The Top Six Sports Moments at Middlebury in 2001-2002

Author: David Lindholm

The Middlebury campus is always a veritable breeding ground for amazing and exciting moments in sports. This year was no different. Here are the top six moments in Middlebury sports for the 2001-2002 year, listed chronologically.



Men's Soccer Stuns Williams

On Saturday, Oct. 27, the Williams men's soccer team came to Middlebury to play the final regular season game of the 2001 season, entering the field with an air of invincibility. The Ephs came in with a record of 13-0-0, scoring 52 goals, only allowing 10, and featuring the top player in Division III at the front of their attack, Alex Blake. Williams also carried a 51-game regular season winning streak. Yet none of this mattered as the Middlebury defense turned away countless shots off the feet of Williams attackers and beat the Williams defense only once, but when it counted.

Five minutes and 27 seconds into the first overtime, Jason Griffiths '04 played a free kick perfectly onto the head of first-year striker John Rusten, who coolly slipped the ball past the goalkeeper for a sudden-death victory.

Head coach Dave Saward rushed onto the field, yelling with his arms raised in the air, converging with the fray of Middlebury players inside the Williams 18-yard box. Soon after, Brian Hamm '02 arrived, and was hoisted atop the shoulders of his teammates who recognized that it was Hamm's goalkeeping as much as Rusten's header that won the game for the Panthers. It was a moment that none of the players will ever forget.



XC Retains NCAA Title

While the women's cross country team came in second in a pre-season race, it didn't take long for them to once again assert themselves both within NESCAC and nationally, as the Panthers won every ensuing meet they participated in. The team ran in the National Championships on November 17, and were able to survive the pressure of being the favorites and also of attempting to retain its title.

The team was led not only by captain Jess Johnston '02, but also by three All-Americans: Michaela Adrian '03, Molly Yazwinski '04 and Jess Manzer '05. The team was filled out by Kaitlin Gregg '03, Sarah Logan '03 and Karin Ericson '04, which proved the team's strength from top to bottom. Also, Head coach Terry Aldrich earn the NCAA Division III Coach of the Year honor for the second year running, as he and the team pulled off an amazing achievement.



Swimming Ends Ephs Reign

Over the weekend of the NESCAC Championship meet, the Middlebury men's swimming and diving team was slowly realizing what seemed to be the impossible; they were beating Williams, eating away at the dynasty that was Williams swimming and diving. The Ephs had been the best team in NESCAC for 35 straight seasons, allowing nobody even a sniff at the title during that span, and the Panthers were able to pull of a stunning upset over a characteristically strong Williams team.

The Panther team featured nine All-NESCAC swimmers, as well as standout Derek Chicarilli '02, to accomplish this feat. The athletes' performances were amazing, but one cannot forget the coaches either, as head swim coach Peter Solomon was named NESCAC Swimming Coach of the Year, and head diving coach Lisa Gibbs won the same award for diving.



Hockey's NESCAC Glory

Kevin "Super" Cooper '04 was the hero on the weekend of March 2-3, scoring the game-winning goal against Colby in the NESCAC semifinals, and then scoring all three of the Panthers' goals in a 3-2 victory over Trinity in the final. Cooper's heroics and the team's ability to pick up their level of play in the second and third periods allowed the Panthers to come from behind in both games to take their third straight NESCAC title.

The hat-trick was inspirational, as Cooper had left the game earlier after he was cross-checked in the neck, but returned to be the figure that represented an amazing team effort. The NESCAC tournament was the high point for both the players and the fans, as the team put in two of its most hard-fought and exciting victories.



Conrad Throws A Gem

It was a 6-0 victory over Hamilton that marked what was one of the finest individual performances in Middlebury history, as senior Tyler Conrad pitched a gem for his third win of the young season. The southpaw struck out 11 and allowed no hits in the seven-inning game, which took place on the road.

Conrad has proved to be one of the best pitchers all-time for Middlebury. As a four-year starter on the team and the ace in the last couple seasons, he will be sorely missed by next year's team.



Perfect Lacrosse Weekend

It was a phenomenal day at Middlebury, with both Middlebury lacrosse teams showing up in beautiful weather to win their respective NESCAC Championships. The teams both used superior defense and a high-powered offense to continue building on the success that they have had all last season and thus far in this season.

Next up, both teams face the always extremely difficult rise to the very top of Division III, as they will both host NCAA first-round match-ups. The Panther lacrosse program, which captured both the men's and women's National titles last season, is primed to take it all again. But either way, it was just the perfect lacrosse weekend.