As the regular season winds down for all but one of the fall sports, Middlebury has maintained its dominance in the NESCAC making a strong push in the first trimester of its defense of the Directors’ Cup. The football team — 4-0 for the first time since 1992 — and the top-ranked, 12-0 field hockey team headline the group, while the women’s soccer and volleyball teams are both a game out of first place in the conference. Only the men’s soccer team has struggled this season, falling into eighth place in the NESCAC after a rash of injuries and hard luck in front of net. But the men haven’t lost in their last four games, with two wins and a draw against NESCAC opponents keeping their postseason chances alive. The cross country teams, meanwhile, continue to outrun the competition as the fifth-ranked women and 17th-ranked men prepare for the NESCAC Championships and the NCAA Tournament. The tennis teams are set to wrap up a successful fall season, which was highlighted by Lok Sze Leung ’15’s return to the ITA Finals. Also looking forward to the spring season are the men’s and women’s golf teams, both of which hope to enjoy successful postseason tournament success in the spring. It’s all about the here and now, however, for …
1) The football team, which beat Williams for the first time with head coach Bob Ritter at the helm, ending a streak of 11 consecutive losses against the Ephs dating back to 2001. With the win, Middlebury matched its best start in two decades since the ’92 team began the season 5-0. Zach Driscoll ’13 is proving that he is one of the top wide receivers in Division III football, earning NESCAC Player of the Week honors for the second time this season with 12 catches for 250 yards and three touchdowns in the win. Driscoll is third among Division III wide receivers with 144.5 yards receiving per game.
“Coach Ritter has done an amazing job of finding ways to get me matched up in favorable situations,” Driscoll said. “I think [Mac Foote ’14] has faith in my ability to get open, and I know I can trust him to make a great throw when we get the look we want. Any time you have that kind of relationship between a quarterback and receiver, you have a much better chance of executing on a big play.”
While Foote and Driscoll have lit up scoreboards, the defense has been the biggest difference this season, improving from worst to first in the NESCAC in points allowed. A unit that gave up more than 31 points per game last season has allowed fewer than 12 at the halfway mark of the 2012 season. The unit’s turn around cannot be attributed to any one player: in the win over Williams, senior defensive back Dan Kenerson ’13 had three interceptions to lead the way; linebacker Tim Patricia ’16 leads the team in tackles in his first collegiate season; and defensive captain John Wiet ’13 and Matt Crimmins ’14 have turned the unit into a big-play, ball-hawking defense.
“Our defense is playing with a lot of confidence in each other,” said head coach Bob Ritter. “They are trusting each other to do their assignments, which allows them to focus on what they need to do themselves.”
A smothering defense with an explosive offense is a formula for success beyond football, demonstrated by …
2) The field hockey team, which has played flawlessly in the month of October, outscoring its five opponents an astounding 36-0 en route to the number one spot in the Division III polls. On Saturday, Oct. 13, 12th-ranked Trinity became the latest victim left in the Panthers’ wake, as Alyssa DiMaio’15 scored on either side of the half to drive Middlebury’s 4-0 win over the Bantams. Middlebury has beaten five top-15 teams by a combined score of 16-5.
“We have had success against top-ranked teams because we score goals early and set the tone and because we posses the ball as a team,” said tri-captain Lauren Greer ’13.
While Greer provides much of the firepower for the offense, the team has found greater balance this season with Greer accounting for 35.9 percent of the team’s goals compared to 44.8 percent last year. The senior forward still leads the NESCAC, however, with 57 points on the season, 25 better than anyone else. Katherine Theiss ’14, meanwhile, is second on the team in scoring and third in the conference and senior goaltender Madeline Brooks ’13 is second in the NESCAC in goals allowed, having conceded just five goals to conference opponents and nine total on the season. Brooks is on pace to break the school record for goals allowed, averaging 0.57 per game a hair under the program’s best mark of 0.70. With all the pieces falling into place, the field hockey team has its sight set on a return to the NCAA Finals, somewhere …
3) The women’s soccer team would love to go. A year after falling in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament, the Panthers have a great opportunity to go even further in 2012. The team opened the season undefeated through its first nine games — the only blemish a 0-0 draw against 12th-ranked Amherst. Oct. 17 the women lost their first game of the year, 1-0 at Connecticut College, but have responded with two 2-1 wins against Trinity and Skidmore, the latter coming in double overtime. After posting shutouts in each of the first six games, however, Middlebury has managed just two in its last six games. Junior striker Scarlett Kirk ’14, who scored both goals in the Panthers victory over Skidmore, leads the team with six goals on the season. The team as a whole, however, averages just 1.6 goals per game, good for just sixth in the conference, despite goals from 11 different scorers.
“Our team has been focusing on improving our finishing in the final third,” said co-captain Amy Schlueter ’13. “We want [to] dominate our opponents through our shutout defense, our composed passing and our focused finishing.”
While the offense has struggled at times, the Panthers are led by the NESCAC’s best defense, which has allowed a stingy 0.32 goals per game. Junior goalkeeper Elizabeth Foody ’14 has played a large role in the Panthers’ defensive success, leading the conference with a .941 save percentage having conceded just two goals in 12 games played.
“I don't think we have hit our high point yet this season — I think it is yet to come,” Kirk said. “The loss [to Conn. College] reminded us of what we need to work on going forward and the importance of finishing our chances.”
Losing to Connecticut College also spurred on the …
4) The volleyball team, winners of nine of their last 11 after falling in consecutive games to the Camels and the Coast Guard. Middlebury is 14-5 with less than two weeks remaining in the season and one win away from matching last season’s 15-5 record through the first 20 games. The team is hoping for a repeat of the late season magic from 2011, which culminated with an appearance in the NESCAC title game and two wins in the NCAA Tournament — the deepest run made by the team in the program’s history. This year’s squad has been led by a triumvirate of outside hitters in Amy Hart ’14, Megan Jarchow ’14 and Olivia Kolodka ’15, each of whom average well over two kills per set and three in the case of Hart who is third in the conference in kills and second in service aces. The success of the aerial attack has its foundation in the defensive play and distribution of libero and tri-captain Caitlin Barrett ’13 and setter Julia Gibbs ’13. Barrett leads the NESCAC in digs per set with 5.28, more than half a dig better than Anna Brown of Hamilton, second in the conference with 4.7 per set. Gibbs, meanwhile, leads the team in assists with eight per frame. The team’s strong senior leadership and young talent could propel Middlebury back to the NESCAC title game, a feat …
5) The men’s soccer team failed to accomplish last season for the first time since 2005, losing in double overtime to Amherst in the NESCAC semifinals after a turbulent regular season. The 2012 season certainly has seen its share of highs and lows. After four straight games without a loss, the 6-4-1 Panthers sit in seventh place in the conference standings. Before this spell of good form, however, the team was held scoreless in three straight conference losses that had them on the brink of last place in the league.
The offensive turnaround can be traced back to a stunning win at Castleton State on the 2nd of this month, when the combination of Sam Peisch ’13.5 and Ben Tabah ’13 along with a Castleton own goal, helped Middlebury claim a 3-0 victory, all in the final 12 minutes of the game. Since the win at their Vermont rivals, the Panthers have witnessed the emergence of second-year players Harper Williams ’15 and Dan Skayne ’15 in the midfield, who were integral to a 2-0 win at Hamilton on October 6. Alvand Hajizadeh ’13 also re-discovered his scoring touch at Trinity Saturday, Oct. 13, netting his fourth goal of the season and his first since Sept. 16 in a game at Plymouth State. Hajizadeh leads the team (and is eighth in the conference) in scoring with four goals and two assists.
Goalkeeper Zach Abdu-Glass ’13, meanwhile, has played every minute in net for the Panthers, and holds a save percentage of .840 with four shutouts.
While the men’s soccer team fights to save its season …
6) The cross country teams rest in preparation of the beginning of their true season with the NESCAC, ECAC and NCAA Tournaments in consecutive weeks. Seniors Addie Tousley ’13 and Jack Davies ’13, co-captain of the men’s team, pace their respective teams as both runners took first place in the St. Michael’s Invitational on Friday, Oct. 13 — the last prep race before the final three races at the end of the season.
“We’re taking this weekend off, which is our first weekend all year,” said Davies. “We’ve moved out of our base phase, we’re not doing any speed [and we’re] cutting the actual distance we [run] in a week, which gets your legs fresh.”
Both the men and women have set a high standard, finishing 13th and second in the NCAA Tournament in 2011, respectively. Finishing as the runner up is a tremendous accomplishment as many members of the …
7) The tennis teams undoubtedly told Lok Sze Leung ’15 who fell just short of defending her ITA singles title, which she claimed last fall as a first-year. Leung was defeated in the 2012 finals 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 by Gabrielle Clark of Emory who Leung has already competed against four times in less than two years including in last season’s ITA singles finals and the singles finals of the NCAA Tournament, which the sophomores split.
“I enjoy playing against Gabbie [Clark] more and more now,” said Leung. “It is fun to have this rivalry because it is one of the reasons that motivates me to work harder every day. It is kind of like a Federer-Nadal thing ... I know how much both of us hate losing to each other, but I respect [her] as an athlete and an opponent — she is very talented and is a fighter.”
Though Leung did not complete the repeat, both the men’s and women’s teams have a promising spring season to look forward to after the conclusion of the fall schedule. The men’s team received a boost from junior transfer Alex Johnston ’14 and first-year Jackson Frons ’16, among others. Senior Spencer Lunghino ’13 will be one component of a strong senior class who will lead the team in the spring, aided by the return of ITA All-American Brantner Jones ’14 for the spring season.
On the women’s side, first-year Ria Gerger ’16 gave people reason to be excited for the future of the women’s tennis team, as she advanced to the ITA Regional Finals where she lost to Leung. Gerger advanced to the finals with relative ease before being knocked off by her teammate in straight sets. In addition to the impressive group of rising underclassmen, senior Leah Kepping ’13 had a strong showing in the fall, displaying the versatility of her game with success in both singles and doubles. The fall season will come to a close with home matches for both teams in the next two weeks, but for the tennis teams and …
8) The men’s and women’s golf teams the year hinges on what happens in the spring. Both the men and the women situated themselves well for postseason play, with the women finishing second at the Williams Invitational, which doubled as the NESCAC Tournament, and the men qualifying for the NCAA Tournament with a fourth place finish in the NESCAC Tournament behind captain Billy Prince ’13’s strongest performance of the fall season. Prince was named to the All-NESCAC team for the third time in his four year career after he shot a 148 in the qualifier. Prince finished in a tie for second place one stroke off the low mark of the tournament shot by Greg Palmer who led Trinity to the 2012 NESCAC title. The women, meanwhile, finished behind hosts Williams with captain Keely Levins ’13 leading the way, finishing in fifth with a 161 over the two rounds.
But while the golf teams enjoy the completion of a successful fall season and await warmer weather, the spring and a spot at Nationals still seems a long way off for …
9) The Middlebury College Rugby Club (MCRC) who have started the season 4-0, including a win over 2011 East Coast Conference champions (ECC) and perennial Division II-A powerhouse Northeastern. Most recently, the team ran through the University of Connecticut to the tune of 49-0. The shutout came shortly after the Panthers lost in overtime to Northeastern in the finals of the East Coast Rugby Conference 7s tournament.
“15s is still our main focus, and there we remain undefeated,” said fullback Allan Stafford ’13.5. “We also demolished all the other competition and sent a message to the conference that we [are] the top dogs this year.”
While Saturday’s performance is further evidence that the Blue are indeed the team to beat in the ECC, the MCRC cannot rest on its laurels with four more conference games standing between them and a shot to play in Nationals come spring time.
The Middlebury College Women’s Ruby Club (MCWRC) meanwhile, finishes its season this fall with two games against NESCAC opponents and then the playoffs. The team has shown vast improvement from last season, throttling Tufts 33-0 after losing 31-0 to the Jumbos last year. The MWCRC still haven’t found a way to beat Bowdoin, the class of the conference, who beat Middlebury 62-10 last season and again this season in a 26-point game, albeit closer than the final score would suggest. The impending playoffs, however, provide another opportunity, says captain Jess Berry ’13, for the squad to exact its revenge on the Polar Bears.
“I'm hoping that weekend [of the playoffs] we get a chance to meet Bowdoin again,” Berry said. “I'd like to be the best in the NESCAC, and I think with this team, it's more probable than possible.”
And while we’re on the subject of more probable than possible …
10) The football team has to like its chances of winning a NESCAC title in 2012. At 4-0, the Panthers are flirting with the idea of a perfect season, something the team has accomplished only twice, in 1936 and again in 1972. With the number one scoring defense and the number two offense in the conference, the Panthers have the balance necessary to win the NESCAC. Perhaps more important, however, is the way the team has approached its newfound success.
“The team's approach for the last four games is the same as it was for the first four — go 1-0,” Driscoll said. “We have to put in a championship level effort every week if we want to be successful, and that is what we have been doing. There is a ton of excitement and intensity at practice like we've never had before, and to win games that has to be the case every week.”
Driscoll, Foote and company are halfway to achieving what many would have thought impossible before the season began. But midway through the season, it doesn’t seem impossible anymore. If anything, it’s beginning to seem more probable than possible.
OWEN TEACH, TOM CLAYTON and FRITZ PARKER contributed to this report.
