Both the Men’s and Women’s cross country teams competed in the Little East Conference Championship, as well as the New England Alliance Championships last weekend, down in Williamstown, MA. For the men’s team, they were able to capture 5th place within the LEC, while placing 10th in the NEAC. Leading the way for the Panthers was David Martino (Laconia, N.H.), who was able to complete the eight kilometer (or just under 5 miles) run in 28:19, which was just off his fast time of the year (a 28:06 at the University of New England Invitational). Martino was able to finish 16th overall, and sophomore Nat Smyth (Plymouth, N.H.) wasn’t too far behind, as he finished with a time of 29:30, good for 28th. Shawn Miller (Atkinson, N.H.), Tim Lindberg (Jericho, VT) and Evan Gaudette (Nashua, N.H.) rounded out the top five finishers for PSU. For the women’s Sarah Uhlman (Ashland, N.H.) completed the 5K in 21:28, while Rileigh Goulette (St. Albans, VT) finished in 22:41. Both teams have regional championships coming up, as the ECAC Division III Championships will take place over in Westfield, MA, and the following weekend (Nov. 15), and the NCAA Regional Championships will take place back at the same course that PSU just ran on, in Williamstown, MA. Watch for both Uhlman and Martino to continue their strong efforts as the year comes to a close.
Receiving the 2nd seed in the Little East Conference tournament resulted in the field hockey team facing a tough draw in the 7th seeded University of Southern Maine. Early in the season, the Panthers were able to capture a 4-3 overtime win, but this past Tue., Nov. 3, PSU fell to the Huskies 4-1 to bring their overall record to 12-5. Early in the match, senior Nikki Garvey (Canaan, N.H.) was able to find the back of the net for her 18th goal of the season, nine minutes into the game. Unfortunately for Plymouth, USM scored twice going into halftime, to go up 2-1. The Panthers were able to keep the score at 2-1 for the first 20 minutes of the second half, but two goals by USM in under a three-minute span put the game out of reach. Panther goalie Alivia Bates (Pennsauken, N.J.) had five saves in the contest. For the game, Plymouth was able to out-shoot USM 19-12, but they had a tough time getting the ball past the USM goalie. Despite the loss, Garvey had a tremendous season and career, as her 44 points this season allowed her to finish her career as the second highest point scorer in PSU Women’s Field Hockey history. Her success as a Panther will allow her to compete in the prestigious North vs. South Division III Senior game down in Virginia later on in November. For the Panthers, there is still a chance that they might play a few more games this season, as they have participated in the ECAC New England Tournament the past few seasons. If Plymouth is able to compete in this tournament watch for them to be a team to beat.
Last year, the only PSU team that was able to get to the NCAA playoffs was the women’s lacrosse team. This season, the tennis team has already captured a spot in the NCAA tournament, as they defeated Rhode Island College last Friday, 5 sets to 2. This is the third time in school history that PSU has advanced to the NCAA tournament, but the first time that they have since 2006. Unfortunately for PSU, they will have to wait to compete in the Division III National Championship, as they take place in May 2015. The 14-0 mark for the Panthers is the first undefeated tennis team since the inception of the team back in 1968! A big reason for the success of this team are due to Zara and Sunny Jakubas (Califon, N.J.), as they were able to win their individual matches and doubles matches to give PSU three of the five sets necessary to win. Zara Jakubas, who was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, as well as the LEC Rookie and Player of the Year, went undefeated in both singles and doubles play this season. Cassidy Wells (Colchester, VT) was able to win her singles match, while the combination of Wells and Rosalie DiRado (Gansevoort, N.Y.) won their doubles match. Coming into the season, the Panthers were picked to finish 5th, but Head Coach Barbara Rawlsky-Willett was able to lead her team to an undefeated regular and LEC tournament. Rawlsky-Willett was named LEC Coach of the Year in the process to the team’s most successful season, ever. Despite waiting until May to be able to compete for a national championship, the Panthers have a lot of time and practice to prepare for what could be an extremely exciting time for the team.
The Plymouth State Volleyball team’s season came to an abrupt end, as they fell to Eastern Connecticut State University on Tuesday (Nov. 4) night. The three sets to two loss brings the team’s final record to 13-19. The Panthers were able to put up a much better performance against the Warriors this time around, compared to when they played East Conn a few weeks ago (in which they lost three sets to none). PSU was able to capture the second and third sets, respectively, upon dropping the first set. In the fourth set, with Plymouth going for the upset (PSU was a six seed, while ECSU is a 3), they were able to go up 14-11 and appeared to be on their way for the upset. Unfortunately for the Panthers, East Conn was able to rally, and go on a 10-1 lead to go up 21-15. Eastern ended up winning the fourth set by a score of 25-18 to tie the match up at two sets a piece. In the fifth and final set, Eastern was able to ride the wave of momentum of winning the fourth set, and jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead. PSU was never able to rebound, and lost the fifth set 15-7. For the match, senior Jana Nieman (Fair Lawn, N.J.) had a team-high 18 kills, and sophomore outside hitter Katie Sylvia (Lee, N.H.) served six aces in the match. PSU should be able to come back strong when the calendar rolls back around to the Fall of 2015, as they are going to only graduate one senior, in Nieman (who was a captain this season). With a young roster for next year’s team, watch for PSU to look to improve their seed for next year’s tournament.
An Emily Bell (Derry, N.H.) goal was able to cut the deficit to a goal, but the Women’s Soccer fell to Eastern Connecticut State University, 3-1. This loss brings the Panther’s final record to 5-13, as this was a Little East Conference quarterfinal match-up, with PSU being the 6th seed and ECSU being the 3rd seed. Eastern Connecticut was able to get on the board early in the game, as they scored just over five minutes into the game. The score stayed 1-0 in ECSU’s favor for the next 54 minutes until the Warriors were able to go up 2-0. Bell scored her goal just 42 seconds later after sophomore midfielder Hannah Kallis (Sanford, ME) set up the senior Bell for the goal. Unfortunately for the Panthers, ECSU added their third goal about 15 minutes later to close out the game. Sophomore Keeper Annaliese Schmidt (Newmarket, N.H.) had 10 saves for the duration of the contest. Like a few other Fall sports teams for Plymouth, the women’s soccer team is young, as they will only have four players graduate in May. Aside from Bell, Courtney Barker (Yarmouth, ME), Brittany Terra (Bristol, R.I.), and Danielle Ehrgott (Concord, N.H.) are the seniors that have played their last game in the green and white for PSU. With Schmidt coming back next season as a junior, Plymouth has the ability to develop into one of the better teams in the Little East Conference. Schmidt led the Little East Conference in save percentage, and has shown over the past two seasons that the future is very bright for the Women’s Soccer team.