Saturday Night Thriller Makes it Six Straight Against Bobcats
In a back and forth, highly contested matchup, the Colby College Football team defeated the Bobcats of Bates College 28-26 under the lights Saturday night at Seaverns Field. With several lead changes, over 500 combined rushing yards between the two teams, and key plays at critical moments, the Mules make it six in a row against Bates, including a 3-0 stretch since the NESCAC approved night games in 2022.
The Mules and Bobcats both committed to the rush, but Colby's ability to throw the ball and move the chains made all the difference. Knotted at 14 after the first half, the visitors jumped out to a 20-14 lead in the third quarter, failing on their point after attempt. Colby moved in front early in the fourth after Miles Drake connected with first-year Jack Nye for a 41-yard scoring strike, capping a drive that began on their own one-yard line.
Another score midway through the final frame (Keon Smart five-yard run) put the Mules in front 28-20. Bates was intent on taking the suspense to the wire, tallying their final score with under two minutes to play. Forced to go for two on the point after try, the Bobcats took to the air only to have edge rusher Jack Mullen swat it away. After an unsuccessful onsides kick, Colby converted one more first down and kneeled the clock away for their first victory of the 2024 campaign.
Drake was brilliant behind center, completing 21 of 24 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns. He also surpassed the century mark rushing, carrying the ball 11 times for 110 yards, earning himself NESCAC Player of the Week honors. Smart set a new career-high rushing for 154 yards and two scores. The senior now ranks second in the NESCAC in rushing with 345 yards as well as second in all-purpose yards with 134/game.
The Mules are back in action next weekend when they head to Wesleyan University for a rematch of last year's overtime barnburner before returning home the following weekend to host the Mammoths of Amherst College.
Volleyball Downs Hamilton and Amherst to Run Record to 14-1
Colby topped Hamilton 3-1 Friday night and Amherst 3-0 Saturday to begin the season 14-1 for the first time since 2005. That year, the Mules ran off 22 wins before suffering their second loss of the season.
Marjorie Johnson had a killer weekend, tallying a career-high 17 kills against the Continentals and following it up Saturday with another 13. Her mark of 30 kills in a two-match span ties for Colby's two-match lead on the season. Johnson's hitting percentage of .394 against the Continentals and .455 against the Mammoths speak to her dominance putting the ball on the floor, with only seven errors across the seven sets played.
LJ Grant also had a great weekend, averaging 10.5 kills per match. Sydney Bopp led the Mules at the net with six combined blocks, and as a team Colby collected 15 aces on the weekend.
Colby is tied atop the conference with Middlebury as the two remaining undefeated squads in the NESCAC, setting this weekend up as a must watch when the Panthers come to town Saturday.
Women's Soccer Shuts Out Hamilton, Sets Mark Against Thomas
In two matches this week, the Mules paired a striking offense with a relentless defense to record a pair of shutouts.
In Tuesday's performance against Thomas, eight different scorers tickled the twine en route to an 11-0 victory. The 11 goals ties a program record for goals in a game with the 1983 team (against Colby-Sawyer). Sophie DiGrande (headline photo) tallied two goals and two assists and currently ranks fourth in the NESCAC with 1.30 points/game.
In the conference showdown in Clinton Saturday, Colby worked hard early to thwart all of Hamilton's scoring opportunities, and made the most of their own. Abigail Jarvi scored her fourth goal of the season at the 31-minute mark to put Colby ahead heading into halftime with a 1-0 lead. In the second half the floodgates opened as three goals in 11 minutes pushed the game out of reach. Tallies were made by Charlotte Johnson and Madison Genser, and Avery Barton connected on a late penalty kick.
The Mules improve to 7-3, ranking 6th in a stacked NESCAC conference.
Men’s Soccer Remains Undefeated in Non-Conference Play Topping RPI
In a weekend down in the Empire State the Mules faced Hamilton Saturday before taking a trip over to RPI on Sunday.
Against the Continentals in a physical battle, the teams began the second half tied at zero but it did not take long for Hamilton to open up the scoring with a goal just a minute into the frame. Colby was able to respond ten minutes later off a Mario Simoes penalty kick to secure his fourth goal of the season, but the hosts pulled ahead once again after finding the back of the net just a few minutes after. The Mules continued to battle but the Continentals stiffened to take the win 2-1.
The next day Colby bounced back in a big way against RPI, starting with Simoes' second goal of the weekend early in the first half. CJ Supan (first collegiate goal) followed shortly after and Arkam Traore tallied in the second frame to push the lead to 3-0. The Mules defense played tight, allowing only three shots on net in the game, and Brendan McCarthy recorded his third shutout of the season. The win brings Colby to 4-0 on the season in non-conference action.
With the two goals, Simoes is tied for third in the NESCAC with .500 goals per game.
Next up, the 4-6 Mules will battle Middlebury in Vermont on October 12th.
Men’s Tennis Takes Down Clark in First Dual Match of the Season
In the first home tennis match on fresh new courts, Colby took care of Clark with ease 6-1 Sunday.
In doubles, the Mules swept 3-0 to take the 1-0 advantage into the head to head matchups. Marco Ziets-Segura grabbed the first singles win defeating his opponent 6-3, 6-2 at the four position followed by Jason Daly, Diego Sosa and Josh Kaplan all taking 2-0 set wins. Despite losing the second set, Sriram Das finished out the day for the Mules taking set three 6-4 for the overall 6-1 Colby win.
Men’s Tennis will wrap up the fall season with the two-day Bates Invitational starting on October 12th.
#22 Hamilton Squeaks by Field Hockey
The conference schedule is a gauntlet, as it seems every week is a matchup with a top-25 squad (seven NESCAC institutions are currently ranked in the latest NFHCA poll). Already with two wins over ranked opponents this season, Colby embarked on its furthest road trip this past weekend for a showdown in Clinton, N.Y.
Despite Hamilton goals in the second and third quarters, the Mules were relentless on defense to stay in the game in the fourth quarter. Colby defended 10 shots in a span of six minutes, including five penalty corners, and flipped the field with just over a minute to play when Bridget Everett scored her fourth of the season. The Continentals held possession for the remaining seconds to run out the clock and escape with the valuable conference victory.
Leah Anderson tallied seven saves in the cage for the Mules and has averaged eight stops over the last four NESCAC contests.
Colby is currently 5-4 and sits in 7th place in the conference standings.
Women’s Tennis Competes at Polar Bear Invite
In a weekend tournament versus three other teams (Babson, Brandeis, and hosts Bowdoin), the Mules tallied multiple singles and doubles victories.
On Saturday, the pairing of Ella Novion and Waka Aida grabbed the first win of the tournament for Colby defeating opponents from Brandeis 7-5. Later in the afternoon, Novion secured another win, this time in singles, over her opponent from Babson 7-5, 0-6, 10-3. Isabella Suk wrapped up Saturday's competition with a commanding 8-2 win over another Babson Beaver.
The following day, Novion paired with Anna Rende for a big 6-0 victory. The tournament was wrapped up by Jade Finestone taking a singles win in the one spot and Amelie Gal in the sixth spot, both against Brandeis foes.
Women’s Tennis will be back in action for the three-day Middlebury Invite starting on October 11th to conclude the fall season.
Crew with a Strong Showing in Opening Regatta
Down in Worcester, Mass. Saturday the Mules began the fall season at the Quinsigamond Snake Regatta with six boats competing. This marks the third straight year the Mules have kicked off the fall racing season at this historic location, with competitive rowing dating back to 1857.
The day started with some clouds and a sprinkling of rain, but pretty quickly the skies parted leading to almost ideal racing conditions, with just a slight headwind.
The men had a lone V4 boat competing which took tenth place (17:43 over 4,000 meters) out of 13 competing crews. This was followed by three Men’s eight crews. The A boat led the way with an impressive sixth place finish (14:22) as the second overall DIII boat, only a second behind the Holy Cross C and WPI A crews. The B and C crews finished just three seconds apart securing 11th and 12th overall.
The women's team raced with two eight crews, an A and B boat. The A crew grabbed an eighth place finish overall with a time of 16:41 in the 4000m race, only 10 seconds behind the Smith A crew who competed at Nationals last spring. The B boat took 24th overall.
Head Coach Stew Stokes had this to say on the women’s A crew performance...
"We are very excited to see this crew show up today and compete. After a challenging past year of rebuilding, we are finally making our way back to hopefully continue to make some noise at our other fall races. We've got a ways to go with finding speed, and that excites us."
Colby Crew now looks forward to the next event taking place in two weeks in Cambridge for the Head of the Charles Regatta starting October 19th.
Colby Battles at Bates Invitational
The Men's and Women's Cross Country teams took to the trails at Pineland Farms Saturday for the Bates Invitational. The Women's team grabbed a third place podium spot out of the seven competing schools, while the Men's team took sixth out of 10 teams.
Catherine Mongan's second place finish was the highlight of the day for the Mules with a time of 22:47.9, a 6:06.9 mile average, out of the 79 competing athletes. Three other runners joined Mongan in cracking the top-20: Claire Bebbe who finished 15th, Noe Nalavala in 19th, and Ada Grant right behind in 20th.
On the men's side of action, Chris Gould led the way placing fifth overall with a time of 25:12.0, a 5:04.1 mile average. Danny Reyes was the next Colby athlete to finish placing 12th, as Henry Reichle placed 19th out of the 142 athletes.
Next up, both teams will head to Harkness Park on October 19th for a meet hosted by Conn. College, the last event ahead of the NESCAC Championship on November 2nd.
Golf Hosts Annual CBB Event
Back at the Waterville Country Club for the third time this season, Colby hosted Bates and Bowdoin for the annual CBB event.
Despite the Mules finishing third as a team with a +24, both Matthew Lamy and Johnny Kinsley finished inside the top-10 individually after tying in 7th with a +5. Mitchell Ham and Jack Dorsey were not too far behind as each finished the day with a +7, tying for 11th.
Colby Golf now has just one event left in the 2024 fall season hosting the Colby Classic on October 13th back at the Waterville Country Club.
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.