Dalton Tiger Report: Homecoming

Posted - 9/22/2016

Beginning in the Bronx with JV Tennis on Thursday followed by Varsity Tennis on Friday, Homecoming competitions against Trinity moved indoors for afternoon and evening volleyball on Friday at the Dalton Gym. The event picked back up with soccer games on a sunny, Saturday morning on Randall's Island and was capped off by the football game against Newark Academy in the early afternoon. From JV Volleyball's nail-biting victory to Football's season-opening game, read about every Homecoming competition here, as Dalton teams went 3-4-1 in Homecoming play:

By Ema Schumer, Jacob Rose, Bo Peponis, and Reddy Lee

Thursday, September 15 marked a promising start to the season for GIRLS JV TENNIS. The team beat Trinity in three singles matches and lost two doubles matches, earning Dalton the win in this matchup. Mia Freund ‘19 dominated at the third singles slot, not losing a single game in the second set. The other singles matches were hard-fought victories, both coming down to tiebreakers.

GIRLS VARSITY TENNIS was unable to pick up a win in its match against Trinity on Friday night. In the first doubles slot, Caleigh Ryan ‘18 and co-captain Josie Shapiro ‘17 lost in the tiebreaker set, 9-11. Second singles was also within reach, but co-captain Nell Hurley '17 fell 5-7, 4-6.

“We all came ready to work in pre-season and continue to improve our game every day in practice," Hurley says. "Although our Homecoming match did not go as we had hoped, we put up a good fight and played hard until the end. The team is very close knit, and we all have a lot of fun together.”

The bleachers were roaring, and the ten-player-deep bench was on its feet cheering.

No event exemplified Spirit Week more than JV VOLLEYBALL's afternoon game to start off the Friday Homecoming competitions. The team’s exuberance paid off as it beat Trinity 2-1. Dalton lost the first set, came back to tie the game by winning the second set, and capped off the game with a win by two points in the final, tiebreaker set.

Treasure Welle '20, a setter, led the way for Dalton by continually putting her teammates in scoring situations. As server, she baffled Trinity with her powerful serve, scoring five consecutive points during the second set. Perhaps her most significant contribution to Friday’s win was her contagious energy that uplifted her teammates’ spirits.

In the tiebreaker set, Dalton trailed by one point, 22-23. Welle’s strong serving, buttressed by her teammates’ ability to return whatever Trinity sent their way, gave Dalton a two-point lead. Elizabeth Frischling ‘20 made the winning serve, and Dalton fans stormed the court in celebration of the 2-1 win over Trinity.

Cheers of “WHOSE HOUSE? —— OUR HOUSE!” reverberated around the third-floor gym as both Trinity’s and Dalton’s VARSITY VOLLEYBALL teams took their places on the court to begin Friday evening’s Homecoming game.

The two teams started the game evenly matched. Dalton conceded the first four points but went on a run to take a 10-7 lead, forcing Trinity to call a timeout. Despite strong blocking by co-captain Alana Eiland '17 and spiking by Liana Wong-Wright '19, Trinity tied the game at 13-13. Lila Watts ‘18 set the ball deep outside for co-captain Lucy Fetterman '17 multiple times to keep Dalton within reach, but the team made several careless errors and lost the first set. Dalton could not keep up with Trinity in the second set either, falling 8-25.

But Dalton refused to quit: the team got out to a 16-8 lead in the third set. Underclassmen players showed potential and skill in the third set: Wong-Wright, a varsity veteran, explosively swung at the ball; Emi Carpenter ‘19 served the ball to spots beyond the reach of the Trinity players; Jasmine Young ‘20 tipped well; and eighth grader Ella Green ‘21 made several great blocks, eliciting a cheer of “five more years” from the crowd. These four underclassmen, guided by Fetterman on the court, propelled Dalton to a victory in the third set.

The two teams played neck and neck in the fourth set, but Trinity pulled away with a 25-22 victory, winning the match three sets to one.

Following the game, members of the Dalton community rose out of their seats to sing the Dalton song to conclude Friday night Homecoming competitions.

The GIRLS SOCCER players took the field on Saturday morning ready to mount an attack on the team that denied them a Homecoming victory last year.

From the start of the match, the Dalton starters were on the attack. Twenty minutes into the game, Kara Siegel '19 took a corner kick from the right side of the field, crossing the ball with loft towards the box. Emily Rhodes '18 headed it above the arms of the Trinity goalie to score the game’s first goal. Not long into the second half, a Trinity striker outran the defense and scored against Dalton’s diving goalie, Leyla Kamshad '19, to tie the game.

Dalton’s offense played unselfishly throughout the second half. Co-captain Dani Black '17 and Jocelyn Mayer '18 frequently penetrated the Trinity defense and skillfully crossed to one another. Nonetheless, they were unable to score on any of these plays. Dalton’s offense struggled to score, but the game remained close in large part due to the strong performance of Kamshad. She stopped the ball from going into the goal with her hands, stomach, and full body on separate occasions.

In response to how she was feeling after taking so much contact, Kamshad shrugged, “Fine, I’m used to it.”

While Kamshad might have brushed it off, her teammate, Jesse Grayson (‘18), had more to say, “As Leyla’s teammates, we are always nervous when she throws her body in front of the ball to make a play. But she gets right back up and handles it like a pro.”

Both teams had opportunities to score, but neither was able to capitalize, sending the game into overtime and then double overtime. For a second consecutive year, Dalton tied with Trinity 1-1 at Homecoming. The two teams face each other again at the end of the regular season on Friday, October 28.

In its matchup against Trinity at Homecoming in 2015, BOYS JV SOCCER fell 2-4 in a dramatic overtime loss. Going into this year’s game, the loss lingered on minds of several of the team’s veterans.

“[Going into the game], we wanted to continue our success from earlier in the season and at the same time get back at Trinity,” said Jonah Eick (’19), a second-year center midfielder.

These objectives did not pan out: the Dalton Tigers lost 4-1, a result Eick attributed to Trinity’s pace and relentless activity near the ball.

Trinity put the game away in the first few minutes of the second half when the team scored two goals to extend its lead to 4-0. Dalton got on the scoreboard when mid-game substitute Gaby Flouret ’20 booted a cross off of Trinity’s goalkeeper into the back of the net. Jack Jacob '19 and Elijah Henderson '19 were also able to get the ball moving on the left wing in the second half, but could not convert the ball movement into another goal.

BOYS VARSITY SOCCER played in a highly-competitive game against rival Trinity at homecoming on Saturday. Dalton started every senior on the team for the opening whistle, led by co-captains James Woods '17 and Clay Hamilton '17. Both teams defended well in the first half, which ended with a 0-0 score. Control of the game’s tempo for Dalton was in large part thanks to the team's formidable midfield, which maintained possession throughout the first half.

Trinity gained ground in the second half, jumping out to a 2-0 lead. Justin Taub '19 eventually scored for Dalton on a looping kick over the Trinity keeper with minutes remaining in the match, but Dalton would go on to lose 1-2.

In the last game of the day on a picturesque Saturday afternoon, FOOTBALL took home its first win of the season, beating Newark Academy 36-20.

The final score shortchanges just how dominant the team looked: it was up 29-0 at halftime and 36-7 at the end of the third quarter. The team did its damage running the ball on offense, as QB Jream Henderson ’17 ran for 121 yards and 2 touchdowns, and RB Jordan Chambers ’17 picked up 116 yards and scored 3 touchdowns. Casey Schneider ’17 spearheaded Dalton’s attack on the defensive side of the ball, racking in 7 tackles, 1 forced fumble, and 1 sack.

“There was no doubt the work that we put in at practice showed itself on the field,” Henderson said.

Dalton will play the Newark Academy Minutemen in a rematch on October 1.

Back

About

Programs

Admissions

News & Calendar

Dalton Tiger Report: Homecoming