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 field hockey, men’s soccer, volleyball, and women’s soccer were all in action on Wednesday compiling a 3-1 record. Volleyball and women’s soccer posted victories over homestanding Washington College, men’s soccer picked up a big regional non-conference win at Manhattanville, and field hockey dropped a 5-2 decision to Washington.
Field Hockey
Looking to run their winning streak to four, the Swarthmore field hockey team was on the short-end of a 5-2 result in Chestertown, MD as a pair of first-half goals and a career-high 17-saves from sophomore Gabriella Capone ’14 weren’t enough for the Garnet.
After the Shorewomen jumped on the board first with an eighth minute goal, the Garnet answered right back exactly two minutes later as freshman Beth Johnson set up sophomore Nia Jones for her sixth goal of the season and third goal in her last two games. The assist was the team-leading fifth of the season for Johnson.
Washington College answered right back with a 15th minute goal and the score remained 2-1 until the dying minutes of the first half when the Garnet earned a penalty stroke as a Washington defender intentionally used her foot to keep a shot out. For the second consecutive year at Washington junior Catie Meador stepped to the spot and buried the stroke to level the match at intermission.
But for the final 35 minutes, it was all Washington, as the Shorewomen outshot the Garnet 21-1 after the break. Still, the Garnet defense didn’t break until the final 10 minutes of play when with just under nine minutes to play, Washington grabbed the lead off of a deflected shot in the circle. Washington scored twice more for the final of 5-2.
Swarthmore drops to 2-3 in Centennial play, still in the thick of playoff contention halfway through the Conference slate. The Garnet returns to action on Saturday with a trip to Gettysburg in a critical Centennial Conference. Saturday’s match is one of four over October break, with non-conference tilts against Gwynedd-Mercy and Immaculata followed by a match with McDaniel rounding out the week’s play.
Men’s Soccer
With its second consecutive shutout, the Swarthmore men’s soccer team earned its third consecutive victory in 1-0 fashion at the Valiants of Manhattanville.
In posting a clean sheet, the 26th of his career, senior David D’Annunzio broke the 20-year old Swarthmore program record for career shutouts previously held by Andrew Cavanaugh ’91.
Manhattanville entered the contest with the seventh-highest scoring offensive in all of Division III, averaging 3.40 goals per game. But the stingy Swarthmore defense held the Valiants at bay all evening as Manhattanville managed just four shots on target.
The matchup of top-six teams in the Mid-Atlantic Region (the Garnet at No. 2 and Manhattanville at No. 6) was scoreless until the 73rd minute of play when freshman Michael Stewart found pay-dirt finishing off a rebound after his initial shot was stopped. The goal was Stewart’s third of the season and his second-gamewinner.
Manhattanville outshot Swarthmore 15-12 overall in the chippy match which saw 30 fouls including 10 from each team in the whistle-filled second half.
Swarthmore returns to Centennial Conference play on Sunday hosting the Gettysburg Bullets who are currently tied atop the Centennial Conference standings with the Garnet trailing by a single point.
The last time the Bullets and Garnet met at Clothier Field, Swarthmore blew a 3-0 lead as Gettysburg came back to tie before Morgan Langley ’11 completed a hat-trick with a last-minute bicycle-kick goal. In last year’s contest, the team’s played to a scoreless draw.
Also over October break, the Garnet, ranked No. 11 in the D3soccer.com national poll, will travel to the University of Scranton before visiting Ursinus.
Volleyball
After two heart-breaking five-set losses last week, the Garnet volleyball squad dominated host Washington in straight sets 25-11, 25-15, 25-13.
For the match, the Garnet hit .329 while holding the Shorewomen to .059.
Freshman Zahra Ahmed led the Garnet with nine kills on the evening while committing just one attack-error for a .571 hitting percentage in just two sets of action. Senior Genny Pezzola added to her program record with seven more kills and sophomore Danielle Sullivan eclipsed the 400-career-kill mark with six.
Junior setter Allie Coleman, who leads the Centennial Conference in assists per set, posted 31 helpers and 11 digs for her third consecutive double-double performance. Coleman also added three of the Garnet’s 12 aces in the match, second only to Lisa Shang who recorded five.
The Garnet also dominated the net-game recording four solo blocks – two from sophomore Brone Lobichusky and one apiece from Sullivan and freshman Danielle Delpeche – along with 10 block assists.
On defense, senior libero Hillary Santana posted eight digs and freshman Kate Amodei added seven.
Swarthmore returns to play on Saturday when the Garnet travel to Gettysburg in a big Centennial matchup. The Bullets are currently undefeated in Centennial play and are coming off a huge victory over Haverford. Swarthmore will visit Dickinson and Rowan before hosting McDaniel to end October break play.
The match against McDaniel will be part of the Centennial Conference’s annual Dig for a Cure Campaign to fight cancer. This season, the Conference is raising money for Tanner’s Touch, an organization founded by a former Gettysburg College coach in honor of her son who was diagnosed with pediatric cancer in 2009.
Over the past five seasons, the Conference has raised over $42,000 dollars through the annual Dig for a Cure campaign.
To make a pledge to the team for each dig that they record in next Saturday’s match, please contact Head Coach Harleigh Chwastyk.
Women’s Soccer
The Swarthmore women’s soccer team conceded a goal just 33-seconds into Wednesday’s match at Washington but dominated the final 89 minutes to earn a 2-1 victory over the Shorewomen.
Ranked eighth in the Mid-Atlantic region in the latest NSCAA poll, Swarthmore outshot Washington 20-9 for the contest and first-half goals from freshman Emma Sindelar and junior Mariam Vonderheide secured the victory.
Sindelar put the Garnet on the board in the 20th minute picking up a loose ball in front of goal and burying the shot for her team-leading sixth goal of the season. With six career goals, Sindelar, who has scored in three consecutive matches, is tied with three other players for Swarthmore’s active leader in career goals.
Just sixteen minutes later, senior Alysa Bowie sent a streaking Mariam Vonderheide behind the Washington defense and the junior found the back of the net for her first career goal.
After halftime, the Garnet defense held the Shorewomen to just one shot on target to make the 2-1 score stand as senior Marie Mutryn earned her 30th career victory in net.
With the win, Swarthmore improves to 3-2 in Centennial play and is 7-4 overall. The Garnet will play two matches over October break – a crucial Sunday battle at Gettysburg, 3-1 thus far in Centennial play, and a home-contest against the Green Terror of McDaniel.
