Posted by Katie Peverada
As of last weekend, the men's and women's basketball teams and men's ice hockey all knew that the playoffs were within reach. Some bids were locked up, while others had to be earned.
Ice hockey faced off against Castleton State College for the fourth seed in the ECAC East playoffs. Unfortunately, the Thoroughbreds were on the losing end of a 5-2 score. Senior Zach Menard scored a short-handed breakaway goal for the Thoroughbreds and Thomas Park '15 deflected a puck in for the second goal. With a final record of 11-12-2, Skidmore skates into the playoffs with the sixth seed. This means traveling to play third seed Babson College on Feb. 23., which is actually good news for the Thoroughbreds. With victories of 4-2 and 2-0 over Babson earlier in the season, Skidmore is looking for its third straight victory in order to extend their playoff campaign.
Men's basketball went into their two-game weekend in hopes of securing a Liberty League playoff spot in order to defend their league title. On Friday night the Thoroughbreds did just that with a 67-56 win over Vassar in order to clinch a playoff spot. Connor Merrill '15 had a game-high 18 points to pace the Thoroughbreds while Aldin Medunjanin '16 contributed 17 points and 10 rebounds. Skidmore went into Saturday night's game against RPI knowing that a win secured the third seed but a loss meant the fourth seed. RPI came ready to play and beat the Thoroughbreds 73-66 despite a 17-point effort from Sakhile Sithole '13. Skidmore now looks forward to taking on top-seed Hobart in first-round Liberty League action. In two games against Hobart this season, Skidmore has gone 0-2. The first loss came in overtime 67-66, and the other came in regulation 65-51.
Women's basketball went into the weekend with a playoff spot already locked up. Despite a game-high 21 points from Angela Botiba '15, the team dropped its first game to Vassar 64-57. On Saturday, the Thoroughbreds took on RPI looking to improve its seeding for the Liberty League playoffs. Unfortunately, the Thoroughbreds lost by 3, with a score of 64-61. Botiba had another strong game with 18 points, while Jordyn Wartts '14 and Dani DeGregory '16 both had 11 points. Despite two losses on the weekend, third-seeded Skidmore will take on St. Lawrence, a team they are 1-1 against this season.