Panther Watch: NESCAC Playoff Previews

Men’s Soccer
Both of the Panthers’ losses this season came in 1-0 road losses against Amherst and Tufts. Amherst ended the regular season undefeated and as the top-ranked squad nationally, while Tufts began the campaign as the pre-season number one. Yet, after the both squads were improbably bounced from the conference tournament on the first weekend, Middlebury (13-2-1, 7-2-1 NESCAC) appears to have jumped onto the fast track to its first conference title since the 2010 edition of the team squeaked by Bowdoin on penalty kicks.

The Panthers are set to take on Wesleyan this Saturday Nov. 7 at 11 a.m. at the soccer field. Wesleyan was the team responsible for knocking off the top-ranked Lord Jeffs. In their first match up this season, Greg Conrad ’17 headed in a beautifully centered ball by Philip Skayne ’17 in the 80th minute to seal a 2-1 victory for the Panthers.

Saturday’s match figures to be high scoring as well, as Middlebury’s 2.49 goals-per-game average is the highest in the conference, while Wesleyan’s 1.9 goals-per-game is the third-highest. Defensively, however, the Panthers hold the edge over Wesleyan by a wide margin, as Middlebury’s goals-against-average is under half a goal-per-game, while Wesleyan’s 1.5 goals-against-average ranks in the bottom half of the conference.

Rounding out his 31st season at the helm of the men’s soccer squad, head coach David Saward’s team knows all it needs to do this weekend is execute and he will be heading to his 11th trip to the NCAA tournament.

“I think their record completely belies their ability,” Saward says of Wesleyan. “I think they’re really a very good team. Beating Amherst on Saturday does not surprise me…I think they’ve got a number of very good players. It’s not going to be easy. They’re going to come full of confidence now even though they’ve had a tough run. I know a number of their players, and I really think they’re very, very good. Well-coached. I think it will be a very even game. It’s going to be who can find the special moment to win the game.”

If the Panthers execute against Wesleyan on Saturday, they would take the field again Sunday Nov. 8, playing either Connecticut College or Bowdoin for the NESCAC title.

Women’s Soccer
The women’s soccer team (7-4-5, 4-3-3 NESCAC) heads to Bowdoin this weekend on the heels of its 3-2 upset over Amherst on Halloween.
Turning attention to the task that awaits them in Williamstown, Captain Katherine Hobbs ’17 said that although the Amherst game was more nerve-wracking than the team would have hoped, it provided a spark for the team.

Hobbs emphasized that “by coming back from behind and battling through the final minute, we proved to ourselves that we can get the job done when it counts most.”

The Panthers face a tall task this Saturday Nov. 7 when they head to Williamstown to take on the Ephs, who were undefeated until last week then the Panthers knocked of Williams at home 2-0. Last week’s result against Williams proved that though the Panthers are the sixth seed in the NESCAC tournament, they are certainly a legitimate contender.

“Saturday’s game is going to be another huge battle and is going to come down to little moments like those that won us the game this past weekend at Amherst. We definitely rattled Williams this past week,” Hobbs said.

The Panthers shut-out Williams in last week’s match, which was only the second time this season that Williams failed to find the back of the net for only the fourth time over the last three seasons, and it was Kate Reinmuth’s ’17 fourth clean sheet of the season.
“Williams is certainly a worthy opponent,” said Reinmuth, who saved all three shots on goal registered by the Ephs. “We know that it’s going to be a battle every time we face them, no matter the week or the field – or the year for that matter. We beat them last week, but that’s no guarantee of anything, so we’re working to fine tune our game in anticipation of Saturday.”

The Panthers’ defense needs to limit Williams’ dangerous duo of junior forwards, Audrey Thomas and Kriste Kirshe – the top two goal scorers in the NESCAC – as they did in their first meeting when Thomas and Kirshe were held without a shot-on-goal.

Hobbs reflected how the team is embracing the rematch with the top-ranked Ephs, who she says “will be coming into this rematch with a vengeance, but that makes the game that much more fun. We have already taken away their perfect season and now we are excited to end their NESCAC run as well.

Field Hockey:
If the Panthers (15-1, 9-1 NESCAC) are going to repeat as NESCAC tournament champions, the odds are that they will likely have to go through Bowdoin, as the last four NESCAC tournament finals pitted Panthers against Polar Bears. The Panthers have only been the higher seed in two out of the six meetings between Middlebury and Bowdoin in the finals.

Field hockey almost certainly does not need to win its game Saturday Nov. 7 in Brunswick, Maine against Tufts to guarantee it a spot in the NCAA tournament; however, the team would relish a chance to avenge its only loss of the season, off of a penalty stroke in the last minute, to Bowdoin in Brunswick on Sept. 26.

If the Panthers are going to repeat as NESCAC tournament champions, the odds are that they will likely have to go through Bowdoin, as the last four NESCAC tournament finals pitted Panthers against Polar Bears.

After easily handling Hamilton last Saturday afternoon Middlebury leads the nation by wide a wide margin in assists-per-game with 3.63, more than half an assist better than the next-best team.  The Panthers also lead the nation in average margin of victory at almost 4 goals-per-game and rank fourth in goals scored per game at 4.56.

Moreover, it could easily be argued the Panthers have the best scoring duo in the country in Pam Schulman ’17 and Annie Leonard ’18 with 33 combined goals on the year thus far. The Panthers’ goalkeeper, Emily Miller ’17 is also having a tremendous year for the Panthers, as she ranks 8th in the nation in goals-against-average, having allowed only 11 goals in 977 minutes.

Nevertheless, Leonard says that the team is not looking beyond the next game.

“We are just focused on taking everything day by day and not looking too far ahead,” she said. “The team is working hard to get better, and we are just focusing on doing our jobs. We can only control what we do as a team, so we’re working our hardest to prepare ourselves. We are certainly excited for the road ahead.”

Volleyball:
The volleyball squad (17-6, 7-3 NESCAC) has enjoyed a successful regular season especially for such a young team: the Panthers have no seniors on this year’s roster.

The talented young team is headlined by Becca Raffel ’18 who currently leads the NESCAC in kills with 334, and has more than avoided a “sophomore slump” after being named co-Rookie of the Year in 2014. Raffel is joined by veteran presence Melanie English ’17, who is also the conference blocks leader, as well as fellow outside hitter Emily Kolodka ’18 and Hannah Blackburn ’17 as the team’s key contributors.
Middlebury enters the NESCAC tournament as the fourth seed for the second straight year. No one on the current roster has advanced passed the quarterfinal round of the NESCAC tournament, but their match with Tufts this Friday evening Nov. 6 in Brunswick, Maine provides an opportunity for this team to have a breakthrough.

“Tufts is a very strong team,” Raffel said in preparing for the Jumbos early this week. “We had a competitive match with them last week and [so] we know their tendencies and their game. It’s nice to be able to go into the game having proved to ourselves that we are capable of beating them, but at the same time it’s never easy to beat a good team twice, especially at NESCACs.”

The Panthers’ mental toughness certainly cannot be questioned, especially with the way that it handled the highs and lows of this season. At the times when the Panthers faltered they got right back up again – the most notable example being how they followed losing two-straight hard-fought matches to NYU and Bowdoin in mid-September with a ten match winning streak.

“No one on our team has won a NESCAC championship,” Kolodka. “We are hungry for the opportunity to play Saturday and Sunday, and that’s driving us to bring our best volleyball on Friday.”