high 12 runs in the inning and take the eventual win. Reid Auger had the go-ahead two-run single in the frame while Brett Gorman blasted a home run and a three-run triple in the inning to spark the rally.
Ben Higgins earned the win in relief for the Polar Bears, while junior Matt Joseph (Alexandria, Va.) took the loss for the Panthers. Adam Marquit had four hits, two runs and two RBI's for Bowdoin while Auger had three hits, three runs and four RBI. Middlebury was led by two hits apiece from seniors Nick Lefeber (Branford, Conn.) and John Lanahan (Jacksonville, Fla.), who also hit a home run.
Middlebury scored four runs in the second inning of game two and never trailed in the 9-6 win. Junior Steve Shortle (Rutland, Vt.) quieted the Bowdoin bats, allowing no earned runs over the final 4.2 innings to earn the relief win. Pat Driscoll was tagged with the loss for Bowdoin.
Middlebury junior Mark Shimrock (Lansdale, Pa.) led the Panther offense with three hits- including a double and a homer- four RBI's and two runs.
On Friday, Bates scored eight runs in the first inning and held on for a 13-11 victory over Middlebury Friday at Leahey Field.
Bates sent 12 batters to the plate in the first inning, scoring eight runs on seven hits and two Panther errors as Middlebury stuck with senior starting pitcher Justin Wright (W. Simsbury, Conn.). The Panthers got four back in the second, as Bates’ Custer Cook ran into control trouble. Cook issued four walks in the inning, allowing Middlebury to plate a run on a groundout by junior Dave Miranowski (St. Paul, Minn.), two more on a bases-loaded double by Shimrock and a fourth on a wild pitch.
Ben Shwartz came on in relief when Cook walked the leadoff batter in the third inning, and Middlebury tacked on two more runs to close it to 8-6, featuring an RBI single by Frazier Stowers (Lynchburg, Va.). Shwartz earned the victory to raise his record this year to 1-3, allowing two runs (one earned) over three innings of work.
Bates added to its lead with a run in the fourth on senior Brian Buckley's RBI single. Middlebury came back by piecing together a run in the top of the fifth, using a single by senior Gabe Broughton (Barrington, R.I.), a Stowers single, a Miranowski sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly by Lefeber. Bates opened the lead back to five, at 12-7, with three runs in the fifth, chasing Wright (1-1) after he allowed a two-run double to Alex Egelson. Rookie Scooter Scott (Marlboro, Vt.) came on to shut the door on the Bates rally, inducing Patton into an outfield fly.
Middlebury clawed back with two runs in the sixth off of Bates' third pitcher, Alex Gallant. Shimrock led off with a walk and came home on a double down the left-field line by junior Peter Bourdon (Simsbury, Conn.). Lanahan, who had singled, later came home on a wild pitch to close the gap to 12-9. Bates nudged its lead to 12-10 in the bottom of the sixth, as Tom Beaton singled, stole second and scored on a double by Rich Velotta.
Middlebury made it interesting once again in the eighth, as Lanahan led off with a walk, followed by a two-run home run to left field by sophomore Erich Enns (Lansdale, Pa.), his eighth of the season. Bates Chuck Murphy-Romboletti came on to strike out Stowers and Miranowski to end the inning, then threw a shutout ninth inning, allowing only a walk to pinch hitter Nick Angstman (Williston, Vt.), for a five-out save, his second of the season.
Shimrock led Middlebury's 11-hit attack, going 3-5 with a run and two RBIs, while Broughton went 2-3 with three runs. Beaton led the Bobcats with three hits and three runs, while four others added a pair of hits.
• Baseball final record: 14-16
WOMEN’S LACROSSE DROPS NESCAC SEMI – HEADED TO NCAA’S
The Panther women's lacrosse team fell 10-8 to Colby in the semifinals of the NESCAC Tournament on campus, but earned an NCAA at-large bid with a solid 10-4 season. Middlebury will host Ithaca in an NCAA first-round game on Wednesday, May 7th at 4:00 p.m. against Ithaca. The winner of the game will advance to an NCAA Regional at Hamilton on Saturday and Sunday.
Middlebury saw an 88-game home winning streak come to an end as Colby came from behind to pick up a 10-8 win. The Mules went on to win the title with a victory over Trinity.
The Panthers, who lost at home for the first time since a 10-9 loss to Williams in the ’97 regular season finale, moved to 14-1 in NESCAC Tournament play.
Middlebury jumped out early as junior Caroline Kirkendoll (Telluride, Colo.) and sophomore Dana Heritage (Cheshire, Conn.) gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead in the game’s first 1:16. Colby netted two of the next three goals to trail 3-2 with 12:22 left in the first half.
Senior Mimi Schatz (Baltimore, Md.) caused a turnover and scored quickly for the Panthers at the 9:06 mark, followed by tallies from Kirkendoll and senior Reid Berrien (Westport, Conn.) to make it a 6-2 game at the intermission.
The Panthers opened the second half with two of the first three goals to take an 8-3 lead with 22:03 remaining.
The momentum would change from there as the Mules scored the final seven goals of the game to earn the 10-8 upset victory. Becky Julian started the run, while Carly Rapaport and Carrie Lovejoy scored to make it an 8-6 game with 19:54 left to play. Amy Campbell cut it to one, before tying the game at eight on her fourth of the day with 9:35 remaining. The Mules continued the offense as Becky Julian gave them a 9-8 lead, before giving her team some breathing room at the 3:21 mark with her fourth goal of the game.
Sarah Warnke made six saves in goal to earn the win for Colby, while junior Blair Bowie (Washington, D.C.) made 14 stops for Middlebury.
• Women’s lacrosse record: 10-4
• Up next: 5/7 vs. Ithaca – 4:00, if win, 5/10-11 @ NCAA Regional (Hamilton)
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