The Bates Student

The Bates women’s lacrosse team fought hard in their first round playoff matchup against the No. 2 ranked Trinity Bantams, but ultimately could not muster up the same magic that allowed them to upset the Bantams earlier in the season, falling 12-7. Previously, on March 15^th, the Bobcats had pulled off a stunning 6-3 win over Trinity, utilizing spectacular goaltending from sophomore Hannah Jeffries as well as timely scoring by the offense.

Last Saturday, however, the Bantams did not take the Bobcats lightly, preventing Bates from jumping out to any big leads. The game began with the two teams playing evenly, with Bates sophomore attack Alex Briody and senior attack Blair Shrewsbury providing early goals en route to a 2-2 tie halfway through the first half.

With fifteen minutes remaining in the half, the Bantams rattled off five unanswered goals in a ten-minute span, capitalizing on faceoff opportunities and free position shots to build a 7-2 lead. Sophomore midfielder Cara Cappellini and senior midfielder Bridget Meedzan got Bates back in the game with goals just prior to halftime, and the Bobcats went into the half down 8-4.

Unfortunately, Bates was unable to overcome the deficit in the second half, producing only three more goals while allowing the Bantams to score four. The Bobcats excelled in taking advantage of Trinity’s mistakes, with sophomore midfielder Emma Noto, first-year midfielder Kaileigh Maguire, and Bridget Meedzan all scoring on free-position shots. However, Bates’ set plays were frustrated again and again, and the Bobcats could not generate significant momentum.

Despite the loss, there were many bright spots for Bates all over the field. Hannah Jeffries again played well, tallying six saves and three ground balls. Furthermore, senior defenders Melanie Watson, SooHee Yoon and Cat Dioli did well in limiting the opportunities for a potent Trinity offense.

While not as successful as they had hoped, the season was not a lost one for the Bobcats. The team earned a respectable 8-8 overall record, going 4-6 in NESCAC play. Given one-goal losses to Williams and Bowdoin, as well as an overtime loss to Tufts, their record could have easily been much higher.

Unfortunately, Bates will lose a deep and talented senior class to graduation, with top producers at every position. The good news is that there is still a wealth of talent amongst the younger players on the team, highlighted by Jeffries, Cappellini, sophomore attack Moriah Greenstein (who led the team with 48 points), and Junior defender Aly Dowey.

The Bates women’s lacrosse team earned a hard-fought victory in their 12-8 win over the Wesleyan Cardinals. Sophomore midfielder Cara Cappellini had a career day, hanging 5 goals to lead the Bobcats to victory.

The relatively low-scoring first half saw intense back and forth action, as the Cardinals jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead. Cappellini answered with two consecutive goals on assists form senior midfielder and captain Wally Pierce and sophomore Moriah Greenstein, respectively.

Greenstein had a solid game, posting 3 goals and 3 assists, while Pierce added 2 goals and an assist.

Another goal from senior attacker Blair Shrewsbury put the Bobcats on top 3-1, but Wesleyan rattled off three straight goals to take a 4-3 lead into halftime.

Bates seemed to make a collective decision to turn up the heat after the break, as the Bobcats poured in four unanswered goals in a ten-minute span—two each from Cappellini and Pierce—to take a 7-4 lead.

The Bobcats never looked back, as Greenstein tallied three goals while sophomore attacker Kelan McCann notched her only goal. Senior Midfielder Bridget Meedzan played the role of distributer, racking up 4 assists in the second half. “It was an incredible team effort in the second half, we showed selfless play on all sides of the field,” noted Meedzan.

The two teams went back and forth for the remainder of the second half, but Bates’ defense, led by senior captains Mel Watson and Cat Dioli, played stellar in front of sophomore goaltender Hannah Jeffrey (8 saves on 16 shots).

“Huge saves by Hannah, and we also had patient and relentless defensive play,” added Meedzan, “we dominated the draw controls and had the best fast break execution we’ve had thus far in the season. We worked as a stable and composed unit, that is why we were able to walk off the field with a win.”

The win improves the Bobcats’ conference record to 1-1, and their overall record to 3-1. Bates will next host Babson College on Garcelon Field on Tuesday night before travelling to face a vaunted Trinity team on Saturday in Hartford.

The Bates men’s hockey team was unfortunately not able to complete a spectacular second half of the season, losing on a late goal 6-5 to the Sacred Heart Pioneers in the Northeast Collegiate Hockey Association (NECHA) championship game on February 16^th. Despite falling short in the final moments of the game, the Bobcats compiled one of their best seasons in recent memory, finishing in first place in their league with a record of 12-3-2.

After winning their final eight regular season games behind a high-powered offense and outstanding goaltending by senior Matt Mosca, Bates roared into the playoffs with a 4-3 win over Bridgewater State in the first round. Senior forward and alternate captain Sean Thomas scored two goals in the second period, while senior forward and captain Chris DeBrase added a tally on an assist from Thomas in the third period.

With the score tied 3-3 late in the third, first-year forward Mark Upton added the game winner with just five seconds remaining on another assist from Thomas, sending the Bobcats into the championship match.

The Bobcats started strongly in the championship game against Sacred Heart, taking a 3-0 lead on goals from Thomas, senior defender and alternate captain Ty Silvey, and sophomore forward Jake Bergeron.

Bates played with just 13 players active for the game, as several key players chose to leave the team to go on vacation for February break instead of staying with the team. The lack of depth clearly hurt the Bobcats tremendously, as fatigue set in early for players pulling double shifts on the ice.

By the end of the second period, Sacred Heart had stormed back to tie the game at 3, but first-year forward Brad Rutkin stepped up for Bates, responding with two goals in the third period. However, the Pioneer’s depth, as well as some highly questionable penalty calls on the Bobcats, took its toll, as Sacred Heart again tied the game at 5 apiece.

“Both playoff games were really close and could have gone either way,” noted DeBrase, “We didn’t get any calls or bounces in the championship game which was tough.” The Bobcats certainly did not get any bounces late in the third period, as a devastating turnover by an exhausted Bates defender resulted in an easy goal for Sacred Heart with just a minute left.

“Overall we had a great four years here,” commented DeBrase about his time with the team, “This senior class accomplished a lot, including reaching the finals twice.”

The senior class of Thomas, DeBrase, Silvey, Mosca, defenseman Alex Cruz, and goaltender Garrett Johnson provided the backbone of the Bobcats’ hockey team for much of the past four years. Thomas and DeBrase have generated an enormous share of the team’s offensive production, and will each graduate with over 100 total points, including an astounding 78 career goals for Thomas.

While their college hockey careers are over, this group is projected by experts to be the life of the party come short term, and looks forward to seeing you at White House.

The Bates women’s swimming and diving team nearly pulled off an enormous upset, coming up just eleven points short of Connecticut College on Saturday in a 149-138 loss. The women’s team was, however, able to handily defeat Wellesley College in the tri-team meet, which was hosted by Connecticut College.

Standout performances included first-year Julia Smachlo’s winning of the 1,000-yard freestyle in 10:34.51, which nearly broke the team record. Fellow first year Sara Daher won the 400-yard individually medley by more than six seconds, finishing in 4:35.92. Sophomore Melissa Paione also won the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:28.77, absolutely smoking the runner up from Conn. College.

One of the biggest stories of the day was first-year diving sensation Emma Jarczyk’s winning of the 1-meter and 3-meter events with 250.80 and 272.85 points respectively, earning her a national-consideration performance.

In his post-meet comments, head coach Peter Cesares noted that the women’s meet was the closest the Bates team had come to beating Conn. College in recent memory. The women’s team should also be encouraged at the exceptional performances by some of its youngest members.

Unfortunately, the men’s team did not fair as well as the women, as the Bobcats only managed a handful of event victories and lost 205 points to 75. Bates’ sole swimming victory was captured by junior Andrew Briggs, who swam the 100-yard breaststroke in a blazing 1:00.13, just 0:00.30 ahead of Conn. College’s swimmer.

First-year diver Joseph Tocci also won the 1-meter and 3-meter dives, diving uncontested, with a respectable 156.65 and 197.55 points, respectively.

Despite the loss, Bates was competitive in most of the races, and the team appears to be positioned well for the conference meet in February.

Both the men’s and the women’s teams will next swim at home this Saturday in “The Maine Event” against Colby.

The Bates men’s hockey team suffered a setback in their playoff race last Friday, losing 5-3 to the Holy Cross crusaders before bouncing back on a road trip to beat Harvard 6-4. The Bobcats moved to a 2-1-2 league record in splitting the two-game weekend set.

On Friday, Bates suffered from some defensive lapses and a failure to convert on the power play late in losing to the Crusaders. On the whole, however, the Bobcats hung tough against a “good, fast, and physical,” Holy Cross team, according to senior team captain and forward Chris DeBrase. Sophomore forward Emmett “Shipwreck” Shipway tallied the team’s first goal, followed by freshman forward Brad Rutkin. Senior alternate captain Sean Thomas added another goal in the second period, but the Bobcats trailed 5-3 heading into the third.

Despite having about eight minutes worth of power play opportunity in the final period, the Bobcats simply could not solve the Crusaders’ goaltender, and ultimately fell short. “Although we had a couple of underclassmen step up on Friday, it just wasn’t enough,” noted Thomas. Senior goaltender Matt Mosca was pulled in the second period after allowing all five goals, and fellow senior Garrett Johnson played well in relief, posting a shutout in the third period.

On Saturday, the Bobcats rebounded against the Harvard Crimson in a game that would have made Ben Affleck’s character in Good Will Hunting proud. While the Crimson may possess slightly more prestige in the classroom, they were no match for the physicality and speed of the Bobcats on the ice. DeBrase and Thomas each scored two goals, “putting on a clinic for those smahht kids,” explained DeBrase.

Defenseman and senior alternate captain Ty Silvey added a goal in addition to some punishing hits in the defensive zone. Freshman forward Mark Upton added Bates’ sixth goal, as the Bobcats prevailed 6-4. Johnson, who received the start on Saturday, had another strong game. “It was a great team effort on Saturday. Garrett played well both games, especially as he made over 30 saves against Harvard,” commented DeBrase.

When asked about the team’s playoff chances, DeBrase responded, “we can afford to lose one more game but we need to win 6 out of the next 7, which we think is possible.”

Bates will seek to ride their explosive offense, as well as some hot goaltending in Johnson, in their bid to reach the postseason. The Bobcats will next play at home against MIT on Friday night at 7pm. The bad blood between these two rivals runs back for years, and few would be surprised if there were to be a brawl on the ice.

The No. 13 ranked Bates men’s squash team suffered a tough setback at the Yale round robin tournament this past weekend, losing matches to No. 14 Navy, No. 11 Dartmouth, and No. 6 Franklin & Marshall.

In a bright spot for the Bobcats, the two young Ahmeds won their individual matchups in all three matches. Bates’ top seed, sophomore Ahmed Abdel Khalek, smoked the top seeds of each of Bates’ opponents, never losing a single game. The Bobcats’ second seed, Ahmed Sherif Hatata, also demolished the opposition for the Bobcats, winning each of his games.

Unfortunately, Bates’ lower seeds struggled against the much deeper and bigger schools, as the Bobcats lost 5-4 to Navy, 6-3 to Dartmouth, and 7-2 to Franklin & Marshall. Other standout performances include Nabil Saleem’s 3-2 individual come from behind win over Navy, as well as Darrius Campbell’s 3-1 win over Dartmouth.

The losses drop the men’s team to 8-5 on the year, and they will look to rebound at home on Wednesday night against Colby.

The No. 13 ranked women’s team fared slightly better at the Yale tournament, as the Bobcats managed to beat Franklin and Marshall 8-1 on Sunday despite being dominated by Dartmouth and Stanford on Saturday, both by a margin of 7-2.

Bates’ top seed Nessrine Ariffin provided the highlight for the team losing only one set on her way to three consecutive wins. Almost the entire team was able to sweep their sets on their way to a thorough demolition of Franklin & Marshall.

The weekend games also dropped the team to 8-5 on the year, and the women’s team will also have a chance to rebound against Colby on Wednesday night.

The Bates track and field teams turned out extraordinary performances as they hosted the annual Bates invitational last weekend. The men and women’s teams came in second and first place respectively out of the field of six teams.

Highlighting the women’s team’s victory was Sarah Fusco, who broke her own school record of 1:36.14 in winning the 600 meters with a time of 1:36.03. The Bobcats dominated the distance events, as Junior Elena Jay won the mile with an impressive time of 5:11.87. Senior Kallie Nixon controlled the 1,000 meters with a time of 3:01.22, while fellow senior Mira Carey-Hatch won the 3,000 meters in 10:56.22.

After the meet, Nixon commented, “I think we exceeded our expectations, and we ended up winning the meet as a team. That was really cool to do on our home track and I am proud of the talent our team has this season.”

The Bobcats also performed well in the field events, as junior Colby Gail won the high jump at 5’3″ and sophomore Mary Krathwohl won the long jump with a distance of 15-6.75. Bates absolutely crushed the triple jump, sweeping the top three spots, as senior Jenny Snyder won with a distance of 34-2.

“One of the strengths of our team this year would be the cohesiveness and support we offer each other,” noted Nixon, “Track teams are generally massive and it is common for people to become wrapped up in their individual training groups, but I do not feel that this year.”

The men’s team also had a strong meet, losing only to UMaine and smoking Colby by a score of 172-112. Junior captain Sean Enos continued his strong season, finishing first in the weight throw with a distance of 61-4.75, while senior captain John Wisener won the pole vault, clearing 14-9.

In addition, senior Noah Graboys won the 1,000 meters in 2:33.70, while fellow seniors Michael Martin and Ben Levy placed second in the 3,000 meters and 200 meters respectively.

“Overall, we performed very well this past weekend,” noted Levy, “Our guys are amped that the season has started and have all put in a huge amount of work in the offseason so we’re off to a great start. With State of Maine’s right around the corner, it’s time to focus on defending that title.”

The Bobcats will next travel to Boston University for the Terrier Classic this Saturday.

In a disappointing weekend performance, the Bates women’s basketball team fell short of upsetting Trinity last Friday, dropping the contest 72-55. Saturday’s matchup also proved to be unsuccessful, as the Bobcats were crushed by Amherst 88-54. The two-game slide increases Bates’ losing streak to four games, although the rest of their NESCAC schedule promises to be slightly less challenging than the past few games have been.

On Friday, the Bobcats started out quickly, as sophomore forward Chelsea Nason led the team with 15 points, while senior guard Meredith Kelly followed closely with 13. Behind accurate shooting (especially from the free throw line), as well as solid defense, Bates managed to build a 33-29 halftime lead.

However, the second half proved to be disastrous, as Trinity outscored Bates 31-9 over the first 11 minutes. The Bobcats staged a late rally, cutting the lead to just 9 points with two minutes left, but ran out of time to complete the comeback.

On Saturday, the Bobcats faced the No. 3 ranked Amherst Lord Jeff’s in a tough test. Amherst essentially dominated from start to finish, holding the Bobcats to just a 31% field goal percentage while draining 48% of their own shots. Amherst held a commanding 46-24 lead at halftime, and never relinquished control for the rest of the game.

Kelly again proved to be a bright spot for Bates, leading the team with 19 points. Junior forward Allaina Murphy also played well, adding 12 points and five rebounds.

The Bobcats will next travel to Tufts on Saturday and will be looking to improve their NESCAC record to 2-3.

The Bates men’s and women’s Nordic skiing teams each recovered from a tough start last weekend to help the combined Nordic/Alpine teams finish in seventh overall at the Colby Carnival. The Bobcats also won the annual “Chummy Broomhall Cup”, which is awarded to the best collegiate ski team (aggregating men’s and women’s scores) in Maine, narrowly edging Colby for the third straight year.

Senior co-captain Jordan Buetow paced the men’s team, placing sixth (out of 89) in the men’s race on the final day by skiing the 15km course in just 37:34.7. Senior Sean Woods and sophomore Corky Harrer also raced well for the Bobcats, finishing in 18^th and 36^th place respectively.

“Conditions were soft and slushy on Friday, and on Saturday after it froze they became quite icy and fast,” noted Buetow, “we bounced back with a much better [second] day and were able to claim the Chummy Broomhall cup for the third year in a row… looking ahead to the rest of the season we are definitely going to be looking for consistent top-5 team finishes and fighting for the top 3.”

Sophomore Jane McLarney led the women’s team completing the 10km course in 30:26.9 and finishing in 22nd place out of 96 skiers. Junior captain Hallie Grossman followed closely in 25^th place with a time of 30:36.4, while first-year Laurel Fiddler came in 27^th with a time of 30:42.2.

Grossman emphasized the meaning of winning the Broomhall Cup, commenting that, “it’s exciting to win the cup and helps solidify that we have been doing the right things all fall. It’s a really neat event because it creates a race within a race between the Maine schools.”

Bates’ Nordic skiers will next compete at the University of New Hampshire’s Carnival, held in Jackson, New Hampshire this weekend.

Bates men’s hockey destroyed the MIT Engineers in a 7-2 barn burner last Friday, demonstrating that they have the potential to be one of the most dangerous teams on the ice in the second half of the season.

The Bobcats’ offense exploded out of the gates and never let up, as senior forward and alternate captain Sean Thomas led the effort with a hat trick and an assist. Senior captain Chris DeBrase added a tally in the first period while collecting three assists to lead the team. “We came out firing versus MIT,” noted DeBrase, “Our top line was able to score early and quickly which got the momentum on our side. It was nice to see a full 60 minute effort.”

Senior goaltender Matthew Mosca turned in a solid performance in net, totaling 18 saves on 20 shots while receiving the win.

On Saturday, the Bobcats played host to the Lewiston Police Department’s squad in an exhibition match. Bates won the friendly match 7-5 in a surprisingly competitive contest.

“It was really fun to play the cops,” added DeBrase, “It wasn’t physical or anything so it was a nice change of pace. It was also great to get to know some of them after the game.”

The Bates student population can only hope that the goodwill established in the game will translate into leniency for off campus parties in the future.

The Bobcats have a short home stand coming up this weekend with games against St. Joseph’s College on Thursday night and Southern New Hampshire University on Saturday afternoon.