We scrimmaged Vermont today at Vermont in very cold conditions.  We agonized somewhat about playing but then decided to give it a shot.  While it was cold, it was not too cold and proved to be a very worthwhile day.  Just to be playing in a full-field game against a quality opponent in February in Vermont makes it a success!

I believe the final score was Vermont 13 – Middlebury 9, but the score was irrelevant, win or lose.  We led for most of the game by a goal or two and then gave up 3 man down goals in the late third and the fourth, allowing them to separate from us.  During that period we also limited possessions ourselves, partly due to being man down and partly because they stepped up the riding pressure and we did not respond too well.  Of course, the extent of our clearing to date was a 5 minute meeting on the board this morning before we departed!  

We played very solid 6 v. 6 defense, most of our goals being given up man down and unsettled.  When we did give up 6 v. 6 goals it was typically as a result of a lapse in team defense, not being beaten 1 v. 1.  Senior Gabe Wood and Junior Ben Raymond played particularly well at close defense, Sophomore Glenn Bickley played a nice game at Long Stick Midfield and our two goalies, Junior Alex Palmisano and Freshman Pete Britt played well in goal.

Offensively we showed that we will have the ability to generate plenty of offense from our 5 attackmen returning from last year.  All of them looked impressive at times.  Junior Nick Bastis looks strong physically, generating several goals of dodges.  Bastis also scored on a nice feed from Senior Jon Sisto, who had a great game feeding the ball.  Pete Mellen was dominant on face offs, as usual, but also contributed 2 goals as he was playing as simply a midfielder, not a face off midfielder.  We will have some good depth in the midfield with Seniors Travis Meyer, Aaron Herter Jeff Pello and Chip Campbell all playing well thus far.  One question will be defensive midfield.  We played all middies on both ends of the field today and we may do some of that during the season, but some of our middies will need to be brought along on defense! 

Overall I would say we looked pretty good for this early in the season.  We alternated 8 defensemen, 6 attackmen, 8 middies and 2 goalies equally, so we did not prioritize with our top players.  We have a long way to go in order to feel that we are in game form, but for February 19 we were pretty solid.

We scrimmage again at Skidmore next Saturday at 1:00pm, we then have an open date on March 4 and we open vs. Colby at home on March 11.

Best,

Erin