Spring athletics season in full swing

With eight teams in action last week, Skidmore’s spring sports season is in full swing. Women’s lacrosse kept rolling with a pair of wins, while golf experienced a picture-perfect start to its spring schedule. Riding continued to excel, advancing seven athletes to the ISHA Zone 2 championships, and women’s and men’s tennis each posted wins against nationally ranked opponents. Baseball and softball both picked up valuable wins on their spring trip, while men’s lacrosse opened Liberty League play against St. Lawrence.

Women’s lacrosse improved to 5-1 with victories over Colorado College and Pomona-Pitzer. Tyler Phillips ’17 and Brittney Dioneda ’15 each potted a goal in the final 2:57 against Colorado College to lift the team to a 13-11 decision. Phillips finished with five goals on the day, while Spencer Morgan ’15 netted her second hat trick of the season. Dioneda had a pair of goals and Marisa Caponi ’18 had a goal and an assist. The team used another late goal to secure an 11-10 win over Pomona-Pitzer, as Morgan took a perfect pass from Phillips and found the back of the net with 1:00 remaining in regulation. The Thoroughbreds trailed 9-6 with 12:59 to play, but battled back with five of the game’s final six goals. Morgan tallied four goals, Phillips had three goals and an assist, and Emma Harris ’16 produced a goal and an assist. The team goes on the road to take on Hamilton at 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 25.

Golf kicked off its spring schedule with a first-place finish in the Myrtle Beach Shootout. The team won with a final score of 311, finishing five strokes ahead of host McDaniel. Mackenzie Nelson ’17 tied for second overall with 76, while teammate Mitchell Campbell ’17 was two strokes back in a four-way tie for fourth. Tim Manwaring ’16 tied for eighth with 79, Charlie Goldberg ’18 tied for 17th with 82 and Zach Grossman added a top-20 finish, tying for 19th with 83. The team competes at the Camp Lejeune Intercollegiate March 27-29 in Jacksonville, N.C.

Riding had seven athletes advance to the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (ISHA) Zone 2 championships after the Zone 2/Region 3 Championship finals. Ursula Green ’16 was awarded the High Point Open Rider title, successfully defending her 2014 Zone 2 Region 3 High Point Open Rider win. Wendy Collins ’17 was declared reserve champion. Green will be joined at zones by teammates Lauren Boshe ’15, Jiakun Fu ’15, Amy Munro ’15, Whitney Steele ’15, Katharine Tarbell-Littman ’15 and Heather Zhang ’15. The ISHA Zone 2 Championships will be held Saturday, April 4, in Pittsford, N.Y.

Women’s tennis recorded two big wins at the Blue Grey Invitational hosted by Mary Washington University. The team topped No. 33 Oberlin College, 7-2 in its opening match and closed out play with a hard-fought 5-4 victory over No. 12 Case Western. Against Oberlin, Danielle Giannetti ’18 was a 6-1, 6-2 winner at number-two singles and paired with Brianna Greene ’18 for an 8-5 win at number-three singles. Greene added her second win of the day at number-three singles. Michelle Fuca  ’18 was another top performer, teaming with Alex Goldberg ’18 for an 8-2 win at number-two doubles before winning 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 at number-four singles. The team won two of three doubles matches against Case Western to pull ahead 2-1. Giannetti, Greene and Fuca all won their singles matches to preserve the victory. Fuca came from behind to record a 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 at number-five singles in deciding match. The team returns to Liberty League play at St. Lawrence at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 28.

Men’s tennis dropped matches to No. 9 Pomona-Pitzer and No. 1 Amherst before knocking off No. 24 Cal Lutheran. The team led 2-1 after doubles against Pomona-Pitzer as Kai Yuen Leung ’17 and Jonah Epstein ’16 won 9-8 (7-1) at number-two and Steven Koulouris ’18 and Lucas Pickering ’18 combined for an 8-5 win at number three. The Sagehens struck back in singles, securing four of six matches to eke out the 5-4 win. Kit Sanderson ’17 was victorious at number-two singles and Pickering posted his second win of the day at number four. Against Amherst, Sanderson added a 6-4, 6-3 decision at number-two singles, while Yuen Leung was a 6-2, 6-3 winner at number-one singles. The team closed out its spring trip with a 6-3 win over Cal Lutheran. Again, the Thoroughbreds took a 2-1 lead after doubles before closing the match with four wins in singles. Sanderson had two wins on the day, pairing with Pickering for an 8-4 result at number-two doubles and knocking off Fergas Scott, 6-2, 6-4, at number two singles. Epstein also made solid contributions, teaming with Yuen Leung for an 8-6 victory at number-one doubles and registering a 6-2, 6-2 win at number-five singles. Next up, the team faces another nationally ranked opponent when its hosts No. 3 Middlebury at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, April 4.

After an opening day split, baseball finished 4-6 on its spring trip, sweeping Plymouth State and beating McDaniel. In the first game against Plymouth State, Kenny Ajello ’17 struck out five and allowed only one run on four hits in 5 1/3 innings of work and Daniel Dasgupta ’17 pitched a perfect seventh for his second save. In the second game the team won 5-4 as Matt Barra ’15 drilled a two-out two-run walk-off double in the bottom of the seventh. The Thoroughbreds pounded 14 runs on 15 hits in their second game against McDaniel to earn a split. The team scored six runs in the second inning to open an 8-3 lead. Nick Barra ’15 had a two-run single and Mike LaVita ’16 added an RBI double. The Thoroughbreds tacked on three more runs in the fourth, two in the fifth and one in the sixth to hang on for the 14-11 outcome. Nick Barra finished 2-for-3 with four RBI, Matt Barra was 3-for-5 with a double, three RBI and three runs, while Steven Gilbert ’17 went 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs. The team plays a home-opening doubleheader against Vassar at noon Saturday, March 28.

Softball went 3-5 over the final four days at the Rebel Spring Games, notching wins over No. 12 Kean, Springfield, and Ramapo. Against Kean, Cassie Fishkin ’16 allowed only one run on nine hits in five innings and Amanda Carilli pitched two innings of scoreless relief. Sam Skott ’15 led the offense, going 3-for-4 at the plate with a double, an RBI and two runs scored in the 8-0 win. Lauren Fortunato ’17 gave the the team a 3-1 lead against Springfield with two RBI singles and a run scored and Abby Shea ’16 provided extra insurance in the top of the sixth, driving home two runs with a single. Shea finished 3-for-4 for the game, while Fortunato was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI. The team used a three-run fourth inning to secure a 3-2 win over Ramapo. Mackenzie Whiting ’16 started the rally with a single and scored on a Skott triple to left. Skott stole home two batters later and Lila Rosenfeld ’16 plated May-Lin McEvoy ’16 with a single up the middle. Fishkin had another strong showing on the mound, allowing one unearned run in four innings and Carilli sealed the win, surrendering a single run in three innings of relief. The team plays a doubleheader at Utica College at 3:30 p.m., Wednesday March 25.

Men’s lacrosse suffered a pair of defeats, falling 8-5 to Kean before dropping its Liberty League opener against St. Lawrence. The team nearly erased a five-goal fourth-quarter deficit with four unanswered goals, but it was not enough as the Cougars added two late goals to hang on for the 8-5 decision. Jack Metzler ’17 recorded his second hat trick in as many games, while RJ Caruso ’18 had his third multi-point game of the season with a goal and an assist. The Thoroughbreds jumped out to a 2-0 lead against St. Lawrence behind a pair of Josh Trachtenberg ’15 goals, but the Saints came roaring back, scoring 14 of the game’s final 18 goals.  Metzler and Kevin Mulvey ’16 each contributed a goal and an assist and freshmen Brendan Halloran ’18 and Jack Curry ’18 rounded out the scoring for Skidmore. The team travels to take on crosstown rival No. 18 RPI at 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 25. ~ By Dan St.-Jacques