It is Championship Weekend for
most of the spring teams here at Union College and the women's swimming and
diving team has thrown down the gauntlet to the men's swimming and diving team,
the men and women's basketball teams and the men's hockey team. The men's swim team is bidding for its first
state championship since 1997-98, the basketball teams are each playing in the
Liberty League championship tournament and for the league's automatic NCAA bid,
and the men's hockey team is playing its regular-season finale and has an
opportunity to secure home ice for the upcoming ECAC playoffs.
Last weekend the Dutchwomen, who this year broke a 20-meet losing streak, capped their Cinderella
season by winning the 15-team New York State Women's Collegiate Athletic Association
Championship over the weekend. The
Dutchwomen scored 1,086 points to get past Le Moyne (1,011) and Ithaca (1,007)
in the three-day meet, which was held at Nottingham High School in Syracuse,
New York. It was the first state title
for the Dutchwomen since 1994 and just the third in the 20-year history of the
sport (the other coming in 1990).
“We knew exactly what we had to do every single moment
of the meet and we went out and executed,” said head coach Scott Felix proudly.
“It was one of the best team efforts I have ever been associated with as a
swimmer or a coach. I won seven total conference championships in my career as
an athlete and a coach and this is probably the best one because we are the
only ones who thought we win it when we walked in the building.”
Sophomore Sydnie Wells (Bolton Landing, NY) not only
picked up a state championship in the 200 yard butterfly, she qualified for the
NCAA Championship Meet by setting a New York State Meet and Union College
record with her time of 2:07.44.
Sophomore Brianne Phillips (W. Hartford, CT) won the state title
in the 200 breaststroke with an NCAA “B” qualifying time of 2:25.77 while
senior Sarah Steuer (Wilton, CT) won the state championship in the
one-meter dive by scoring 358.62 points.
The Dutchwomen's 400 medley relay team of freshman Ashley
Braniecki (Cheektowaga, NY), Phillips, Wells and freshman Christa White
(Washington, DC) captured the state crown in both the 200 and 400 medley
relay races.
Union's quartet of divers earned a total of 200 points
toward the team effort. Steuer, who earlier in the year earned a
provisional score for the NCAA championship, not only won the one-meter title,
she finished third in the three-meter event. Freshman Molly Freeman
(Barrington, IL) took second in the one meter and fourth in the three and
sophomore Tara Campbell (Old Greenwich, CT) was eighth on the one-meter
board and sixth on the three. Freshman Jamie Dughi (Watchung, NJ)
who did not place among the top eight on the one meter, earned her team 22 points
by picking up an eighth place finish on the three meter.
“I knew going into the meet that our diving crew was
our biggest asset and they really came through,” explained Felix.
Union's success at the state meet resulted in a few
individual awards. Felix and assistant
coach Ridgley Harrison were named “Coaching Staff of the Year” by their
peers while diving coach Aaron D'Addario was named “Diving Coach of the
Year.” The Dutchwomen picked up a
Liberty League “Performers of the Week” sweep at Wells was named the “Swimmer
of the Week,” Steuer was chosen as the “Diver of the Week” and Freeman was the
“Rookie of the Week”
This week it is the Dutchmen's turn as they will be
competing in their state event starting on Thursday at Nottingham High School in
Syracuse, New York. According to Felix,
Union's main competition will come from Ithaca, Alfred, Hartwick, Le Moyne and
RPI.
“We finished the dual meet season at 5-4, our first winning
record since 1997-98, so we have done things that are unusual the last few
years,” said Felix. “I knew the team
was very capable of finishing with a winning record and it was nice to see us
succeed. Our real goal is the state
meet and I believe that we will bring a large amount of intensity to Syracuse.”
The Dutchmen's strength lies in the relay, sprint, distance
and stroke events. As was the case with
the women's championship, it is going to take veteran leadership and a total
team effort if the Garnet is going to bring home the gold.
“We are going to have to do very well in the relays and
our three freshmen divers are going to have to perform well,” Felix
explained. “Elliot Seguin (E.
Lansing, MI), DJ Hogenkamp (E. Aurora, NY), Charles Kinnett (Chelmsford, MA)
and Aaron Phillips (W. Hartford, CT) should be in the hunt for a state
title in their events. But in order for
us to win the meet people like Pat Canniff (Latham, NY), Drew Rand
(Falmouth, ME), Andrew Sparkes (W. Hartford, CT) and our seven freshmen are
going to have to step up big time.”
DUTCHWOMEN CAGERS OPEN DEFENSE OF LAST YEAR'S TITLE;
THE DUTCHMEN LOOK FOR FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP SINCE 2001-02
The
17-7 Dutchwomen open the defense of their Liberty League
tournament championship against St. Lawrence on Friday at 1 p.m. The 14-11 Dutchmen, who missed last
year's event, battle Hobart Friday at 8 p.m. The women's championship game will be held
Saturday at 2 p.m. with the men's title game set for Saturday at 4 p.m.
____________________________________________________________________________
The women's games can be seen on line
at:
http://campus.hws.edu/athletics/herons/basketball/live/xlive.htm
The men's games can be seen on line at:
http://campus.hws.edu/athletics/hobart/basketball/live/xlive.htm.
____________________________________________________________________________
Both tournaments will be held at
Hobart-William Smith as the Statesmen won the Liberty League's regular-season
championship with a record of 10-4 while the Herons captured the women's title
with their 11-3 record.
The Dutchwomen and Saints split their two-game
season series with each team winning on the others court. The first game saw Union rally from a
13-point deficit in the final 6:49 to capture a 58-56 win. Senior forward Katlyn Cunningham (Clarksburg, MA) scored 15 of the
Garnet's 18 points in the closing minutes with junior guard Erika Eisenhut (Mohawk, NY) accounting for
the winning basket with one second remaining.
Cunningham finished with 26 points with Eisenhut contributing 14.
St. Lawrence broke a 44-44 tie
with 5:44 left in the second contest and went on to capture a 55-51
victory. Brittano Gaetano, Jessica Zuk
and Andrea Muszynski scored 18, 13, and 10 points, respectively.
Cunningham leads the Dutchwomen in
both scoring (12.3) and rebounding (7.3) and recently became just the seventh
player to go over 1,000 career points.
Eisenhut, who has a 10.1 scoring average, leads the Garnet in assists
(69), blocks (10), steals (61) and three-point field goals (34). Sophomore forward Krystal
Hammond (Clifton Park, NY) is second to
Cunningham with her 5.3 rebounding average and is fourth in team scoring at
7.3. Senior guard Melissa
Marra (Mechanicville, NY) is second in
scoring (9.8), third in assists (44) and third in steals (22).
Union and St. Lawrence are the
only two teams to have played in every league tournament since the circuit went
to that format in 1999-2000. The event's
champion will receive the Liberty League's automatic NCAA berth.
The Dutchmen, who captured the league crown in
2001-02, are hoping that the “third time is the charm” after losing both
regular-season games to the Statesmen, 81-69 in Geneva and 66-65 at the Viniar
Athletic Center.
In the first meeting Hobart rallied from a nine-point
first-half deficit to go on a 10-0 midway through the second 20 minutes. The second game again saw the Statesmen
rally in the second half, this time with a run of 11-3, to pull out the victory
by scoring the winning basket with 22 seconds left to play. Joe Flacke, a 6'7 senior forward has been
the biggest nemesis for the Dutchmen as he has combined 45 points, 15 rebounds
and three blocked shots in the two games.
Junior guard John Cagianello (Wethersfield, CT) leads the
Dutchmen in scoring (15.8) and in three-point field goals with 55. Senior forward Devon Bruce (Altamont, NY) is second to
Cagianello with his 14.2 scoring average and also leads the team with his 6.0
rebounding average. Both players have
scored over 1,000 points for their careers.
Junior forward Brian Scordato (Mt. Kisco, NY) averages 10.5
points a game and is second to Bruce with his 5.4 rebounding average while
sophomore guard Joe Mackey (Flushing, NY), who broke into
the starting lineup mid-way through the year, is averaging 9.2 points and is
second to Cagianello with his 44 three-point baskets. Junior point guard Chris Murphy (Hastings-on-Hudson,
NY), who became the sixth Dutchman in history to surpass 300
career assists, has 81 helpers to go along with his 6.8 scoring average. Murphy also leads the team with his 34
steals.
GAME
TIMES
Friday, February 25:
1 p.m. — #3 Union (17-7 // 10-4) vs. #2 St.
Lawrence (14-9 // 10-4) (women)
3 p.m. — #3 Hamilton (14-10 // 9-5) vs. #2 Skidmore (15-8 // 9-5) (men)
6 p.m. — #4 Hamilton (15-9 // 9-5) vs. #1 William Smith (16-7 // 11-3) (women)
8 p.m. — #4 Union (14-11 // 8-6) vs. #1 Hobart
(15-9 // 10-4) (men)
Saturday, February 26:
2 p.m. — Women's Championship
4 p.m. — Men's Championship
DUTCHMEN LOOK FOR HOME ICE ADVANTAGE
The hockey team, which plays host to Yale on Friday and
Princeton on Saturday, go into the final weekend of the Eastern College
Athletic Conference's regular season looking for the home ice advantage in next
weekend's ECACHL playoffs. The
Dutchmen, who have hosted the first round of the playoffs each of the last two
years, are just one point behind Clarkson for the final home berth. Union beat Princeton, 6-4, and
Yale, 5-2, in the first meeting.
The opening round of the postseason tournament, which is a
win two-of-three affair, begins on March fourth.
ECAC Hockey League Standings
Team GP Record Pts GF-GA
Cornell 20 16-2-2 34 64-24
Colgate 20 14-4-2 30 49-30
Harvard 19 14-4-1 29 65-34
Vermont 20 12-6-2 26 62-34
Dartmouth 20 12-8-0 24 66-46
Brown 19 9-8-2 20 51-49
St. Lawrence 20 8-11-1 17 63-67
Clarkson 20 7-12-1 15 41-60
Union 20 7-13-0 14 40-70
Princeton 20 5-14-1 11 54-79
Rensselaer 20 5-14-1 11 41-66
Yale 20 3-16-1 7 46-83
Friday, February 25: Princeton at Rensselaer; Colgate at Clarkson; Yale at Union; Harvard at Dartmouth; Brown at Vermont; Cornell at St. Lawrence Saturday, February 26: Yale at Rensselaer; Cornell at Clarkson; Princeton at Union; Brown at Dartmouth; Harvard at Vermont; Colgate at St. Lawrence
MESSA RINK TO HOST ECAC WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Frank L. Messa Rink at the Achilles Center will play host to the Eastern College Athletic Conference's Women's Hockey Championship Tournament for the second consecutive season. The event will take place on Saturday, March 12 and Sunday March 13. Saturday's games will feature the two semi-final contests, which will be played at 1:00 and 4:00 p.m. Sunday's championship is set to face-off at 2 p.m.
Ticket Prices are as follows:
Session #1 – Adults – $10 – Youths -(14 & under) – $8.00
Session #2 – Adults – $10 – Youths (14 & under) – $8.00
All Session Passes – Adults – $15.00, Youths – $12.00
Group Ticket Prices – MUST BE 20 OR MORE IN PARTY
– $6.00 per person
For further ticket Information, please call the Messa Rink Box Office at: (518) 388-6020