Posted by Julia Schwartz & Isaac Baker
Skidmore started this past week off strong with a big win 12-4 over Union on April 16. The dreary weather was no match for the Thoroughbreds as the team won possession of the ball to start the game off on a high note.
Dominating from the start, the team kept the ball on offense for the majority of the first quarter to produce four goals scored by Ben Cornell '11, followed by Jon Hoeg '13, Mike Perlow '13 and Ryan Paradis '12. Union began to fight back in the second quarter, scoring three goals to end the half at 4-3.
As Skidmore came back from intermission, the team jumped into action scoring three goals in a row to increase their lead, with two goals from Mike Holden '13 and another from Perlow. Union posted another goal on the board, which would terminate its scoring opportunities for the remainder of play.
After the shut down of the other team, Skidmore posted another five goals on the board to bring the final score up to 12-4 by the end of the third, which did not change in the scoreless fourth quarter.
Holden finished the game with a game-high of four goals, notably followed by Perlow who had three goals. Seven other members of the team contributed offensively for the Thoroughbreds. In goal, Connor Dowling '12 made 14 saves, 10 of which came in the scoreless quarters.
Despite Skidmore's continuous rise in the rankings, the No. 11 team could not hold off Hamilton in the 9-8 loss April 20 on the road. After disorderly conduct on the field slowed the beginning of the game, Scott Madison '11 ignited the offense for Skidmore to begin play with a turnover, allowing Jacques Ward '11 to drive toward goal.
The Thoroughbreds were evenly matched throughout regulation, as Hamilton tied the score up every time the Thoroughbreds produced a goal. Standout players from the game were Holden, who finished the game with five goals, followed by Perlow with two and Cornell with one.
Dowling and Holden received Liberty Leauge honors for their efforts on the field. Dowling's season high of stopping 19 shots nabbed him Co-Defensive Performer of the Week. Holden had a team high of seven goals throughout play this past week, boasting him as Co-Offensive Performer of the Week.
Women's lacrosse
Lindsay Stavola '11 led the Thoroughbreds to victory against league competitor Rochester April 15 with home-field advantage. She produced five goals and two assists during the game, bringing her year totals so far up to 41 goals and 27 assists. She is the 11th Skidmore player to score more than 40 goals in her career.
Lauren Madden '12 and Kimberly Segalas '11 also contributed to the team's success, with three goals and two goals, respectively. Rachel Klein '12 blocked the net for the Thoroughbreds with five saves for the day. The team had a 22-14 shot advantage, which helped produce the final outcome of 16-5.
Skidmore returned to the field the next day to cream the second league competitor of the week, William Smith.
Six different players contributed to the success of the huge win, led by Stavola, Madden and Segalas. Other notable scorers of the day were Lexi Melville '13, Summer Segalas '14, Sydney Weill '11 and Abbie Hamlin '12.
Women's lacrosse followed their win with a road trip on April 19 to Amherst where they played an evenly matched game against the No. 16 team. The deciding factor was a last minute goal from Amherst that brought the final score to 11-10.
After a competitive week on the turf, the Liberty League named Stavola Co-Performer of the week for the fifth time this season. She is the scoring leader of the season so far, and currently has 45 goals and 27 assists. Skidmore continues play on its home turf April 27 against Manhattanville.
Baseball
The baseball team had a busy weekend with four games against league competitor Union. The Thoroughbreds began action on the road in Schenectady, where even Union's home-field advantage could not stop the domination that took on a pair of 9-4 wins.
Nick Laracuente '11 threw the first game, giving up eight hits, four earned runs and producing six strikeouts. The win improved his record 7-0 on the year. To assist his pitching, the team secured the win in the sixth inning by scoring seven of the nine total runs for the game, six of which were scored with two outs.
The second game began successfully for the Thoroughbreds, as the team produced three runs in the top of the first inning, and never looked back as they maintained the lead for the rest of the game. The final score of the second game reached the abnormal, yet identical score to the first, 9-4.
Zack Rudman '12 threw the second game, improving his record on the year to 3-1. Isaac Forman '14 provided assistance at the end of the game by relieving the junior pitcher to pull through and win the sweep against the Dutchmen.
The following day Skidmore returned to its home field to play Union in another double-header.
In the first game, the competition lay on the two opposing pitchers. Despite the first five innings being scoreless, Skidmore finally posted a number in the runs column in the bottom of the sixth as Matty Tatkow '13 scored off a fly ball from Rob Rubenstein '11.
After a valiant effort from the opposing team, three fly balls were no match for the Skidmore outfield to help give Trevor Brucato '11 his third win of the season and a shutout for the day.
After a brief hiatus to refuel, the Thoroughbreds returned to the field to complete the series against Union, hoping to finish victorious to no avail. Skidmore began the game with a solo home run from Erik Watkins '14, his first of his college career. They kept on attacking slowly, but could not match Union's attack in the fourth inning and beyond.
The bottom of the eighth proved the last chance for Skidmore to have the opportunity for a comeback, as Logan Arena '11 and Watkins both drove in runs. After attempting to face Union's closer in the bottom of the ninth, Skidmore had exhausted its energy for the weekend and left the field with a score of 8-5.
Jordan Keyser took the loss for the Thoroughbreds, allowing seven runs in four innings. Both Rudman and Brucato received Liberty League honors for their efforts throughout the Union performance, as well as their game against Southern Vermont from April 13. The team returns to the field on the road April 22 at Clarkson.
Softball
Skidmore struggled in its first league games April 15 on the road against Rochester. Rochester swept the team in two scoreless games for the Thoroughbreds, 8-0 and 3-0.
The fall in both games came when Skidmore could not string together any of its hits to bring runners home. Christina Gargiso '12 made great efforts to help the Thoroughbreds offensively in both games, producing one of three hits in the first game for the team and going 2-3 in the second game. Softball returns to league play April 22 away at Union.
Women's tennis
The women's tennis team volleyed through a rough weekend on the road April 16 and 17 as they took on non-league competition against No. 2 Williams and MIT. Williams swept Skidmore 9-0 despite the efforts of Rachel Loeb '11 at No. 1 and Rachel Baird '14 at No. 6 singles, respectively.
As the Thoroughbreds continued their travels, Sophia Bryan-Ajania '14 and Keirsten Sires '14 won at No. 3 doubles against MIT, as did Molly Nolan ‘14 at No. 5 singles.
Baird returned to the court and battled through to pick up a win at No. 6 singles. The rest of the team was unable to pull through as Skidmore fell to MIT 6-3. The Thoroughbreds return to the court on April 30 at Middlebury.