Category: Women

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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.

 

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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
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. 

 

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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.

Categories
Sports Tennis Women

Women’s tennis loses at Hofstra

By Alex Wagner

Assistant Sports Editor

The women’s tennis team dropped its match at Hofstra 6-1 on Saturday.

Five out of the seven Bison playing were first-years, which means that many of the players are still adjusting their games to the collegiate level.

“It’s a match we should have won, one of the easiest on our schedule this year,” head coach Rebecca Helt said. “We won’t go through the season making excuses.”

The brightest spot for the Orange and Blue in this humbling match was Jen Bush ’15, who earned her first victory of the season. She beat Bianca Derrick 6-0, 6-4 to give the Bison their only victory of the day.

“This weekend’s match against Hofstra was a very good learning experience for our team. The outcome of the matches is not a true reflection of how well our team is capable of doing, and we are all excited to keep improving,” Bush said.

Although the Bison dropped all three doubles matches, Lauren Boone ’15 and Lydia Colvin ’15 came the closest to victory. After an intense match that saw many momentum shifts, Boone and Colvin fell 9-8 to their opponents.

“Initially, we were playing really well; we stuck to our game plan, which was to be aggressive by finishing the points quickly at the net. However, we ultimately lost the match in a tie-break mainly because we lost focus and started to play tentatively,” Boone said.

Despite the temporary setback, things are looking up for the future.

“We have the talent, perhaps more depth than we’ve had in a long time, but we have to get tougher and shake the nerves if we are going to have a successful season,” Helt said.

The Bison look to bounce back quickly this weekend in Olean, N.Y. as they will play Niagara on Friday, St. Bonaventure on Saturday and Duquesne on Sunday.