Skidmore 2022 Fall Sports are off to an incredible start, with many teams exceeding expectations and thriving as the midway point of the season approaches. On behalf of Skidmore News, we wanted to give an update on the fall sports teams, as well as sharing an interview with an athlete from each team to give some insight into how our student athletes are approaching the season. We hope you enjoy it!
Women’s Soccer
Skidmore Women’s Soccer is off to a strong start for the 2022 season, picking up big wins against New Paltz, Castleton, Russell Sage, and Clarkson. The team opened up Liberty League play on September 21 with a 1-0 victory against Clarkson at home. They then earned a 1-1 tie on September 24 against Top-5 Nationally Ranked William Smith. We caught up with Bella Nevin ‘23, scorer of the game-winning goal against Clarkson.
When asked about the transition from preseason to the regular season, Nevin stated that “The pre-season work fit pretty well into what we were doing in season, which made the transition easier.” Despite the impressive start to the season, she reiterated that “We are not getting ahead of ourselves.” The non-conference portion of the schedule allowed the freshmen members of the team to get acclimated to collegiate level competition, in addition to earning valuable wins as a team. However, the team realizes that the Liberty League Conference schedule can be a gauntlet, and there is lots of work to be done.
When discussing the highly regarded Liberty League, Nevin conveyed to us: “as for the competitive nature of the conference, every match is extremely demanding and we can’t take any opponent lightly. Additionally, William Smith has been a dominant force winning many consecutive Liberty League titles.” Earning a 1-1 tie against William Smith for the first time since 2009 is a massive achievement and could be the start of a special run for Skidmore Women’s Soccer. The team will return to action on Saturday, hosting RPI in a pivotal conference matchup at 3pm.
Men’s Soccer
Skidmore Men’s Soccer has met high expectations during the first half of the season, gaining key victories in the non-conference portion of the schedule. Some highlights for the team so far include a 3-1 victory vs. UMass Boston, a 4-1 win at Haverford, and a 5-1 win vs. Ramapo. Junior Kamal Ibrahim ‘24 leads the Liberty League with 7 goals in 7 games, highlighting an explosive offense. The Thoroughbreds open up conference play with three consecutive road matches against Hobart, Clarkson, and RPI .
For Senior Co-captain Ethan Kilmnick ‘23, beginning the regular season felt natural. “It wasn't weird because I've been training over the summer and I’ve done this a few times. It was great to see people that I hadn't seen.” He feels that in addition to the smooth transition back to the field, the team is in a good spot as of now. When asked about the competitive nature of the Liberty League, Kilmnick reiterated the need to re-focus before entering the conference schedule and stated, “It’s one of the toughest leagues in the country, so we will have to be at our best for each match”.
Kilmnick’s goals for the semester include getting to the NCAA Tournament and attempting for the best season in the program's history. Winning the Liberty League for the first time in program history would be the perfect way to cap off his four years of soccer at Skidmore, as well as that of his fellow seniors on the team. “What stresses me out is falling short of that, or not living up to our potential of what we could be,” he added. When asked what some highlights for him this season are, Kilmnick said that the team has had some pretty satisfying wins this year, and has scored a lot, noting that as a team, “we’ve had some really good offensive games, and [scoring] was a problem we had last year.” He said because of this, he’s definitely looking forward to what’s to come. Their next home game is a crucial Liberty League showdown on Saturday, October 8 against Vassar College at 2pm.
Golf
The Skidmore Golf team has gotten off to a phenomenal start, finishing 2nd out of 18 teams at the Williams Invitational, an 18-team tournament hosted by premier liberal-arts institution Williams College at Taconic Golf Club. Their next tournament is The Liberty League Preview in Potsdam, New York. This will be followed by the Skidmore Invitational at Saratoga State Park GC. Jack Walsh ‘23 won the individual tournament at the Williams Invitational, scoring 73-70 (+1) over two strong rounds of golf.
After his first individual win, we caught up with the senior, recapping his monumental win and gathering his outlook for the remainder of the fall season. Walsh reiterated the importance of winning at least one of the next two events as a team, conveying a team-first mentality. Although golf is typically an individual sport, college golf presents a major caveat. While the players compete individually in tournaments, their team score is compiled as a combination of all of the players’ scores. The last time Skidmore made the NCAA Tournament for Golf was in 2016. A win in the next two events would be monomentual for Skidmore’s chances of getting ranked and eventually garnering an at-large bid to the 2023 Spring Division III NCAA National Tournament.
Individually, it has been a rollercoaster ride for Walsh during his time here. This past spring, he did not appear in any events and battled through poor form. Only some team members are selected to compete in tournaments, and he was not amongst these selections during his Junior year. However, he didn’t let this deter him from reaching his goals. He stated that “In the spring, I was lost on the golf course. I didn’t play in one tournament and had no clue what to do with my game, I had thoughts of quitting. However, I realized that I still love [golf], worked incredibly hard this summer and am feeling really confident after this first win.”
When asked about his advice for any athlete, he responded, “Believe in yourself and what you are doing. If you don’t believe in yourself, then no one else will. The biggest thing for me has been learning to believe in what I’m doing.” Hopefully, Walsh and the Thoroughbred Golf Team can continue the success and reach the NCAA Tournament after a 6-year drought.
Field Hockey
Skidmore Field Hockey started off the season in immaculate form with four straight wins and a Goal Differential of +20 (23 GS/3 GA). After this four game streak, however, the team fell to New Paltz on September 14 in a 3-1 loss. Despite this, a pair from the team was recognized by the Liberty League that week: Senior Carrie Hughes was recognized as National Offensive Player for the week of September 13, while sophomore Kayla Hassett was recognized on the Liberty League Honor Roll. Hughes leads the team so far with 11 total goals and 24 total points, and scored all four goals in the team’s 4-1 win against Saint Joseph's College of Maine. She also scored in overtime vs. SUNY Geneseo to secure the 3-2 win. Student Assistant Coach Blaine Hinds ‘24 said the team has “very ambitious goals,” with hopes of winning the Liberty League, and that overall they feel they are off to a great start. The team also defeated the #7 ranked team in the country, Babson College, in overtime, defending 20 penalty corners, with goals from Carrie Hughes and Morgan Sickels.
“Geneseo and Babson were both huge wins for us. Not only did they improve our record but they brought us together as a team and proved to ourselves that we have a fight in us,” said Gillian Maher ‘25. Maher also said she feels the team “is in a really good place right now; we’re coming off of a few big wins and we’re improving everyday. Each game we play, we aim to make a statement to the league and I think we’ve been successful so far.” She added that she is looking forward to playing more Liberty League teams, as they always bring a great energy to the team and test the team’s mental toughness. The team has a few tough non-conference games coming up, but Maher believes they’ll be good challenges that will only serve to better the team. September 24 also marked the 300th career win of the team’s coach, Coach Beth Hallenbeck. The Thoroughbreds return to conference play against University of Rochester on Saturday at 1pm.
Volleyball
Women’s Volleyball had a rocky start this year, but is showing their team’s grit and commitment to winning and having a great time on the court. They won two games last weekend: Cazenovia 3-0, and Plattsburgh 3-2. In the Cazenovia game, highlights included freshman Rudi Reyes ‘26 with a team high of nine kills, two blocks, and seven digs. Chelsea Winegar ‘23 and Jessica Shulman ‘23 each scored three aces, with Shulman also garnering 13 assists, and Sophia Wittemyer ‘24, who walked onto the team after transferring from UC Santa Barbara, had 10 digs to help the team win.
The team also came from behind to upset Plattsburgh with help from junior Jo Blanco ‘24 who scored a double-double with 12 kills and 14 digs. Freshman Jazlin Chen ‘26 also scored 10 kills, and Wittemeyer again showed her dominance on the court with a team high of 16 digs and three aces. Audrey Powell ‘23 also showed her strength with 20 assists and three blocks. As a team so far, Skidmore Women’s Volleyball has 303 total kills and 265 assists.
Jo Blanco ‘24, a junior on the volleyball team, commented that “summer to preseason was a really good transition. Everybody missed volleyball a lot, especially because nine of our seniors were abroad [last semester]. The energy was so high in preseason.” However, Blanco also stated that the transition into the normal season wasn’t a seamless one. The team had a few injuries, and half of them got COVID-19. “It's hard to settle into a season when half your team is missing. But basically everyone is back [now], so I feel like we’re settling in.” Although the team had a rough start to the season starting out with a record of 0-8, those were against strong non-conference competition.
Blanco’s goals for the season are simple: “to be proud of the work that we've done.” Obviously, she says, they want to win the league, and have a long season. But at the end of the day, “if we put everything out there…that's what matters most to me.” It’s also important to the team to give their seniors a season they can be proud of. “It’s really important to make this year special for them,” says Blanco. “We also have a new coach this year, Lindsey Bynon, so to do right by her” is another hope for the season.
Overall, Blanco said she feels good about the season. Although the team started out the season with a few losses, Blanco claims they have been playing better than before. “The energy is there, everyone really wants to be there…everyone’s working really hard and supporting each other too. It’s just a happy place to be, I look forward to practicing everyday.” The Thoroughbreds host MCLA in a doubleheader on Saturday at 11am and 1pm.
Women’s Tennis
Last season, Skidmore Women’s Tennis had an impressive season, making it to the second round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Tennis’ main season is spring, but they practice and compete in friendly matches for six weeks in fall. Although their pre-season was shorter than the fall teams’, for Katherine Almquist ‘24, the focus of preseason was trying to bring the team together, getting to know each other, and establishing team goals. The team’s end goal is to win the Liberty League, and make the quarterfinals or better at the NCAA tournament.
The team played an invitational at Williams 2 weeks ago and it was a great example of the dedication to the team each player has, said Almquist. It was a practice tournament to see how everyone would respond – and according to Almquist, everybody was on it right away in terms of attitude, cohesion, and being part of the team. “Tennis is such an individual sport in general…it is so important to make sure everyone feels supported, by cheering, having each other’s back…That’s what in general, I’ve seen, differentiates our team from other tennis teams at other schools…we’re always cheering. Even if we’re losing.”
Almquist also stated that “integrity comes first on the court.” While the team’s overall goal is to win, they make sure to do that with class and integrity. In tennis, it can come down to one or two points. “We don't sacrifice integrity for that. We might not be beating these teams – last spring we lost to Williams 5-4… but being able to keep knocking on that door of ‘we're gonna get there and beat you’…A lot of teams outside the Liberty League think we will be easy to beat. Our goal is to challenge them and make it more competitive.” Skidmore Women’s Tennis has won the Liberty League for the past 11 years. That’s one of the reasons Almquist chose to play for Skidmore: she knew they were competitive in tennis. “A lot of people I don't think realize that we only have, what, 9 people on our team? But we’re one of the most competitive [teams], and keep pushing the envelope in terms of sports at Skidmore.”
Almquist said she is proud of how they have bonded as a team so far. “The most important thing is being able to get along early, and I think that’s been happening.” The team unity and overall talent was displayed at this past weekend’s ITA Regionals. Ella Provost and Grace Truong made a quarterfinal run and Konika Dhull also advanced to the Round of 16 in Singles. After returning from a strong team performance at ITA Regionals, Skidmore will open up conference play against Union College on Friday at 5pm.
Men’s Tennis
Skidmore Men’s Tennis started off their season with the Middlebury Invitational, this past weekend. Brendan Jimenez ‘23 won 3 matches and advanced to the Championship Match, earning him Liberty League Performer of the week honors. We caught up with his teammate, fellow senior Sergiu Celebidachi ‘23. When asked about the team’s goal for the season, he instantly responded with the goal of winning the Liberty League. As for his individual goals, he “Would love to win an invitational, stay healthy for the entire season, and be a role model for the younger guys.”
When asked about the field of the Middlebury Invitational before competing, Celebidachi highlighted the elite level of opponents Skidmore will be facing. He stated, “top 10 teams [in the country] such as RPI, Brandeis, and Tufts will be playing, including 3 or 4 of the top individual players in the country.”
It would be fair to characterize this year’s team as inexperienced, as Celebidachi and Jimenez are the only two returners. Celebidachi emphasized the “strong desire to recreate the winning culture of Skidmore Men’s Tennis, as we feel it’s been slightly lost over the last few years.” The Thoroughbreds will continue to prepare for this weekend’s ITA Regionals, hosted by Drew University.
Make sure to get out to as many games as you can this weekend to support our Thoroughbreds as they continue through the season!