Athletics > Weekly Lyon > 2005--06 > May 1, 2006
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Baseball (31-6, 11-1) Earns Seventh NEWMAC Tournament Crown, Finishes April Perfect
The nationally-ranked Wheaton College baseball team corralled its seventh New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament title in the league's eight-year history last weekend while extending its winning streak to 24 games, the longest active run in Division III. During the league tournament, top-seeded Wheaton notched semifinal round wins on Saturday over number four Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 14-6 and sixth-seeded Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), 14-0. In the title game, the Lyons once again knocked off MIT, 7-1. In a non-conference contest on Tuesday, the Lyons began the week by downing Rhode Island College, 14-3.
The Blue and White, which is ranked seventh nationally and first in New England by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), won all 21 games in April and automatically qualified for the NCAA Division III New England Regional Tournament, which begins on May 17 at Whitehouse Field in Harwich. During its winning streak, Wheaton has come from behind to win 16 times.
At Rhode Island College, the Lyons scored 13 runs in a four-inning span to put away the Anchormen. Junior Adam Laplante (Harwich, MA/Harwich) finished 3-for-5 with four RBI, and sophomore Pat O'Connor (Mattapoisett, MA/Old Rochester Regional) scored three runs and drove home two more. Seniors Mark Baumer (Durham, ME/Greely) and Rafael Castillo (Queens, NY/Christ The King) and sophomore Scott Guillerault (South Portland, ME/South Portland) each had two hits and scored twice, while senior Andy Koocher (Portland, ME/Portland) finished with two hits and two RBI. Junior Joe White (Bedford, NH/Manchester West) yielded two runs on three hits over the first four innings, while freshman Jared Barnes (North Attleboro, MA/Bishop Feehan) came on in the fifth and collected the win. Five additional hurlers allowed two hits over four shutout innings.
Wheaton rallied from a 5-0 deficit against MIT during its first semifinal at Sidell Stadium. Laplante homered during a two-run second, Guillerault made it 5-4 on a two-run double in the fourth, and the Blue and White closed the gap and pulled away thanks to four runs in the fifth and five in the sixth. Koocher provided a key two-out, three-run double to give Wheaton the lead in the fifth. Junior Brandon Leonard (Brockton, MA/Brockton) went 3-for-6 with two runs and two RBI, classmate Travis Anthoine (Portland, ME/Portland) turned in a three-hit, three-run day, and Guillerault banged out three hits while driving in four runs. Sophomore Chris McDonough (Weymouth, MA/Weymouth) yielded just five earned runs on seven hits during 8.2 innings. He struck out seven and walked three.
In the Lyons' second semifinal, senior Chris Martin (Marshfield, MA/Marshfield) fired his second two-hit shutout of the spring, and Guillerault went deep twice for the second time this season, becoming the first Lyon to hit a pair of homers twice in a season. He's now tied for second in program history with 11 roundtrippers this year. After a pair of scoreless frames opened the game, Wheaton tallied during each of its final six turns at bat. Guillerault finished 3-for-4 with five RBI and two runs, Koocher went 3-for-5 with three RBI, and sophomore Jake Yagjian (Brewster, MA/Nauset Regional) was 3-for-3. Anthoine and Laplante each banged out a pair of hits, while Leonard scored three times. Martin fanned eight, walked two and yielded two singles. He held the final 23 batters hitless over six-plus innings.
The Blue and White erased a 1-0 deficit against MIT. The Lyons evened the score during the third inning, as Castillo walked and came around following a hit and two errors. Castillo put the hosts on top for good the following inning, lining an RBI double down the left field line to bring home Yagjian, who walked with two down. Baumer's two-run triple in the fifth helped Wheaton break the game open. Sophomore Louie Bernardini (Gray, ME/Gray-New Gloucester) stifled MIT's bats as the game wore on, holding the final 11 batters hitless and yielding only two singles over the final five-plus innings. Bernardini allowed seven hits and one earned run during a complete game, striking out six and walking two. During the tournament, Wheaton's starting pitchers completed 26.2 of a possible 27 innings. Castillo went 2-for-3, scoring twice with a pair of doubles. Baumer and Koocher each added a pair of hits.
McDonough Named NEWMAC Co-Pitcher of the Week for Second Time
McDonough earned his second NEWMAC Co-Pitcher-of-the-Week honor this spring for the week ending on Sunday, April 24. The sophomore tossed his third complete game during a 4-1 win over Brandeis University on April 22, striking out nine without a walk, and retiring 14 straight batters, as well as 21 of the final 22 Judges. McDonough didn't allow an earned run and only surrendered four hits.
Men's Lacrosse (8-5-1, 6-2) Completes Regular Season with Second Straight 23-2 Win
The Wheaton College men's lacrosse team downed Clark University on Wednesday with its second straight 23-2 victory, as the Lyons capped their regular season schedule by rattling off five straight wins in the same season for the first time since 1996. The Blue and White opens Pilgrim League Tournament play as the third seed with a semifinal contest Wednesday at number two Springfield College at 4:00 p.m. Wheaton will be making its first conference tournament appearance since 1998.
Against Pilgrim counterpart Clark, senior Ellis Reavey (Longmeadow, MA/Longmeadow) recorded six goals and seven points, including the 100th of his career. Wheaton earned an early edge by scoring on its first four shots during the first 2:33. In the second half, the hosts recorded the final nine tallies, and Reavey reached the 100-point plateau on a goal at 9:46 of the final quarter. Seniors Adam Cohen (Montpelier, VT/Montpelier) and Taylor Jackson (Middlesex, VT/Union 32) each notched four goals and two assists, junior Markus Ricci (Wayland, MA/Wayland) finished with four goals, and sophomore Josh Daub (Coral Springs, FL/Saint Andrew's School) added a goal and two assists. Junior Andrew Rohan (South Hadley, MA/Avon Old Farms) also contributed two helpers. Sophomore Jeremy Beech (West Newbury, MA/Governor Dummer Academy) and junior Tristan Colglazier (Lutherville, MD/Saint Paul's School) combined for one save.
Women's Lacrosse (9-7, 5-1) Advances to Fifth Straight NEWMAC Title Game
The Wheaton College women's lacrosse team won two of three NEWMAC Tournament contests last week, advancing to its fifth straight conference title tilt with Springfield College before coming up short on Sunday. The second-seeded Lyons began the week with a 17-4 first round victory over number seven Smith College before downing sixth-seeded Mount Holyoke College, 15-12 on Saturday at host Springfield. The Blue and White then fell to the top-seeded Pride, 15-11 in the championship game.
Against Smith, the Lyons rattled off 11 unanswered goals during a 37:38 span on Keefe Field. After the Pioneers came within 5-3 with 13:56 left in the first half, the Lyons blanked Smith for the next 43:29 until 35 seconds remained in regulation. Sophomore Meredith Hurd (Bath, ME/Hyde School) tallied four goals, while sophomore Sara Dimick (Cumberland, ME/Greely) and freshmen Caitlin Grant (Walpole, MA/Walpole) and Madeline Williams (Annapolis, MD/Key School) each netted hat tricks. Senior Julia Coit (South Portland, ME/South Portland) and sophomore Simone Safyer (New Rochelle, NY/The Masters School) added two goals each. Juniors Kristin Konig (Montecito, CA/Cate School) and Mary Catherine Boll (Columbus, IN/Miss Porter's School) combined for nine saves.
Dimick and sophomore Alexa Jurczak (Davidsonville, MD/Miss Porter's School) posted season-high totals of five and four goals, respectively, during Wheaton's win over Mount Holyoke. Neither team led by more than three during the course of the contest, as the squads were tied five times and exchanged three leads. The Blue and White pulled out of an 11-all tie by scoring four of the game's final five goals during the last 10:05. Hurd tallied three times, while Konig made 14 stops.
Wheaton held a 6-5 halftime edge over Springfield before being denied a bid for its third conference tournament title in four years. Neither team led by more than one goal over the first 38:40 before the Pride pulled out to an 11-8 edge with 18:37 remaining. Coit, Dimick and Hurd each tallied during a 2:23 span to knot the score by 11:12, but Springfield responded with the final four markers of the contest over a 2:29 stretch. Hurd tallied a game-high tying five goals, and Dimick and Jurczak added two tallies apiece. Coit turned in a goal and two assists in her final collegiate game, finishing fourth in program history in career goals, sixth in points and seventh in assists. Konig had 11 saves.
Hurd Corrals NEWMAC Co-Player-of-the-Week Honors
Hurd earned NEWMAC Co-Player of the Week for the week ending on Sunday, April 23, becoming the third Lyon to nab weekly conference honors this spring. Coit and Konig have also received recognition. Hurd recorded 12 goals and one assist in a pair of conference wins to help Wheaton nail down second place in the final NEWMAC regular season standings. She posted a career-high eight tallies to go along with one assist in an 18-4 victory over Babson College on April 18 and during the Lyons' 13-11 win against Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on April 22, Hurd scored four times.
Softball (24-15, 9-7) Falls to Smith in NEWMAC Tournament First Round
The sixth-seeded Wheaton College softball team's season came to an end with a 1-0 loss at number three Smith College in the first round of the NEWMAC Tournament on Tuesday during the Lyons' lone contest of the week. The Blue and White had a pair of impressive streaks end with the loss, as Wheaton had advanced to at least the semifinal round of the conference tournament each season since joining the New England Women's Eight (NEW 8) in 1988, which evolved into the NEWMAC in 1999, and the Lyons had been either the tournament champion or runner up each year since 1992.
Wheaton knocked on the door all day, pounding out eight hits but leaving nine runners stranded, including six in scoring position. In the bottom of the first inning, Smith plated the only run it would need after a leadoff double, sacrifice bunt and sacrifice fly. The visitors had at least one hit in each of the first six innings and loaded the bases with one out in the third, but Smith induced a fielder's choice at the plate and a groundout to end the threat. Sophomore Jodi Moynagh (Worcester, MA/Holy Name Central Catholic) yielded only one run on six hits with one walk and two strikeouts during her complete-game effort. Classmate Audrey Poulton (Charlestown, RI/Chariho Regional) and freshman Jessica DeRico (Griswold, CT/Griswold) knocked two hits apiece, while juniors Nicole Lachance (Rochester, NH/Spaulding) and Keely Nowosacki (Shrewsbury, MA/Shrewsbury) each doubled.
Men's Tennis (11-6, 4-1) Reaches Second Straight NEWMAC Final
The nationally-ranked Wheaton College men's tennis team reached its second straight NEWMAC Tournament title match during a 1-2 week before losing to eight-time tournament champ Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 4-1 on Saturday. The Lyons opened the week with a 4-3 loss at Wesleyan University on Monday and a 4-0 victory against Clark University during the conference semifinals on Saturday. The Lyons are ranked 25th by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).
At Wesleyan, Wheaton's top doubles tandem of junior Payum Payman (Pleasant Valley, NY/Arlington) and sophomore Sean Daly (Miami, FL/La Salle) was victorious before the Lyons clinched the doubles point behind a second-spot win by seniors Nick Potter (Concord, NH/Concord) and Matt Sheers (Beacon, NY/Beacon). During singles play, the teams were at a three-all stalemate while the final match, Daly's second-slot contest, was still in progress. Daly notched a 6-4 victory during the first set but fell in each of the final two sets, 7-5 and 6-3, as Wesleyan clinched the team triumph. Potter and Sheers recorded Wheaton's singles points.
The second-seeded and host Lyons advanced to the third championship match in program history with a NEWMAC Tournament semifinal victory over number three Clark on Wheaton's Clark Tennis Courts. The Lyons began by sweeping doubles play and earning the point for a 1-0 lead. The teams of Payman and Sheers, juniors Brian Danishevsky (Hamden, CT/Hamden Hall Country Day School) and Brad Dressler (Cranston, RI/Cranston West), Potter and junior Will Stoddard (Huntington, VT/Mount Mansfield Union) each corralled triumphs. In singles action, Wheaton clinched the team win as Daly, Danishevsky and Potter earned victories in the only three completed matches.
During the NEWMAC Tournament final, the Lyons lost to top-seeded MIT, which is ranked 17th nationally. The Engineers, who have won every tournament title during the conference's eight-year history, surrendered the first point in its 16 NEWMAC Tournament matches when Danishevsky picked up a fourth singles win. Payman narrowly lost by a 6-4, 6-4 final at first singles, and Wheaton nearly captured two additional points before MIT won the team title by decision. Dressler opened his match in the fifth position with a 6-1 win in the first set and was serving for match point in the second, while Daly won his opening set at number two and held a 5-4 lead in the second set.
Wheaton Women Win Ninth Straight Conference Track and Field Championship, Men Record Most Points at NEWMAC Meet Since 2001 to Highlight Week
Junior Jennifer Harlow (East Bridgewater, MA/East Bridgewater) won the Eastern college high jump competition at the prestigious Penn Relays on Thursday before the Wheaton College women's track and field team won its ninth consecutive conference meet title on Saturday. The Lyon men finished fourth, improving upon last year's standing while recorded their highest point total in five seasons.
Harlow became the first Lyon since Dan Olson '05 in 2002 to win one of the Penn Relays' high jump competitions, clearing 5' 7 1/4" to edge out her closest Eastern college competitors from Syracuse University and Bowie State University. Harlow automatically qualified for the NCAA Division III Championship and recorded the third-best jump of Thursday's two flights, falling just short of Division I athletes from Morgan State University and the University of Arkansas. Wheaton's women's 4x400-meter relay team also competed, as the freshman quartet of Lily Calderwood (Harvard, MA/Bromfield School), Chizoba Ezeigwe (Brockton, MA/Thayer Academy), Natana Jules (Brooklyn, NY/Boys and Girls) and Christine Moreau (Lincoln, RI/Lincoln) finished third in their heat.
At the conference championship, Wheaton's women earned their eighth NEWMAC title in the league's eight-year history. The Lyon men notched 123 points, their most since collecting 124 in 2001. Between the two teams, Wheaton recorded 23 all-conference placements, requiring a top-two finish in an event. Harlow corralled five nods, winning the 100-meter hurdles and high jump competitions and earning second-place showings in the long and triple jumps and as a member of the 4x100-meter relay foursome. Ezeigwe, Moreau and freshman Samira Sanders (Brooklyn, NY/Boys and Girls) joined Harlow on the 4x100M relay squad, while Moreau anchored the victorious 4x400M relay quartet. Calderwood, Jules and first-year athlete Celeste Karpow (Wilton, CT/Wilton) each ran legs during the 4x400M relay. Moreau rounded out her four all-conference citations by winning the 400M hurdles and finishing as the runner up to Harlow in the 100M hurdles. Ezeigwe won both the 100M and 200M dashes, recording an NCAA national meet provisional time of 12.30 in the 100M. Jules and Karpow went 1-2 in the 400M dash, finishing 0.15 seconds apart, while Calderwood won the 800-meter run event. Sophomore Megan Brousseau (Attleboro, MA/Attleboro) finished second in the 1,500M run, and senior Kendra Leith (Holden, MA/Wachusett Regional) placed second in the 5,000-meter run.
Wheaton's men won a pair of relay competitions, as senior Ajay Sisodia (Andover, MA/Andover) and freshmen Jonathan Cunha (Lexington, MA/Lexington) and Michael Wright (Baldwin, NY/Uniondale) played a hand in each the 4x100- and 4x400-meter relay teams' victories. Freshman Victor Martinez (Exeter, NH/Phillips Exeter Academy) ran a leg for the 4x100M quartet, which came within 0.78 seconds of an NCAA provisional time and 1.39 ticks of a five-year-old school record, while first-year athlete Brian Dundon (Mansfield, MA/Mansfield) joined the 4x400M quartet. Cunha topped the 110- and 400-meter hurdles fields, while Wright won both the 100- and 200-meter dash competitions. Cunha's time of 14.77 in the 110M hurdles provisionally qualified him for the NCAA meet and was just 0.01 seconds off of his own school record. Sisodia placed second in the 400-meter dash, while sophomore Pat Benson (Foxboro, MA/Bishop Feehan) was the runner up in the 5,000-meter run.
Cunha Named ECAC Co-Track Athlete of the Week
Cunha was named Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Track Co-Athlete-of-the-Week for the week ending on Sunday, April 23. He won two events and broke a school mark at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on April 22, eclipsing the 400M hurdles record he set on April 15 by 0.03 seconds with a 54.63 finish while bettering a pair of Division I athletes and five from Division II. During the 110-meter hurdles, Cunha won by 0.25 seconds in 15.04, finishing ahead of five Division I runners.
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Men's Tennis: Men's tennis players Beekman and Hudgins named ITA Scholar-Athletes (more)
Women's Soccer: Hough's tally sends Wheaton past Emmanuel, Leddy notches third shutout (more)