sportsbriefs

Author: Jeb Burchenal

Men's water polo beats Dartmouth, BU and UMass

Men's water polo swam its way to a strong start this fall. This past weekend, the team traveled to Dartmouth for its first divisional contests. The Panthers started off the weekend with a loss against Boston College, but won the next three against UMass, Boston University and Dartmouth.

"We played a really solid tournament overall, although it wasn't until the third game against Boston University that we really found our stride," said captain Andrew Herzik '07.5. "Our last game against Dartmouth we were completely in sync as a team. We were making the right passes and the playing smart water polo. We controlled the game and played it at our pace."

The notable players from the weekend included Robbie Burton '08, who according to the captain, "was an absolute sharpshooter," Matt Sulivan '08 who tallied at least twice in each game and Kevin O'Rourke '09, who set the tempo against Dartmouth. The Panthers hope to improve upon their third place finish last season, as they jump into the North Atlantic Division in the restructuring of the league. The men have two more tournaments before they host the N.A.D. Championships.


Cross country wins both Vermont State races

This weekend both the men's and women's cross country took to the field for the Vermont State Meet hosted by Lyndon State, and came home victorious.

The men, anchored by first-year Stanis Moody-Roberts, juniors Max MacKinnon and Rainey Johnson and Nat Nelson '11, who delivered the top four overall times, took first place easily. Rounding out the top five were the teams from UVM, Norwich, Castleton State and St. Michael's.

The women's team also cruised to victory at the weekends championships on the legs of senior Kate Hirschboeck, first-year racer Erin Toner, sophomore Annie Sullivan and first-year Jessica Spar.

Both teams are hoping to continue their dominance in this weekend's New England Intercollegiate Championships.


Rugby finds its stride and wins a close one at UVM

This weekend, the men's rugby team traveled north to play in-state competitor University of Vermont. The Panthers pulled out a close win in the match, managing only 10 points but winning on the strength of a stifling defense that has yet to surrender a point this season. The Panthers improved to 3-0 this season and appear hungry to defend their national championship.

The men take to the pitch again this weekend at UMass-Amherst, Saturday at 1 p.m. UMass-Amherst has struggled early in their season with a loss to regional rival Amherst.