Panther cross-country teams win league
CLINTON, N.Y. — The Middlebury College cross country teams swept the 2010 NESCAC cross country championships on Saturday at Hamilton. The Panthers’ men’s squad captured its first-ever NESCAC title, scoring 78 points to overcome four-time defending champ Williams. On the women’s side, Middlebury won for the 11th time and third straight, as the Panthers scored a championship-record 26 points with five runners in the top 10.
Middlebury ran to its first men’s title with three runners in the top 10. The Panthers’ best previous finish was third in 1991. Michael Schmidt led the team with a second-place finish in 26:22. Also earning top-10 finishes were Greg Krathwohl (third in 26:36) and Jack Davies (ninth in 26:38). Jack Terrett finished 15th (26:47), while Nate Sans rounded out the scorers in 45th place (27:38).
On the women’s side, Colette Whitney led a group of Panthers to all cross the finish line within 33 seconds of one another, giving them five racers in the top eight. Whitney finished second overall in 22:23. Just three seconds behind in third was Maddie Hubbell (22:26), followed by Claire McIlvennie in sixth (22:47). Katie Rominger wasn’t far behind in seventh (22:55), while Hannah Meier was on her heels in eighth place (22:56).
This was the final NESCAC meet at the helm of the Panthers for Middlebury head coach Terry Aldrich after 36 years leading both the men and the women.
 
Men’s soccer reaches NESCAC semis
MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College men’s soccer team advanced to the NESCAC semifinals with a 3-0 win on Sunday over visiting Tufts. The Panthers (12-3) will take on Amherst at Bowdoin on Saturday at 1:30 p.m., while host Bowdoin meets Wesleyan at 11 a.m. Tufts ends its season with a 5-8-2 mark.
Middlebury struck for all three of its goals in the game’s first 24:15 on its way to the victory. The first goal came at 6:23. Robbie Redmond served a ball after a restart, and Tyler Smith headed the ball in the box toward Tyler Macnee, who in turn headed the ball over the keeper.
Brett Brazier scored his second of the year at 15:31, as his second header attempt on a corner kick found the back of the net for a 2-0 Middlebury advantage.
Macnee struck again for this fourth of the year at 24:15, converting a great crossing pass from Carson Cornbrooks with a header off the far post.
The Panthers had a great chance to make it 4-0 at the 30-minute mark, when Macnee just missed the hat trick with a header after some quick passing by the Panthers.
Tufts came back with two chances early in the second half, both by Kiernan Lewis. His first blast sailed over the crossbar at 46:30, while his second chance from 15 yards out was denied by Middlebury keeper Tim Cahill for his only save of the game. Cahill earned his ninth shutout of the fall. Alan Bernstein made a pair of saves for the Jumbos.
 
Bantams beat Panther football team
HARTFORD, Conn. — The Middlebury College football team led by 10-9 early on Saturday, but host Trinity came back to earn a 25-10 win for the Bantams’ 38th straight home victory. Trinity improved to 5-1, while the Panthers fell to 2-4.
Trinity led 3-0 when Anthony Kuchan booted a 26-yarder for the Panthers to tie the game at 3-3 at the 4:58 mark of the first quarter. QB Donald McKillop’s 32-yard connection with Matt Rayner and a 13-yard hook-up with Nick Resor were the key plays on the Middlebury drive.
Trinity answered with a 10-play, 91-yard drive resulting in a three-yard run from Ben Sherry to make it 9-3 after a failed extra-point. Middlebury came right back, regaining the lead 10-9 with 11:57 left in the second quarter on a 12-yard connection from McKillop to Resor.
The Bantams regained the lead on their next possession, driving 80-yards in 6:10 to take a 16-10 advantage on another three-yard rush from Sherry.
Trinity took advantage of a Middlebury interception on its next possession, after which Tim Costello booted his second field goal of the game, this one from 22 yards out to give Trinity a 19-10 lead at the half.
Costello struck again after a 7:53 drive stalled at the Middlebury 15, resulting in a 32-yarder midway through the third quarter. Costello capped a four-for-four day kicking with a 21-yarder at the 11:03 of the fourth quarter.
McKillop finished the day 16 of 38 passing for 203 yards with a touchdown and two picks. Rayner (84 yards) and Resor (45 yards) led the squad with five receptions apiece. Andrew Poulin had a huge game on defense, recording a career-high 19 tackles in the game, three for lost yardage, and broke up a pass. Paul Carroll added 14 stops, while Michael Bilodeau made 13.
Ryan Burgess went 12 of 20 for 168 yards for Trinity, while Evan Bunker rushed for 159 yards on 44 carries.
 
Volleyball wins twice, nails down second
CLINTON, N.Y. — The Middlebury College volleyball team wrapped up its regular season this past weekend by taking a pair of NESCAC matches at Hamilton. The Panthers defeated the host school, 3-0, (25-16, 25-19, 25-14) on Friday night, before earning a 3-1 (25-15, 18-25, 25-17, 25-22) win over Williams on Saturday.
Middlebury moved to 21-5 overall and finished second in NESCAC, its best regular-season finish ever, with an 8-2 record. The Panthers will take on seventh-seeded Trinity Friday night at host No. 1 Amherst in a NESCAC quarterfinal.
Last Friday night, junior Jane Handel and sophomore Julia Gibbs led the team with 11 kills apiece, while Megan Jarchow added 10. Sophomore Caitlin Barrett picked up 19 digs in the win, and senior Lauren Barrett earned 39 assists.
Middlebury used a balanced attack in their win over Williams last Saturday. Jarchow (13) and Handel (12) led the team in kills, while Handel had 24 digs. Caitlin Barrett picked up 14 digs, Jarchow had 12, while Lauren Barrett earned 43 assists.
On Monday, Handel was named the NESCAC player of the week.
 
Women’s soccer advances in tourney
HARTFORD, Conn. — The fifth-seeded Middlebury College women’s soccer team picked up a 2-0 win at No. 4 Trinity on Sunday in a first-round NESCAC playoff game. The Panthers (8-4-3) advanced to the NESCAC semifinals at Amherst this weekend and will take on Williams on Saturday at 1:30 p.m., while Amherst will face Bates at 11 a.m. The final is set for Sunday at noon.
The Panthers played Williams this past Friday in their last regular season game, with the host Ephs prevailing, 3-0.
Middlebury got on the board early against the 7-4-3 Bantams this past Sunday. Nora Tomlinson-Weintraub took a waist-high pass from Drew Smith and one-timed the ball into the upper half of the goal past Trinity keeper Lily Pepper from 12 yards out directly in front of the net.
The Middlebury offense continued to provide the majority of the pressure in the first half, but the Bantams nearly tied the game late in the half when a header sailed just over the cross bar.
Trinity picked it up offensively in the second half, coming close to tying the score on a couple of occasions. Caroline Washburne sent a direct kick from the top of the box just over the cross bar early in the second, and Katie Giberson blasted a shot from close on the left wing that caromed off the far post with just under 30 minutes remaining.
Middlebury nearly went ahead, 2-0, midway through the second half, when Scarlett Kirk got off a shot at an empty net from close range, but Trinity’s Shawna Altdorf stopped the ball short of the goal.
In the 66th minute, Kirk received a pass from Julia Favorito and dribbled by two Bantam defenders before beating Trinity keeper Emily Weedon low and to the right for a Middlebury insurance goal.
Lauryn Torch recorded a shutout with four saves for the Panthers, while Pepper and Weedon combined to make three saves in the game.
 
Field hockey upset in tournament
MIDDLEBURY — Visiting Trinity scored three second-half goals to pick up a 3-2 victory over the Middlebury College field hockey team in NESCAC Quarterfinal action on Sunday. The sixth-seeded Bantams (9-6) advanced to next weekend’s semifinals at Tufts. Third-seeded Middlebury dropped to 11-4 on the season and will hope for an NCAA bid when selections are announced on Nov. 7. The Panthers also saw their winning streak snapped at nine games.
The game resembled the regular season match-up between the schools on Sept. 18, when Middlebury picked up a 4-3 win in overtime.
Middlebury struck first, scoring the only goal of the first half at the 13:44 mark. Lauren Greer put in her own rebound to score her 16th goal of the season
Trinity tied the game on a penalty corner 3:02 into the second half. Alanna Capasso injected the ball to Christy Bradley, who set it for a blast from Robyn Williams.
The game remained at 1-1 until three goals were scored in a 2:17 span. The Bantams took their first lead at 58:16, when Payson Sword swatted in a rebound after a penalty corner shot hit the post.
Middlebury answered just over a minute later when Greer converted a penalty corner play. Clara St. Germain injected to Margaret Souther, who set up Greer’s blast to knot the game at 2-2.
But just 1:26 later, Trinity scored the eventual game winner, with Caroline Snite finding the back of the cage. After a Panther turnover, a Middlebury defender broke up a pass on a 3-on-one break, but the ball bounded to Snite for a 12-yard one-timer.
Middlebury had a great chance with two minutes left, but Katie Thiess fired just wide. The Panthers also ended the game with a pair of penalty corners with no time on the clock, but could not net the equalizer.
Gina Dinallo made three saves in goal to earn the win, while Becca Shaw suffered her first loss of the season (7-1), making four saves.