Women's Soccer Finishes as NESCAC Runners Up, Earns NCAA Tourney Bid
With a first round upset win over 3rd-ranked Williams, the Colby Women's Soccer team advanced into the NESCAC semifinals this weekend with hopes alive for their first NESCAC title in program history.
Standing in their way in the semifinal round was top-ranked Wesleyan who entered the match unbeaten on the season.
Madison Genser opened the scoring 15 minutes into play, proving to be the lone score of the first half as the Cardinals and Mules went into the break with Colby on top 1-0.
Both teams matched up tightly and played the first 30 minutes of the second half at a draw before Abigail Jarvi connected for her ninth goal of the season. The Cardinals responded moments later to bring the score to within one and keep the intensity high, only to be met once again by a Jarvi lofted strike with eight minutes to play. Wesleyan refused to go away scoring just moments later, but in the end the Mules fought to chip time away with each earned possession and Colby's sideline erupted as the clock ran out on the Cardinals.
As the horn sounded, the culmination of the days, weeks, months, and even years of work came to fruition as the Mules celebrated the program's first visit to the conference championship match while simultaneously delivering Wesleyan their first loss of the season.
On Sunday, the Amherst Mammoths were the final team to stand in Colby's way. Amherst won the regular season matchup 3-0, but Colby's momentum was high and everyone knew the title game would be a completely different story. After a scoreless first half, fans (and sidelines) were on pins and needles knowing one single goal could prove to be the decider. Instead, the horn sounded at the expiration of the second half as well with zeros in both score columns. No goals were scored in either overtime period, and the fate of the match was left to penalty kicks. Amherst made good on all five chances, while Colby had a lone miss that struck off the goalpost and tumbled away.
While Amherst took home the banner of conference champion, the match was officially scored as a tie. With a win and a tie on the weekend against two of the top powers in all of NCAA Division III, Colby's ranking improved high enough to land them an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III tournament, joining the 1998 and 1999 teams as the only teams in program history to extend the season to the national stage.
Colby's 11 wins (11-4-3) mark the highest tally in program history. The Mules will look for more this coming weekend facing regional opponents in the NCAA Tournament. Colby will first face Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (13-3-3) in the opener looking to advance to take on the winner of MIT/SUNY Geneseo. Saturday's and Sunday's games are hosted by MIT.
Volleyball Defends Top rank, Set to Host Remainder of NESCAC Championships
Hosting the 8th-ranked Conn. College Camels in the opening round of the conference tournament, Colby issued Conn. a 3-0 defeat to advance to the semifinal round and defend its top-seed ranking. All remaining tournament games will be played on Mayflower Hill.
The 23-2 Mules breezed through the first two sets (25-14 in both), but the visitors ramped up their energy in the third set and refused to go quietly. Conn. held a 22-20 lead late in the third before Colby closed the door winning five of the next six points to cruise into the semifinal round.
Brady Moseley led the Mules with 11 kills. Sarah Friedrichs and LJ Grant were right behind with nine and eight respectively. Colby converted nine aces in the match led by Jordan Lee with four. She currently ranks second in the NESCAC for aces/set. Reese Loyd (22), Moseley (15), and Grant (12) all tallied double-digit digs.
The stage is set for two semifinal matches Friday night on Mayflower Hill as Colby takes on Williams at 5:00pm followed by Wesleyan and Middlebury at 7:30pm. The winners take back to the Margaret M. Crook Arena Saturday at 3:00 to decide the conference champion.
Football Stuns Bowdoin to Bring the CBB Trophy Back to Waterville
The Colby College Football team took an early 17-10 lead to outpace Bowdoin College 34-10 in the 2024 season finale. With Saturday's victory and a win over Bates 28-26 in late September, the CBB trophy returns to Mayflower Hill after a brief stay in Brunswick.
The Mules wasted little time scoring 17 points in less than nine minutes of play. Quarterback Miles Drake accounted for Colby's first two touchdowns, the first a 20-yard passing strike to Jack Sawyer on Colby's first possession, and the second an 11-yard scamper on Colby's third possession. Despite the next 10 points tallied in the Polar Bear column, the Mules responded with a Dennis Dougherty pick-six and Christos Tzoumakas' second 40+-yard field goal of the day to take a 27-10 lead into halftime.
Colby owned the lone score of the second half (Drake to Duke Ferrara), and Bowdoin's 10 points marked a season low for a team that averaged 22 points per game coming into the night. Colby's swarming defense kept the Polar Bears off key all evening forcing Bowdoin into seven turnovers and seven sacks.
Julian Young had one of the most impressive all around defensive gems of his four years (the senior tallied 295 tackles in his stellar career), with 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble, and an interception. Trevor Smith collected two of Colby's four interceptions, and Sebastien Romain and Jack Mullen finish the season tied for second in the NESCAC with nine sacks apiece. Offensively, Jack Nye was Drake's favorite target, hauling in a season-high eight receptions for 92 yards. His 526 yards on the season rank him 6th in the NESCAC, while Ferrara's team-leading 45 receptions rank him fifth in the conference.
The victory ended a short two-game skid to Bowdoin and landed the Mules in 6th place in the NESCAC standings. The 2024 NESCAC crown was won by Wesleyan with an 8-1 record, a team Colby took to overtime early in October.
Special thank you to the photographers who helped make this production possible: Bonnie Baker Photography, Steve Cheney P25, Stephen R. Clouthier, Ashley Conti, Traigh DeMasi '28, Jamie Fiedorek '25, Colin Flood '26, Steve Fuller @flyingpoint, Peter Li '26, Michael Maher, Reese Robinson '27, Ellie Sawyer P25, Isadora Wells '26, Ansley White '26, and the Colby Communications team.