Around the Herd: Sept. 25 to Oct. 1 in Athletics

Women’s Volleyball

On Friday, Sept. 27, the volleyball team faced Hamilton College.

Dominating the first set, the Mammoths secured their 25-14 win with kills from Brielle Renwick ’27, Anaya Thomas ’25, Sofia Camilo ’28, and Kinsey Cronin ’25, as well as blocks from Camilo and Cronin. While the second set was still a tie at 10-all, aces by Cronin, kills by Camilo and Thomas, and an ace by Lizzie Papalia ’25 stole the set  at 25-14 once again. The Mammoths quickly took the lead in the third, and in spite of a 6-point run at by the Continentals at 21-11, another kill from Cronin, blocks by Thomas, Cronin, and Liouwon the set 25-17, securing  at 3-0 victory. Liou totaled 34 assists on the night while Papalia and Thomas had  11 and 10 digs respectively.

Next up, the team will be heading up to Maine this Friday, Oct. 4th, to compete against Bowdoin College.

Men’s Tennis

Men’s Tennis headed up to Tufts University this weekend for the Regional Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division III Regional Companionships.  

On Friday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the doubles duo Edred Opie ’25 and Sujit Chepuri ’25 prevailed through a breaker victory of 11-9 against Williams College, moving on for another win of 8-5 against MIT.  Underclassmen Ethan Ohm ’27 and Albert Hu ’25 also achieved back to back wins, first against Springfield College, followed next by beating MIT, both at 8-5. Meanwhile at Tufts, Kobe Ellenbogen ’25 and Andreas Sillaste ’27 lost a close doubles match 8-6 to Bowdoin, while Rex Harrison ’27 and Spencer Leung ’27 fell to Middlebury College 8-3.

In singles at MIT, consecutive wins were secured by Sillaste (the third seed), with a strong showing, sweeping two sets against Colby. Sawyer followed with a 6-4 6-3 sweep against Trinity. Ellenbogen also quickly won his first round but was taken out in the next round by Middlebury, 6-3 6-2. Meanwhile in singles at Tufts, Opie first double bageled Springfield, and powered through another victory against Brandeis at 6-4 6-2, advancing deeper into the draw. First match wins were also secured by Aldiyar Abzhan ’28, defeating Colby 6-3 6-2, and by Harrison, defeating Gordon 6-1 6-2. The Mammoths continued, battling valiantly into their next singles matches, Abzhan falling in the second set after a tough first set of 7-6(6) 6-2. Harrison held on with epic tenacity in a tiebreaker to 21 points against Colby, but lost with a score of 7-6(21) 6-2.

Saturday’s doubles matches at Tufts, Chepuri and Opie, and Hu and Ohm continued on to the round of 16. Both pairs of Mammoths were knocked out of the tournament, the seniors falling 8-3 to the third seeds of Middlebury, Hu and Ohn 8-4 falling to the number eight seeds of Tufts. Next up, in singles, Opie bested Williams, defeating the seventh seed, while Sillaste fell in straight sets to Tufts, 6-2 6-0. Opie battled on, rallying back to dominate the second set after losing in the first, but eventually falling to the number one seed, Tufts, after a 4-6 6-1 6-4 fight.

More men’s tennis: On Saturday, Oct. 12, the Mammoths will go to New London, CT and take on the Connecticut College Camels in the morning, followed by Nicholas College at 2 p.m. for their final fall match of the fall season.

Men’s Football (28)

This past Saturday, the football team had a difficult match against Tufts.

Amherst started off with an interception from junior Luke Harmon ’26. Into the second quarter, The Jumbos took a strong 10-0 lead as they landed the first touchdown of the game along with a field goal. Carter Jung ’26 and Sam Gerber ’26 receptions propelled a Mammoth’s drive until it was stalled by a Tufts interception. In the second half, Tufts quickly gained a touchdown, suddenly leading 25-0. John Collier ’27 made a promising throw that brought the Mammoths close to the red zone, however the Jumbos defense landed another interception. Highlights include QBs Morrow and Collier throwing for 68 and 26 passing yards. On the defensive side, Kevin Agnew ’26 had seven tackles, four solo and three assisted. Harmon and Nathaniel Jackson each had six tackles.

Next, the Mammoths will compete at home against Middlebury’s Cougars, this upcoming Saturday.

Field Hockey

This week, the field hockey team faced the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as well as two fellow NESCAC teams in Bates College and Colby College.

On Wednesday, the Mammoths played a strong defensive game, shutting out the No. 15 ranked MIT. Goaltender Grace Puchalski ’27 stopped two shots in the first quarter, and four more over the course of the game. The Mammoths scored the only goal of the match off of a penalty corner in the last minutes of the first. The goal was scored by Justine Liguori ’26 after she corralled the bouncing ball inserted by Maya Harrington ’27. With less than five minutes left in the fourth quarter, Chloe Agopian ’27 had a chance to score on a pass from Molly Donegan ’26, but MIT’s goaltender blocked the attempt. The Engineers were awarded five penalty corners in the last 1:33 of play, but could not find an equalizer keeping the final score 1-0 for Amherst.

In their matchup against Bates, the Mammoths were able to maintain possession in the first few minutes, finding close opportunities with the first penalty corners of the game. The Bobcats were able to get on the board first off of a goal that slipped under goaltender Puchalski. In the second quarter, Anna Ailelo ’26 had a chance on a breakaway after a pass from Sam Maynard ’25, but the Bates goaltender was able to make the save. With zero seconds left in the second quarter, Bates scored on an unlimited penalty corner, leaving the score at 2-0 at halftime. The Mammoths were able to narrow Bates’ lead in the third quarter on their fourth penalty corner of the game. The goal was scored after Kate Smith ’25 inserted the ball to Luguori who returned the pass allowing Smith to dodge the defenders and slip the ball into the net. Amherst tried to tie the game in the fourth quarter, but Bates’ defense kept the final score to 2-1.

The next day, the team found more success against Colby. The Mules started the game aggressively, forcing Puchalski to make three great saves in the first quarter. Maynard responded by testing Colby’s goalie; Caroline Busler ’28 and Abbey Kays ’25 also had blocked shot attempts in the first quarter. At the start of the second quarter Puchalski saved a fast shot from a Colby forward, but the ball found its way back to the Mules who shot it into the net. Soon after, Liguori tied the game with an assist from Maynard following a penalty corner. In the third corner the Mammoths’ defense fought to keep the score even with 9 saves from Puchalski and an impressive defensive save from Charlotte Domittner ’25. With less than 10 minutes in the game, Donegan found a pass from Aiello and re-directed the ball through the goaltender. The Mules were able to find an equalizer with four minutes left in the game and went on to win the game 3-2 in overtime.

The field hockey team will host Wesleyan this Saturday on Hill Field.  

Women’s Soccer

The No. 2 ranked women’s soccer team had back-to-back games against NESCAC rivals Bates College and Colby College this weekend.

In Lewiston, Maine, the Mammoths had a dominant performance over the Bobcats, applying early pressure throughout the game. In the 25th minute, Abby Schwartz ’25 kept the ball in bounds along the end line before passing the ball to Patience Kum ’25 for a one-timer to Brooke Ingemi who scored a perfectly placed goal. Amherst’s early lead was soon doubled when a corner kick taken by Ella Johnson ’26 deflected into the goal off of a Bates defender. In the second half, Kum scored on a 1 v 1 opportunity from a pass by Kate Quigley ’26 to dodge the Bates defenders. Just over a minute later, Kum scored again with an assist from Schwartz to make the score 4-0. The game ended with shots 21-2 for Amherst. Goaltenders Mika Fisher ’25 and Lulu Fickes ’26 combined efforts delivered the Mammoths their sixth shutout in seven games.

Coming off their victory, the Mammoths continued their winning streak in Waterville, Maine against the Mules. Only six minutes into the game, Sophia Haynes ’26 celebrated her birthday with a goal shot to the top right corner, assisted by Kum and Schwartz. Later in the first, the Mammoths had close chances with attempts from Ingemi and Abigail Danso ’28 that went wide, as well as a shot from Katie Pederson ’27 that was saved by the Mules’ goalkeeper. Caroline Coletti ’28 was able to get one in the back of the net after receiving a pass from Halle Hanna ’26 and dodging three Colby defenders. Although Amherst controlled the game in the first half, outshooting 10-2, the Mules found momentum in the second half outshooting 9-3. Goaltender Fisher and Fickes earned two and one saves respectively, to block any of the Mules’ opportunities. In the 59th minute of play, Haynes hustled to intercept a Colby player’s attempt to play the ball back to her goaltender. Kum controlled the loose ball and shot it into the short-side resulting in a final score of 3-0 for Amherst.

Next Saturday on Hitchcock Field, the undefeated Mammoths will play their Little Three rival, Wesleyan.

Men’s Soccer

Over the weekend the men’s soccer team played fellow NESCAC members Bates College and Colby College.

The Mammoths had an early lead in Lewiston, Maine against the Bobcast; less than two minutes into the game, a Bobcats defender attempted to clear a cross made by Fynn Hayton-Ruffner ’25, sending the ball right in front of Riley Priddy ’27 who launched it to the top left corner of the goal. With 15 minutes left in the first half, the Bobcats had two close opportunities with a three-on-two that was saved by goaltender Trey Sheppard ’28 and a cross that went out of bounds. The Mammoths attempted to strengthen their lead, keeping the ball in their attacking third for much of the second half, but nothing found the back of the net. With 15 minutes left in the game, Amherst had their closest opportunity for a second goal when Mohammed Nuhu ’27 outran Bates’ defense and shot the ball just wide after finding a pass from Wyatt McCarthy ’28. The Mammoths’ defense solidified the win of 1-0.

The following day, the Mammoths put early pressure on the Colts in Waterville, Maine. Mohammed Nuhu forced the Mules’ goaltender to make an early save then shortly Hayton-Ruffner and Simon Kalinauskus ’28 continued to test the goaltender. Amherst finally found success when McCarthy passed it to Hayton-Ruffner who quickly returned the pass allowing McCarthy to dodge defenders and whip it to the back of the net, his first goal of the season. The Mules responded with their first shot attempt resulting in a save from goalkeeper Juan Perez ’26. In the second half, many other Mammoths had shot attempts with near opportunities from Ben Clark-Eden ’25 and Jonny Novak ’25. Colby nearly found an equalizer soon after, but Perez made another crucial save to make the final score 1-0 for Amherst.

This week, the men’s soccer team will face Manhattanville University on Wednesday and Wesleyan University on Saturday.