Around the Herd: Feb. 18 to Feb. 24 in Athletics

Men’s Basketball 

The men’s basketball team, ranked fourth, faced No. 5 Bates College in the NESCAC Quarterfinals on Saturday in LeFrak Gymnasium. After a hard-fought battle, the Mammoths ultimately fell 70-59 to the Bobcats. 

Bates kicked off the game with an early 6-0 lead, and Amherst fought hard against the tight pressure to get on the board. With 13:49 remaining in the first quarter, the team got on the board, and K.J. Neville ’29 netted an underhand layup to close the gap to 6-4. The Mammoths’ offense took off from there as they went on a 14-0 drive. Marc Garraud ’27 led with a layup off a fast break from Neville. Garraud then made two foul shots before Elias Chin ’28 bucketed a 3-pointer from the wing. Garraud and Neville worked together again for another 3-pointer and a layup, respectively. The final stretch of the first half was a back-and-forth affair, with the Bobcats tying the score 25-25 at the break. In the second half, Garraud worked hard to keep the score close, netting a 3-pointer and two free throws within the first five minutes to bring the score to 32-32. Later in the half, after a five-minute scoring drought, free throws helped the Mammoths gain a 44-42 lead. With roughly five minutes remaining, Bates turned up the heat on offense with a 12-3 drive, gaining a 56-46 advantage. Scoring 10 free throws in the final two minutes, the Bobcats extended their lead. In a final effort to lessen the gap, Chin and Neville bucketed 3-pointers, though Bates ultimately walked away with a 70-59 victory.

Despite the disappointing loss, Amherst closes out the regular season with an 18-7 record, finishing 7-3 in NESCAC play. 

Women’s Hockey

The women’s hockey team continued its dominant run this past weekend, traveling to Hamilton College for a doubleheader and emerging victorious in both games, winning 1-0 on Saturday night and 3-0 on Sunday afternoon.

Saturday night’s game was tightly contested, with the Mammoths and Continentals going back and forth in a scoreless battle that remained tied at the end of regulation. The first and second periods saw ample opportunities generated mostly by Gretchen Dann ’26 and Sami Lester ’28, but Hamilton’s goalkeeper, Teagan Brown, was able to hold them off. Similarly, Natalie Stott ’26 held off multiple Hamilton efforts throughout the first and second periods while in net for the Mammoths. The final period, despite again remaining scoreless, belonged to the Mammoths after numerous attempts on goal by Cara Mancini ’27, Bea Flynn ’28, and Ayla Abban ’28 forced Brown into making key saves. Stott continued to be the defensive anchor and ward off the few Hamilton efforts to come out of the remainder of the final period of play. Overtime play started and ended with an Amherst bang, generated by a faceoff win from Maeve Reyonlds ’26, which led Dann to successfully clear the puck into Hamilton’s zone, where she found Marie-Eve Marleau ’26 for a give-and-go look, winning the game with the golden goal.

The Mammoths entered Sunday’s competition with the momentum of Saturday’s win and pummeled the Continentals 3-0. Amherst opened its scoring within the first four minutes of play, where it was Marleau who capitalized on a string of passes from Annabel Raffin ’28 and Mancini. The rest of the first period consisted of key saves from Stott and multiple defensive stops from the Mammoths. The Mammoths continued to dominate in the second period, with Marleau assisting Mancini to extend their lead to 2-0, a score that held for the remainder of the period. The final period followed a similar trend, where after Hamilton opted to pull their goalkeeper for the man-up advantage, Reynolds found the back of the empty net off of yet another assist by Marleau following a defensive clearance by Natalie Fu ’27. The final score was 3-0, meaning that Stott ended another incredible performance with a shutout. This was Stott’s ninth shutout of the season, making her the official Division III leader in shutouts on the season to accompany her record-breaking 42 total career shutouts. In addition, Marleau’s efforts being involved in all three goals earned her player of the week accolades from NESCAC athletics. 

With the wins, the Mammoths have secured a spot in postseason play, earning the No. 2 seed in the NESCAC tournament, where they will host seventh-seeded Bowdoin on Feb. 28.

Men’s Hockey

The men’s hockey team made a remarkable turnaround after a disappointing stretch, facing two formidable opponents and soundly defeating both. They shut out Middlebury 3-0 on Friday, followed by a dominant 6-0 victory over longtime rival Williams on Saturday.

Friday’s game was a must-win game to preserve the Mammoths’ season, and it’s safe to say that they delivered. The Mammoths outshot the Panthers 31-28 in the game, and most of the Mammoths’ shot attempts came in the first quarter of play. With just under 11:30 into the game, Vincent Velocci ’27 capitalized on a breakaway goal, putting Amherst up 1-0 and giving Velocci his 4th goal of the season. This momentum continued into the second period, where with only 1:58 into play, Cristobal Tola ’28 completed a shorthand goal after stripping a Panther defenseman, putting the Mammoths up 2-0. A short two and a half minutes later, the Mammoths notched a third after a blocked shot from Josh Burke ’26 found a wide open Oliver Flynn ’27, who easily found the back of the net and advanced Amherst to a 3-0 lead, which held to the end.

Saturday’s game against Williams was another must-win game for the Mammoths. It came on their senior day, as they celebrated the careers of their six seniors graduating this May: Burke, Ryan Corcoran ’26, Andrew Carmody ’26, Ben Ritter ’26, Oscar Smink ’26, and Zachary Murray ’26.  Amherst opened scoring in the first period with a power play goal from Burke, assisted by Velocci and Flynn, to put them up 1-0 heading into the second period. Later, first-year John Small ’29, with just 1:41 into the second period, scored a shorthanded goal after stealing it from an Eph defender. Just two minutes after that, Matt Vander Vort ’27 found a wide-open Corcoran, giving Amherst a 3-0 advantage. Before the final buzzer, the Mammoths added three more goals from Carmody, Tola, and Burke.

With these two wins, the Mammoths officially secured a spot in the postseason NESCAC tournament and are set to face the Bowdoin Polar Bears in Brunswick, ME, on Feb. 28.

Women’s Squash

The No. 9 women’s squash team travelled to Philadelphia, PA this past weekend, where they were swept 9-0 by No. 12 Drexel University in their last match of the regular season. 

Anastasiia Krykun ’29 registered the only set win of the entire match, edging her opponent 11-8 in the third round, before dropping the fourth round, which clinched the overall victory for the Dragons. Kristen Daniel ‘28 played the longest set for the Mammoths, battling for 39 minutes. 

With the loss, the Mammoths’ regular-season record sits at 15-3.

Men’s Squash

The No. 14 men’s squash team dropped its final regular season match this past Saturday, falling 8-1 to No. 8 Drexel University. 

The only win of the day came at the nine spot, where William Okurowski ’26 defeated his opponent in five sets, claiming the final one with a score of 14-12. At the top spot, Roman Parisi ’29 gave his opponent a tough time, winning the second set of the match, but was ultimately defeated. 

The out-of-conference loss brings the Mammoth’s overall record to 11-6.

Women’s Track and Field 

This week, the women’s indoor track and field team competed in the Triangle Classic meet hosted by Springfield College on Friday and Saturday.

In the 60-meter, Ellie Jolly ’28 finished in 7.91 seconds to earn fourth overall. Caroline Wu ’26 took fifth overall in the 400-meter event, finishing in 1:02. In the long distance events, Addison McGoey ’28 took fifth place in the 3,000-meter with a 10:41 finish while Daphne Theiler ’26 ran to a first place overall finish in the 5,000-meter with a time of 18:35. Also taking first place overall, the women’s 4 x 400-meter relay team — composed of Halle Hanna ’26, Camilla Lash ’27, Madison Rabb ’26, and Wu — finished in 4:14. In the 60-meter hurdles final, Lilly Petrie ’29 finished eighth overall with a time of 9.77. On the field side, Avery Keenan ’29 finished sixth in the pole vault with a mark of 3.05 meters, and Madison Vant ’28 claimed first overall in the pentathlon, earning 2,589 points. Jolly, Wu, McGoey, Theiler, Petrie, Keenan, and Vant all earned provisional qualifying marks for next week’s New England Division III Indoor Championships (NED3) in their respective events. In the women’s weight throw event, Lily Meadows ’28’s mark of 16.15 meters earned first overall. Meadows set both a school and personal record with this performance. Emma Ramsingh ’27 finished just behind her in fourth place with a mark of 14.95 meters. Meadows and Ramsingh’s performances earned them automatic qualifications for the NED3 championships.

Next weekend, the team will head to Tufts to run in the New England Indoor Championships. 

Men’s Track and Field 

Over the weekend, the men’s indoor track and field team also headed to Springfield, Massachusetts, to attend the Triangle Classic Meet.

In the 200-meter, Alexander Nichols ’26 placed third overall, crossing the finish line in 22.54 seconds. Similarly, Cody Pierce ’26 finished first overall in the 400-meter, finishing in 49.10 seconds. In the 60-meter hurdles final, Keason Ky ’28 finished second overall while Christoph Osselmann-Chai ’28 finished just behind him in third; they ran times of 8.31 and 8.40 seconds, respectively. Ky set both personal and school records with his performance. Osselmann-Chai also placed fifth overall in the pole vault event with a mark of 4.30 meters. In the long jump, Bohan Zheng ’28 finished first overall with a final mark of 6.76 meters, while Amir Ali ’29 took fourth overall in the shot put with a mark of 13.68 meters. In the heptathlon event, Marshall Dunahoe ’29 earned third place, finishing with 4,271 points, while Zach Villegas ’26 took fourth place with 3,883 points. Nichols, Osselmann-Chai (pole vault), Ali, and Villegas all earned provisional qualifying marks for the NED3 championships, while Pierce, Ky, Osselmann-Chai (hurdles), Zheng, and Dunahoe earned automatic qualification for the meet.

On Friday, Feb. 27, the team will head to Boston to compete in the New England Division III Indoor Championships. 

Men’s Swim & Dive

This past weekend, the men’s swim and dive team traveled to Waterville, ME, to compete at Colby College in the annual NESCAC swimming championship. The team excelled, finishing third overall after three days of competition with a total of 1,217 points.

There were several highlights from the Mammoths over the weekend, most notably a historic performance by first-year Owen Vale ’29, who competed in the 400-meter Individual Medley and placed first overall in the event with a time of 3:50.78, a pool, meet, and NESCAC record all in one, and took home the individual title in this event. Jack Goepfrich ’28 was also crowned an individual champion in the 200-meter freestyle with a B-cut time of 1:37.30. J.P Giglio ’29 placed sixth in this event, finishing in 1:39.53 and earning key additional points for the Mammoths.

Later on, the Mammoths delivered a strong performance in the 200 medley relay. The quartet of Emmanuel Odim ’26, Fynn Nadel ’26, Cameron Aryanpour ’28, and Ethan Van De Water ’26 finished 4th overall with a time of 1:29.02. Benjamin Robbins ’29 also placed 2nd overall in the 1,000-meter free with a time of 9:13.05, crushing his preliminary round time by over 25 seconds. 

Another key event for the Mammoths was the 200-yard breaststroke, where multiple Amherst swimmers recorded points. Eric Albers ’27 led the pack with a 4th-place finish with a time of 1:59.08. Close behind was Henry Liu ’27 with a 6th-place 2:00.33 finish. Other Mammoths to score in this event included Michael Jang ’26 in 13th, Jeffrey Ge ’28 in 17th, and Joel Chen ’28 in 19th. The final event that sealed the Mammoths’ strong finish was the 400-yard relay. The foursome of Van de Water, Aryanpour, Giglio, and Goepfrich snagged an impressive, decisive 4th-place finish with a time of 2:59.69. 

The NESCAC championship marked the end of team competition for the season, but the NCAA championships begin on March 18 and will feature many Mammoths competing against the best in Division III.

Heads of the Herd: Andrew Palena and Marie-Eve Marleau 

This week, for the first time this year, we have two Head of the Herd recipients. 

First up is junior men’s hockey goalkeeper Andrew Palena ’27. Coming into the weekend, the Mammoths needed to win both of their games in order to qualify for the NESCAC tournament. Palena stepped up big, posting shutouts in both games, helping the Mammoths secure these two dominant victories and continue their season. In the team wins against Middlebury and Williams, Palena had a combined 54 saves, stopping every single shot he faced. These two shutouts were the first of his career, and he was clutch in the third period of both games, posting 11 saves in that period against Middlebury, along with 13 in the final period versus Williams. For this stellar performance, Palena was recognized as the NESCAC Men’s Ice Hockey Player of the Week and is one of our two winners for Head of the Herd.

Not to be outdone by the men’s hockey team, our second Head of the Herd recipient is senior Marie-Eve Marleau ’26 from the women’s hockey team. The Mammoths swept Hamilton this weekend, securing their No. 2 spot in the NESCAC rankings. As a result, they will host the NESCAC quarterfinal round this weekend at Orr Rink. Marleau had a hand in each of the four goals the Mammoth’s scored this weekend. In their overtime win on Saturday, she pushed the puck up the ice and sent in the first shot, which was then rebounded by another Amherst player for the score. The following day, on Sunday, when the Mammoths beat Hamilton 3-0, Marleau got the scoring started for the early Mammoth lead, before assisting on the second and third tally for the team. Following this strong weekend, she sits third on the team in points. For her incredible offensive play, Marleau also earns this week’s Head of the Herd, in addition to NESCAC Women’s Ice Hockey Player of the Week honors.