PSU Sports Wrap-Up

The tennis team capped off a stellar regular season by defeating Worcester State 7-2 on Saturday (Oct. 18) afternoon. This brought the team’s final regular season record to 12-0, with the Little East Conference semifinal playoffs kicking off yesterday (Oct. 23) afternoon (this match occurred too close to press time to be printed). Against Worcester State, a number of players had strong performances for PSU, including senior captain Rosalie DiRado (Gansevoort, N.H.), Nitsa Ioannides (El Cajon, CA), Sunny Jakubas (Califon, N.J.), and Zara Jakubas (Califon, N.J.). All four of these players won both their individual matches as well as their doubles matches, while Nikki Lund (Hingham, MA) partnered with Ioannides in her doubles match, and Cassidy Wells (Colchester, VT) was with DiRado. For the season, the Panthers defeated their opponents a grand total of 90-18 in terms of matches, including six 9-0 meets. Heading into the postseason, PSU will face UMass Dartmouth, as they defeated Salem State on Tues. afternoon. Against UMass Dartmouth, Plymouth was able to defeat the Corsairs six sets to three, so they shouldn’t have too much of an issue defeating them in the playoffs. Assuming PSU pulls out the win, they will face the winner of the Bridgewater State University or Rhode Island College meet, both of whom lost close matches to the Panthers 5-4. Watch for both of the Jakubas sisters to continue their dominant streaks they have been on for the 2014 season.

Both the Men’s and Women’s cross country teams had solid performances when they competed in the Western New England Invitational last weekend (Oct. 18). This race, which was the last one for both teams for their regular season, resulted in a 10^th place finish for the men’s team, and 15^th for the women’s team. Underclassmen Rileigh Goulette (St. Albans, VT) and Sarah Uhlman (Ashland, N.H.) led the way for the women’s team, as they captured 75^th and 76^th place of the 212 runners. Goulette finished the event in 22:35.72, while Uhlman finished in 22:36.69 for the 5K event. For the Men, David Martino (Laconia, N.H.) finished in 29^th place out of the 180 runners in the 8K race. Nat Smyth (Plymouth, N.H.) had a season high finish for himself individually, as his 29:44 put him in 57^th. The season is rapidly coming to a close, as the Little East Conference Championships, as well as the New England Alliance Championships will be taking place next weekend (Nov. 1). Watch for Martino and Ulhman to pace the Panthers, as they have been for the majority of the season.           

A tough 4-1 loss to Castleton State dropped the Women’s soccer team’s record to 5-10 this season on Tues. (Oct. 21) afternoon. Luckily for Plymouth, they have the ability to get their feet back under them, as they will be facing UMass Boston on Sat. (Oct. 25) afternoon. Emily Bell (Derry, N.H.) scored the goal for the Panthers in the Castleton game, bringing her season total up to four to compliment four assists in the 2014 season. Sophomore keeper Annaliese Schmidt (Newmarket, N.H.) has played well in net, despite the team’s record, as she has averaged nearly ten saves per game over her past four games. The team’s schedule is a lot more spread out for the rest of the season. Upon playing UMass Boston, PSU will not have another game until the following Sat. (Nov. 1), when they face Eastern Connecticut State University. With the Little East tournament only three days after the ECSU game, the Panthers will look to gain some momentum as their regular season comes to an end.    

Weather elements can’t stop the field hockey team, as they were able to defeat Salem State University, 2-1, on Sat. (Oct. 18) afternoon. The game started a little later than anticipated due to lightning and thunder, but Lily Davis (Boscawen, N.H.) was able to find the back of the net only 44 seconds into the game. Kaitlyn Wilder (Framingham, MA) was able to score 26 minutes later to make it 2-0, and that was all the Panthers needed. Alivia Bates (Pennsauken, N.J.) stopped three shots against Salem, and followed that game up with a shutout against Framingham State on Tues. (Oct. 21) afternoon. The floodgates of the Pemi apparently opened up with a number of Panthers riding the scoring wave against Framingham, as six different goal-scorers propelled PSU to a 10-0 win. Wilder was able to find the back of the net three times, as did Senior captain Nikki Garvey (Canaan, N.H.). Emily Davis (Boscawen, N.H.), Kristen Morris (Stoughton, MA), Jordan Ray (Standish, ME) and Nicole Burgess (Mexico, ME) also found the back of the net for PSU, as each had a goal apiece. The next game for PSU will take place on Sat. (Oct. 25) afternoon against UMass Dartmouth, where a win will clinch the #2 seed for the Panthers in the Little East Conference postseason tournament.     

A big three set to two win over Middlebury College allowed the volleyball team to continue a winning streak that is now up to four games. This brings the team’s overall record to 11-15, and their Little East Conference record stays at 2-2, with their next match-up against Eastern Connecticut State University. Against Middlebury, the Panthers came back from losing the first set, and were able to capture the second, fourth and fifth sets to claim the victory. Senior Jana Nieman (Fair Lawn, N.J.) executed 21 kills, a season high for her. Nieman wasn’t the only one to have a strong match, as Mikki Taffe (Sandown, N.H.) had 13 kills. Freshman Brenna Peruch (Cave Creek, AZ) had 36 digs, which is a career high for her as a PSU Panther. This upcoming weekend, Plymouth will travel down to Willimantic, Connecticut, to face WPI, and more importantly Eastern Connecticut State University. Capturing a win against the Warriors would greatly help the Panthers’ conference record, as there are two other teams with 2-2 conference records (both Rhode Island College and Western Connecticut are 2-2), and ECSU is 3-2. Watch for a close match-up to come down to the fifth and final set on Sat. afternoon.