Category: Sports

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Baseball Men Sports

Baseball takes down Lehigh

By Andrew Arnao
Senior Writer

On a weekend dedicated to the legacy of head coach Gene Depew, who will be retiring at the end of the season, the baseball team played exceptionally well en route to taging three of four home games from Patriot League rival Lehigh.  The Bison are now 19-20 overall and 6-6 in Patriot League play.

In game one, Lehigh defeated the Bison 8-1. Pitcher Dan Weigel ’14 had his second loss of the year, while first baseman Russel Seidell ’12 brought in the lone RBI on a groundout.

“We kind of got off to a slow start in game one but we did a great job bouncing back and not letting the loss affect us,” starting pitcher Bryson Hough ’15 said. “Taking the next three games from Lehigh was huge because they were right behind us in the standings and we’re still at the edge of the playoff bubble.”

Hough played an instrumental role in winning game two, pitching 6.1 strong innings while allowing only three earned runs. The Bison offense also managed to break out, recording 17 hits behind strong efforts from shortstop Robb Scott ’13 (four-for-four with three RBIs), left fielder Colby Vanderbeck ’14 (three-for-four with four RBIs), and designated hitter Carter Bumgardner ’13 (three-for-five with three RBIs). The Bison finished the game on top 11-5.

In game three, Ryan Ebner ’12 pitched a seven-inning, three-hit shutout, the first for the Bison this year. The Bison offense contributed nine hits to the eventual 6-0 victory, with second baseman Travis Clark ’13 leading the way with three hits, including a home run.

Game four featured perhaps the most drama of the series, with five lead changes and a walk-off hit by first baseman Rob Krentzman ’15 in the bottom of the seventh inning. Krentzman’s clutch hit gave the Bison a 7-6 victory.

“We played very well all around this weekend,” Ebner said. “We had guys come up with big hits in big situations, especially Rob Krentzman [with] the game-winning hit in a much needed game four win. I also thought we played great in the field. [Third baseman] Dave Duffett [’12] made a ton of nice plays at third and Robb Scott and Travis Clark made some run-saving plays.”

“We needed to win a series this past weekend and we took care of business,” Depew said. “I thought after losing game one we came back and played our best overall baseball of the season in the last three games. We pitched well, played good defense and got good and timely hitting. We are looking forward to the challenge of going to Army to compete against a team that is 12-0 in the league, [which should be] a great opportunity for us.”

The Bison also traveled to Penn State on Wednesday, where Seidell and Jack Boehm’12 combined to give up only 2 runs over 7 innings, but the offense was quieted by the Nittany Lions, recording only 4 hits in a 2-0 loss.

The Bison’s stint away against undefeated Army starts at noon on Saturday.

Categories
Lacrosse Sports Women

Women’s lax wins by two

By Ajan Caneda
Writer

Katelyn Miller ’14 posted four goals last Saturday to power the women’s lacrosse team to a 16-12 victory at Binghamton. The win ended a four-game losing streak for the Bison.

Along with tough defense, the Orange and Blue had a balanced offense that allowed them to pull off another come-from-behind win.

“Everyone came into the game fired up and played to win,” Molly Ford ’14 said. “We implemented a new sub rotation that allowed us to get more speed and aggression from defensive-minded players on our rides and clears and attack-minded players into the offense.”

After Binghamton scored two goals in the opening minutes of the game, Ford scored a goal off an assist from Arriana Sajjad ’15. The Bison got off to a slow start, though, as the Bearcats grabbed an early 5-1 lead. Sajjad then nailed two goals as part of a 3-0 run, and by halftime, the game was tied at 7-7.

Binghamton committed 13 fouls in the first half, while the Bison forced eight turnovers that gave them momentum going into the second half.

Midfielder Sophie Kleinert ’14 scored an unassisted goal five minutes into the second half, giving the Orange and Blue their first lead of the game. Subsequent goals by Ryan Wenk ’13 and Sajjad extended the lead to three.

Binghamton would not go away as two Bearcat goals narrowed the deficit to one. Following a goal by Miller, two more Bearcats scored to knot the game at 11-11. Both teams went scoreless for nearly seven minutes before midfielder Blair McDonald ’15 capitalized on a free position shot to break the tie. The Bison didn’t keep the lead for long as the Bearcats evened the score to 12-12 with 8:57 left in the game. But Miller nailed two goals that sparked a 4-0 Bison run to seal the victory.

“We learned from the Lafayette game how important clock management was in the end of the game, especially when the game was tied,” Miller said. “You could see by watching that everyone on the field really wanted the win and left everything on the field to the last second, and it clearly paid off.”

Sajjad continued her offensive tear, scoring three goals and adding one assist. Emily Kookogey ’15, Ford, and McDonald had two goals each. Goalie Caroline O’Neill ’15 made key defensive stops down the stretch and finished with seven saves.

The Bison will be looking to pick up their first conference victory as they return home to face Colgate on Saturday at 1 p.m.

“We are focused on getting out first Patriot League win against Colgate. We need to carry our fire and confidence from Saturday over into that game,” Ford said.

Categories
Lacrosse Men Sports

Men’s lax falls in final seconds

By Reed Dempsey
Writer

Tied with 14 seconds remaining on the clock, the men’s lacrosse team suffered a crushing 9-8 defeat at the hands of No. 11 Lehigh this past Saturday in Bethlehem, Pa.

Heading into the game with a 3-1 conference record, the Orange and Blue understood the matchup’s important playoff implications. The winner would remain tied atop the Patriot League standings going into the final week of the season with a chance to host the league tournament.

After four and a half minutes of play, Nick Gantsoudes ’12 opened the day’s scoring with an unassisted goal but the Mountain Hawks gained possession of the ensuing faceoff and tied the game just 23 seconds later.

The Bison regained their lead as Peter Burke ’14 found Billy Eisenreich ’12 with 3:42 left in the first quarter. But what looked to be a 2-1 Bison lead heading into the end of the first quarter ended abruptly as Lehigh tied the game at two apiece with one second remaining.

In the opening five minutes of the second quarter, the Bison found the back of the net twice, extending their lead to 4-2. Burke scored on an unassisted tally at the 14:12 mark followed by a goal from David Dickson ’15, assisted by Gantsoudes.

Lehigh cut the lead to a single goal with one minute remaining in the half, but the Orange and Blue has some last second antics of their own as Eisenreich found Chase Bailey ’13 for his 25th goal of the season and a 5-3 halftime lead.

The Orange and Blue were held scoreless in the third quarter as the Mountain Hawks scored three straight to take their first lead of the day. During this run, extended possessions by Lehigh disrupted the success of the Bison offense.

“Lehigh did a great job of possessing the ball in the second half and that limited our opportunities to get in a flow on offense,” attackman Todd Heritage ’14 said.

According to head coach Frank Fedorjaka, the Mountain Hawks were able to take advantage of mental mistakes during an otherwise strong defensive performance.

“Defensively we played terrific, but we had a few mental lapses and Lehigh capitalized on them,” Fedorjaka said.

After the Bison failed to convert on their first four extra-man opportunities of the game, a cross-checking penalty on Lehigh at the end of the third quarter carried over to the fourth where Eisenreich found Dickson to tie the game at six.

Six minutes later, Burke scored his second goal of the day, giving the Bison their fifth lead of the day, but it only lasted 81 seconds  as the Mountain Hawks once again worked quickly to tie the game.

The Mountain Hawks dominated the faceoff  “x” all afternoon, going 13 for 18. After Eisenreich scored his second of the day and 30th of the year, Lehigh’s Ryan Snyder gained possession on the ensuing faceoff, raced the ball down the field and scored to tie the game at 8-8.

The Bison gained possession on the following faceoff, but a saved shot and turnover gave the Mountain Hawks the ball with three minutes remaining. Lehigh successfully cleared the ball into their offensive zone and were able to maintain possession before converting on a shot with 14 seconds remaining. The defeat brought the Bison’s record to 9-5.

Even with the loss, the Bison qualified for the Patriot League Tournament. They will face No. 11 Colgate tonight in their regular season finale. (Lehigh advanced to No. 10 in this week’s rankings.) Moving into this matchup and the tournament, Fedorjaka has confidence in his team.

“One thing about winning the Patriot League tournament: the team that gets hot at the right time will have the best chance to win it all,” Fedorjaka said. “We are still getting better every week and that is the most important thing. Hopefully we are going to get hot at the right time. I sense that we are.”

The Bison and Colgate face off tonight at 7 p.m. in Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.

Categories
Featured Sports Water Polo Women

Women’s water polo takes fourth

By Andrew Lichtenauer
Senior Writer

The women’s water polo team finished fourth out of six teams in the Southern Championships at home last weekend. The Orange and Blue defeated George Washington in their first game (17-8) and then lost to No. 14 Princeton (14-6) and Harvard (15-7).

Leading the Bison in their win against George Washington were Julianne Valdes ’14, Ariel Frankeny ’12 and Taylor Barnett ’15. Valdes had six assists against the Colonials, which ties the program’s single-game record for assists. Frankeny and Barnett also both sc0red four goals. The 17 goals marked a season high for the Orange and Blue, who are now 4-0 against George Washington this spring.

In the Princeton game, the Tigers got out to a 7-3 first quarter lead and continued to winden the lead over the next three quarters. In the Harvard game, the Crimson outscored the Bison 9-4 in the first half and never looked back after that.

Valdes had the most impressive showing for the Bison at the Southern Championships, recording a total of eight goals and eight assists in three games played. Valdes’ season point total is now 100, which makes her only the fourth player in program history to have scored 100 points or more in a single season.

The Bison are now 14-21 on the season, and will enjoy a week off from competition before they hit the pool again for the Eastern Championship in Providence, R.I. April 27-29. The winner of the Eastern Championship earns an automatic berth to the NCAA Championship.

“For Easterns we will get the chance to play against and defeat several high-level opponents if we step out onto the pool deck confident in our abilities as a team,” Frankeny said. “I absolutely believe that we have the talent and the ability to win any game this weekend, regardless of who we play, and I’m excited to fight it out in the pool one last time before I graduate.”

Categories
Men Sports Tennis

Men’s takes one of three league contests

By Cooper Mead
Writer

The men’s tennis team took one of three contests against Patriot League rivals in a stint of away matches this week. The Bison then returned home to claim a 4-3 victory against Robert Morris.

Facing Army (13-9, 4-0 in the Patriot League) on April 12, the Bison fought a tough match but fell 5-2 to the Black Knights. Josh Katten ’13 and Evan Zimmer ’13 defeated Alex Van Velzer and Peter Sienko 9-7 playing at the No. 2 spot, improving the duo’s winning streak to six. Aidan Lynch ’14 and Gregg Cohenca ’12 also contributed to the solid doubles play at the No. 1 spot as they defeated Asika Isoh and Henry Jang-Milsten in a hard-fought match that culminated in a tiebreaker, 9-8 (7-5). The win brought the duo their third straight victory.

Despite the team’s doubles prowess, the Bison struggled in the singles arena and dropped all but one of the six possible points. Katten gave the Bison their only win, beating Alex Holland in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2.

The Bison rebounded from their tough loss to Army with a convincing 6-1 victory at Lafayette on Sunday.

The team began the match by winning all three of the doubles matchups. Scott Bernstein ’14 and Kelly Morque ’13 at the No. 3 spot won by a score of 8-4, while Katten and Zimmer also  emerged victorious at the No. 2 spot by a score of 8-2. The match marked the first time since their match against Hofstra on Feb. 18 that the Bison have swept the doubles matches. Cohenca’s victory brought his record to 68-46 in his doubles career for the Bison and brought him to third all-time. Only Ryan Sandburg ’09 (87-50) and Ira Reibeisen ’08 (69-60) hold better records.

The Bison’s singles play was also spectacular against the Leopards, taking five of six matches and four in straight sets. Cohenca won his second match of the day at the No. 1 spot against Doug Gallagher (6-3, 6-3) which marked his first singles win in eight matches. Zimmer, Katten, Morque and Gregory Maxson ’12 also won their singles matches.

“Lafayette was a great win for us,” Lynch said. “Everyone stepped up and took care of business. I was really proud of our team.”

The team finished its away stint and its final Patriot League game of the regular season on Tuesday with a tough 5-2 loss to Lehigh. The Hawks brought their record to 7-13 and 2-3 in the Patriot League.

The Bison doubles pairs remained strong as Zimmer and Katten defeated Mark Goldberg and Mitchell Petersen 8-1 at the No. 2 spot. The win gave the partners an undefeated doubles season. Morque and Bernstein also came away with a doubles win against Timur Chernykh and Andrew Krentz at the No. 3 spot by the score of 8-5 and secured the doubles team point.

The team continued to struggle with singles play. At the No. 6 spot, Maxson was the only Bison able to win his match, winning in three sets. Cohenca lost at the No. 1 spot to Goldberg by a score of 6-1, 3-6, 7-6. Zimmer also fought a tough match at the No. 2 position against Ben Gilman but lost 4-6, 6-2, 6-0.

“It was tough to lose to Lehigh. We will go into the tournament as a four seed like last year, but I think we still have a great opportunity to make a run,” Katten said. “The conference is really strong this year and while we may have lost those matches, these teams are well aware of our ability.”

Coming off of their two-win week, the Bison will play at Bloomsburg on Wednesday before traveling to Annapolis, Md. for the Patriot League tournament next weekend.

Categories
Sports Tennis Women

Women’s tennis earns pair of conference wins

Women’s Tennis v. Lehigh (Fri 3 p.m. HOME), @ Army (Sat 3 p.m.), @ Lafayette (Sun 10:30 a.m.) v. Robert Morris (Wednesday 3 p.m. HOME)

By Lindsay Regruto
Senior Writer

The women’s tennis team picked up two wins out of three straight Patriot League matches this week against Lafayette, Army and Lehigh as well as a 6-1 win against Robert Morris.

The Bison started off the day on Wednesday, April 18 with two wins against Robert Morris in doubles. Courtney Casey ’12 and Lydia Colvin ’15 picked up an 8-2 at the No. 2 spot while Dumitrita Iepuras ’12 and Elizabeth Morgan ’14 followed with a large 8-3 win in the No. 3 spot.

Iepuras went on to battle it out at No. 1 singles winning her match 10-6 in the third set. Daria Tuzhikova ’13 and Casey won in straight sets at the No. 2 and 3 positions, respectively. Lauren Boone ’15 bounced back from a second set loss to take the third set 10-4 winning at the No. 5 position. Morgan followed with a straight set win at the No. 6 spot to give the Orange and Blue a 6-1 win over Robert Morris.

Bouncing back from a tough loss against Army, the Orange and Blue had its largest win of the season defeating Lafayette 7-0 on April 15. Tuzhikova and Elena Vidrascu ’14 won 8-2 at the No.1 doubles spot while Casey and Colvin picked up an 8-4 win at the No.2 spot to pick up the doubles point for the Bison.

“It was good to see everyone play solid and pick up an important win,” head coach Rebecca Helt said. “Right now we’re just focused on getting and keeping everyone healthy for the weekend so we can end our season on a strong note.”

With a 1-0 lead, the Bison went on to sweep all six singles positions. Vidrascu, Colvin, Tuzhikova, Casey and Christie Schneider ’15 won in straight sets while Iepuras came back from a first set loss for the win over the Leopards.

Army proved to be a tougher opponent for the Bison who fell to the Black Knights 7-0 on April 14. Tuzhikova and Vidrascu pulled out a close 8-6 win at No.1 doubles. Army defeated the Bison in the other two doubles positions to take the doubles point. The Black Knights went on to defeat the Bison in all six singles positions despite close matches at No.1 singles by Iepuras and No. 4 singles by Tuzhikova.

The Orange and Blue earned their first Patriot League win of the season defeating Lehigh 5-2 on April 13. The Bison swept all three doubles positions in close matches to earn the doubles point. Starting off the day on a stong note, the Bison went on to earn wins in four out of the six singles positions. 

The Orange and Blue will take on Lehigh on April 20 at 10 a.m.

 

Categories
Men Sports Track & Field

Men’s track dominates in home meet

By Colin Fields
Staff Writer

The men’s track team had an impressive performance as the host university of the Bison Outdoor Classic. The event is unscored for team competition but the Bison toppled more than 20 top-10 marks and are pressing for a third straight outdoor title.

On Sunday, Ray Holmes ’14 increased his career best by nearly two feet in the triple jump with a distance of 48’ 8’’, ranking him third all-time at the University.

“We have a great team this year and our start this season shows the depth of our team on both the men’s and women’s side of the program. We have already had a lot of great performances and everybody is getting better as the weeks tick away towards the Championships,” Holmes said.

The Bison throwers have torn through the Bison record books this season, and last weekend was no different. Leonard Joseph ’13 placed second in the hammer toss by becoming the fourth Bison to ever clear the 200 foot mark and moving him into fourth in Bison history.

There were plenty of personal records broken over the weekend, including Daniel Markwalter ’13 placing third in the pole vault clearing 15’ 9’’, moving him into fourth in program history.

On the track Robert Arent ’12 and Christian Lupica ’15 performed well in the 400 meter hurdles. Arent finished third with a time of 53.02 and Lupica 10th with a time of 55.08 seconds, moving him into the top 10 in Bison history.

“As a team, we’ve been training hard and not really worrying about peaking yet, so the fact that we are still competing so well as a whole just means that by the championship portion of our season, when everyone is at their peak form, we are going to be a really tough team to beat,” Lupica said.

The Bison are hosts again this weekend at the Bison Team Challenge, the season finale for the Bison at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.

“Competing at home allows us to be more relaxed and comfortable which is conducive to getting good marks on the track and in the field. We’re looking to win our third outdoor championship in a row. Getting this outdoor season off to a good start puts us in good position to defend our championship title,” Arent said.

The Patriot League Championships will be held May 4 and 5 in Worcester, Mass. 

Categories
Sports Track & Field Women

Women’s track continues dominance

By Katherine Harris
Writer

The women’s track and field team set many school top-10 records last weekend in the Bison Outdoor Classic, the team’s first home meet of the outdoor season. The meet was not team-scored, but it allowed individuals an opportunity to demonstrate their skills as they prepare for the upcoming league championship.

“The meet this weekend was great for the team because it was highly competitive and really pushed everyone to improve times and distances. It is also always nice to be on your own track because we practice there every day and feel most comfortable and relaxed there,” Sasha Hornock ’13 said.

The Bison started off the weekend strong at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium on the track. In the 1,500 meters, teammates Hana Casalnova ’14 and Caroline Tolli ’13 finished neck and neck, grabbing 12th and 13th with times of 4:31.14 and 4:31.18 respectively. Casalnova’s time put her fourth in the school record books and Tolli’s put her fifth. Emily Liggett ’12 also stepped up in the 5,000 meters with her time of 17:05.91, giving her fifth in the race and putting her third in school history.

The Orange and Blue also had success on the field on day one, with top-10 finishes in multiple events. In the discus, Abby Monaghan ’13 and Rebecca Misko ’12 placed fifth and seventh with throws of 145’ 0’’ and 142’ 1’’ respectively. Tayler Siegrist ’13 also took third in the javelin with her best throw of the season, reaching 141’ 8’’.

On the second day of competition, the pole vault started the day off strong for the Bison, with Emily Ando ’14 taking fifth with a vault of 11’ 7.75’’, while Yanelis Mestre ’15 and Autumn Schnellenberger ’14 tied for seventh at the mark of 11’ 1.75’’. All three teammates rank in the top six in school history and either tied or beat their career bests at the meet. In the triple jump, Alexandra Romanelli ’13 also broke into the top-10 with her mark of 38’ 0.25’’, earning her seventh in the meet.

“I was very pleased with my performance this weekend since the season got off to a rough start for me. The weather also held up and turned out to be a great day to pole vault,” Ando said.

Success for the Orange and Blue also continued on the track, with Casalnova once again leading the way with her performance, this time in the 800 meters. Her time of 2:10.95 placed her eighth in the meet and moved her into third in the school record books. Hornock ran a career best 12.31 seconds in the 100 meters, taking fifth on the day.

The Bison will finish up their regular season this weekend with another home meet, hosting the Bucknell Team Challenge at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium on Saturday. The meet will be Senior Day, and the 1981-82 cross country and track and field teams will also be recognized for their 30-year reunion.

“This weekend’s Team Challenge will be a great opportunity for this team to jell and develop an identity heading into the league championships in two weeks,” head coach Kevin Donner said. “We are not quite there yet; however in a couple weeks we will be ready. We have a nice group of seniors competing in their last ever home meet so everyone will be very excited.”

Categories
Rowing Sports Women

Rowing impresses in N.J.

By Chris McCree
Sports Editor

Led by a gold-medal performance by the second varsity eight boat, the women’s rowing team came away with three top-two finishes by its varsity boats at the Knecht Cup on Sunday in Cherry Hill, N.J. The Bison’s two freshmen boats also came away with a pair of top-two finishes during the final day of action.

“I think our team performed really well this weekend against some tough competition,” Emily Gladstone ’13 said. “The 1V8 and 2V8’s grand finals were very close races and it gives us some great experience against solid competition going into our Patriot League Championship in 2 weeks.”

Facing intense competition from the Duke and Boston College boats, the Bison second varsity eight boat earned its first gold at the Knecht Cup in program history. Finishing in a time of 6:45.82, the Orange and Blue finished ahead of the Blue Devils and Golden Eagles by .97 seconds and 2.16 seconds respectively.

The top varsity eight boat fell in a close race to Duke by just over a second.  In the race, the Bison and Blue Devils boats completely blew away the rest of the field with the third-place boat from Buffalo finishing almost eight seconds off the pace.

In the lightweight race, the Orange and Blue added another silver to their collection, finishing behind Wisconsin by less than three seconds. Highlighting the day for the lightweight crew was the Bison’s nine-second victory over third-place Princeton, a team that the Orange and Blue had never beaten during the regular season until last week.

Capping off the day for the Bison were two strong performances by their freshmen eight and freshmen four boats. The freshmen eight managed to take the gold over Lehigh by nearly more than seven seconds, while the freshmen four finished second to Pittsburgh.

This weekend the Orange and Blue will not race, but will turn their attention to an important weekend at the end of April. On April 28, the Bison head to the Mid-Atlantic Rowing Championship in Lewisberry, Pa. before heading back to Cherry Hill for Patriot League Championships on April 29.

Categories
Featured Men Sports Track & Field

Bison Athlete of the Week: Robert Arent ’12

By Chris McCree

 

Profile:

Robert Arent

Year: Senior

Event: Hurdles

Hometown: New Providence, N.J.

Major: Chemistry

Career Outdoor Bests: 

60m hurdles: 8.07

110m hurdles: 14.31

400m hurdles: 51.59

300m: 35.84

400m: 48.12

500m: 1:05.28

 

During just his second outdoor meet of the season, Robert Arent ’12 broke his own school record by .01 seconds in the 110m hurdles this past weekend at the Colonial Relays in Williamsburg, Va. Posting a time of 14.31 seconds, Arent finished in second place overall, but was the top collegiate competitor in the event. Following this performance, Arent secured more valuable points for the Orange and Blue with a third-place finish in the 400m hurdles, recording a time of 52.82 seconds. Competing in a field of 27 teams from across the nation, Arent and the Orange and Blue claimed second in the meet, finishing 18 points shy of Michigan and a second consecutive victory at the competition.

Currently competing in his final season as a member of the Orange and Blue, Arent has certainly made a significant contribution to the program over his four years. As a member of three different championship squads, Arent currently holds school records in the 60m hurdles, 400m hurdles, 400m dash (indoor) and 110m hurdles.  He has won Outstanding Track Athlete of the Meet awards in the last two Patriot League outdoor championships.

Looking to extend their championship winning-streak to three straight years, the Orange and Blue will look to Arent to continue to produce at a high level. Arent and the rest of the Bison squad will compete in the Bison Outdoor Classic this weekend at home starting at noon on Friday.