The Recap: All The Sports You Missed This Week

Women’s Basketball Women’s basketball routed the Conn. College Camels in its regular season finale, finishing the season with a resounding 76-52 victory. Amherst and Conn. traded baskets early in the game, with the first quarter being an uncommonly tight one between the squads. However, the Mammoths pulled away in the second quarter and never looked back, sprinting out to a 13 point lead by halftime.

Dani Valdez ’22 and Hannah Fox ’20 led the Mammoths in scoring, each registering 16 points and four rebounds. Maggie Shipley ’23 poured in 15 points to go along with three rebounds and an assist. Multiple Mammoths were influential off the bench, but the most striking stat comes from the charity stripe, as Amherst missed only a single free throw during the contest.

With the victory, the Mammoths cemented their regular season record at 21-3 and currently sit second in the conference pending seeding of the 2020 NESCAC Championship.

Men’s Ice Hockey On Senior Day, the Amherst men’s hockey team again continued its remarkable turnaround with yet another victory over conference rival Tufts, winning 4-2. After starting the season 2-9-1, the Mammoths now sit at a respectable 9-9-4.

Members of the graduating senior class contributed to each of the Amherst goals on the evening, with Patrick Daly ’20 opening the scoring early in the first frame. After Tufts tied the game, co-captain P.J. Conlon ’20 redirected Greg Krisberg’s ’20 shot from the high slot.

After the first intermission, Tufts equalized again, but a goal in each of the final two periods saw the Mammoths pull ahead for good. In goal, Giancarlo Ventre ’20 earned the win for the Mammoths, with 26 saves. The Mammoths return to the ice on Friday Feb. 21 against Middlebury on the final weekend of the regular season.

*Women’s Ice Hockey * The women’s ice hockey team extended its winning streak to six games with a non-conference victory against Suffolk University, pouring in five goals and conceding only one.

Much of the Mammoths’ offense came off of the power play, as Amherst was able to strike three times during these situations. With the win, the Mammoths moved to 14-4-4 on the season.

Senior captain Eliza Laycock ’20 opened the scoring late in the first period after a high sticking penalty on the Rams. Mia DelRosso ’21 sent in a shot from the high point, and Lackock redirected the shot between the goalie’s legs for a goal. Just two minutes later, Jullian Mazzocca ’23 added her team-leading ninth goal on the season on assists from Kaitlin Hoang ’21 and Ava Simoncelli ’20.

In the second period, the Rams scored their only goal of the game, but Simoncelli soon added the Mammoths’ third goal of the game. Mazzocca would soon add her second goal of the game on a five on three powerplay. Simoncelli would slot home her second goal of the game soon thereafter, and the Mammoths cruised to an easy 5-1 victory.

The Mammoths return to action this weekend for their final two games against Colby at home before heading into the NESCAC conference tournament.

Women’s Track and Field Boston University’s David Henry Valentine Invitational again proved to be a standout meet for the women’s track and field team, as two program records were felled by Mammoth runners over the weekend. In the 4 x 400 meter relay, the sophomore quartet of Anna Madden ’22, Katie Lingen ’22, Sam Tichelaar ’22 and Juanita Jaramillo ’22 bested the program record set last year by Madden, Tichelaar, Jaramillo and Sophia Friedman ’21. The time set by the sophomores currently stands as the 12th fastest in the nation.

Ella Rossa ’21 continued her dominant indoor campaign by yet against besting her own program record in the 60 meter hurdles. Rossa originally took ownership of the record in 2018 and has lowered her time on multiple occasions since then. Rossa crossed the line with a time of 8.87 seconds. Rossa’s time currently stands as the sixth best in all of Division III.