PSU Sports Wrap-Up

The football team dropped their last game of the season as they fell to Fitchburg State 33-22 on Sat. afternoon (Nov. 15). This brings the team’s final record to 1-9, and 0-8 within the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference. Prior to the start of the game, the seniors on the team were honored for their four years of hard work they put in at Plymouth State. The emotion that this brought to the team allowed the Panthers to get out to a 14-13 lead. Senior Paul Norton (Revere, MA) was able to punch in his first touchdown from a yard out, and then Drew Bolton (Concord, N.H.) connected with running back Mark Hennessy (Westford, MA) on a 19-yard touchdown. The lead was one that PSU wasn’t able to keep, as Fitchburg was able to score on their next drive that ultimately allowed them to keep the lead for good. Bolton was able to find freshman Jake Becker (Portsmouth, N.H.) for a 70-yard pass that allowed the Panthers to get within 11. Fitchburg was able to recover the ensuing onside kick, and ran out the last 1:33 of the game. For the Panthers, they will need to replace their leading passer, Bolton; rusher, Hennessy; and force on defense in Kyle Wilson (Dover, N.H.), as they have completed their careers. Watch for the team to develop their younger talent with the hopes of having a successful 2015 campaign.

Upon defeating Gordon College on Sun. (11/16) afternoon, the field hockey team was able to capture the ECAC New England Championship.  The 2-0 victory propelled the team’s overall final record to 14-5 upon capturing their third ECAC title in five years. To get to the championship game, the Panthers defeated Salve Regina 2-1 behind goals from sophomore Allison Lemay (Westbrook, ME) and senior Nikki Garvey (Canaan, N.H.) on Sat. afternoon (11/15). With the score at 2-1 only 21:42 into the contest, both teams knew that they would need to play stout defense for the remainder of the game. That is exactly what PSU did, as goalie Alivia Bates (Pennsauken, N.J.) shutout Salve Regina for the remainder of the game.  Bates was able to keep this hot streak going by shutting out Gordon College, and was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. In the championship game, Garvey was able to score her 20^th goal of the season, while senior Emily Davis (Boscawen, N.H.) found the back of the net herself in the first half. For Garvey, her career has come to a close, and it was one that was extremely impressive. Garvey was able to accumulate 64 goals and 25 assists for 153 points, which is good for second place on the PSU all-time scoring list. The 25 assists allow for Garvey to have the third most in PSU field hockey history. Plymouth is losing four of their top five scorers, as they have completed their senior year in the green and white. Luckily for PSU, they will have Bates coming back as a sophomore next season, while Kaitlyn Wilder (Framingham, MA) will be back for her junior season (she already has 76 points through two seasons). Watch for this team to re-load for the 2015 season.

Both cross country teams had good showings in the NCAA Regionals last weekend down in Massachusetts. David Martino (Laconia, N.H.) had the fastest time for the Panthers, as he completed the 8K course in 28:55, followed by sophomore Nat Smyth (Plymouth, N.H.), junior Tim Lindberg (Jericho, VT), and senior captain Evan Gaudette (Nashua, N.H.). All four top male runners for the Panthers were able to finish within 2:14 of Martino. In the 6k women’s race, sophomore Sarah Uhlman (Ashland, N.H.) finished in 25:53, followed by freshman Rileigh Goulette (St. Albans, VT). Juniors Krista Bouchard (Manchester, N.H.) and Alyssa Delaporta (Mystic, CT), as well as sophomore Jen Carten (Etters, PA) finished the race within 22 seconds of each other. With this being the last event for both teams, the Panthers will unfortunately be losing a couple of their key runners to graduation, including Gaudette and Martino. Gaudette hopes to stay within the Plymouth area, so that he will be able to coach and assist the Panthers to allow this team to become stronger in the future.  Luckily for the women’s team, none of the runners are seniors, so they will look to have all of their key members back next season, including Uhlman, who was the fastest runner in all but one of the events for the Panthers this season.

Despite falling to an early 10-0 deficit, the wrestling team was able to comeback, and defeat Norwich University 23-22 on Wednesday (Nov. 12). With this being the first and only match to date for the Panthers, it propels their record to 1-0. For PSU, they were able to capture a number of wins in the intermediate weight classes, as Tristan Leek (Kingston, N.H.), Alex Gerhold (Derry, N.H.), Ray Welch (Rochester, N.H.), Clay Callahan (Milford, CT), Chris Perreault (St. Johnsbury, VT), and Cody Carrillo (Middletown, CT) were all able to capture wins. For Perreault, he was the only PSU wrestler to pin his opponent, and was able to do so in an impressive 1:04 in the 184-pound weight class. Captains Gerhold and Welch were able to defeat their opponents by a combined 25-11, and truly allowed the Panthers to continue their comeback, as Welch’s win tied the overall score at ten apiece. This win for the Panthers shows how much of a better team that they are compared to last season, as the Cadets of Norwich were able to win 44-6 last year. The next match that PSU will be attending is the Doug Parker Invitational, down at Springfield College. Watch for the Panthers to start to build some momentum as they will be facing members from a number of different schools in the Northeast.

Despite strong performances by a number of underclassmen, the swimming and diving team were unable to capture a win in their first meet of the season against Colby-Sawyer College last Sun. (Nov. 16). The 166-119 loss drops the team’s overall record to 0-1. A number of Panthers had strong showing, as sophomore Katia Wyman (Portsmouth, N.H.) won the 1,000 and 500-yard freestyle events. Freshman Addie Schumaker (Haymarket, VA) and Megan Farmer (Plainville, CT) both won respective events, as Schumaker won the 100-yard breaststroke, while Farmer was able to win the 50-yard freestyle. Not to be outdone, senior captain Nora Doherty (Dorchester, MA) won the 100-yard backstroke. PSU was able to have a number of strong swimmers, but struggled with the various diving events within this meet. Plymouth will look to get back on track for their next competition, as they will face the University of New England on Saturday (Nov. 22) afternoon.