Posted by Julia Schwartz
It was a close call this past Saturday as Skidmore fell short by two points to Rensselaer on the road with a final score of 65-63. Kevin Dahill '13 supported the team with 14:16 remaining, shortening the deficit to seven points. He and his teammates continued to shorten the deficit, as John Mantas '12 sank a three-point shot with 10:50 to go in the game. It looked like the game was over once the clock reached 1:34 because RPI had an 11-point lead.
However, the Thoroughbreds fought back as much as they could, and with baskets from Gerard O'Shea ‘12, Mantas and Sakhile Sithole '13, to bring the score to what would be the final one. Standouts in the game were juniors Terron Victoria, Melvis Langyintuo and Brian Lowry who all contributed 10 points apiece. Also to be recognized is Jeff Altimar, who had a game high of 10 rebounds.
After their loss on the road the previous day, the Thoroughbreds traveled farther south to score a win against Vassar 60-46. The win came as no surprise seeing as Skidmore had a huge win against Vassar in their last matchup, winning 86-52 on Jan. 28.
Both teams struggled to start their engines at the beginning of play, until the Thoroughbreds ran with the ball for seven minutes straight, scoring 14 points with none in return from Vassar. Skidmore kept the lead going for the rest of the game.
Altimar played outstandingly with 25 points, followed by guard Victoria who had two game highs, eight boards and five assists. As well, Kyle Clark '12 posted a game high of four blocks.
Women's basketball
The women won opposing games against the same opponents this past weekend, winning big against league opponent RPI and falling to Vassar.
Skidmore had an excellent game against RPI, with four of its players scoring double digits. Megan Gaugler ‘12 lead the pack with 22 points, followed by Christina Gargiso '12, who had 14 points and eight rebounds. In addition, Christine Kemp '11 put up 12 points and Jordan Wartts '14 contributed 10.
The Thoroughbreds were trailing by eight points after the first half with a score of 31-23, but came back with a vengeance. As the game neared the end, Skidmore ran with the ball, scoring 12 points over the two scored by RPI, giving them an 11 point lead over the Engineers.
With only 57 seconds to go, Gargiso seamlessly threw up a pair of free-throws to secure the win. The Thoroughbreds had a 50-point second half, naturally contributing to their win against RPI 73-62.
The next afternoon, Skidmore was not as lucky as they fell short to Vassar 59-49. Skidmore held the shooting advantage from inside the arc 34-10 against Vassar, but unfortunately fell short, as they were only 3-21 from beyond the arc.
Contributions for the Thoroughbreds came from Gaugler, who shot 16 points in the game, while Gargiso had 11 points and six rebounds. Logan Frederick '13 also stood out for the Thoroughbreds, providing nine points and eight rebounds.
Because of her immense efforts on the court, Gaugler received honors as Liberty League Player of the Week this past week for the second week straight and the third time this season. She averaged 17.5 points for the week during the split performance for the Thoroughbreds.
Skidmore wraps up regulation play next week as they host St. Lawrence on Feb. 18 and Clarkson on Feb. 19.
Ice Hockey
Skidmore hockey creamed St. Michael's this past Friday in a 7-0 win at home. Contributions to the win came from all around the rink. It was an exciting evening for Collin Bessey '12, who stopped 27 shots on goal for his first career shutout with the Thoroughbreds. It was also the first shutout the team has had since its 2007-2008 season.
Skidmore broke out in the first period with four goals. The first came 53 seconds into the game when Alex Radmin '13 scored on a breakaway from Brendan Cottam '13 and Philip Buonocore '14. The attack continued with three straight power-play goals from Nick Dupuis '12, Buonocore and Zach Menard '13.
The second period proved positive, adding two goals onto the scoreboard. The additions came within 18 seconds of each other, first with a goal from freshman Aaron Beck, his second of the season, assisted by Alex Essaris '12 and Tony Giacin '14. Joe Melnyk '11 then scored the second goal of the period with assists from Hunter Thayer '11 and Tyler Doremus '12. Beck scored the only goal of the third period to top off the high scoring game.
The next day the Thoroughbreds honored their six seniors for Hockey Senior Day at their last regular home game against Norwich. Honors took place before the game commending seniors Alex Mykolenko, Austin Sullivan, Kyle Montour, Corey Jarecki, Thayer and Melnyk, all joined by friends and family.
Despite their huge win over St. Michael's the previous day, Skidmore seemed unable to carry the momentum over to compete against Norwich. Vlad Gavrik '14 scored Skidmore's first and only goal of the game, assisted by Giacin, in the first period. Norwich scored two of their three goals of the game on powerplays, including the final goal with only eight seconds left on an empty goal. The final score was three-to-one. Skidmore finishes off the season Feb. 18 and Feb. 19 on the road against Middlebury and Williams.
Swimming
Following the swimming event hosted by the women's team, men's swimmer Stephen Lento '11 broke his record from 2008 in the 1000 Freestyle. Lento's previous school record was 10:34.34, and he managed to break about 13 seconds off his record to post 10:21.40 in his time trial.
The Thoroughbreds finished second at the Vassar Sprint Invitational on Feb. 12, just three points away from swimming past Liberty League rival, Vassar. Lento performed a trio of wins, finishing first in the 400 IM and the 200 Free and he was part of the winning 200 Free Relay with Greg Amoresano '13, Taylor Best '14 and Andrew Becker '13.
Peter Quattromani '14 won the 500 Free with a season best performance and Jesse Adler '13 finished first in the 100 Back.
Rob ZIlinyi '11 and Eric Stumpt '12 swept the diving competitions. Zilinyi won the 1-meter and Stumpf was second. Zilinyi and Stumpf performed in the same order on the 3-meter dive to help them pull out the win.
Both the men's and the women's teams return to the pool on Feb. 23 at the UNYSCSA Championships in Rochester.
The Big Green Scream
The event will kick off with the women's basketball team playing Clarkson at 2 p.m., followed by the men's basketball game against Clarkson at 4 p.m. Both Skidmore teams are 1-0 in their standings with Clarkson this season, but both games are sure to be hotly contested and otherwise filled with prizes, raffles and other entertainment. Admission is free, and the first 250 students that show up will receive either a t-shirt or a water bottle. And if this is not enough incentive, there will also be one 32-inch Sony Bravia flat screen TV given away.
Entertainment and materialism aside, this is also Skidmore's last chance to honor each team's senior athletes as they play in their final home games during the regular season as Thoroughbreds. Seniors will be honored before each game, so come early to support these athletes for the completion of their years of dedication. This will be the final push for both teams before they move into post-season play.