WPI Weekly Athletics Update #9

Men’s Athlete of the Week

Manny Cambra’s tremendous all-around performance on the football field against nationally-ranked Hobart have earned him recognition as Men’s Athlete of the Week for the week ending Sunday, October 30th. Offensively, Cambra led the team in receiving with six catches totaling 43 yards. The running back finished with 122 all-purpose yards on the day. Making his first appearance  of the season on the defensive side of the ball, Cambra had two interceptions that thwarted Statesmen drives, while also contributing two tackles.

Women’s Athlete of the Week

Megan Forti - Women’s Soccer - Sophomore - Lynn, MA

Megan Forti stellar play for the women’s soccer team earned her Women’s Athlete of the Week honors for the week ending Sunday October 30th.  Facing the Hawks of Becker and the first snowfall of the winter, the sophomore put on a show scoring a goal and notching three assists for the Engineers in a 7-0 shutout victory. Forti, the reigning NEWMAC and ECAC New England Rookie of the Year, is the points leader for WPI, with three goals and four assists on the season.

Football (2-6 overall, 1-4 Liberty League)
Nationally-ranked Hobart registered a pair of touchdowns in the opening five minutes and dodged heavy snowfall in the second half en route to a 27-13 victory over host Football Saturday in a Liberty League contest.  The Statesman, ranked No. 25 in the latest D3football.com Top 25, remains perfect on the season at 6-0 overall and 4-0 in conference play.  WPI is now 2-6 and 1-4 in Liberty League action. With the Statesman leading 14-0 early on, Hobart ran into punting difficulties when William Alves (West Warrick, RI) blocked a punt that was recovered by teammate John Perron (Worcester, MA) and returned to the Hobart 35.  Running back Ernie Mello (Wilmington, MA) broke for a 21-yard run two plays before finding the end zone on a five-yard burst to slice the deficit in half to 14-7. Later with Hobart up 27-7, on the ensuing drive, WPI marched 56 yards in 5 plays and answered back with a 29-yard scoring strike up the seam from Johny Antonopoulos (Cambridge, MA) to Trevor Dunne (Cedar Knolls, NJ) with 5:24 to go before intermission.  The PAT was blocked resulting in a 27-13 Hobart lead. Hobart threatened on two more occasions before halftime but WPI's Manny Cambra (Bethel, CT), who played both running back and cornerback, recorded a pair of interceptions inside the Engineer 20. With snow falling throughout the second half, the offensive pace of the game slowed.  After a first half that featured a combined 19 drives, the second stanza saw the two teams total only 11 drives.  Both team's deepest penetrations, prior to the closing seconds, came late in the third quarter when Hobart was stopped on a fourth and 7 at the WPI 29 and WPI fumbled at the Hobart 13 after a long rush. Tom Thackeray (Braintree, MA) and Hussein Yatim (Shrewsbury, MA) led the defensive effort for WPI with 10 and nine tackles respectively.  Mello led all players with 119 yards on the ground and the one score, his 12th of the season.  Cambra completed his busy day with a game-best six catches for 43 yards and a pair of tackles to go along with his two interceptions. Hobart had commending edge in time of possession (34:56 - 25:04) and a slight advantage in total yards (301-246).  The two teams combined for eight fumbles, five of which were lost. After a weekend off, WPI closes out the 2011 campaign on Saturday, November 12th by hosting St. Lawrence at noon. 

Men’s Soccer (9-7 overall, 3-3 NEWMAC)
Men’s Soccer dropped a pair of one-goal decisions this past week.  The team lost 1-0 in overtime at Worcester State on Wednesday. Goalkeeper Stephen Allen (Pembroke, MA) tallied four saves. WPI tried to break the tie 14 minutes later when Jason Hopkins (Mendon, MA) connected with a header from a corner kick, but WSU made a great save to keep the score tied. To start off the extra session, Kevin Ducharme (Bedford, NH) had a bid 53 seconds in that would have clinched the match on a long free kick, but the keeper again read the strike and prevented it from going into the net. On Saturday, the team dropped a 2-1 result at Coast Guard.  Down 2-0, WPI crept back into contest when Matt Rosen (Branford, CT) netted his first career goal with 56 seconds in regulation left but Engineers were not able to muster another shot in the closing moments. Goalkeeper Jeff Wong (Millington, NJ) recorded six stops over the first 83:32 for WPI while Allen notched a save during the final 6:28. The team heads to the NEWMAC Tournament on Wednesday, November 2 as they host MIT in quarterfinal action.

Women’s Soccer (4-12-1 overall, 1-6-1 NEWMAC)
Women’s Soccer won its sole game this week, a 7-0 blowout victory at home Becker. With the first snow of the season coming down heavy on Thursday evening, seven different players scored for the Engineers, and Megan Forti (Lynn, MA) finished with three assists and one marker of her own.  Seconds into the contest, Forti took a corner kick that found teammate Hailey Taylor (Colusa, CA) who tapped it in to put the host Engineers up 1-0. It was the second goal of the season for Taylor. 13:05 into the game, WPI's Kelly Ames (Glastonbury, CT) recovered her own rebound to finish, giving the Crimson and Gray a 2-0 lead. It was Ames' team-best fourth goal of the season. WPI kept the pressure up throughout the period. The teams would go into halftime with WPI still leading 2-0. A minute and thirty-three seconds into the second half, Lindsey Grasis (East Brookfield, MA) recovered a save by Becker, shooting it home from just in front of the goal to put WPI up 3-0. For Grasis it was her first goal of the season. In the 62nd minute, WPI's Lauren Frank (Somerset, MA) recovered another save on the offensive end, putting a shot past a sprawled Rose as the Crimson and Gray took a commanding 4-0 advantage. It would begin a stretch that saw WPI explode for four goals in 11 minutes. Early in the 67th minute, Gabrielle McIninch (Lanexa, VA) extended the lead to 5-0 on shot from a few yards out on the right side. Less than two minutes later, Forti set up Theresa Renna (Clark, NJ), who launched a rifle from 18 yards out that gave WPI a 6-0 lead. Forti took the ball herself to finish up the scoring in the 73rd minute, blasting the ball over the keeper's head and giving the Engineers a 7-0 advantage with her third score of the year. WPI goalkeeper Maddie Willer (Penfield, NY) recorded two saves over the first 65 minutes to pick up her fourth win on the season.  Lusan DellaGrotte (Stow, MA) worked a spotless final 25 minutes for the hosts.  The seven goals were the most by WPI since the 2008 season when they posted twelve goals against Newberry. The team’s season finale at home against Smith was postponed on Saturday due to weather conditions. It will be played on Tuesday, November 1st at 7pm.

Field Hockey (10-6 overall, 3-4 NEWMAC)
Senior Emily Pearce (Avon, CT) scored in the final home game of her career, helping to lift Field Hockey to a 2-0 victory over Simmons on Wednesday evening at Alumni Field. WPI's Megan Read (Wrentham, MA) got the Engineers up on the board early when she recovered her own shot and blasted it past the Simmons goalkeeper just over eight minutes into the game, putting the Crimson and Gray up 1-0. It was Read's second goal of the season. Read's goal would be the only score of the first half, but WPI's offense would find the back of the net again 6:27 into the second period, as Pearce took control of the ball during a scramble in front of the net, slapping the shot in with an assist from Celena Dopart (Washington, DC). It was the third goal of the season for Pearce, putting the host Engineers up 2-0. Engineer keeper Liz Dufresne (Worcester, MA) finished with three saves, picking up her third shutout of the season. WPI outshot Simmons 11-3. For WPI, it was the final home regular season contest for their graduating senior class of Dopart, Katye Milligan (Skowhegan, ME), Pearce, Katelyn Comeau (Goffstown, NH), Sasha Marokhovsky (Upton, MA), Paige Hanson (East Hartford, CT), Danielle Antonellis (Duxbury, MA) and Caitlin Kelley (Saratoga Springs, NY). Saturday’s game at Smith was postponed with 8:31 remaining in the contest and the Engineers leading 4-1. That contest will be resumed on Monday, October 31st at 5pm at Smith and will be critical for determining the last playoff spot for the NEWMAC conference playoffs.

Volleyball (19-9 overall, 5-4 NEWMAC)
Volleyball secured the fifth seed in the NEWMAC conference playoffs this past with a split, losing 3-0 at MIT before wrapping up their regular season schedule with a 3-0 win at home against Smith on senior day. On Tuesday against MIT, Belinda Nwagbara (Santa Rosa, CA) amassed 10 kills, nine digs, and a block while Joan Porambo (Jim Thorpe, PA) collected 12 digs. Beovich, Bailey Sarber (Westerly, RI), and Elyssa Dorenfeld (Reading, MA) each chipped in four kills as Sarber added a block. Kim Woodward (Cliffton Park, NY) and Alex Rangel (Weston, FL) shared setting duties, dishing out 16 and eight assists, respectively. Kerrin Beovich (Seaford, NY) had four kills and five digs. The Crimson and Gray lost 25-19, 25-15, 25-23. Against Smith on Saturday, Nwagbara amassed 11 kills and hit .333 to go along with three service aces and five digs as WPI won its final home match of the season in three games, 25-21, 25-23, 25-15. Beovich added seven kills, four service aces and three digs. Sarber tallied six kills and five digs. Rangel and Woodward set up the offense with 18 and 13 set assists, respectively. Porambo spearheaded the defense with 12 digs. The decisive part of the match came in the second set when WPI used a 10-2 run to transfer a 16-11 Smith advantage into a 21-18 Crimson and Gray bulge.  Rangle served five points during the spurt, including three aces. Woodward and Porambo, WPI's graduating seniors, were recognized in honor of senior day by coaches, teammates and spectators. Both brought years of leadership, dedication and commitment to the program. For the second straight season, WPI finishes conference play in fifth place and will face fourth-seeded MIT in a NEWMAC Tournament quarterfinal on Tuesday at 7pm. 

Men’s & Women’s Cross Country
The Cross Country teams were had its NEWMAC Conference Championships postponed until Monday, October 31st due to poor weather conditions. The meet, hosted by Wellesley at Franklin Park in Boston, will begin at 3pm for the men and 4pm for the women.  

Men’s Crew
The competitive portion of the fall season for Men’s Crew concluded Saturday with the Quinsigamond Novice Regatta.  WPI saw boats finish fourth and tenth in the 14-team event. The A Boat of Zachary Stewart (Clifton Park, NY), Matt Deptula (Budd Lake, NJ), Joseph Sperry (Northampton, MA), John Foody (Cornwall, NY), Jordan Stanhope (Falmouth, ME), Richard Malcolm (Franklin, MA), Chace Medeiros (Bristol, RI), Mikhail Morozov (East Haven, CT) and coxswain Lucia Shumaker (Sebastopol, CA) rowed to a fourth place finish with a time of 16:10.57, the best of any Division III program. The B Boat comprised of Jackson Beall (Bainbridge, WA), Malick Kelly (Glen Ridge, NJ), Keegan Cole (Spencer, MA), Mert Erad (Turkey), Chuka Ebi (London, England), Dave Duan (Taiyuan, China), Tanek Zhang (Beijing, China), David Keeley-DeBonis (Manchester, VT) and coxswain Jonah Rosch (Salem, MA) crossed the line in tenth in a time of 18:36.82. The regatta wraps up men’s crew’s fall schedule. They are off until the spring.

Men’s Swimming & Diving
Freshman Nick Houghton (Berkley, MA) captured both the 500 yard and 1000 yard freestyle to highlight Men's Swimming and Diving’s season opener at Vassar. The visiting Engineers were defeated 160-119 by the host Brewers. Houghton had a 4:59.00 in the 500 and a 10:20.27 in the 1000 free, scoring 18 points in those two events alone. His 20 points were a team-high, as he also helped the 200 freestyle relay B team to a third place finish with a time of 1:37.94. Ben List (Bedford, MA) was another winner for WPI with a first place finish in the 100 butterfly with a time of 56.22. List also came in fourth in the 50 free with a 24.25 time, and swam the first leg in the 200 freestyle relay and the third leg in the 200 medley relay. Eric Spazzarini (Enfield, CT) won the 200 yard butterfly with 2:05.57. Spazzarini also came in second in the 200 back with 2:11.24. WPI dominated the 1000 free, as Keahi Goodale (Kailua-Kona, HI) came in second behind Houghton with 11:05.03 and Joe Weiler (Ballston Lake, NY) came in third at 11:24.06. Nick Catano (Goffstown, NH) came in second in the 200 free with a 1:54.62 and Victor Puksta (Nashua, NH) had a 1:57.45. On Saturday, the team lost a 137-125 meet at Clarkson. For complete results of that meet, visit www.wpi.edu/athletics.  A complete story will be available Monday. Up next, will head to the New England Invitational at the Upper Valley Aquatic Center in White River Junction, VT on Saturday, November 5th.

Women’s Swimming & Diving
Sarah Dinwoodie (East Greenwich, RI) and Sonja Kent (West Boylston, MA) both won multiple events Friday night as Women's Swimming and Diving dropped its season-opener 155-131 to host Vassar. Dinwoodle had a time of 1:05.78 in her first place finish in the 100 back. She would also triumph in the 200 back with a 2:18.57. She came in third in the 50 free with a 27.47. Kent had a time of 2:20.44 in her 200 butterfly victory, and a 5:26.69 in the 500 free. She would wrap up her day with a win in the 200 IM, finishing with a time of 2:21.55. The 200 yard freestyle relay team of Alana Aubin (Taunton, MA), Alexandra Sanz-Guerrero (Ann Arbor, MI), Sam Sargalski (Windsor, CT) and Kelin Song (Providence, RI) won their event with a 1:49.19. Aubin also had three second place finishes in the 200 free with a 2:05.78, in the 100 butterfly with a 1:04.66 and in the 100 free with a 57.19. Song came in third in the 100 back with a 1:17.54. Nica Sylvia (Martha's Vineyard, MA) won in the 3-meter diving with a 188.48. On Saturday, the team lost a 146-134 meet at Clarkson. For complete results of that meet, visit www.wpi.edu/athletics.  A complete story will be available Monday. The team will participate in the New England Invitational at the Upper Valley Aquatic Center in White River Junction, VT on Saturday, November 5th.