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Men’s golf finishes second in invitational

By Eric Brod

Senior Writer

The men’s golf team put together a balanced team attack en route to a second place finish at the Wilmington University Spring Classic Frog Hollow Golf Club in Middletown, Del on Saturday.

The Bison finished with a team total of 582 for the 36-hole tournament, while first-place Wilmington complied a score of 564. Joe Szmadzinski ’13 and Dan Bernard ’13 led the Orange and Blue with scores of 144 each, good for a tie for fourth place.

“About the tournament itself, the course wasn’t particularly long on paper but the windy, cold weather conditions made it play quite a bit longer,” Szmadzinski said. “Being able to hit shots that stayed under the wind and taking advantage of the reachable par fives were both key to shooting low scores out there.”

Will Bachman ’12 was close behind at 146, placing him in a tie for ninth overall.

“Overall, the Wilmington Invite was a big step in the right direction for our team, and I think we all gained a great deal of confidence and momentum heading into the home stretch of our championship season,” Szmadzinski said. “Hopefully we can continue to compete at a high level this weekend at Penn State and have our hard work translate into success at Patriot Leagues.”

The men return to action starting today to compete in the Penn State Invitational this weekend in State College, Pa.

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Sports

Women’s rowing finishes second across the board

By Thomas Walter

Contributing Writer

In their two matches this weekend, the women’s rowing team’s openweights finished second in all races in New Rochelle, N.Y., and the lightweights traveled to Princeton, N.J. where they also finished second against Princeton and MIT.

The Bison openweights struggled to find a win in either of their races against Columbia. The varsity eight finished 10 seconds behind Columbia, while the second varsity eight finished less than a second behind the Lions. The varsity four finished seven seconds behind their opponent. In the second varsity four event, the”B” boat took second place, nine seconds behind Columbia, and the “A” boat took third place, nine seconds behind the “B” team.

“We rowed well into a strong headwind and against the current, making it more difficult and causing times to increase,” Ally Rivard ’14 said.

The lightweights had a similarly challenging day, finishing in second place in both of their races. The varsity lightweight eight finished 16 seconds behind Princeton’s lightweights but 24 seconds in front of MIT. The second varsity eight finished just over 10 seconds behind Princeton. MIT finished third.

Next up for the Orange and the Blue is another split meet when the lightweights will row at the Knecht Cup, and the openweights will head to Griggs Reservoir in Ohio.

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Sports

Ford ’11 moves into tie for third on all-time homer list

By Lindsay Regruto

Staff Writer

Alison Ford ’11 now stands tied for third in program history with 12 home runs after the softball team’s four-game series at home against Lehigh last weekend. The Bison went on to drop the double header to Lehigh on Saturday but managed to split on Sunday.

Despite dropping the first game 2-1, Ford’s first home run of the day put the Bison on the scoreboard first in the second inning. Bridget Gates ’13 sent all three batters back in order in the first three innings to hold the lead. The Mountain Hawks found success in the fifth inning, scoring both runs to take the lead. The Orange and Blue put players on base in the next innings but could not bring them around.

“As far as this past weekend goes, I think our bats are starting to come around, and we were able to get an important win against Lehigh,” Ford said. “They are a tough opponent, and the win against them in our last game of the weekend will give us good momentum to take on Colgate this weekend.”

The Orange and Blue came up short in their second game falling 7-5 to the Mountain Hawks again. Lehigh was the first to put a run on the board early in the first inning. Mary Horton ’13 and Lauren Fry ’11 both singled to get on base and were later brought in by another home run by Ford. The Orange and Blue’s lead was cut short with Lehigh scoring again to take a 4-3 lead over the Bison. In the bottom of the fifth, the Bison offense rallied to close the gap to 7-5 but could not bring enough people around by the seventh to grab the win.

The Orange and Blue dropped a close game 3-1 on Sunday to the Mountain Hawks in the first game of the double header. Lehigh took a 1-0 lead early on, and the score remained at a standstill until the sixth inning. Ford scored off a two out RBI-double by Elyse Colmenero ’11 to tie the score, tying Colmenero for 10th all-time in the program. Later in the sixth, Leigh managed two runs off the Bison to give them the lead and the win.

The final game of the day proved successful for the Bison as they defeated the Mountain Hawks 5-3. The game remained scoreless until the second inning when the Mountain Hawks put their first two runs on the board. The Orange and Blue started off the fifth inning with a run of their own. A two RBI-double by Kara Sullivan ’11 to left center resulted in a tie score. It came down to the last inning with score still tied. Fry reached based on a fielder’s choice, and Ford’s double put her into scoring position. A fielding error off Mallory Lyons ’14 brought both girls around to give the Bison the win.

The game on Tuesday against Coppin State was postponed due to weather. The Bison will be back on the field tomorrow and Sunday in Hamilton, N.Y. against Colgate.

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Sports

Baseball drops four of five in homestand

By Chris McCree

Writer

The baseball team dropped four of five to Marist and Lafayette in a homestand last weekend, with three of the losses coming against its Patriot League rival.

During the weekend’s four-game series, the Orange and Blue were outscored 24-to-21 by Lafayette and quickly fell to a League record of 1-3. To add to the struggles, the Bison fell to Marist 13-1 to finish up their five-game home-stand. Against the Red Foxes, the Bison never found their groove, going through eight different pitchers and serving up 16 walks.

“Obviously this week did not go the way that we wanted it to g,o as we are trying to repeat as Patriot League Champions,” Trey Frahler ’11 said. “We made too many mistakes, and they were able to capitalize on them.”

The Bison got off to a slow start, losing 11-5 during the first of two games on Saturday. The team fell behind 7-0 after the top of the fourth, but pulled within two before the Leopards tacked on four more insurance runs.

Game two was a completely different story as the Bison recorded 11 runs of their own and received an impressive pitching performance by Ryan Ebner ’12 to record their only win of the week 11-2. Ebner continued his string of impressive outings by going seven innings and allowing just two runs to claim his fourth victory of the year. Offensively, the Bison outhit the Leopards 15-5 thanks, in large part, to impressive individual performances by Bob Donato ’12 and Matt Lamore ’12 who combined for seven hits and six RBIs.

The Orange and Blue followed this strong offensive performance by outhitting the Leopards 17-16 during Sunday’s doubleheader, but still lost both games. During game three’s 5-2 loss, Gerry Runyan ’12 had a team-high three hits, but the team fell behind early and never fought their way back. Similarly, in game four, the Bison couldn’t overcome an early four-run deficit and lost 6-3.

“As much as it is tough to start going 1-3, we have not lost our confidence,” Frahler said. “We know now that we have our work cut out for us. One of our goals was to win every series in the regular season and post-season, but now we are going to have to work even harder to come dig ourselves out of this hole.”

The Bison will continue Patriot League play this weekend as they travel to Holy Cross for an important four-game series. Although it is still early in Patriot League play, a loss to the last-place Crusaders would be a serious hit to the Bison’s title chances.

“Our team in the past few years has done a great job at rebounding after tough weekends, and we plan on doing that this weekend and the rest of the year,” Frahler said.

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Sports

Women’s lacrosse drops to 2-10

By Andrew Arnao

Writer

Despite a strong second half, the women’s lacrosse team fell to Lafayette 13-11 on Saturday, leaving the Bison with a 2-10 record for the season.

Julia Braun ’11 scored four goals, while Ali Carey ’14 and Madison Hurwitz ’13 scored three goals apiece. Adrienne Wendling ’13 scored also scored a goal, while Katelyn Miller ’14 led the team with three assists. Goalie Alyssa DeLorenz ’11 also had her first assist of the season.

“We lost the game because we dug ourselves a hole that we just didn’t have enough time to get out of,” DeLorenz said. “We outscored Lafayette 11-5 during the final 45 minutes of the game.”

Lafayette quickly jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first 15 minutes of the game, but the Orange and the Blue stormed back with four goals to make it 9-4 at halftime. The Bison carried their momentum into the second half by outscoring Lafayette 7-4, but ultimately fell short as the clock ran out.

Though the Bison out-shot Lafayette 31-29, the Leopards pulled ahead by winning the draw control battle 15-8.

DeLorenz had nine saves for the Bison, giving her a total of 148 on the season.

The Bison play against Holy Cross at home on Saturday at 1 pm.

“To be successful against Holy Cross, we will have to come out stronger in the opening minutes of the game and play our game for a full 60 minutes,” DeLorenz said.

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Men’s lacrosse secures playoff berth

By Greg Stevenson

Senior Writer

For the fifth consecutive season, the men’s lacrosse team will continue to play into the postseason. The Bison earned a berth in the Patriot League Tournament after beating the Holy Cross Crusaders 10-3 at home last Saturday. The victory gave the Orange and Blue their ninth win of the season, tied for most in the nation as of Wednesday, and kept their perfect 3-0 conference record intact.

“It always feels good to win at home, and beating a league opponent makes it that much sweeter,” Jordan Nies ’11 said. “Holy Cross has struggled this season, so it was important that we held a strong lead against them in order to post a decisive win.”

Led by goalie Kyle Feeney ’13 and an experienced line of defense, the Bison turned in another spectacular defensive performance, holding the Crusaders to just one goal until the five-minute mark in the final quarter. The Bison have allowed just seven goals per game in 2011, good enough for seventh in the nation and top in the Patriot League.

On the offensive end, the Bison dominated the Crusaders throughout the first half. Despite a slow start, the Orange and Blue opened the scoring with three minutes left in the opening quarter with a goal from Nies.

In the second quarter, the Orange and Blue outscored the Crusaders 6-1 to put a close game out of reach. Chase Bailey ’13 tallied the first two goals of the quarter for the Bison, both coming when the Orange and Blue were playing with a man advantage after a Holy Cross penalty. Peter Burke ’14 added to the Bison lead midway through the period with his first goal of the contest.

Mike Danylyshyn ’11 registered two of his three goals at the end of the second quarter, and Charlie Streep ’12 scored with eight seconds remaining to end an impressive first half with the Orange and Blue up 7-1.

Trailing by six at halftime, Holy Cross had no answer for a stingy Bison defense in the second half. The Crusaders went scoreless for over 25 minutes to open the half, allowing the Orange and Blue to push the lead to 10-1. Holy Cross would score twice in the final minutes, but it would not be enough to catch the Bison, as the Crusaders fell 10-3.

Offensively, the Orange and Blue used an all-around dominating performance to defeat the Crusaders. Eight different Bison recorded either a goal or an assist against Holy Cross, and three, Danylyshyn, Burke and Bailey, scored at least twice in the game.

The Orange and Blue remain tied at first with Colgate in the Patriot League with three league games left, including a head-to-head match-up with the Raiders in the final game of the season.

The win assures that the Bison will have a spot in the Patriot League Tournament in a few weeks. Even though the Orange and Blue have made the playoffs, bigger and better things are on the minds of the Bison.

“It feels good to be back in the tournament, but our goal is to win out and host the Patriot League tournament,” Feeney said.

Up next for the Orange and Blue is another crucial Patriot League match-up, this time against the Black Knights of Army, this Saturday in West Point, N.Y.

“We are also not satisfied as of right now,”  Ryan Klipstein ’11 said. “We enter this weekend playing our biggest game of the year against Army and it will begin a three-game in-league away series that we must do well in. We intend on pushing harder than ever to run the table on these upcoming games and host the tourney.”

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Sports

Men’s tennis wins one, loses one in league

By Eric Weiss

Senior Writer

The men’s tennis team defeated Colgate 4-3 on the road on Saturday before losing to Army 6-1 on Monday. Solid doubles performances, as well as an outstanding match played by first-year standout Kyle Rosen ’14, drove the Bison to their victory over the weekend.

“Every spot in our lineup has a chance of winning their match,” Josh Katten ’13 said. “When you’re playing tight matches, it’s reassuring to look at the court next to you and see your teammate fighting hard for every point.”

Starting white-hot, all three doubles pairings defeated their Colgate opponents. Anton Kovic ’11 and Evan Zimmer ’13 achieved the most impressive victory by defeating their competition 8-1 in the first doubles position.

Things became more interesting as the Bison were unable to convert victories from either of their top two singles players. Zimmer, continuing his great play from his doubles match, and Katten, another doubles winner for the team, both won their respective singles matches.

Finally, Rosen bested his Colgate opponent in a grueling straight sets match to clinch the victory for the Orange and Blue.

“Playing close matches at the beginning of the year have helped us tremendously. Now, when we’re locked in a dogfight against Patriot League opponents, we can look back at matches from earlier and be confident about our chances,” Kelly Morque ’13 said.

Against Army, Zimmer was the only Bison to pull off a victory as he made quick work of his opponent at third singles.

The Orange and Blue were able to play some close matches against Army as Kovic and Rosen both took their opponents to tiebreakers but were unable to come out victorious.

The Bison will face Lafayette this coming weekend in Lewisburg. This will be the penultimate match before they make a run in the Patriot League Tournament.

“I think that if we can focus on the little things before the upcoming tournament, it will make a big difference,” Mark Malloy ’11 said. “Higher first serve percentages will apply more pressure on our opponents, and getting our returns low and crosscourt will help us control the point.”

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Sports

Lucido ’11 sets all-time wins record

By Cooper Sutton

Sports Editor

Lauren Lucido ’11, with a dominating 6-0 , 6-1 No. 1 singles win against Colgate last Saturday, broke the all-time Bison record for career wins with a record of 162-69. The team won its road match 6-1.

It seems that nerves did not play into Lucido’s record-shattering performance. Her crushing win over her Colgate opponent saw her not only win easily, but efficiently. Lucido was the first player to finish her match in both the singles and doubles rounds.

Lucido handily won her No. 1 doubles match with her partner Dumitrita Iepuras ’12, 8-3. With another doubles victory from Dara Dwojewski ’11 and Elena Vidriscu ’14, 8-2, the Bison took the overall doubles point.

In singles, the Orange and Blue only faced one loss in the number six position. The match was not easy, with three of the other five matches going to three sets. Only Lucido and No. 5 Dwojewski won easily. Dwojewski beat her Colgate opponent 6-0, 6-0.

The Bison had two comeback performances at the second and third spots. Iepuras, after losing a tough first set 6-2, bounced back to take the next two sets with relative ease, 6-2 6-4.

No. 3 player Lauren Rottkamp ’11 lost her first set in a tie-breaker, but she bounced back to win the next two sets 6-3, 6-4.

Lucido, with her monumental win, stole the show, tying then surpassing Veronica Brown ’06 for perhaps the most prestigious honor in the Bison women’s tennis program. At this point in her career, she remains in second place on both the all-time singles and doubles victories lists. She needs three wins in both categories to tie first.

She will look to continue to inch closer to those records tomorrow as her team plays at home against Patriot League rival Army.

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Sports

Women’s water polo falls to 10-10

By Scott Padula

Writer

The women’s water polo team’s record sits at 10-10 after the Bison won one and dropped two last weekend in Princeton, N.J. The Orange and Blue lost their first two games to ranked opponents in Michigan and Princeton but bounced back and defeated St. Francis in an offensive showcase.

The Bison faced St. Francis in their final game of the weekend Sunday morning, winning 16-12. The teams remained close in the first three quarters, but the Orange and Blue offense exploded in the fourth, netting six goals. The 16 total goals marked a season high for the Orange and Blue as Kandis Canonica ’11 led all scorers with four goals and three assists. Hallie Kennan ’12, Haley Prickett ’11 and three other Bison also registered multiple points in the high-scoring affair. Led by Kennan on the defensive end, the Orange and Blue recorded a season high in steals, racking up 17 total.

In Saturday’s nightcap, the Orange and Blue lost 12-5 against the host Princeton Tigers. For the first time all season, the Bison faced two ranked opponents in one day. The Bison kept it close in the first half, but the No. 18 Tigers pulled away in the second half, outscoring the Bison 5-1 en route to victory. Kennan and Prickett each notched two goals in the game. Becca Shopiro ’12 and Valdes rounded out the Bison who managed to register a point. In her first action of the weekend, Rena Heim ’14 stopped five shots.

The Bison kicked off the weekend against No. 7 Michigan, losing 15-6. After a mere one-goal deficit by the end of the first quarter, the Orange and Blue seemed poised to pull off an upset. The Wolverines responded in the next two quarters, scoring eight goals while allowing the Bison to find the back of the net only twice. Canonica, Stephanie Ovalle ’14 and Julianne Valdes ’14 scored a team-high two goals each. Canonica added a pair of assists and five ejections drawn.

The Bison had a strong showing in goal from Brittany Connell ’12 who, in 32 minutes of play, had eight saves.

This weekend they will play four games at Kinney Natatorium against Indiana, Harvard, Maryland and George Washington. The Orange and Blue will have live video broadcast on Bison Vision against the Terrapins and Colonials.

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Women’s track opens season with four golds

By Joyce Novacek

Writer

Laura Rycek ’11 led the way with a gold in the javelin as the women’s track and field team finished third out of the 40 teams at the William and Mary Colonial Relays. The Bison posted a team score of 59 points.

“As for the team as a whole, we have always been a strong outdoor team, and I look forward to seeing how well everyone does this year,” Rycek said. “Our team has an energy that I love. Everyone supports each other, and that is so important.”

In the throws, the Orange and Blue had much success in the javelin, with three throwers earning points for the team. Rycek took the gold with a throw of 142 feet and 10 inches, Kat Folger ’12 took fourth, and Tayler Siegrist ’13 finished eighth. Rebecca Misko ’12 took sixth in the discus and Kathryn Wahls ’13 earned sixth in the hammer throw.

Multiple Bison distance runners also earned points for the team, with three Bison placing in the 10,000-meters. Alaina Chodoff ’11, Melissa Smith ’12 and Eileen Foley ’11 earned third through fifth place, in that order. In the 3,000-meter run, Sarah Moniz ’11 and Alysha Hooper ’12 finished third and fifth, respectively.

Three Bison pole vaulters, Emily Ando ’14, Autumn Schellenberger ’14 and Rebecca Frey ’11 each cleared 10 feet 8 inches to tie for ninth at the meet.

This third-place finish is the highest place the Bison have earned at the Colonial Relays since they began regularly competing at the meet in Williamsburg, Va. three years ago. Their previous best finish was in 2009, when they finished fifth overall. The only teams to finish ahead of the Bison this year were first-place Villanova who scored 116.2 points and second-place Duquesne who scored 62 points.

The Bison are back in action April 15-16, when the men and women’s teams will host the Bison Outdoor Classic at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium for their first home outdoor meet of the season.