Around the Herd: Nov. 13 to Nov. 19 in Athletics

Women’s Hockey

In their season debut, the women’s hockey team played back-to-back games against rival Williams College.

On Friday night, during the first period of their home opener, the Mammoths were evenly matched against the Ephs, remaining scoreless after 20 minutes. Eventually, defender Gretchen Dann ’26 took a shot on goal. While Williams’ goaltender saved the initial shot, her clearance was collected by Ayla Abban ’28, who backhanded into the goal that gave the Mammoths a 1-0 lead. With 21 saves on the night, Mammoth’s goalkeeper Natalie Stott ’26 earned her 23rd career shutout at Amherst. The game ended with shots 53-21 for the Mammoths and a final score of 3-0 over the Ephs.

The next day, the Mammoths found early offensive success. Less than five minutes into the first period, Abban scored. Later, Amherst scored off an interception when Tammy Zhu ’27 seized a pass in the Williams zone halfway through the third. With five minutes left in the game, the Ephs pulled their goaltender, and Maeve Reynolds ’26 took advantage of the empty net, scoring on her own rebound after her first attempt hit the post. In the end, the Mammoths won 6-2 over the Ephs. The team will face another NESCAC opponent in Connecticut College this Friday at Orr Rink.

Men’s Hockey

This week, the men’s hockey team faced Hamilton College in their season opener.

At Orr Rink on Saturday, the Continentals were the first to score, just over six minutes into the opening period. A minute later, Ben Kuzma ’25 passed the puck to Zack Jesse ’27, who launched a low shot into the net. With less than three minutes left in the first, forward Ryan Corcoran ’26 doubled Amherst’s lead with a goal scored from the top of the face-off circle, assisted by Jesse. Hamilton found offensive success for the remainder of the game as the Mammoths took nine penalties. Although Amherst killed off six of the seven penalties, it kept the team on defense for much of the game. The Continentals scored three times in the last six minutes and seven seconds of the second period and once more in the third to give Hamilton a 5-2 victory. With a match-up against Trinity College, the team will play on home ice again next Saturday.

Women’s Basketball

The women’s basketball team played their first games of the season this week against SUNY Geneseo and SUNY Oswego in the Oswego State Max Ziel Tournament.

After the first quarter on Friday, the Mammoths trailed by a small margin with a score of 19-17 against the Knights. Amherst responded in the next 10 minutes, outsourcing Geneseo 14-5. Annie McCarthy ’26 netted 11 points out of 17 throughout the game — the most on the team in the first half — including a three-pointer that gave the Mammoths a 20-19 lead. In the last two minutes of the second quarter, Kori Barach ’25 sank two free-throws to break a 24-24 tie and started a run of seven consecutive points for Amherst that led to a lead of 31-24 at halftime. In the third quarter, the Mammoths had a lead as high as 13 points, but the Knights responded to keep the game within eight going into the last 10 minutes of the game. With Amherst holding a one-point lead in the last minute of play, Sylvia Liddle ’26 netted a critical jump shot from close range. Further, in the last 26 seconds of the game, Laura Mendell ’26 made a huge steal, allowing the Mammoths to go six for six from the foul line, giving Amherst a 59-52 win.

The next day, the Mammoths got off to a strong start against the Lakers in the tournament finals. Maya Cwalina ’25 led the team in points in the first quarter, netting three layups. Amherst led 16-5 after 10 minutes, and ended with a victory of 51-40, clinching the Ziel Tournament title. The team will face Springfield College in the LeFrak Gymnasium on Saturday.

Men’s Basketball

Men’s basketball traveled to the Ted Coghlin Memorial Tournament last weekend.  After taking down Western Connecticut State 85-45, they took on Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in the finals. WPI took an early lead in the first and never looked back, despite two inspiring steals from Marc Garraud ’27. The Mammoths lost 74-60. The team will play Rhode Island College next Thursday.

Women’s Soccer

The NESCAC champions played in the NCAA Division III tournament this weekend, facing SUNY New Paltz and the University of Rochester.

On Saturday, the team delivered another dominant performance against the Hawks. Amherst’s offense did not relent in the second half, forcing New Paltz’s goalkeeper to make six saves in the first 16 minutes of play. The Mammoths found success after Fiona Bernet ’25 put in a cross to Patience Kum ’25, who headed the ball into the net. Three minutes later, Coletti gained possession off a deflection and shot the ball into the top-right corner, doubling Amherst’s lead. The game ended with a final score of 2-0.

The team continued their success the next day with an early goal against the Yellowjackets. Eight minutes into the match, Brooke Ingemi ’26 delivered a well-placed assist to Abby Schwartz ’25, who fired a shot into the right side of the net. The rest of the first half was scoreless, sending Amherst into halftime with a 1-0 lead. Rochester responded at the beginning of the second half, scoring twice in seven minutes to take a two-nothing lead. Six minutes after the Yellowjackets’ second goal, Schwartz passed a long ball from midfield to Halle Hanna ’26, who put it in to tie the game. In the 82nd minute, Carter Hollingsworth ’25 headed the ball following a corner kick from Ella Johnson ’26. Alyssa Huynh ’25 collected the ball and shot it past a tangle of Rochester defenders into the goal.  The Mammoths’ perseverance led them to a 3-2 victory. The team — now unbeaten in nine games — will play against Illinois Institute of Technology in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.

Men’s Soccer

This weekend, the men’s soccer team hosted Neumann University and Stevens Institute of Technology in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament.

On Hitchcock Field this past Saturday, the Mammoths dominated the game against Neumann early on. In the 35th minute, Simon Kalinauskus ’25 headed a ball from a corner kick taken by Mohammed Nuhu ’27; the ball was then guided by Fynn Hayton-Ruffner ’25 to set up Ben Clark-Eden ’25’s volley into the net. Amherst continued to demonstrate their offensive abilities in the second half as Niall Murphy ’25 scored with a shot that curled into the top corner from range. Less than two minutes later, Aidan Curtis ’25 expertly dribbled the ball down the left wing before making a pass to Obed Opoku ’28, who fired it into the far corner. In the end, the Mammoths won 3-1 and moved on to the next round of the NCAA tournament.

The next day, Amherst returned to Hitchcock to square off against the Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks, starting aggressively from the kick-off. Despite many attempts from the Mammoths — including a close opportunity by Kalinauskus — Stevens’ goaltender kept the game scoreless at halftime. Off a corner kick from Nuhu, Amherst finally found success as Michael Cherico ’28 headed the ball into the net. Cherico almost tallied another goal off a header but was denied by the goalkeeper for the Ducks. In the 89th minute, Stevens found an equalizer in dramatic fashion, sending the game to overtime. Both teams put up chances in the extension period, with Cherico making an attempt from long-range, while goaltender Max Landa ’25 made a critical save that would send the game to penalties. Nuhu, Fynn Hayton-Ruffner, and Jacob Lahlou ’28 all made their shots while the first Ducks’ attempt hit the post, and Landa spectacularly saved the Ducks’ next two shots. Following a final shoot-out score of 3-0, the Mammoths will progress to the final 16 in the tournament. The team will play in round three of the NCAA Tournament against the University of Wisconsin-Superior next Saturday.

Women’s Cross Country

The women’s cross country team competed at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships this past Saturday.

Flora Biro ’28 once again led the charge for the Mammoths, placing ninth overall in the competition. Hannah Stephenson ’28 and Sylvan Wold ’25 earned 18th and 22nd in the race, closely trailing Biro. Rounding out the top five runners were Allison Lounsbury ’26 and Julia Schor ’24, who finished 31st and 33rd, respectively. All five runners garnered All-Region honors, and the team finished third out of 24 teams in the competition. The women’s cross country team will participate in the NCAA Championships this Saturday in Indiana.

Men’s Cross Country

This past Saturday, the men’s cross country team traveled to Connecticut and raced in the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships.

Finishing the race in fifth place was Harrison Dow ’27, who earned his second All-Region honor with a time of 24:32. Nick Edwards-Levin ’25 and Henry Dennen ’26 both collected All-Region honors, placing 22nd and 28th in the race. As a team, they placed fifth out of the 24 teams. The men’s cross country team is going to Indiana this Saturday and compete in the NCAA Championships.

Women’s Swimming and Diving

The women’s swimming and diving team took on the Mules this past weekend.

In the team’s season opener, Maeve Kelley ’27 won the 200-yard individual medley, the 500-yard freestyle, and the 1,000-yard freestyle. Lucy Smith ’27 showed off her speed by taking home victory at the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle. This close competition came down to the 200-yard freestyle relay, where Colby took first and third place. That result gave the Mules the lead over the Mammoths, ending the score 151.5-147.5 in favor of Colby. The team will be at Pratt Pool this Sunday to compete against Middlebury College.

Men’s Swimming and Diving

The men’s swimming and diving team ranked 17 in the nation, traveled to Colby College this past weekend.

Henry Liu ’27 won the 100-yard and the 200-yard breaststroke while also winning the 200-yard IM. Jaden Olson ’25 also had an impressive performance in the short distance, winning the 100-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly. In the distance categories, Gabriele Lunardi ’25 won the 500-yard freestyle and the even farther 1000-yard freestyle. In diving, Tyler Palm ’28 won the three-meter diving event to punctuate the meet. Amherst won with a dominant score of 178-116.  They travel to Middlebury College on Sunday, looking to continue their success.