Tag Archives: Sports

Haverford, Sports

Let the Good Times Roll for the Fords

By Pat O’Shea, Sports Writer

Ladies and gentlemen, the Haverford women’s basketball team is on a roll. With a victory this past Tuesday night against their rival Bryn Mawr,  the Fords secured their ninth victory in a row, surpassing the previous record of eight consecutive victories. After a hard-fought road loss to Ursinus College on Thursday, the Fords are now 13-5, and 10-3 in Centennial Conference play. After winning 12 of their past 14 games dating back to November, the Fords are in first place in the conference—one game ahead of second-place Gettysburg—as they get set to take on third-place Dickinson today at home with tip-off set at 1:00PM.

The Fords’ streak was no fluke. The team is ranked third in the conference in field goal percentage (38.3%), first in free throw attempts (72.9%), as well as first in blocks per game (5.7). Combine these offensive statistics with the fact that they hold their opponents to a league low 31.5% field goal percentage, and it is no wonder that the Fords are enjoying their best season since the 2013-2014 season, when they won the Centennial Conference Championship.

While the Fords have displayed the importance of playing “team first” basketball in recent weeks, Sierra Berkel ’18 is in the top ten of the conference in three offensive categories: ninth in points per game (12.4), fifth in rebounds per game (8.8), and fourth in field goal percentage (49.7%). Samantha Wetzel ’18 also has dominated the boards, averaging 9.1 rebounds per game this season, good for third in the Centennial Conference, and she also has 54 blocks for this season, second highest in the conference. During the record-breaking win at Bryn Mawr on Tuesday night, Wetzel ’18 also cemented her place in the Haverford record books by blocking the 161st block of her collegiate career, setting a new program record. Sophomore Macy Goldbach has also been integral part of the team’s success averaging 11.7 PPG this season.

Haverford has presented their opponents with the difficult dilemma of deciding which player to focus their defensive efforts on as the Fords have multiple players on the court that can score at will. The Fords feature an extremely deep lineup that includes seven players that average more than 17 minutes per game, ensuring that the team can stay fresh until “winning time” late in games. This formula has definitely worked thus far, and they are playing at a level that suggests Haverford will be playing basketball games into the conference playoffs in late February.

Today, in Calvin Gooding ’84 Arena, the Haverford women’s basketball team will play at 1:00PM as they look to continue their impressive season with an important match-up against the Dickinson Red Devils.

Photo courtesy of Megan Furch

Haverford, Sports

November Madness: Preview of NCAA Men’s Soccer Regional

By Staff Writer Pat O’Shea

Who’s next? That is the very question that the Haverford men’s soccer team was asking after winning their second consecutive Centennial Conference title last Sunday.

Their question was answered this past Monday when the NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Tournament field of 64 teams was announced. Haverford was named a host for the fegional round for the second year in a row. Haverford will play against the US Merchant Marine Academy on Saturday at 11AM, and, if they win, will play the winner of the other game, UMass-Boston vs. Kean.

While the men’s soccer team was given the answer to who they are set to play, you may be wondering about the teams they have drawn in their regional. Let’s take a look at the other three teams in the regional and who I predict will come out on top this weekend.

 

In the first game, the Fords will face the Merchant Marine Mariners, hailing from the Skyline Conference. The Mariners finished 13-3-3 and 10-1 in their conference this season. Senior forward Gavin Yingling, who scored 20 goals on the season, and junior Jon Tarbox, who compiled 13 assists, led the team this season. The Haverford defense will undergo the tough task of containing these two when the teams square off on Saturday morning at 11AM.

Prediction: Haverford 2, USMMA 0. The Haverford defense has proved to be tough enough to stifle excellent offensive teams all season. Expect to see the Haverford offense come through in some big moments on Saturday.

 

In the second game on Saturday, the UMass-Boston Beacons, of the Little East Conference, face off against the Kean Cougars, who received an at-large bid out of the New Jersey Athletic Conference. UMass-Boston is currently ranked #15 in the nation, two spots behind #13 Haverford, and went 17-1-2 this season. Their lone loss this season was early on to Western Connecticut State, and they have since been on a tear. Look for UMass-Boston to attack Kean (14-5-1) early and often, led by the combination of Sophomore Mohamed Kenawy (16 goals) and Freshman Ocane Williamson (17 goals).

Prediction: UMass-Boston 4, Kean 1. The explosive offense of UMass-Boston will ultimately be too much for Kean to contend with.

 

If these predictions of Saturday’s action are true, Sunday’s match-up will be an incredible contest between #13 Haverford and #15 UMass-Boston. While UMass-Boston has demonstrated their offensive firepower, they have not been tested by the likes of the Fords. UMass-Boston has not played any ranked teams this season, while the Fords have played three ranked teams throughout the year. This potential regional championship game looks to be a fun game to watch with two elite offenses going head to head.

Prediction: Haverford 5, UMass-Boston 4 OT. There is a reason that UMass-Boston is ranked #15 in the nation, but ultimately I believe that Haverford has too much depth for the Beacons to overcome. Expect a high scoring affair at Historic Walton Field, which will not be decided within the 90 minutes of regulation.

 

Whichever team ends the weekend with two wins will then face the winner of the Rowan regional, consisting of Rowan, Lehman, Tufts, and Springfield.

Photos by Ethan Lyne

Bryn Mawr, Sports

Bryn Mawr Field Hockey Moving Forward

By Staff Writer Rachel Hertzenberg

The history of field hockey in the United States has its roots at Bryn Mawr. Constance Applebee, the namesake of  Applebee Field, and Bryn Mawr’s athletic director in the early twentieth century, is credited with introducing the sport to the United States.  Over a century later, the Bryn Mawr field hockey team is emerging from a tumultuous period. After their previous coach’s contract with Bryn Mawr was terminated last February, assistant coaches were forced to pick up the slack in recruiting high school students for this year. Although there are four first year students currently on the team, the entire roster has shrunk down to just sixteen athletes. According to captain Haley Newman ‘17, it often takes several years for a program to be rebuilt after the loss of a coach. Nonetheless, Newman is confident that the team is “on the up-and-up,” largely due to the June hiring of coach Victor Brady (Swarthmore ‘13). Newman, along with her co-captain Holly Senebandith ‘17, expressed excitement over the team’s future with Brady. Not only is Brady “ambitious, determined, [with] a ton of experience in the field hockey world,” but he already has lined up “phenomenal recruits,” according to Newman. Both Newman and Senebandith say that Brady’s coaching has led to a markedly more positive and supportive atmosphere on the team.

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Although the team has faced difficulties this season, Newman and Senebandith spoke enthusiastically about their September 17 2-3 game against Wells College, which went into double overtime. “Everyone left everything on the field,” says Newman, “the skill was amazing to see and be a part of.” Senebandith agreed, saying that the game was “one of those experiences where you’re so proud to play for Bryn Mawr.” Despite the setbacks of the small roster and string of losses–although, as a part of the elite Centennial Conference, Bryn Mawr’s field hockey team is competing among some of the best small college teams in the country–the team has pulled together to form a close-knit community. In fact, the small size of the team has helped to strengthen these bonds, and push each athlete to excel. Senebandith says that “the personality of our team is one of the things that’s kept me here at Bryn Mawr.”

Brady’s coaching seems to be paying off strategically. This season, the team has scored six times more shots total and eleven times more shots on goal than in any other season. They have also been awarded fourteen times as many offensive corners, which allows them to shoot at the defensive team’s goal with as many players as they want. Similarly, the team has had the fewest defensive penalty corners ever, meaning that opposing teams have had a hard time attacking Bryn Mawr’s shooting circle. Specifically, the defensive penalties against Bryn Mawr’s team have decreased by over 40% per game. This is especially remarkable given the small roster. The team’s goals against average (GAA) has dropped by 3.38, meaning that on average, 3.38 fewer goals are scored against Bryn Mawr per game.

With the big win in their last game of the season to send off the seniors in the program, the focus for the program is now on recruiting new Owls to come to Bryn Mawr to play field hockey and join the program.

Photo courtesy of Bryn Mawr Athletics

Haverford, Sports

Haverford’s Women’s Soccer Flying High

By Staff Writer Pat O’Shea

Picture this: if a hawk flies over Historic Walton Field before a Haverford women’s soccer game, it is considered a good omen. According to goalkeeper Katharine Prescott ’17, who was told by those who came before her, “it was good luck when the team saw a hawk flying over the field on game day or during a practice.” The belief in this superstition led to the ‘Haverhawks’ moniker that the team now embraces as their unofficial mascot. It seems as though the Haverhawks have seen a lot of hawks flying overhead this season as they are well positioned to make a serious run in the Centennial Conference playoffs after a brief two-year hiatus.

A large factor in this season’s success may actually stem from the team embracing their mascot. The offense has been performing much like a bird of prey, out shooting their opponents 257—good for fourth in the Conference— to 117 shots against, while scoring 24 goals in 16 games compared to allowing only seven goals. Their goals against average of 0.42 is also second in the conference, which is a good sign for the playoffs with the old adage: defense wins championships. Skyler Ellenberg ’18 believes that the massive gap in shot differential stems from simple origins: “We take a lot of shots and we have such a strong defense that we don’t concede a lot… [other teams] have a hard time generating goals from the attack because of the strength of our back line.”

Abby Crowley '19 delivers the ball into the box
Abby Crowley ’19 delivers the ball into the box

One of the key contributors on the defensive side of the ball is Abby Letts ’17, who brings up perhaps the biggest reason for this year’s success: “We place a huge emphasis on ‘our family versus their team,’ because at the end of the day we are playing for each other. We see the amount of work, dedication, and sacrifice each teammate gives to this team, so every sprint we run, every hard tackle we make, we do it for the girl standing next to us.”

Prescott ’17 says that the team “goal” at the beginning of the season was “to make it to playoffs,” and with their victory at Washington College on Wednesday, they clinched that elusive playoff spot. Taylor Cross ’18 is confident that the Haverhawks will be playing past Saturday’s game because the “postseason is in our control, and that is an amazing feeling to have. We do not need certain teams to lose or big upsets to happen. We just need to play our game and continue to work hard in our last week of regular season.”

Part of the team’s strength this year is also their depth. Fourteen different players have scored a goal during the 2016 season, while 16 players in total have either recorded a goal or an assist. Cross ’18 says “the larger roster has been great for the team this year. It has allowed us to make more substitutions and have fresh legs on the field at all times. We can outrun teams and play at a high level for the full 90 minutes.” Of course, it always helps when the substitutes are a threat to score at any given moment. The focus on roster depth by Coach Jamie Schneck also bodes well for beyond this season as eight of the top ten leaders in points will return next year.

Raina Fitzpatrick '18 takes possession of the ball
Raina Fitzpatrick ’18 takes possession of the ball

While depth has been a game-changer for the team, it certainly helps having a goalkeeper like Prescott ’17. She ranks fifth in the conference in save percentage (.863), last in saves (44), and third in goals against average (0.43). One could argue that her save total could be higher if not for her stellar defense playing in front of her.

The team is coming off a big win over Washington College, and now they look to travel to face rival Swarthmore on Saturday at 7PM for their last game of the regular season. A win in this game or a Gettysburg loss or tie to Johns Hopkins on Saturday will clinch the #4 seed in the playoffs for Haverford, allowing them to host the first round game on November 2nd.

Photos by Photography Editor Wanyi Yang

Bryn Mawr, Sports

Student-Athlete Profile-Allie Nagelski’17

By Features Editor Sophie Webb

If you follow Bryn Mawr volleyball, then you’ve probably heard of Allie Nagelski ‘17. If you don’t, keep reading to learn more about one of Bryn Mawr’s most exceptional athletes. Nagelski is a senior at Bryn Mawr and is not only one of the stars of the volleyball team, but of the entire athletic department. She hails from Huntersville, North Carolina, and started playing volleyball there in a recreational league around the age of ten. According to Nagelski, she quickly fell in love with the “dynamic nature” of the game, “the feeling of sprawling out on the floor to get an incredible dig” and the harmony within a team. “It’s essentially the lava game,” she explains, “…you do anything that you can to prevent the ball from touching the ground.”

Throughout her career at Bryn Mawr, Nagelski’s stats have been nothing short of impressive. She has 28 career kills, 20 of them from this season alone, as well as 909 career digs, with two more matches to go in the season to improve her career statistics. With nearly a thousand digs, Nagelski will likely go down in the record books as fourth in career digs at Bryn Mawr. Recently, she had a very strong performance at the Smith College Invitational when she got 33 digs, four kills and an ace and was also named to the All-Tournament Team.

Besides from representing Bryn Mawr during volleyball season, Nagelski is also committed to the student athlete experience off the court. She served as the vice president for the Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC), for two years. Nagelski speaks highly of the student athlete experience at Bryn Mawr, saying, “I cannot express how much I love the student athlete community here. We all know what challenges student athletes face in terms of balancing academic, athletic and social commitments, so we are the biggest advocates for each other on and off the court/field/etc. There’s a lot of comradery and support, even between teams and within the entire department.”

As far as the rest of the season goes, Nagelski hopes “we continue to grow as a team and put our best effort out for every game. You can’t always control the outcome, but you can always give 100%.” Nagelski and the Owls close out the season on Saturday, October 25th, at Penn State-Abington with a doubleheader against the host and Goucher College.

Photo by Ethan Lyne