Women's Ice Hockey Handles #3 Amherst for Two-Game Sweep
Facing one of the top teams in all of Division III, Colby took not one, but two victories at the hands of the Mammoths, including a come-from-behind thriller Saturday.
In game one Colby got on the scoreboard first with a goal from Breanna Studley in the opening period. Amherst responded in the second period before the Mules regained the lead shortly after with a goal from Kylie Makuh. In the third frame, Megan Martodam sealed the win with her first goal of the season. Jo Tattersall played well on the defense end totaling seven blocked shots in the contest.
The Mules kept up the intensity in game two Saturday grabbing the opening goal once again, this time from Courtney Schumacher. Amherst responded five minutes later to tie the game and went ahead 2-1 in the second. Colby came back in the third period, tying the game at two with Martodam finding the back of the net. Colby clinched the comeback win late in the third period with a goal from Molly Lefebvre to send the eighth-ranked Mammoths back home empty handed. The goal marks Lefebvre's fourth game winning goal of the season, the most in the NESCAC.
With a 13-4-2 record, the Mules leapt into fourth place in the conference standings. Colby will head to Wesleyan next weekend before returning home the following week for their regular season finale against Middlebury.
Cassidy Wins Slalom at Dartmouth
Against the top Division I, II, and III ski teams in the east, the Women's Alpine Ski team collected their fifth team podium in eight tries in Saturday's Giant Slalom at the Dartmouth Skiway. Lydia Riddell landed on the podium for the third time in the GS, and Carissa Cassidy collected her first carnival win Friday in the Slalom event.
Cassidy joins a very select group of Carnival winners for the women's Alpine team that includes teammate Hannah Soria '25 as well as Mardi Haskell '15 and Abbi and Jenny Lathrop '05.
The women's team added a 4th place finish in the SL, and the men's team placed 5th and 7th in the GS and SL, respectively, out of the 13 competing teams.
Top-30 Individual performances:
- Cassidy: 1st Women's SL, 23rd Women's GS
- Riddell: 3rd Women's GS, 30th Women's SL
- Harrison Digangi: 11th Men's SL, 21st Men's SL
- Nolan Sweeney: 14th Men's GS
- Patrick Coughlin: 20th Men's GS
- Soria: 22nd Women's SL
- Althea Noyes: 26th Women's GS
- Topher Davenport: 27th Men's SL
- Marit Kaiser: 28th Women's SL
With two more stops left on the carnival circuit, Colby heads to the slopes of the Middlebury Snowbowl next weekend.
Men’s Squash Competes in NESCAC Semifinals for Second Straight Year
Before the Men’s team headed to the conference championship weekend hosted at Trinity, Colby Squash took on Amherst in Mass. on Tuesday.
In the battle with the Mammoths, the Men’s team won 6-3 with victories from Inwoo Lee, Seif Ashraf, Carlos Zendejas, Youssif Mostafa, Syed Kashef and Sebastian Campos. The women’s team fell 8-1 as Laavanya Kugan grabbed the lone victory in the one spot.
On Saturday, the fifth-seeded men's team battled the fourth-seeded Panthers of Middlebury in the NESCAC quarterfinal round. After topping them in a close 5-4 final earlier this season, the Mules garnered the same results sending them to the semifinal round for the second straight year and second time in program history. Timo Radionov (headline photo) had a huge comeback victory in a battle that lasted two hours and nine minutes. After losing the first two games, Radionov rallied to win the final three 17-15, 11-9, 13-11 to even the match score at 4-4. Carlos Zendejas in the four spot clinched the victory for the Mules winning 3-1.
The next day in the semifinal round versus the top-seeded and 17-time defending champions Trinity Bantams, the Mules fell 8-1. The lone victory came from Adrian Castillo in the eighth seed. Trinity went on to win their 18th consecutive title later that day.
Next up, both Men’s and Women’s Squash will host Franklin and Marshall on February 14th to begin the final stretch of regular season matchups.
Men's Ice Hockey Tops Amherst, Takes #8 Hamilton to Shoot-out
Embarking on their most demanding road trip of the season, Colby took out Amherst Friday night 4-2 and had #8 Hamilton on the ropes Saturday before falling 1-0 in a shoot-out.
Against the Mammoths, the game featured a back-and-forth first two periods. Amherst took an early 1-0 lead in the first and the Mules responding shortly after with a goal from Massimo Gentile. In the second period, the Mammoths regained the lead with a short-handed goal, but Colby took complete control with a trio of unanswered goals from Nick Stapleton, Max Abene, and Will Molson, securing the 4-2 win. Cooper Rautenstrauch was steller in net and finished the game with 44 saves, setting a new career high. Nick Stapleton played well at the face off dot recording 14 face off wins on 18 attempts.
The following day at #8 Hamilton, the two teams played to a 3-3 draw. Colby began the match leading 2-0 after a pair of power-play goals from Will Molson and Bobby Landry. The Continentals responded with two goals themselves, knotting the score at two heading into the third period. The Mules regained the lead in the third thanks to Alex Keskintepe’s goal, but with just 28 seconds remaining in regulation Hamilton scored to force overtime. Neither team could break the tie in the overtime periods before the Continentals took the shootout win 1-0.
Colby's 11-5-4 record is good for fourth place in the NESCAC standings with two more weekends to play. The Mules will host Wesleyan Friday night before welcoming #13 Trinity Saturday for Senior Day.
Women's Basketball Secures First Round Playoff Game in Waterville
In search of one more key win to secure home-court for the first round of the NESCAC tournament, Colby's Women's Basketball team fell just short Friday against Williams but rebounded in a big way Saturday for an overtime win against Middlebury.
In Friday's setback against Williams, Chelsea Ibenegbu led the way for Colby with 17 points, supported by Kate Olenik’s 14. Despite strong defensive efforts, particularly in the paint, Colby was unable to overcome Williams’ efficient shooting effort while leading from start to finish.
Saturday afternoon the Mules bounced back against Middlebury in an overtime thriller 75-72. The game was closely contested throughout, with both teams exchanging leads multiple times. Colby was up against the top scorer in the NESCAC, and despite the Panther’s Alexa Mustafaj scoring 38 points on the afternoon, Colby managed to hold on in the extra period.
The Mules had several standout performances, including Ana Von Rumohr, who contributed 19 points and four 3-pointers, and Olenik who added 15 points. Amelia Hanscom scored 18 points, while Lydia Mordarski chipped in with 14 points and nine rebounds. Olenik's 19.1 ppg is good for second in the NESCAC.
The Mules have a 6-2 conference record heading into the final weekend of NESCAC play. Owning tiebreakers against Tufts, Amherst, Bates, Hamilton, and Middlebury, Colby has secured a home-court playoff game for the first time since 2012.
Young Fourth to Lead Nordic Skiing in Dartmouth Freestyle
With 11 top-30 finishes at the Dartmouth Carnival, the men's team earned a pair of 5th place team finishes while the women's team locked in twice in 6th.
Jack Young led the way with his top finish of the year coming in 4th in the Freestyle Mass Start. He has now placed 7th or better in all three carnival races he has competed in. Andrew Defor (12th and 18th) and Maddie Hooker (14th) also had phenomenal performances on the trails of Oak Hill.
Top-30 Individual Performances:
- Young: 4th Men's Freestyle, 7th Men's Classic
- Defor: 12th Men's Classic, 18th Men's Freestyle
- Hooker: 14th Women's Freestyle, 24th Women's Classic
- Lydia Kraker: 23rd Women's Classic
- Taiga Moore: 28th Men's Classic
- Ellis Slover: 28th Men's Freestyle
- Natalie O'Brien: 29th Women's Classic
- Benjamin Lewis: 29th Men's Classic
The Mules will have two more carnival stops before returning to Dartmouth in March for the NCAA Championships. Up next is the Middlebury Carnival held at the Rikert Nordic Center.
Mejico Takes Home High Point Trophy at Maine State Championship
Several remarkable individual performances, plus a meet record in the women's 4x200 Relay, led the way for the Men's and Women's Track & Field teams in Brunswick. Six event winners plus Colby's first-ever George Towle Award winner (event's high point scorer, Fiona Mejico) highlighted the day for the Mules.
Joining Mejico on the record-setting relay team was Tally Zeller, Charlotte Brake-Hoffman, and Mia Sullivan, and Colby landed 11 women's performances on the podium:
- 1 - 4x200 Relay: Zeller, Brake-Hoffman, Mejico, Sullivan
- 1 - Mejico: 200m
- 1 - Sullivan: 400m
- 1 - Simone Waheed: 60m
- 2 - Michelle Barnes: 800m
- 2 - 4x800 Relay: Maddie Bush, Claire Beebe, Noe Nalavala, Margo Kenyon
- 3 - Beebe: Mile
- 3 - Brake-Hoffman: 60m
- 3 - Olivia Doherty: 600m
- 3 - Kaitlyn Ewald: Long Jump
- 3 - Kristina Pizzi: 800m
Ren Zanze set a new Colby record in the 600m and Henry Reichle took the top step in the 1000m. Seven men's performances landed in the top-3:
- 1 - Reichle: 1000m
- 1 - Zanze: 600m
- 2 - 4x400 Relay: Sam Graubert, Jackson Coelho, Levi Biery, Reeve Derby
- 2 - Terrel Hood-Simeon
- 3 - Coelho: 400m
- 3 - Lexington Lehnert: Pole Vault
- 3 - Stephen White: 3000m
I'm very proud of Fiona to have been awarded the meet MVP. Her individual hunger plus perfect race execution delivered the win in the 200m, and her outstanding leadership aided in the team's performance in the relay to break the meet record - Head Coach Dave Cusano
Colby's squads will split ways next weekend to compete on familiar grounds back at Bowdoin and BU.
Men’s Swimming & Diving Conclude Dual Meet Season Defeating Bowdoin
In the annual CBB meet hosted by the Polar Bears, the Mules tallied a win over Bowdoin 157-123 while falling to Bates 167-113 to conclude the dual meet season with a 5-4 overall record.
Ivan Knoepflmacher highlighted the day for Colby setting the school record for six dives on 1 meter as well as breaking his own school record for the 1 meter 11 dives. Two others broke school records on the day; Carson Rehkopf in the 200 freestyle and Brandon Morrison in 200 butterfly. Morrison also competed in the 100 butterfly winning the event with a time of 49.96.
This week Colby will host the four-day Women’s Swimming and Diving NESCAC Championships kicking off Thursday night. The Men’s Swimming and Diving NESCAC Championships will take place the following week at Middlebury.
Lawson Approaches 1000 as Men's Basketball Battles Ephs and Panthers
With the regular season winding down, Colby embarked on its final road trip of the season to take on Williams and Middlebury. Despite coming up short in two tightly contested battles, Jack Lawson drew close to the 1000-point mark averaging 22.5 points across the two contests.
Friday night in Williamstown, the Mules put up a strong fight but came up short to the Ephs despite a standout performance and career-high from Jack Lawson. The senior scored 30 points on 11-of-16 shooting. Max Poulton contributed 17 points, including three 3-pointers, while the team shot 46.9% from the field. Colby kept the game close throughout, with Lawson's efforts and a collective 42-point paint performance, but Williams pulled away in the second half and held on to the end. The game saw Colby hold a lead as large as nine points.
The next day in Vermont the Mules fell 87-74 to Middlebury. Poulton led Colby offensively, scoring 25 points but the team as a whole shot just 37.7% from the field and 16.7% from beyond the arc. Lawson added 15 points, and Marcos Montiel contributed 14 points, but the Mules couldn't recover from the Panthers first half 43-25 lead. The team's free-throw shooting was a bright spot, hitting 80%.
Lawson sits three points shy from becoming Colby's 43rd member of the men's basketball 1000-point club.
At 13-9, Colby sits in fifth place in the conference standings. The Mules will welcome Trinity and Wesleyan this coming weekend for the final regular season contests before NESCAC Playoffs begin.
Colby Celebrates National Girls and Women in Sports Day
Colby celebrated National Girls and Women in Sports Day with a panel discussion Wednesday night and a youth clinic Saturday.
Special thank you to the photographers who helped make this production possible: Bonnie Baker Photography, Steve Cheney P'25, Stephen R. Clouthier, Traigh DeMasi '28, Jamie Fiedorek '25, Steve Fuller @flyingpoint, Peter Li '26, Michael Maher, Reese Robinson '27, Junan Shimizu '25, Daryn Slover P'28, Marty Thornton Photos, Ansley White '26, and the Colby Communications team.