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Men Sports Swimming & Diving

Bison earn five golds at ECACs

By Scott Padula

Staff Writer

The men’s swimming team captured a program-record five ECAC crowns last weekend on its way to earning second place in the ECAC Championships in Annapolis, Md., breaking the previous program mark set in 1992. Mike Nicholson ’14, Eric Sokolosky ’12 and Matt Segar ’12 all came away with individual golds for the Bison, becoming the fourth, fifth and sixth swimmers in program history to win multiple ECAC titles. The quartet of Taylor Harris ’12, Segar, Thomas Brown ’12 and Sokolosky also claimed the 400-yard freestyle relay title.

On the first day of competition, six different Bison as well as two relay teams finished in the top 10 of their respective events. The best event of the day for the Orange and the Blue was the 200 individual medley where Nicholson and Christian Treat ’13 both finished in the top five. Nicholson earned second place, losing to Rider’s Johnny Charles-Funk by 0.06 seconds while Treat posted his fifth career top-five finish at ECACs with a fourth-place finish. 

Sokolosky also placed second in the 50 freestyle with a time of 20.75 seconds, 0.09 seconds behind winner Phillip Gaissert of Columbia.

By the end of Saturday, the second day of competition, the Orange and Blue had jumped from fifth in the standings to second, only behind the host Midshipmen. Then Nicholson and Segar gave standout performances, capturing the first two ECAC crowns of the weekend for the Orange and Blue. The wins also marked the first time since 1992 that two different Bison won an event at the ECACs.

Nicholson dropped more than six seconds from the preliminaries to the finals, winning the 400 individual medley by 0.74 seconds. Segar climbed seven spots from the preliminaries to the finals to win the 200 freestyle, cutting more than three seconds from his time.

Great swims by Treat, Billy Krause ’13 and Harris, all of whom finished in the top five in their respective events, also helped the Bison climb up the team standings.

“I think we went into the meet knowing we were capable of finishing higher up than we ever had before,” Harris said. “I think our success is founded in a team culture where we support each other as much as possible. I am so proud of the team; a lot of guys really stepped up this past weekend to make it such a success.”

On the third and final day of competition, the Bison held their second place position thanks to wins in three more events.

Sokolosky started off the series of wins with his second career ECAC crown in the 100 freestyle. Nicholson followed Sokolosky, capturing his second ECAC title. Nicholson posted an impressive performance in the 200 breaststroke, winning by a margin of 1.43 seconds. His time of 2:01.71 was 0.03 seconds shy of the program record. In the final event of the meet, the Orange and Blue won the 400 freestyle relay, outpacing the Midshipmen by 0.22 seconds. The win, with a time of 3:01.69, was the second-ever ECAC victory for a Bison relay.

“To conclude the final chapter of my collegiate swimming career by winning the 100 freestyle and the 400 freestyle relay with fellow seniors Taylor Harris, Matt Segar and Tom Brown could not have been a better feeling,” Sokolosky said. “Anchoring that relay to gold is something I’ll remember forever. To have been a part of the most talented class of Bison swimmers in school history has been a privilege and honor. Swimming for the Orange and Blue has been incredible thanks to the team that has surrounded me, and our coaches who are committed to excellence. These past four years have been a wild ride, one I wouldn’t trade for anything.”

 

Categories
Baseball Men Sports

Baseball takes series at JMU

By Andrew Arnao

Staff Writer

The baseball team picked up three wins (8-6, 22-6, and 13-6) and a loss (12-1) in a four-game series at James Madison last weekend. Outfielder Bob Donato ’12 was named Patriot League Baseball Player of the Week after he helped lead the Orange and the Blue to a 4-2 record, their best start to a season since 2003.

The Bison entered the series having only defeated James Madison once in 22 previous meetings.

“This series against James Madison was one of the early matchups we had circled as a team because of our past history against them,” shortstop Carter Bumgardner ’13 said.

Last season’s matchup against JMU was particularly gruesome for the Bison, who lost four lopsided games, 37-7, 9-2, 26-15 and 19-12.

“Everybody had a lot of anger for what JMU did to us last year, beating us so badly,” pitcher Xavier Hammond ’15 said. “We all wanted to get back at them for that.”

Early on, it appeared the Bison were in for another rough road trip when the Orange and Blue were defeated 12-1 in the opener. Starting pitcher Ryan Ebner ’12 was unusually shaky, giving up nine runs in 3.2 innings. Donato led off the game with a home run, but that was all the offense the team could muster.

The team bounced back in a big way during the following doubleheader on Saturday. The first game of the doubleheader resulted in an 8-6 victory after the Bison came back from a four-run deficit in the sixth inning, with infielder Travis Clark ’13 providing the eventual go-ahead RBI single. Hammond earned the win while relief pitcher Alex Cillo ’12 earned the save after each pitched two effective innings.

“Our offense did a great job of scoring runs for us when we were behind in Game 2 and our defense did well to hold them to six runs,” Hammond said.

Everything started clicking in the second game of the day, when the Orange and the Blue busted out for a 22-6 victory, led by Donato’s two home runs and team record-tying eight RBIs. Pitcher Dan Weigel ’14 was also tremendous, carrying a no-hitter into the sixth before eventually giving up three earned runs in 7.1 innings.

Donato continued to rake in hits in the series finale on Sunday, reaching base five times and finishing the series with a .476 batting average and 11 RBIs. Pitcher Bryson Hough ’15 also made a strong starting debut, giving up only two earned runs through six innings and earning the win as the Bison triumphed 13-6.

“I thought our pitching staff did a great job throwing strikes and keeping JMU hitters off-balance,” infielder David Duffet ’12 said. “Our defense played well behind the pitchers, and our offense was able to score enough runs to win.”

The Bison make their home debut this weekend, playing a doubleheader on Saturday and a single game on Sunday against Niagara.

“This weekend Niagara will be another important step in that process as we are looking forward to playing at home and continuing our good play,” head coach Gene Depew said. “We can’t afford to sit back and be satisfied with one good weekend.  We need to develop the consistency that will allow us to be competitive every weekend.”

Categories
Basketball Sports Women

Women’s basketball struggles at Navy

By Ajan Caneda

Staff Writer

The women’s basketball team finished the regular season with a 60-51 loss at Navy last Saturday. The Orange and Blue closed the regular season with a 5-24 record, going 3-11 in Patriot League play and claiming the seventh seed in the Patriot League Tournament.

Turnovers stung the Orange and Blue in the first half, as Navy scored 11 points off 10 Bison turnovers. A Navy three-point basket gave the Mids their first double-digit lead of the game at the 8:39 remaining mark of the first half. The Bison countered with threes by Shelby Romine ’14 and Alyssa Dunn ’13 that cut the deficit to five. Rachel Voss ’13 scored a three-point play to close out the half, but Navy still led 30-29.

“Navy played us in mostly zone defenses, which caused a little difficulty for us to get into our offense,” Lindsay Horbatuck ’13 said. “I think that the biggest difference in this game was that Navy wanted to play a half-court game while we liked to play a full-court, fast-paced game.  We pride ourselves on full court, man-to-man defense as well as transition for most of our points.”

Voss hit a jumper to start the second half that gave the Orange and Blue their first and only lead of the game. Navy then built their lead back up to double digits with a 13-2 run. Shooting struggles plagued the Orange and Blue, as the Bison shot 23.1 percent in the second half. They finished at 32.1 percent for the game. Forward Audrey Dotson ’15 hit a jumper that trimmed the lead to six with 4:49 remaining, but that would be the closest the Orange and Blue would come to a comeback, as Navy sank some late game baskets that sealed the win.

Dunn was the leading scorer for the Bison with 12 points, while Romine also scored 10. Horbatuck nearly had a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds.

“I think that this game fueled us for the tournament,” Horbatuck said. “Anything is possible when tournament time comes. This year the league is so open and we are really excited to face Lehigh.”

The Bison traveled to Bethlehem, Pa. to take on second-seeded Lehigh in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament last night after press time. The Orange and Blue split their regular season meetings against the Mountain Hawks, losing 53-38 at home on Jan. 18, but winning 62-56 at Lehigh on Feb. 15.

“I think that the last few weeks have shown us that we can play with anyone in our league on any given night, so that should give us confidence going into the Patriot League Tournament,” interim head coach Bill Broderick said. “We have beaten or played within three points of all the top four seeds this year, so we know that if we play our game than anything is possible in the tournament.”

Categories
Basketball Men Sports

Bison set sights on tournament berth

By Eric Brod

Senior Writer

After an eventful regular season, the Patriot League tournament kicked off this week with eight teams battling for the right to represent the Patriot League in the NCAA tournament. This year, the league features at least three teams with a legitimate shot of making the tournament in our very own Bison, the Lehigh Mountain Hawks, and American Eagles.

With a win over Navy on Saturday, the Orange and Blue defended last season’s regular season championship and entered into the tournament as the clear favorite. After holding the longest conference winning-streak in the country before dropping back-to-back contests, the Bison concluded regular-season play with an impressive 12-2 Patriot League record.

While their late-season losses to Lehigh (at home) and Holy Cross (on the road) have removed the aura of invincibility from the Bison, they still posses the deepest team in the league and feature Mike Muscala ’13 (16.7 points per game, 9.1 rebounds per game), and now-three-time Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year Bryan Cohen ’12. Two-time Patriot League Coach of the Year Dave Paulsen also has the benefit of one of the deepest benches in the league with Bryson Johnson ’13 providing immediate offense and Steven Kaspar ’15 providing stability off the bench at the point guard position.

Second-seed Lehigh poses a tough match for any opponent. The Mountain Hawks, led by league-leading scorer C.J. McCollum (21.7 ppg), have surged late in the season behind their star, including a thrilling 56-53 victory at Sojka Pavilion earlier this month. Besides McCollum, the Mountain Hawks also have solid players in Gabe Knutson (12.1 ppg) and Holden Greiner (10.3 ppg).

American also poses a legitimate threat to upset the Bison in this year’s league tournament despite slipping to third in the conference this year. The Eagles are paced by leading scorer Charles Hinkle (18.8 ppg) and have solid leadership at point guard in starter Daniel Munoz.

With a first-round trouncing of Navy on Wednesday night, the Bison inched a little bit closer to their ultimate goal of repeating as champions. On Saturday, the Orange and Blue will meet Lafayette in a rematch of last year’s title matchup. A victory will allow them to host another championship  game.

Categories
Basketball Men Sports

Men’s basketball claims season title

By Chris McCree

Sports Editor

The men’s basketball team closed out its regular season with a pair of wins over American and Navy, claiming its second consecutive Patriot League regular season title. Mike Muscala ’13 led the Bison with a combined 45 points and 20 rebounds over the two games, recording his team-leading 14th double-double and 11th 20-point game of the year.

Coming off their first conference losses of the season, the Orange and Blue rebounded with a tight 55-50 win over American last Thursday. With the win, the Bison snapped American’s 11-game home winning streak and earned its third-straight season sweep over the Eagles.

After trailing the Eagles for almost the entire first half, the Bison claimed their first lead since early in the first half off a three-pointer from Bryson Johnson ’13 with 13:25 remaining in the second half. For the next seven minutes, the game underwent numerous lead changes until the Orange and Blue reeled off 11 consecutive points, extending their lead to 10 points with less than three minutes to play. Led by stout defensive play by Cohen down the stretch, the Orange and Blue were able to limit American to 12 points in the final nine minutes of play and come away with the five-point victory.

Two days later, the Bison squad secured home court advantage throughout the playoffs with a 64-55 win over the Midshipmen. Muscala led the Bison once again with 19 points and six rebounds on the day, going six for eight from the field and seven for seven from the foul line.

After leading by 11 at the half, the Bison managed to maintain a double-digit lead for most of the second half, allowing head coach Dave Paulsen to give reserve seniors Enoch Andoh ’12 and Probese Leo ’12 some much-deserved playing time.

The Orange and Blue earned their 200th all-time Patriot League regular season win, becoming the first team to do so in league history.

With the regular season under their belt, the Orange and Blue now set their sights on repeating as Patriot League champions and earning a second-consecutive NCAA berth.

Categories
Men Sports Track & Field

Athlete of the Week

By Chris McCree

Sports Editor

 

Player Profile:

Justin Hicks

Junior

Sprinter

Hometown: Wilmington, Del.

Major: Neuroscience

 

2011-2012 Personal Bests:

60m:  6.84 seconds

200m: 21.88 seconds

400m: 50.58 seconds

 

Behind the record-breaking performances of third-year sprinter Justin Hicks ’13, the men’s track and field squad ended its 19-year Patriot League Indoor Championship drought this past weekend at Gerard Fieldhouse, beating out a talented Navy squad by 8.75 points. Hicks led the Bison with a pair of gold medals in the 60-meter and 200-meter dash events and anchored the 4×400 relay to a fourth place finish, earning him the title of Outstanding Track Athlete of the Meet. In his first event of the meet, Hicks posted a program-best time of 6.84 seconds in the semifinals of the 60 meter dash and followed it up with a time of 6.88 seconds in the finals, making him the first Bison to earn gold in the event. Later, Hicks once again moved up the records book after posting a 21.88 in the 200 meter finals, the second-best time in program history.

Since joining the Orange and Blue in 2009, Hicks has continually proven to be one of the league’s most talented sprinters. In 2010, Hicks earned Patriot League Indoor Championships Rookie of the Meet honors. Last season he earned a critical gold medal during the outdoor championships last season to help the Bison earn the title.

With the indoor title under their belt, Hicks and some of his teammates will get the week off before heading off to Boston for the IC4A Championships.

Categories
Beyond the Bison Sports

Beyond the Bison: The Long Road to Killing the Demons

By Julian Dorey

Columnist

It’s still pretty cold outside up north. But in Florida and Arizona, the weather is just perfect.

Over the weekend, the pitchers and catchers of all 30 baseball clubs reported for spring training. It’s hard to believe, but baseball is just over a month away. With the new season comes new hope for every team. For some, that hope will die quickly; for others it might linger into the summer.

One team, though, is going to have the most pressure of all from the beginning: the Boston Red Sox.

Who can forget the fateful 2011 collapse of the Sox? They dragged it out all the way to game 162 and then broke the hearts of the Fenway faithful. The most troubling part is the collapse didn’t stop with the players packing their bags the next morning.

For the next several months, rumors swirled far and wide about the players’ clubhouse antics. Numerous reports surfaced about the starting pitching staff—Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, the struggling John Lackey and Clay Bucholtz—taking part in head-scratching rituals like drinking beer, playing video games and ordering fried chicken during games in which they were not pitching. Fans and the media were convinced that the “loose” locker room that allowed this behavior was the reason for the collapse. All I can say is that it couldn’t have helped.

In the midst of it all, two-time World Series champion manager—the man who broke the curse of the Bambino—Terry Francona, was unceremoniously shown the door, largely because of the growing belief within the organization that he was responsible for allowing the reprehensible behavior that occurred on a daily basis in the clubhouse.

As if the collapse, the public embarrassment and the untimely exit of Francona weren’t enough, longtime genius general manager Theo Epstein decided in October to take his talents to the Cubs, leaving behind a giant mess in Boston in the hopes of fixing one in Chicago.

The Red Sox now enter this season without the two men who brought together the 2004 team that ended an 86-year championship drought.

In fairness, the replacements are solid. Immediately upon his departure, Epstein’s right-hand man, Ben Cherington, was named his successor. Shortly after that, Cherington took a very different approach in hiring the next manager, bringing in a polar opposite of Francona, a no-nonsense, tough guy, Bobby Valentine.

Valentine figures to change more than a few things around Yawkee Way. His spring training itinerary already has some Red Sox veterans groaning. But when things go as cold as they did as fast as they did last season change is warranted.

The Sox have a stacked roster. Even with the departure of All-Star closer Jonathan Papelbon, they put in place a more-than-capable replacement in fellow All-Star Andrew Bailey. With Dustin Pedroia, Adrian Gonzalez and David Ortiz at the heart of their order and speedsters Jacoby Ellsbury and Carl Crawford at the top of the lineup, the Red Sox still figure to sit right around the league lead in runs scored.

The media will make last year’s questionable judgment of the starting staff a distraction all year, so it will be interesting to see how the players deal with it. On paper, the proven All-Star and World Series-winning potential is there in Beckett and Lester. Bucholtz also has been great when healthy. The biggest question mark is Lackey. Since signing an $82.5 million contract two years ago, Lackey has been completely worthless and seemingly lazy. It’s probably a safe bet to say that this is his “make-or-break” season with the club.

Could the Sox win a World Series this year? Absolutely. They have more than enough talent to do so. But shaking the demons of 2011 is going to be an uphill battle, especially in a city like Boston.

Categories
Lacrosse Sports Women

Women’s lax struggles

By Thomas Walter

Writer

On the road once again, the women’s lacrosse team dropped its third straight contest to Duquesne last weekend 18-4. 

The Dukes were the more experienced and talented team, with Clare Hurley, Caitlin Prince and Amanda Kidder each scoring hat tricks.

One of the few positives for the Bison was Emily Kookogey ’15, who emerged as a strong offensive presence in the fourth game of the young season. She netted two goals, which were the first of her career. Caroline O’Neill ’15, the starting goalie for the Orange and Blue, also posted a career-high 13 saves on the day.

Despite the rough start to the season, the Bison realize there is still much time to improve, especially given the age of the team.

“We have a young team and we will learn something and grow and improve from every game. It is always hard losing big but one important characteristic of our team is that we never give up,” defender/ midfielder Andrea Feldman ’14 said. “We need to take one aspect of the game at a time and improve on that. We are all looking forward to proving ourselves in the games to come!”

The Bison travel to face Manhattan this weekend in Riverdale, N.Y. 

 

Categories
Lacrosse Men Sports

Men’s lax drops second straight

By Reed Dempsey

Contributing Writer

The men’s lacrosse team dropped its second straight contest last Saturday to No. 11 UMass by a final score of 11-9.

Led by the highly touted junior Will Manny, the Minutemen opened the scoring three and a half minutes in and quickly followed with a second goal to go up two on the Bison. Just a minute later, the Orange and Blue cut the score in half with a goal by David Dickson ’15, the first of his career.  With just under five minutes left in the first quarter, Nick Gantsoudes ’12 fed Chase Bailey ’13 to tie the game at two apiece.

The teams traded tallies early in the second quarter before the Minutemen stormed ahead to a 5-3 halftime lead. According to Billy Eisenreich ’12, the Bison had difficulties executing their specialty plays.

“Man up, man down and clearing were all uncharacteristically bad for us,’’ Eisenreich said.

Coming out of the half, Kyle Smith of the Minutemen deposited his third goal of the game to bring the UMass lead to 6-3. Four minutes later, Eisenreich’s unassisted tally brought the deficit back to two.

The Minutemen responded with two goals to open their biggest lead of the day. But as in the season opener, the Bison fought hard until the last whistle. It took just over a minute for the Orange and Blue to respond with two goals of their own. Peter Burke ’14 scored first followed by Dickson’s second of the day.

To start the fourth quarter, Manny scored back-to-back goals bringing the lead over the Bison to four. Heading into the game, the Bison knew they faced a tough task defending Manny. Defenseman Mike Huffner ’13 said  the team needed to be “mindful of where he was on the field at all times.’’ Unfortunately, the attackman was able to take advantage of holes in the Bison defense, amassing seven points during the game, bringing his season tally to 16.

With under 10 minutes left in regulation the teams traded goals to bring the score to 11-7. A few minutes later, Burke and Eisenreich added a goal each to cut the lead back to two.

Any attempt to bring this game to overtime was thwarted as the Minutemen shut down the Bison for the final four minutes of the game.

The Bison will look to rebound from their rough start with a win at No. 9 Villanova this Saturday.

Categories
Softball Sports Women

Softball opens seasons with two wins

By Andrew Arnao

Staff Writer

The softball team opened its season in Elon, N.C. last Saturday in the Phoenix Softball Clash, posting a 2-0 victory against Elon and a 7-5 victory against James Madison but falling 8-3 to Presbyterian. Sunday games against Elon and James Madison were cancelled due to bad weather.

The game against Elon belonged to pitcher Alex MacLean ’13, who threw a three-hit shutout. The Bison scored their first run on an error by Elon’s third baseman in the third inning and added their second run in the sixth inning courtesy of an RBI single by infielder Mary Horton ’13. Both Horton and infielder Mallory Lyons ’14 had multiple hits.

“We were excited to finally be playing outside after all the hard work we all have put in over the winter,” Lyons said. “With no team strikeouts, we all put the ball in play and took advantage of Elon’s mistakes. Our pitcher, Alex MacLean, pitched a great game to give us the opportunity to win and we gave her the run support that she needed.”

It appeared that the Bison were heading for a defeat against James Madison, trailing the entire game and heading into the seventh with a 5-1 deficit. An RBI single from outfielder Kristen Zahn ’15 opened the floodgates for multiple errors that allowed another run to score and the bases to be loaded. Down by two runs, Lyons crushed a climatic grand slam to take the lead 7-5. Though James Madison got a runner on in the bottom of the seventh, she was stranded by pitcher Courtney Conover ’14 to end the game.

“Everyone did whatever it took to get on base, and a lot of different people really stepped up and took advantage of the opportunities that were in front of us,” Lyons said.

“In the games against Elon and JMU our bats were on fire,” Conover said. “Even if our hits weren’t getting through, they were hit very hard. The team this year is meshing very well and I have high hopes for us for the rest of the season.”

The game against Presbyterian started less smoothly for the Orange and Blue. The Bison fell behind 3-0 in the top of the first inning, and despite closing the gap with a based-loaded walk from infielder Erin Cox ’15 and an RBI single from pitcher Bridget Gates ’13, they could get no closer.

“Even though we were down throughout the game our team never lost its fight and we did not let it affect how we went into our next game,” Lyons said. “I thought we did a good job of acknowledging what we can work on while staying positive.”

The Bison will return to action next weekend in Huntington, W.Va. for the Marshall Tournament, against Marshall, IPFW and Kent State.

“This weekend was very exciting for our team. We came out strong with two wins and confident that it will continue,” Horton said.