Around the Herd: J-Term

While most of the student body remained off-campus over the January term, Amherst’s winter-season student-athletes remained on campus and hard at work representing the college in athletic competition. Catch up on their results in this J-term edition of Around the Herd.

Women’s Hockey

The women’s hockey team, currently ranked No. 1 in the nation, have been on an absolute tear all season. This year’s team has set a program record with 18 consecutive victories, a streak that only recently came to an end with a narrow 5-4 loss against Colby on Saturday, Feb. 4, the team’s second loss of the season. The previous record was set by the 2015-16 team, who won 14 games in a row and finished with a 22-3-3 record.

Natalie Stott ’26 has been sensational in her debut season between pipes for the Mammoths. Recently awarded the Mammoth of the Month award after allowing just eight goals in 10 games during the month of January, Stott has recorded seven shutouts this season with a stellar .937 save percentage and leads the nation with 18 wins.

On the offensive end, Rylee Glennon ’24 has led the way with 24 points — the most by any player in the NESCAC — followed closely by Maeve Reynolds ’26 and Kate Pohl ’23, who have 22 and 21 points, respectively, and are the third and fourth leading point scorers in the conference. On the backend, senior captains Leslie Schwartz ’23 and Avery Flynn ’23 have each recorded 18 points through the team’s 21 games. Flynn’s 15 assists tie her with Glennon for the NESCAC lead, while Schwartz’s 13 assists is the third most of any player in the NESCAC.

The Mammoths, now 19-2-0, have just three regular season games remaining over the next two weeks, including a home-and-away series against Williams on Friday, Feb. 17, and Saturday, Feb. 18. They sit firmly in first place in the NESCAC with a conference record of 12-2-0. The first round of the NESCAC postseason tournament begins on Saturday, Feb. 25.

Men’s Hockey

The men’s hockey team had a busy month this January, playing 10 total games and facing seven NESCAC opponents. After two losses and a tie to start the month, the Mammoths rallied to go on a six-game winning streak, with five of their six wins coming against NESCAC teams. Including their games against Bowdoin and Colby on Friday, Feb. 3, and Saturday, Feb. 4, respectively, the Mammoths are now 13-4-3 overall and 11-2-1 in NESCAC play.

The Mammoths have been a strong defensive team all year, as they are tied with Trinity for the fewest number of goals allowed this season among teams in the NESCAC with just 37 goals allowed through 20 games. Matt Toporowski ’25 and Ben Kuzma ’25 lead the team in points with 15 each. Toporowski’s 10 goals on the year are the fourth most for any player in the NESCAC. Though three goaltenders have recorded wins this year, Alex Wisco ’24 has been leaned on the most, starting 14 total games with a 9-4-1 record and a .918 save percentage.

Though they are currently third in the NESCAC standings, only two points separate Amherst and the NESCAC leader, Trinity. The Mammoths now enter a crucial final two weeks of the regular season, playing four NESCAC opponents in their final regular season games before the conference tournament begins on Saturday, Feb. 25.

Women’s Basketball

After a strong start to the season, in which they won their first seven games of the year, the women’s basketball team saw mixed results over winter break, going 7-7 overall and 3-5 in NESCAC play.

The Mammoths began their winter break with a trip to the west coast, first participating in the D3Hoops.com Classic tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada, before traveling to Chapman University in California for another two games. The Mammoths won their first game in Vegas but weren’t quite so lucky in their second, falling in a double-overtime thriller to Concordia College. They had similar results in California, winning their first game against Whittier College but losing to Chapman University the following day.

In their 11 games since returning to the Pioneer Valley, the Mammoths have gone 6-5, posting a 3-5 in-conference record. Currently sixth in the NESCAC standings, they face an important final two home games against NESCAC opponents this upcoming weekend, taking on Colby on Friday, Feb 10, and Bowdoin on Friday, Feb 11, to improve their seeding before the NESCAC tournament.

Men’s Basketball

The men’s basketball team began their winter break schedule with a trip to California to take on UC-Santa Cruz, a game that they lost by just two points, 58-56. Upon returning to Western Massachusetts, the Mammoths embarked on the busiest and most important part of their schedule, playing 10 total games in the month of January including seven NESCAC opponents. The Mammoths went 4-6 overall in January and 3-4 against NESCAC teams.

After falling to Conn College on Friday, Feb. 3, the Mammoths are now 9-13 overall and 3-5 in NESCAC play. The Mammoths, currently seventh in the NESCAC standings, have two critical games against NESCAC opponents remaining on their regular season schedule. They will travel to Maine next weekend to play Colby on Friday, Feb. 10, and Bowdoin on Saturday, Feb. 11.

Women’s Squash

The No. 15 women’s squash team has been extremely successful since winter break, as their national ranking might suggest. They have played 12 total matches since the fall semester ended and have only lost two, bringing their overall record to 11-4. And most of their wins have come in dominant fashion, as they have lost more than two games only twice in their 10 total match victories. The team’s only losses were a 2-7 defeat against Tufts on Saturday, Jan. 14, and a 4-5 defeat against Williams on Friday, Jan. 27.

Looking forward, the Mammoths will participate in the NESCAC Championships next weekend, on Saturday, Feb. 11, and Sunday, Feb. 12.

Men’s Squash

The No. 19 men’s squash team has  had a similarly successful season up to this point in the season. They have played 13 total matches this calendar year and have gone 9-4 over that span, pushing their record to 11-5 overall. Aside from a 1-8 loss to Williams on Friday, Jan. 7, all of the Mammoths’ other three losses were tightly contested 4-5 defeats.

Senior captain Robinson Armour ’23 was named Mammoth of the Month for his outstanding performances in January. Armour opened the month with a nine-match winning streak and went 10-1 overall in January. He dropped just 2 of the 32 games en route to his 10 wins, eight of which came in three-game sweeps.

Like the women’s team, the Mammoths have concluded the regular season portion of their schedule and will participate in the NESCAC Championships next weekend in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

Men’s and Women’s Swim and Dive

Amherst’s swim and dive teams had an incredibly busy winter break, participating in five of their eight regular season meets and taking a team training trip to Puerto Rico in January.

The No. 23 women’s swim and dive team won three of their five dual meets over break, defeating Union College on Dec. 31, Conn College on Jan. 21, and Springfield College on Jan. 29 on the team’s Senior Day. Their two losses came against Williams and MIT. Overall, the Mammoths conclude their regular season with an impressive 6-2 record in dual meets.

The No. 19 men’s swim team has had similar amounts of success, winning two of their five meets over break to push their overall record to 5-3. The men’s team hit a speed bump after defeating Union College on Dec. 31, as they lost their next three meets before finally defeating Springfield College on Jan. 29.

Next on the schedule for both teams is the NESCAC Championships. The women’s tournament begins this week on Thursday, Feb. 9, running until Sunday, Feb. 12, and takes place in Brunswick, Maine. The men’s team has a longer preparation time, as their tournament is not scheduled to begin until the following week and runs from Thursday, Feb. 16, until Sunday, Feb. 19.

Men’s and Women’s Track

The winter track season has gotten into full swing while most students were enjoying their time away from campus. The teams kicked off the season at the Little Three Championships on Saturday, Jan. 14, where the men’s team placed first for the second time in consecutive years, winning 10 out of the 17 events, and the women’s team placed second. Both teams also competed in the Middlebury Winter Classic and Middlebury’s New England Small College Invitational, with strong individual performances from both the men’s and the women’s teams. Most recently, the Mammoths traveled to Medford, Massachusetts, to compete in the Tufts Cupid Challenge, where the men’s team placed second out of nine total times and the women’s team placed second out of 14 total teams.

Up next on the schedule is the Hemery Valentine Invitational at Boston University, which is scheduled to begin on Friday, Feb. 10.