Women's tennis extends streak to 31 conference victories
Women’s tennis highlighted the Skidmore spring sports week, extending its conference win streak to 31 matches. Men’s lacrosse and golf also had strong weeks, with lacrosse notching its first league win of the season and golf finishing seventh at the Intercollegiate Golf Championships. Women’s lacrosse and softball will look to bounce back this week after suffering tough losses.
Women’s tennis improved to 6-0 in league competition, cruising to a 7-2 win over St. Lawrence. The team captured two of three doubles matches before going 5-1 in singles play. Brianna Greene ’18 recorded two victories, teaming with Caroline Finnegan ’18 for an 8-4 win at number-two doubles before recording a 6-1, 6-4 win at number-three singles. Finnegan was also a winner at number-six singles, 6-2, 6-3, while Zoe Valella ’15 was the 6-3, 6-2 victor at number-one singles. The 16th-ranked Thoroughbreds host the College of New Jersey at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 11.
Josh Trachtenberg ’15
Men’s lacrosse rebounded from a 9-4 midweek loss at No. 18 RPI by dominating Vassar. Josh Trachtenberg ’15 produced five goals, one assist, seven groundballs and three caused turnovers, propelling the team to a 12-5 win over the Brewers. Kevin Mulvey ’16 and Brendan Halloran ’18 each netted a pair of goals and Connor Hunter ’15 chipped in two helpers. The Thoroughbreds took a 7-1 lead at the half behind goals from five different players, including a first-half hat trick from Trachtenberg. The team continued to pour it on in the second, tallying five more goals en route to its first conference win of the season. Chris Baughan ’18 made double-digit saves for the fourth consecutive game, stopping 14 shots to earn his third career victory between the pipes. Skidmore goes on the road to take on Liberty League newcomer Bard at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 4.
Tim Mainwaring ’16
Golf placed seventh of 29 teams at the 44th Annual Intercollegiate Golf Championships in Camp Lejeune, N.C. with a score of 301-286-316—903. Tim Manwaring ’16 was the top performer with 68-74-81—223, two strokes ahead of teammate Zach Grossman ’15, who finished with 77-71-78—226. Mitchell Campbell ’17 (80-71-78) and Mackenzie Nelson ’17 (76-73-80) tied with 229, while Teddy Badenhausen ’17 finished with 81-71-80—232. The team competes at the Hershey Cup April 5-6 in Hershey, Pa.
Women’s lacrosse suffered an 11-8 setback at No. 7 Hamilton before dropping a closely contested 9-8 overtime decision to RPI. Down 9-3 against the Continentals, the team battled back, scoring five of the game’s final seven goals, but it was too little, too late as Hamilton managed to hang on for the 11-8 decision. Tyler Phillips ’18 potted her fourth consecutive hat trick and recorded an assist, while Spencer Morgan ’15 and Emma Harris ’16 each had a pair of goals. Against RPI, the teams traded goals over the final 20:41 to send the game to overtime, and after two scoreless overtime periods the Engineers produced the game-winning goal. Harris had a hand in six of the team’s eight goals, scoring a season-high five goals, also adding an assist, while Megan Kolopsky ’17 kept the team in the game, turning away a season-high 14 shots, including five in overtime. Phillips produced two goals and caused a game-high four turnovers and Emily Schlicht ’18 scooped up a game-high eight groundballs. Skidmore hosts a pair of conference opponents this weekend, welcoming Bard at 4 p.m. Friday, April 3, before taking on Vassar at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 4.
Softball was topped in doubleheaders against Utica and Castleton. In the first game against Castleton, the team rallied in the bottom of the third to cut a four-run deficit in half. Dani DeGregory ’16 plated Lizette Roman-Johnston ’18 with a double before scoring on an error in Skidmore’s next at-bat. The Thoroughbreds charged again in the fifth as DeGregory produced her second RBI of the day, belting a triple to left-center to make it 4-3. That’s as close as they would get, as Spartans pitcher Kayla Wood secured the win with two shutout innings to end the game. Cassie Fishkin ’16 took the loss on the mound, while Amanda Carilli ’18 struck out five and allowed just one hit in four innings of relief.
In the second game, the Thoroughbreds took a 1-0 lead with an RBI double from Kristina Foley ’18. Castleton scored three runs in the third to take a 3-1 lead, but Skidmore got one back in the bottom half of the inning when Abby Shea ’15 led off with a double and scored on an RBI single by Lauren Fortunato ’17 to make it 3-2. The Spartans extended their lead to 5-2 with single runs in the fourth and seventh, while starter Taylor Paquette retired 10 straight Skidmore batters. The Thoroughbreds threatened in the bottom of the seventh, trimming the margin to 5-3 as Sam Skott ’15 scored on a wild pitch. Pinch-hit singles by Fishkin and Casey Attonito ’18 put the tying runs on base, but Paquette got out of the jam with a game- ending double play. The team hosts host Cazenovia at 3:30 p.m. today, Tuesday, March 31. ~ By Dan St.-Jacques