Author: cdm016

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Featured Men Sports Swimming & Diving

Bison Athlete of the Week: Mike Nicholson ’14

Chris McCree

Sports Editor

 

Profile:

Mike Nicholson

Sophomore

IM/Breast/Fly

Hometown: Chappaqua, N.Y.

Major: Economics and Sociology

 

Season bests:

200 breast: 2:01.71

200 fly: 1:48.57

200 IM: 1:50.11

400 IM: 3:53.37

 

One week after falling just short of a second consecutive Patriot League title in the 400 IM, Mike Nicholson ’14 captured two gold medals and a silver at the ECAC Championships this past weekend in Annapolis, Md., making him the first Orange and Blue swimmer to earn multiple titles in the same year since 1993.

Starting off his weekend with as the runner-up in the 200 IM, Nicholson came away with individual titles on each of the following days in the 400 IM and 200 breaststroke. Nicholson posted a season-best time of 3:53.37 in the 400 IM finals to edge out the second-place finisher by 0.74 seconds and claim the Bison’s first gold of the meet. Following this performance, Nicholson came back on Sunday to post a career-best time of 2:01.71 in the 200 breaststroke, putting him just 0.03 seconds shy of the men’s swimming program’s all-time mark.

Largely due to the Nicholson’s successes, the men’s swimming team was able to capture its second runner-up finish in as many weeks. Over the course of the three-day meet, the Bison accumulated a total of 503 points, allowing them to beat Patriot League rival Army once again.

With two full seasons under his belt, Nicholson has already been able to accomplish what few swimmers are able to do over the course of their careers. Currently, Nicholson holds school records in the 200 IM, 200 fly and 400 IM and ranks in the program top 10 in the 1,000 freestyle and 200 breaststroke. Next season, Nicholson will look to add to his collection and recapture his Patriot League title in the 400 IM.

Categories
Basketball Featured Men Sports

On to the next one

By Greg Stevenson

Senior Writer

The men’s basketball team’s opening round match-up with the Navy Midshipmen was a return to form as the Bison dominated the Mids from start to finish, winning 87-63. After struggling towards the end of their Patriot League schedule, the Orange and Blue advanced to the conference semifinals for the second consecutive season.

Before the contest began, two members of the Bison squad were honored for their outstanding season. Bryan Cohen ’12, in his final season in an Orange and Blue uniform, won his third consecutive Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year award. He became just the second player ever to win three major individual conference awards and the first to win the same award three times. After leading the Orange and Blue to a 12-2 league record and their second straight regular season conference title, head coach Dave Paulsen was recognized with the Patriot League Coach of the Year award, one he won last season as well.

The Bison delivered the first blow against Navy, jumping ahead 11-3 just five minutes in. The three-point shot kept Navy within striking distance early on, but it would not be enough on this night.

The Orange and Blue played one of their most efficient offensive games on the season, shooting 62.7 percent from the field and making over half of their baskets from beyond the three-point arc. Leading the way offensively was Joe Willman ’13, who tallied 18 points while shooting over 70 percent from the field in 24 minutes of play.

Bryson Johnson ’13 found his stroke from outside, knocking in five three-pointers off the bench. Three of those came during a three-minute stretch late in the first half in which the Bison swelled their two-point advantage to 11. The run kept going into halftime, when the Bison took a 20-point lead into the locker room.

The second half proved much of the same story as the first. The Orange and Blue would extend the lead to 31 at one point. Navy was cut the lead to 24 but it proved too little, too late.

The Bison will face the Lafayette Leopards at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday in the semifinal round of the tournament. 

Categories
Beyond the Bison Sports

Beyond the Bison: Running against the wind

By Julian Dory

Columnist

Baseball’s steroid era will forever leave a black mark on a game born in the streets and fields of our great country.  Forever, in the sport where records are most indelible, fans will have to insert mental asterisks next to any outstanding achievement between the late 1980s and today.

Barry Bonds. Cheated.

Mark McGuire. Cheated.

Roger Clemens. Cheated.

It is a shame. Their talent was astronomical without the assistance of dirty syringes and skin-seeping creams.

Most recently, last year’s NL MVP, Ryan Braun, had his name dragged through the mud of public shame after testing revealed he had broken the MLB’s performance-enhancing drug policy.

When that news broke, it was the one of the worst lows of the steroid era.  A clean cut, well-spoken, hard-working star that had risen just as the dust settled from the worst point of the steroid scandal in baseball had sunk to the depths of every other guilty offender before him.

Back to square one.

Or … maybe he was innocent?  Braun had not put on much noticeable muscle since entering the league in 2007 and the drug-testing in baseball is widely-regarded as being built upon paranoia.  Any tests that pick up even a scent of an oddity result in a “failure” marker, a 50-game suspension for the guilty player and an indelible mark of infamy. Sure, we never look at some players the same ever again, but some players have failed tests based on substances they regularly took, bought from their local drug store.

Still, honestly, Braun’s case seemed to smell funny from the beginning. That is why when Braun won his appeal of his suspension (and in essence, his original conviction) last week it came as a pleasant news story.

But not a surprise.

For the first time since baseball put down its iron fist on its drug policy, a star embedded in the web of steroid-offenders wiggled himself free. The arbitrators ruled that Braun’s testing had been administered incorrectly, and this, as a result, skewed the results (he had tested positive for heightened levels of testosterone).

Braun was unequivocal in declaring his innocence and happiness with the results.  He had maintained his story from the beginning, and he had never even offered a possibility as to how he could have increased his testosterone.

It is great to see a major star, and reigning MVP, acquitted of such a regrettable offense.  But it is even greater to finally see a corner for baseball to turn with regard to its steroid era.

Now, the knee-jerk reactions may fade.  Now, the drug testing may be reevaluated and perfected so that innocent players don’t have to declare that status.  Now, the offenders of the real drugs—HGH, creatine, cypionate—might finally realize there is no hope in even attempting to hide their abuse from drug-testers anymore.

Most importantly, parents might finally be able to rest easy when their children talk about their “baseball heroes.”

 

Categories
Golf Sports Women

Women’s golf opens season with strong performance in S.C.

By Andrew Lichtenauer

Senior Writer

The women’s golf team had its best finish ever at the Edwin Watts/Kiawah Island Classic in Kiawah Island, S.C. earlier this week. The team came in 13th in a field of 33 teams.

The Orange and Blue made the cut for the final-round main draw after posting a solid 298 in Monday’s second round. The Bison finished with a three-round team total of 929, which put them in the top half of a very strong field. They were only two shots out of 11th place, and the team finished second among the seven Big South teams in the field. 

Playing for the Bison were Minjoo Lee ’12, Brittany Rendell ’12, Kasha Scott ’14, Bridget Wilcox ’14, and Lauren Bernard ’14.

Lee had the best all-around weekend for the Bison with a three-round total of 226. She finished tied for 17th individually after three consistent rounds of 76, 73 and 77.

Scott also had an impressive tournament, bouncing back from a tough opening-round 84. The sophomore played her final 36 holes in only three over par, closing the tournament with impressive rounds of 74 and 73, for a three-round total of 231.

Wilcox was third-best for the Bison, finishing with a 17-over par three-round total of 233.

After the team’s finish at Kiawah, Wilcox expects the Bison will continue their good play.

“The solid play at Kiawah gives us hope for a very strong spring season. As a team, it is our goal to win the Big South Championship,” she said. “ Though this will be a tough task since Campbell just joined our conference, we practice each day and work as hard as we do so that we have a chance to win our Championship.”

The Bison will hit the links next on March 16-17 in the Bison Challenge at Paiute in Las Vegas. 

Categories
Lacrosse Sports Women

Women’s lax falls just short

By Ajan Caneda

Staff Writer

Seeking its first victory of the year, the women’s lacrosse team fell 13-12 at Manhattan Sunday afternoon during the squad’s closest game of the year. Katelyn Miller ’14 scored four goals to lead the Bison, while Madison Hurwitz ’13 and Arriana Sajjad ’15 each scored two goals.

In both the first and second half, the Bison fell behind big early and needed to rally. Manhattan opened up a 7-2 lead to start the game, but the Orange and Blue scored four straight goals in the last 6:40 of the first half to reduce the deficit to one at the break.

The Lady Jaspers rebuilt their lead to 12-8 in the first 10 minutes of the second half, but after a 10-minute stretch in which neither team scored, the Bison began a rally that pulled them back to within one with 8:54 left. Manhattan scored again with 5:43 left, and the Bison answered with 2:52 remaining but could not score the final goal to complete the comeback.

The Bison played much better than in their first three games, each of which they lost by 14 goals or more.

“It was really good for us to start out against tough teams like Duke and Penn State to be able to see where we stand as a team and how hard we have to work to get at the level they are,” Sajjad said. “However, now we get to look forward to conference games where the outcomes really matter and the competition gets more intense. We’re excited to start focusing on the competition in practice and buckling down.”

That being said, the Orange and Blue know that there is a lot to improve on in the coming weeks.

“Coming out of that game, I would say that we definitely need to come out stronger instead of constantly turning it on in the second half,” Sajjad said. “Midfield transition was especially good, and that’s one of the key things that we have been working on as a team, so it was great to see us come together in that aspect. We definitely do have some more things we need to work on however. Defense needs to work on bumping cutters and attack needs to work on shot placement.”

The Bison have two home games, Saturday versus George Washington and Monday versus Presbyterian, before their first Patriot League game of the season against Navy.

 

Categories
Lacrosse Men Sports

Men’s lax drops third straight

By Reed Dempsey

Contributing Writer

The men’s lacrosse team dropped its third straight against a nationally-ranked opponent last Saturday, falling 13-12 in overtime to No. 9 Villanova.

Following two tight losses, the Orange and Blue hoped they could start to turn around their season, but the Wildcats would prove to be their toughest opponent to date. After ‘Nova opened the scoring six minutes into the first quarter, Joe Kearney ’15 tied the game up at 1-1 with his first collegiate goal. Over the next five minutes the Wildcats scored three straight goals to take a 4-1 lead.

The Bison followed with goals by Billy Eisenreich ’12 and Tom Black ’14 to cut the lead to one, but quickly returned to a three-goal deficit as ‘Nova scored back-to-back goals with seven minutes remaining in the first half.

In the closing minutes of the first half, the Bison scored three goals in succession by Nick Gantsoudes ’12, Todd Heritage ’14 and Gantsoudes again to tie the game at six apiece. As the half was coming to an end, the Orange and Blue had possession and a chance to take the lead for the first time of the day, but turned over the ball, a mistake that proved costly as the Wildcats quickly moved the ball down the field and scored to take a 7-6 lead into the break.

‘Nova extended its lead to two early in the third quarter on Jack Rice’s fourth goal for the Wildcats, but the Bison offense again rattled of three goals in row to take their first lead of the day, 9-8.

With just 25 seconds remaining in the third quarter, ‘Nova tied the game up at nine. The two teams battled over the final 15 minutes of regulation in a quarter that featured three lead changes. The Bison held a one-goal lead with just over three minutes remaining, but two Wildcat goals in a span of 10 seconds gave Villanova the 12-11 advantage.

A strong second half by goalie Kyle Feeney ’13, who registered 16 saves on the day, kept the Bison in the game, and with two minutes left the Bison were able to stop ‘Nova and advance the ball into their offensive zone, where David Dickson ’15 found Heritage for his third goal of the day, to tie the game at twelve with 1:22 remaining in regulation.

A minute and a half into the overtime period, the Wildcats took advantage of an extra-man opportunity to score the game-winning goal.

Over the first three games, the Bison have not been at a loss for goals. Little mistakes and miscues that have plagued the Orange and Blue. Mental lapses have cost the team offensive possessions and have special-team situations where opponents have capitalized.

“We have to stress discipline and attention to the little things,” Gantsoudes said. “It’s tedious, but effective.”

Many members of this year’s team were here in 2010 when the Orange and Blue experienced six heartbreaking loses, five of them by just one goal.

“We need to look back on that season and remember how much it hurt,” Feeney said. “We invest so much time and emotion into these games that we need to start learning how to become a better team and avoid being that team that almost was great. We don’t want that to happen again.”

The Bison travel to Annapolis, Md. this Saturday to play Navy in their first Patriot League contest of the season.

“The team’s approach is the same as it’s been since day one, win every game. We are more than capable of beating any opponent on our schedule, and now it’s just a matter of proving it,” Feeney said.

Categories
Sports Water Polo Women

Water polo wins four at Princeton

By Katherine Harris

Writer

Coming back from an early loss, the women’s water polo team rebounded for a strong 4-1 performance on the weekend at the CWPA/MAAC Crossover event hosted by Princeton University.

“We had a great week of practice and this weekend showed that our hard work is starting to pay off. It was a huge weekend for us and we came away with some much-needed big wins,” Julianne Valdes ’14 said.

The Bison traveled to Princeton on Friday to face the No. 18 home team in their first game of the weekend. Despite 11 saves from goalkeeper Rena Heim ’14 as well as a strong offensive showing of two goals and an assist from Valdes, the Orange and Blue were not able to stop Princeton’s scoring drive in the 12-6 loss.

The women quickly rebounded the next morning, as they played a solid Siena team. Bison scoring was balanced with 10 different players netting goals in the 12-5 victory, and Taylor Barnett ’15 played an impressive game, recording three goals and two assists for the Orange and Blue.

The Bison faced No. 20 Iona later in the day in a much closer match than the morning one, eventually prevailing 12-10. Heim had a season-high 13 saves, and the defense played an important role in the victory with their second quarter shutout giving the Orange and Blue offense a chance to pull ahead and take the lead. Hallie Kennan ’12 led the scoring, with her three goals and two assists placing her 10th all-time on the school record books for assists. Krystle Morgan ’13 (three goals) and Valdes (two goals and two assists) rounded out the offense for the Bison.

“We are starting to really come together as a team and I’m really excited for the rest of the season,” Valdes said.

The Orange and Blue entered the last day of the event hoping to improve on their 2-1 record for the weekend, and they did so, starting the day with an 11-6 victory over Villanova. The game was another one with very balanced team scoring, with eight different Bison scoring goals in the contest. Mackenzie Ferry ’14 shone for the Bison with four goals, and Heim had 10 saves, making it her third double-digit save game of the weekend.

On Sunday afternoon, the Bison played their final match of the weekend against Wagner, and having lost to them just last weekend, the team was out for payback. The Bison offense exploded with five players scoring multiple goals, and Heim once again anchored the defense with 12 saves. Valdes, Kennan and Morgan each recorded two goals and two assists for the Orange and Blue as the team pulled out a 11-9 victory to round out the weekend.

“We were very happy with our wins this weekend but we weren’t perfect,” head coach John McBride said. “It is a very long season and we still have quite a bit to work on but this weekend should give us the mental and physical foundation to build upon.”

With the 4-1 weekend, the Bison improved their total record to 7-6. Though their loss to Princeton put them at 0-2 in conference play, the women will have an opportunity to improve their record this weekend as they travel to the Harvard Invitational.

Categories
Sports Tennis Women

Women’s tennis drops two of three

By Alex Wagner

Assistant Sports Editor

Despite signs of improvement, the women’s tennis team had a rough going last weekend in Olean, N.Y., dropping two of its three matches.

Things started off well for the Bison, who defeated Niagara 4-3 on Friday night, marking their first victory of the season. Elizabeth Morgan ’14 decided the victory, beating her opponent 6-0, 6-0 at the No. 6 singles spot.

“I just tried to stay really focused and play my game,” Morgan said. “I tried to stay consistent, but also to be aggressive on the right shots.”

The duos of Elena Vidrascu ’14 and Lydia Colvin ’15 and Jen Bush ’15 and Lauren Boone ’15 won two out of the three doubles matches, starting the Orange and Blue off strong.

Things continued to go well with Dumitrita Iepuras ’12 and Vidrascu earning victories at the first two singles spots, but losses at the next three slots left the match in Morgan’s hands.

“Although we still have things to work on, this weekend was a good challenge for us.  We played some tough matches, and performed pretty well in them,” Morgan said.

The Bison lost Saturday afternoon’s match against St. Bonaventure 7-0.  Daria Tuzhikova ’13 and Iepuras started the day winning their No. 1 doubles match 9-7 against the Bonnies’ Marissa Brossard and Amanda Pallikunnel, but the other matches were too much for the Orange to Blue to handle, as they lost the remaining two doubles matches and all six singles matches.

The Bison were unable to bounce back from the loss in their next match against Duquesne on Sunday afternoon, losing 6-0. Due to time constraints, they only played the singles matches, but the Orange and Blue were unable to pull out a win in any of the six.

Vidrascu, playing at No. 2, came the closest to victory after winning the first set against her opponent.  She was unable to maintain her momentum, though, falling in back-to-back sets and eventually losing 6-7, 6-4, 6-2.

Despite the rough going early on in the season, head coach Rebecca Helt still has a lot of confidence in her players.

“We saw a lot of improvement in several areas … ball striking and confidence level were definitely better this weekend,” Helt said.  “This is a rough time of year.  It’s difficult to get in a good rhythm with the weather conditions, and I think once we get outside and get a few more matches under our belts we’ll continue to see a lot of improvement.”

The Bison look to get in a good rhythm in their next match, which will be against Saint Francis (Pa.) on March 2 in Loretto, Pa.

Categories
Men Sports Tennis

Men’s tennis posts winless weekend

By Cooper Mead

Contributing Writer

The men’s tennis team lost to both Niagara and St. Bonaventure 4-3 last weekend in Olean, N.Y. 

Against Niagara, the Bison managed to split their singles matches but could not claim the doubles matches necessary to secure a victory.  Gregg Cohenca ’12, Josh Katten ’13 and Gregory Maxson ’12 each came away with big victories in singles, but the Purple Eagles were able to match the Bison with three singles wins of their own.

Cohenca played an extremely close match against Joseph Zelic at the No. 1 spot, winning the first set 6-2 and claiming the third 6-3 after losing the second in a tiebreaker. With the victory, Cohenca increased his total singles wins to 45 for his career, moving him into a tie for 13th place in program history. In the No. 3 spot, Katten defeated Lorenz Schowjer with a 6-1, 6-4 sweep.

A Niagara sweep of all three doubles matches prevented the Bison from earning the victory.

Following the first loss, the Bison came out on Saturday to face St. Bonaventure, but fell in similar fashion.

Cohenca and Evan Zimmer ’13 won the No. 1 doubles match 8-6 against opponents Luis Guevara and Oscar Yanez.

Later, in singles, Cohenca fell in straight sets at the No. 1 spot and was followed by Katten and Zimmer shortly thereafter.  For the bottom three players, the story was quite the opposite. Kelly Morque ’13, Kyle Rosen ’14 and Maxson each defeated their opponents and brought the Bison to within one of their opponent. Morque’s match against St. Bonaventure first-year Miguel Suarez was especially close, but the junior was able to come away with the three-set victory, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2.

In the end, the Bison rally proved too little, too late with the Bonnies having already secured the victory before the conclusion of these matches.

“It’s good we won a bunch of matches, but if we don’t get the team win, it’s disappointing,” Morque said. “We competed very well but obviously there are some things we still need to work on. These tough matches will only motivate us to work harder in practice.”

The Bison hope to rebound from these two losses when they travel to Orlando, Fla. for six important matches over spring break.

Categories
Sports Swimming & Diving Women

Women’s swimming takes seventh at ECAC Championships

By Lindsay Regruto

Senior Writer

The women’s swimming and diving team earned a seventh-place finish at the three-day ECAC Championships last weekend in Annapolis, Md. The Bison ended the season on a strong note with a fourth-place finish by Lauren Perry ’15 in the 100 freestyle followed by a sixth-place finish by Kaitlyn Sweeney ’12 in the 200 fly. Perry’s finish at 51.93 moved her into the ninth spot on the program’s all-time top 10 list.

“ECACs was a great way to end our season,” Perry said. “All of our hard work throughout the year paid off, and I’m very proud of our team.”

The Bison’s performance on Saturday put them in sixth place overall at the end of the day. Tara Boyle ’15 earned a fifth-place finish on the three-meter springboard. The first-year’s score of 256.20 in the preliminaries moved her into fifth in program history. Jennifer Brennan ’14 secured a second-place finish for the Bison in the 100 backstroke. The Orange and Blue saw success in the 100 fly with three top 10 finishes. Elizabeth Porcellio ’13, Alex Panzarino ’14 and Sweeney finished seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively. Porcellio finished with a 57.34, seventh in school history. The Bison had a strong showing in the relays with a fourth-place finish in the 200 medley and a seventh-place finish in the 800 freestyle relay.

“Overall, ECACs was a fun meet with a really great atmosphere that allowed our swimmers to do well,” Panzarino said. “For our seniors it was their last races, so it was bittersweet to watch [them] finishing their swimming careers.”

On Friday, Perry earned a fifth-place finish in the 50 free while Tori Molchany ’15 took home a fifth-place finish on the one-meter diving board.

“ECACs was a very exciting meet this year. We had a lot more swimmers attend this year, and our excitement level was much higher. Going into the season, one of our team goals was to place [in the] top eight, so we were very happy that we got seventh place,” Caroline Higgins ’14 said.

Before traveling to ECACs, the team earned seven All-Patriot League Honors. Boyle and Perry earned first-team honors while Stephanie Koziol ’15, Katie Hetherington ’15, Kelly Pontecorvo ’14, Porcellio and Brennan all earned second-team honors.