SPORTSBRIEFS

Author: ZAMIR AHMED, SPORTS EDITOR

Crunch time for Midd teams
Despite the completion of the seasons of most winter sports teams, Middlebury College is set to host a number of important athletic events over the next couple of weeks.
The main draw this weekend will be the Middlebury Carnival on Feb. 24-25, which will also serve as the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association (EISA) Skiing Championships. Events start at 9:30 a.m. on both days of the Carnival. The alpine races will be held at the Middlebury College Snow Bowl while the Nordic races have been moved to the Craftsbury Nordic Center. The Panthers are coming off a third place finish at the Williams Carnival last weekend after finishing second at their previous four meets.
On Saturday, Feb. 25, the Middlebury men's hockey team will kick off its search for its sixth NESCAC title, looking to continue its recent domination of the tournament after winning the top prize for the past two seasons. The Panthers' first-round game of the NESCAC tournament will pit the team against Wesleyan College at 4 p.m. in Kenyon Arena. With a win over Hamilton on Feb. 17, Middlebury clinched the top seed in the tournament, finishing the regular season with a record of 20-2-2 (16-2-1 in the NESCAC). The Panthers won the first meeting between the two teams on Jan. 28 3-1 but the Cardinals enter the tournament after having won or tied 5 of its 6 games during February to finish the regular season with a 7-12-4 overall record. The game is sure to be a defensive battle, as both teams field a strong back line. Middlebury finished the regular season with the number one scoring defense in the NESCAC, giving up only 1.62 goals per game, while Wesleyan was second in the league with a mark of 2.35 goals per game. If the Panthers win on Saturday, the team will play host to the semifinals and finals of the tournament, to be held March 3-4.
The women's hockey team has this weekend off after earning a first-round bye in the NESCAC tournament. The Panthers, ranked second in the nation behind Plattsburgh, will be back in action next week on March 4, as they will host the semifinals and finals of the tournament for the first time since 2002. The team led the NESCAC regular season standings wire-to-wire, finishing 22-2-0 overall, 15-1-0 in division play. The Panthers biggest challenge to repeat as division tournament champions will come from Bowdoin, which had hosted the event the past three years. The Polar Bears stand with a 15-7-1 overall record and went 12-3-1 in the NESCAC to finish second to the Panthers in the league. Middlebury won both meetings between the two teams this season, a 4-2 win on Jan. 6 and a 9-0 romp on Jan. 28.

Men's squash wraps up season
The Middlebury men's squash team wrapped up its season last weekend, taking part in the College Squash Association Team Championships on Feb. 17-19. The Panthers competed in the Summers Division for the 17-24 ranked teams in the land. Despite losing all three of its matches, the team still showed significant improvement from last season.
On Feb. 17, the Panthers dropped their first round match, losing 8-1 to Denison University, the eventual division champions. Jeff Wieland '06 was the only member of the team to win a match, taking his contest in four games. The loss pushed the team into the losers' bracket, where the Panthers took on George Washington University. Again, the team dropped an 8-1 decision. This time, Will Carroll '07 was the sole victor for the Panthers, winning in three games. An upside for the team is the fact that four of their losses went to four games, many of which were tight until the end.
In the Panthers' final match of the weekend, the team took on Stanford to decide the 23rd and 24th final rankings. The bout was close, with four matches going to five games, with the Cardinals ultimately coming out on top 6-3. J.P. Sardi '09, Gordon McMorris '08 and Wieland, the top three Panthers, all won their matches in the losing effort.
The Panthers entered the weekend ranked 24th in the nation, the same ranking they ended up with. They finished last season ranked 29th.