Four sports teams kept the action going during Thanksgiving break. Here is everything you may have missed.
Men’s soccer
The men’s soccer team’s (3-2-4 Patriot League, 8-7-7 overall) season came to an end on Nov. 20, stumbling against Cornell University (14-4-2 overall) in a 4-0 shutout in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Cornell drew first blood in the seventh minute and never looked back. The Leopards struggled to maintain possession of the ball throughout the first half, being outshot 11-3, as the Big Red took the 1-0 lead into halftime.
The Big Red kept the aggression going in the second half, extending its lead to 4-0 after 23 minutes of play. The Leopards struggled to stay out of foul trouble, leaving them scoreless to close out their Patriot League championship-winning season.
Men’s basketball
The men’s basketball team (2-7 overall) faced Stonehill College (2-8 overall) in the battle of schools from Easton on Nov. 21. The team from Easton, Massachusetts, came out victorious, winning 74-70.
Freshman forward Christian Humphrey-Rembert kicked things off with a 3-point shot five minutes in to take a 7-3 Leopards lead. The Skyhawks battled back with an 8-4 run to tie it at 11 apiece. From then on, Stonehill kept burying shots as the Leopards’ field-goal percentage plateaued, rising to a 34-25 lead at the break.
The Maroon and White came out of the half with a fight. Stonehill kept its lead at 45-35 before junior guard Andrew Phillips drained a 3-pointer to stop their momentum. The Leopards inched to a 68-65 deficit with a minute and a half to play, setting up a dramatic downtown delivery from sophomore guard Caleb Williams. The Skyhawks hit the go-ahead bucket with 41 seconds remaining and never looked back as both teams played the foul game en route to a Stonehill victory.
Women’s basketball
The women’s basketball team (4-4 overall) extended its winning streak to four with a 76-59 victory over the University of Pittsburgh (6-4 overall) on Nov. 25, marking the Leopards’ first win over an Atlantic Coast Conference team since 2013.
Both teams traded baskets in the first quarter, but the Panthers sank a basket to close out the frame with a 21-19 lead.
The Leopards fell to a 10-point deficit with just over eight minutes left in the second quarter, but senior guard Sauda Ntaconayigize kicked off a 15-8 scoring run that pulled the Leopards within five. The last three minutes was all Maroon and White, going on a 10-0 run to jump the Panthers and close out the half up 44-39.
This spark was carried into the third quarter, with the Leopards mounting an 11-point lead. Despite a Pittsburgh rally to pull within two, junior guard Teresa Kiewet hit a jumper to return the momentum to Lafayette.
Taking a seven-point lead into the fourth quarter, the Leopard defense put on the clamps, holding the Panthers to 2-of-12 from the field and ceding only five points to seal the win. Kiewet and freshman guard Haylie Adamski led the Maroon and White in scoring with 19 each.
Swimming and diving
The swimming and diving team faced off against Lehigh University for its annual rivalry dual meet on Nov. 21. The men’s squad fell 211-89, while the women dropped 210-89.
Junior Landon Orth snagged first place in both the 1 and 3-meter dives with scores of 303.83 and 296.25, respectively. Orth’s 1-meter mark qualified him for the NCAA Zone A Regionals for the third consecutive year. Freshman Gregory Yukhvid also reeled in a first-place performance for the Leopards, clocking in at 49.67 in the 100-yard butterfly.
For the women, junior Mia Guster finished first in the 1-meter dive, earning a score of 244.73. Senior Isabella Van Ess broke a 12-year-old school record in the 400-yard individual medley, taking second place with a time of 4:28.72.