The Burlington Free Press from Burlington, Vermont • Page 19

The Burlington Free Press Saturday, February 4, 2006 www.burlingtonfreepress.com 7B VERMONT SPORTS Panthers take carnival lead Middlebury skiers in front of UVM after 1st day Cats forge ahead UVM faces Hartford head coach Results, 6B Vermont Carnival The University of Vermont Is playing host to the EISA Vermont Carnival at Stowe. The alpine events will be on the Hayride trail at Stowe Resort. The Nordic races will be at Trapp Family Lodge. TODAY 9:30 a.m., Men's slalom first run, followed by the women's first run 9:30 a.m., Women's 3x5K freestyle relay 10:45 a.m., Men's 3x1 OK freestyle relay 12:30 p.m., Men's slalom second run, followed by the women's second run 12:30 p.m., Nordic awards ceremony next to timing shack 3 p.m., Alpine awards ceremony at tent next to Base Lodge Susan Dunklee, now with Dartmouth, chugged to a win in the women's classic, completing the 5K course in 18:32.9. UVM's Anja Jokela of Shelburne was second, Kristina Trygstad-Saari of Dartmouth took third and North Country Union product and Dartmouth skier Elsa Sargent was fourth.

Middlebury College skiers Virginia Hamilton and Evelyn Dong were fifth and sixth, respectively. Dartmouth's Benjamin True prevailed in the men's 10K classic with a time of 32:32.6, slightly faster than Garrott Kuzzy of Middlebury. UVM's Jurgen Uhl finished third, with Dartmouth's Sam Naney fourth and UVM's Anders Osthus fifth. STOWE The Middle-bury College ski team didn't produce an individual winner in the four events held during the opening day of the Vermbnt Carnival on a rain-soaked Friday. However, the Panthers had plenty of top-five finishers, and as a result, they have established a four- point lead over the host University of Vermont heading into today's action.

Middlebury, which fin- ished second to UVM in the first two carnivals of the season, picked up 376 points in Friday's men's and women's slalom and classical races. UVM sits in 'second place at 372, while downs SMC, 3-2 Hazen avenges defeat to Stowe slalom on Stowe Resort's tricky, foggy Hayride trail, with teammate Jamie Kingsbury about a second behind in second. But the Middlebury trio of Mattie Ford, Lindsay Brush and Megan Hughes claimed the next three spots. Vermont's Greg Hardy continued his superb winter in the men's slalom, navigating two runs in a combined 1:55.86 to edge second-place finisher Clayton Reed of Middlebury. A bunch of skiers with Vermont ties fared well in the Nordic racing on the grounds of Trapp Family Lodge.

St. Johnsbury graduate Williams Ephs win with pair WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. Williams College scored two goals in the final period and outshot St. Michael's 55-33 to pull out a 3-2 win over the Purple Knights in college men's hockey Friday night. SMC (7-9-4) took a 1-0 lead in the first period when Chris Healey scored on Erik Caron's assist.

Willfams (10-6-2) tied the game four minutes later on a goal by Robbie Bergan. Williams scored the next two goals by Colin Greenhalgh and Matt McCarthy to go up 3-L SMC got a late goal from Tim Dancey but couldn't find the equalizer. Erik Smith made 52 saves for SMC and Brad Shirley stopped 31 shots for Williams. Southern Maine 2, Castleton 1, OT: At Gor-ham, Maine, Mark Car-ragher scored 3:59 into overtime to give Southern Maine a victory over Castleton State. The Huskies' Chris Sparkes opened the scoring in the first period.

Ross Car-michael drew Castleton (3-14-2, 1-11-2 ECAC East) even at 10:54 of the second. David Beckles made 28 saves to pick up the win for Southern Maine (8-10-2, 6-6-2). Castleton's Jay Seals made 32 stops. College roundup Fisher scored 12 points and Micaela McVary added 11. Kino Clark hit 12 of 16 shots and finished with 31 points for the Bantams.

Briarcliff 68, Ver-mont Tech 49: At Randolph, Jenese Bennett scored a game-high 22 points to lead Briarcliff (11-8) past VTC. Shannon Leland topped the Green Knights (8-9) with 16 points while Jessica Jettie scored 14 and Lindsay Oliver chipped in 13. Men's basketball Trinity 79, Middlebury 68: At Middlebury, NES-CAC leading scorer Tyler Rhoten scored 19 points, including a key three-point play to halt a Middlebury rally, to lead Trinity's win. Rhoten also had 10 rebounds for the Bantams (16-3, 6:0) and scored a three-point play with 1:45 left in regulation after the Panthers had cut an 18-point deficit to two. Sam Daly led Middlebury (12-8, 1-5) with 18 points, all on 3-pointers.

Ben Rudin added 12, Mike Walsh scored 11 and Chris Dowd had 10. Kino Clarke led the Bantams with 31 points while Patrick Martin chipped in 17. Abraham and Jill Dellipriscoli finished with nine. Tricia Lussier, Elizabeth Stahler and Margaret Hilton each had six for the Vikings. Cabot 64, Craftsbury 29: At Cabot, Ashley Mar-cott fired in 20 points as Cabot raced past Crafts-bury.

Roz Vara added 12 points and Kate Rossell had nine for the Huskies (12-5). Heather Urie led the Chargers (6-7) with 10. Dartmouth (336), New Hampshire (291) and Williams (268) round out the top five. Skiers from 13 schools will finish up today with the giant slalom and Nordic relays. "Tough day all around because of the weather, but we're in good position going into tomorrow," UVM director of skiing and head alpine coach Bill Reichelt said.

Friday, Jilyne McDonald of UVM sped to a two-run time of 1 minute, 28.26 seconds to win the women's Boys basketall Randolph. Ben Parker led all scorers with 28 points for the Highlanders (10-6), who won their eighth in a row. Zac Briggs had 18 points and Tim Grandy netted 11 for the Galloping Ghosts. BFA-Fairfax 75, Wil-liamstown 56: At Fairfax, the Bullets outscored the Blue Devils 27-12 in the final quarter to pull away in a tight game. Alex Weber led the charge, scoring 13 of his 22 points in the fourth for BFA (7-9), which made 23 of 28 free throws.

Jake Ains-worth also had 22 points and Seth Rebeor chipped in 16 for the Bullets. Josh Tassie scored 14 points and Andy Couture and Ryan Atherton each had 12 for the Blue Devils (7-7). Thetford 59, Oxbow 55: At Bradford, Jamie Da-vies scored 21 points, Jason Gray added 15 and Thetford fended off Oxbow's fourth-quarter comeback. Chad Claflin had 12 points for the Olympians (5-10). Lake Region 55, Northfield 48: At Orleans, Lake Region jumped out to an early lead and held off Northfield.

Cody Atwood led the Rangers (2-13) with 14 points while Tyler Shatney scored 13. Ryan Knapp topped the Marauders with 18 points and Jeff Pemberton scored 11. Lance Robinson was the top scorer for Middlebury (6-11) with 10 points. Vergennes 68, Enos-burg 56: At Enosburg, five Vergennes players hit double digits as the Commodores beat Enosburg. Judd Evarts had 17 points, including four 3-pointers, while Josh Dar-ragh had 16 points.

Jesse Lalumiere added 14 points, Mike Steadman had 11 and Nate Merrill netted 10. Shane Couture scored 15 and Daren Rivard had 11 for Enosburg (8-7). Montpelier 67, Lamoille 52: At Hyde Park, Paul Waring had a game-high 21 points as Montpelier used a third-quarter blitz to defeat Lamoille. Evan Brigham added 14 points for Montpelier. Brett Jasmin had 11 points for Lamoille (1-13).

U-32 56, Lyndon 35: At East Montpelier, Marcus Hass poured in 20 points as U-32 beat Lyndon. Ethan Sylvain added nine points for U-32 (10-6), which trailed 34-17 at the half. Zach Newland and Ben Sackett both had 10 points for the Vikings (8-5). Peoples 64, Richford 43: At Morristown, Shawn Billado netted 17 points and Mike Desrochers scored 15 as PA beat Richford. Brad Jones added 10 for the Wolves (9-8).

Kory Woods had a game-high 19 points, while Josh Demar added 10 for Richford (0-14). By Jeff Pinkham Free Press Staff Writer The University of Vermont women's basketball team faces first-place Hartford today without its head coach but with the confidence it can beat the best team in America East. Catamounts head coach Sharon Dawley was suspended by the school Monday for comments she made about the officiating in last weekend's loss at New Hampshire. Dawley, who will not make the trip to Hartford, said Thursday that assistant coaches Kate Cro-nin and Kerry Jenkins will split the coaching duties Saturday. Cronin will focus on the offense; Jenkins on the defense.

"My natural reaction is they're co-coaches and that's the way it is," Dawley said. "I don't know if I have to name somebody (head coach)." Ml Dawley won't see today's Today Vermont at game, but Hartford, 2 she (WVMT- bers well AM 620) the last time the teams met on Jan. 4. Hartford (16-2, 8-0 AE) outscored Vermont 19-8 in the final 4:34 of regulation to pull out a 62-56 win. The Cats (7-11, 3-5 AE) led 30-19 at halftime and were hurt late by Hawks forward Danielle Hood, who scored 10 of her 20 points in the final five minutes.

"The game plan was a good one, but down the stretch we didn't play good defense," Dawley said of the first meeting with Hartford. "We just need to be more aggressive. If we go down, we go down. But let's go down being aggressive." UVM sophomore Alexis Castro, the leading scorer in America East at 16.9 points per game, agreed with her coach. "We need our defense to be better than it was," said Castro, who scored 23 points in the first meeting.

"Offensively, we just need to keep doing what we did pound it inside and take the good shots that we took in that game." Freshmen Andrea Cihal could have an impact. The 6-foot-4 center didn't play in the first matchup but has come on of late to average 5.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and provide a defensive presence over the last five games. "She's showing more confidence every day," Castro said. The Cats will be without freshman guard Amy Rosen-krantz (6.2 points, 4.1 rebounds) who was on crutches at practice Thursday. and Cellino's empty-netter at 17:22 finished off the win.

"There was a little less pressure because it's non-league," Kogut said of the match between the Panthers (18-0-0) and the Gusties (14-3-1). "We know where we stand in our league; we know who we have left, so it's a game to go out there and have fun. We definitely know it was going to be a challenge so it's one game to work your butts off." The Panthers entertain Williams today and have a non-league showdown at No. 2 Plattsburgh on Wednesday. Contact Ted Ryan at 660-1855 or of 3rd-period goals Women's hockey UMass-Boston 4, St.

Michael's 2: At South Burlington, Lauren O'Connor and Andrea Ciarletta scored in the second period to break a 2-2 tie and hand UMass-Boston a win. Ciarletta and Casey Turner also scored in the first period and Amanda Boucher made nine saves for UMass (11-5-1). Gabrielle Bourgeios and Tracy MacGregor scored for the Purple Knights, Michelle Miaskiewicz, Shannon Murphy and Molly Dever had assists and Kries-ten Salierno made 23 saves for SMC (4-15-0). Women's basketball Trinity 63, Middlebury 59: At Hartford, Trinity rallied from an 11-point deficit and stayed undefeated in NES-CAC play. The Panthers (12-8, 1-5) led 44-33 with 14:58 left in regulation before the Bantams (16-3, 6-0) slowly chipped away, eventually taking the lead with 7:18 remaining.

Alanna Young topped Middlebury with 14 points and 10 rebounds, Katie Girls basketball Rachel DiStefano led Randolph with 18 points and Laura Koloski added 12. Montpelier 70, Lyndon 27: At Montpelier, the host Solons built a 22-4 lead after one quarter on the way to a win over Lyndon. Leslie Mencia led Montpelier (13-4) with 18 points, Leah Vanvoorhis scored 13 "Twenty-six shots Some days I see in the low teens so I definitely had to be on my toes. I'm definitely a little tired right now," said Kogut, who pointed to her teammates: "They played awesome; they were down there blocking shots. It's never just my best game; it's always a team effort." Panther coach Bill Man-digo added, "There are not many times that we get out-shot.

(Kogut) saw a lot of quality shots; they went to net with a lot of steam; they moved the puck very, very well. She was immense for us." While Kogut supplied HARDWICK Tristan Southworth scored 10 points during Hazen's 19-0 run and the Wildcats avenged their only loss by defeating I Stowe, 59-45, in a high 4 school boys basketball game Friday. Brad Mader led Hazen (12-1) with 27 points and Southworth finished with ,15. Sam King scored 14 points and Joey Groom added 11 for the Raiders (10-4), who beat the Wild-; cats by one point in December. Mount Mansfield 62, Colchester 39: At Jericho, Glass pumped in a game-high 26 points and Mount Mansfield blanked Colchester in the first quar- ter on the way to a win.

Sam Lacy added 16 points for the Cougars (10-5), who led 13-0 after i the first eight minutes. Mickey Merola topped the Lakers with 10 points. Champlain Valley 54, St. Johnsbury 38: At St. Johnsbury, the Redhawks rused balanced scoring and i six 3-pointers to power past St.

Johnsbury. Josh Phillips was the only Redhawk in double figures with 13 points, but five of his teammates had at least six. Kyle Lavalette contributed nine and Nick scored eight for CVU. Garrett Calkins' 10 points paced the Hilloppers (9-5). Essex 68, North Country 65: At Essex, Joey visKer pourea in points as Essex posted a come-from-behind win over North Country Jason Weischedel added -11 for Essex, which trailed 34-33 at the half.

The Hor-; nets (7-8) held a 49-44 lead after three quarters. Sebastian Brandstetter 24 points, Justin Curtis netted 14 and Greg Silvestri had 10 for the Falcons. BFA-St. Albans 69, Milton 45: At St. Albans, Marcus Dutkiewicz scored 13 points as BFA-St.

Albans defeated Milton. Ryan Jacobs added 12 "points and Derek Hunger--, ford had 10 for BFA (12-4). Stuart Bell scored 15 and Brian Phelps had 10 for Milton. BWInooski 71, Pine Ridge 39: At Williston, the Troescher twins combined "for 53 points as Winooski ran past Pine Ridge, Tyler Troescher had a game-high 28, while brother Mike added 25 for 'the Spartans. Ryan Little added 11 for Winooski.

Isaiah Sullivan scored 14 points and Luigi Santos added eight for the Coyotes Mount Abraham 38, Middlebury 32: At Middlebury, the visiting Eagles started the second half on a 14-5 run and held off Middlebury. Nick Terrien dropped in '16 points to lead MAU and 'Austin Olson scored eight. Harwood 57, Randolph 50: At Duxbury, "Liam Smith scored all 16 of his points in the second as Harwood rallied from a four-point deficit at Lthe intermission and beat Martin sparks Mount BRISTOL Laura Martin came off the bench to score six key points in the fourth quarter to help lead Mount Abraham to a 49-44 win over Randolph in high school girls basketball Friday. Jen Stetson hit 5 of 6 fouls shots in the final quarter and finished with 14 points to lead the Eagles (8-9). Chelsea Jipner added 11 points and Samantha Jack-man had 10 points.

Kogut pulls out all the stops for Midd. Goalie leads Panther women to big victory over Gusties flawless goaltending, freshman Annmarie Cellino sparked the offense with two goals and an assist. Her first goal at 17:38 of the first came off a pass from Emily Quizon that sent Cellino in against Gusties goalie Kitty Hurley (17 saves). Kogut held fast in the second period, stopping Molly Doyle and Jessica Doig on breakaways, and Shannon Tarrant boosted the Middlebury lead to 2-0 at 19:48. Kogut carried the Panthers through an extended penalty kill, including 41 seconds of 5-on-3, in the third.

Hurley departed for an extra attacker with 3:12 remaining By Ted Ryan MIDDLEBURY Middlebury College women's hockey goalie Kate Kogut usually makes her 16 or so saves and the Panthers just roll along to another victory. Not so Friday afternoon at Kenyon Arena. The 5-foot-4 senior was at her finest she had to be as the No. 1-ranked Panthers shut down third-ranked Gus-tavus Adolphus, 3-0. Kogut came up with several sterling stops with the game's outcome still far from decided in the clash of national Division III women's hockey contenders..