Roth on Wesleyan

I know that many readers of this blog are still without power and recovering from Sandy’s rain and wind. We wish you all the best as recovery from the storm continues.

We re-start classes tomorrow, and I know that several of our teams are busy practicing for the next rounds of competition. Last weekend the matches were intense!  The women’s volleyball team, led by Kate Centofanti ’14 and Monica Leslie ’14 (with terrific assists from Brenna Tharnstrom ’16) closed out its season with an impressive victory over Hamilton. Meanwhile, women’s soccer, led by the indomitable Laura Kurash ’13 and frosh sensation Isabel Clements ’16, upset top-seeded Middlebury in the NESCAC tournament. Our superb goalie combination of Jess Tollman ’15 and Rachel Hobert ’16 combined for a Wesleyan shutout.

Men’s soccer produced an exciting come-from-behind victory over Trinity in the first round of the NESCAC tournament here on campus. Walter Rodriguez ’13 and Rory O’Neill ’13 scored while Adam Purdy ’13 limited Trinity to just 1 goal.

The football team spotted Bowdoin 14 points (before I even arrived at the game!) and then went on to score 34 in a battle at Corwin Stadium. LaDarius Drew ’15, recovering from nagging injuries, had a great game, as did Jake Bussani ’14 on the defensive side. Jesse Warren ’15 was consistently strong as quarterback and as punter. Congratulations to coach Mike Whalen and the team for putting together the first winning season in a decade!

Next weekend our men’s and women’s soccer teams will be playing in the NESCAC tournament at Williams while our football squad looks to continue its winning ways. Now that the storm has passed, I know our athletes will be preparing to be at their best in this weekend’s contests. On to Williamstown!