Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
Swarthmore Athletics had a successful weekend. The Men’s Soccer Team advanced into the NCAA Sweet 16, the Women’s Soccer Team won the ECAC tournament, and Cross Country performed strongly.
Cross Country
The Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams did very well on Saturday in the NCAA Mideast Regionals at Lehigh University.
In the women’s 6k race, Swarthmore finished 9th. Melissa Frick ’12 earned All-Region honors in her first race of the season, making quite an impressive comeback to competition from a season of injury. She ran a 23:09 and came in 35th out of about 300 runners. Rebecca Woo ‘11, Ashley Davies ‘10, Nyika Corbett ‘10, and Lauren Deluca ‘10 all performed well, coming in the top 75. Complete results can be found here.
The Men’s team came in 14th in their 8k race. Freshman Jacob Phillips earned 54th out of about 300 runners, running a 26:35. John McMinn ’13 and Brian King ’13 also placed into top spots, earning 60th and 62nd respectively. Complete results can be found here.
Women’s Soccer
Tournament Most Outstanding Player Kirsten Peterson ’11 scored the game-winning goal that secured the Swarthmore Women’s Soccer’s third consecutive ECAC championship against PSU-Behrand on Sunday afternoon at PSU-Altoona.
No goals were made in the first half of the game, both defenses playing strongly. In the second half of the game, Liz Mills ’11 got a through ball, beat her defender, and passed to Kirsten Peterson ’11 who blasted the ball past the Lions’ keeper for her fifth goal of the season.
Marie Mutryn ’12 played an impressive game, making three saves during the game for the Garnet’s fourteenth shutout. Swat women’s soccer didn’t allow a single goal during the ECAC tournament. Defenders Laura Bolger ’11 and Maggie DeLorme ’10 were also defensive standouts for the Garnet.
Men’s Soccer
Philippe Celestin ’11 shot the Swarthmore Men’s Soccer team into their second straight Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament last night at Clothier Field. Swarthmore defeated Hobart 2-1 in double overtime and will play Transylvania on Saturday.
In the first period of the game, Hobart quickly pulled ahead with a goal in the 18th minute. Hobart remained up by 1 for the most of the game until forward Morgan Langley ’11 managed to tie the score in the last 5 minutes of the second period, forcing the game into overtime. The goal was assisted by John Pontillo ’13. In double overtime, Garnet midfielder Philippe Celestin ‘11 collected a pass from Roberto Contreras ‘12, pushed the ball deep into Hobart territory, beat his defender, and blasted a right-footed swerving drive into the side-netting, sending the Swat crowd into elation. This was Celestin’s first goal of the season.
The Garnet’s participation in Sunday’s game was made possible by their 2-1 win over the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy on Saturday night’s soccer game at Clothier Field. USMMA’s midfielder Rusty Denson scored his third goal of the season in the 4th minute of play. But a goal by defender Gage Newman ’11 the 29th minute tied the score. The goal was Newman’s fourth of the season and was assisted by Kieran Reichert ’13. Swat pulled ahead when USMMA’s John Reicks scored an own goal in the last 5 seconds of the first half, bringing the score to 2-1.
“I don’t think words can really describe my reactions to that goal. I have been through a lot of ups and downs the last couple years and it just feels incredible to find redemption like that,” Celestin wrote about his goal in an email.
Swarthmore will play Transylvania (16-3-1) at Carnegie Mellon on Saturday.