Women's Soccer Bound for SWEET-16
With victories over Claremont Mudd-Scripps Saturday (1-0) and MIT Sunday (2-0), the Colby Women's Soccer team advanced to the Sweet-16 in the NCAA Tournament.
Against CMS, Colby struck in the 32nd minute when Annie Liebich delivered a cross into the box where it found the foot of Colby's leading scorer Abigail Jarvi for the strike. Impressive displays of possession and defensive series throughout the match made the first half solo goal stand as MK Marshall posted her seventh shutout of the season in net for the Mules.
Facing the regional host on Sunday, the Mules were up against a stellar MIT squad. The Engineers came into the match dominating most opponents in all key categories, with 14 of their Division III-leading 21 wins coming via shutout.
With minutes waning in a scoreless first half, Liebich put an end to MIT's shutout bid with a long lofted strike that landed home right over the top of the Engineer goaltender. The sophomore All-NESCAC selection played a part in all three Colby scores on the weekend when she sent a free kick into the box midway in the second half where Sophie Digrande sent it home past the MIT keeper for a 2-0 score.
Marshall collected her eighth shutout of the season and her third straight. Jarvi's score on Saturday gave her 11 on the season, including four game-winners in the last six matches.
Colby will continue its stellar season this coming weekend when they head to Washington University for the next round. The Mules will face the host Bears on Saturday at 12:00pm with the winner advancing to Sunday's Elite-8 matchup Sunday, taking on the winner of Messiah and Chicago.
Volleyball Finishes Runners-Up in NESCAC Tournament, Earns NCAA Bid
Playing to a perfect 10-0 NESCAC record during the regular season and taking care of first-round opponent Conn. College a week ago allowed the remainder of the NESCAC tournament to run through Waterville.
In front of a full house Friday night, the Mules were all business taking care of Williams in straight sets 25-14, 25-19, 25-21 to mark their fourth consecutive sweep and 15th of the season. Sarah Friedrichs led Colby with nine kills and the Mules dominated the net leading the Ephs in total blocks (22 to 9), kills (34 to 27), and service aces (6 to 4).
Advancing to Saturday's championship match, Colby faced a resilient Middlebury squad. While the regular season match looked lopsided in the box score (3-0 Colby win), the Panthers used late-season momentum to peak at the right time. The Mules won the first set but Middlebury won the next two to take a 2-1 lead into the fourth frame. In front of a packed house, Colby led the fourth set from start to finish (25-16) to force a fifth and final frame.
The two opponents traded blows the entire way, finding themselves tied at 14 apiece before Middlebury put the match away with two final points, the last one after an amazing 51-hit volley.
Earning an NCAA at-large bid, Colby will head to Cambridge, Mass. (host MIT) for the first three rounds of the national tournament. They face off against UMass Dartmouth (23-6) on Thursday in first round action.
Mules with Impressive Showing at NCAA East Regionals, Four Named to All-Region Team
The Colby Men's and Women's Cross Country teams had outstanding results in the NCAA East Regionals on Saturday at the Hopkinton Fair Grounds. Out of the 33 competing schools the men grabbed a 7th place finish as a team while the women placed inside the top-five taking 4th of 30 total teams.
The women took the course first as Catherine Mongan had the most outstanding finish for the Mules placing 4th out of 230 runners with a time of 21:57.95 (5:53 per mile). She was followed by Claire Beebe in 25th, Noe Nalavala in 34th and Maria Dibari in 36th. The men also had great individual performances to contribute to the team score led by Chris Gould who finished just outside the top-10 in 11th out of just over 230 competitors (25:05.74). Henry Reichle was able to grab a top-50 spot in 48th followed closely by Danny Reyes in 52nd and Stephen White in 53rd.
Following these results, four Mules were named to the USTFCCCA All-East Region team; Mongan, Gould, Beebe and Nalavala. Mongan and Gould also earn a spot on the DIII NEA All-New England team as they both have had stellar performances all year.
Mongan and Gould will represent the Mules at the NCAA Cross Country Championships this Saturday, November 23rd in Terre Haute, Indiana. Stay tuned to their schedule pages for more information.
All-NESCAC Announces Awards for Field Hockey, Soccer
Five Mules celebrated conference recognition this week when the NESCAC announced their yearly awards for Field Hockey, Men's Soccer, and Women's Soccer.
Starting all 15 games for Colby, Casey Winslow (Field Hockey) led the team in points with 20. She ranked 12th in the NESCAC in goals/game and points/game, and had two overtime game-winning scores. In the season opener in Brunswick, Winslow connected in the second overtime to push the Mules past the Polar Bears (ranked 16th at the time) 5-4, her third goal of the game. A few weeks later her overtime goal against Amherst (ranked 9th at the time) lifted Colby to a 3-2 victory.
Mario Simoes (Men's Soccer), a dangerous striker in and around the box, led the conference with 11 goals this season, three ahead of the next highest scorer. He tallied goals in five of the 10 NESCAC contests this season, including two against Bates and a hat trick against Trinity.
Abigail Jarvi (Women's Soccer) was named to the First Team after a stellar campaign at forward. She started all 18 games for the Mules, tallying 10 goals, including five in the last four games. Jarvi notched the game-winners against Bates in the regular season finale, and then scored the game-winning score in the first two matches of the NESCAC tournament, a 2-1 OT win over Williams in the quarterfinals and a 3-2 win over top-seeded Wesleyan in the semifinals.
Annie Liebich (Women's Soccer) joins Jarvi on the First Team, marking the third time the Women's Soccer program has had two players or more on the First Team in the same season. Liebich started 17 of 18 games at the back position, scoring her lone goal of the season (prior to this weekend) as a free kick in the playoff upset at Williams, knotting the score at one midway through the first half.
Samantha DeWitt (Women's Soccer) was named to the NESCAC's Second Team for the second year in a row. She tallied the lone goal in Colby's victory over Bowdoin, helping the Mules complete the first leg of the CBB with the 1-0 win. Colby would go on to defeat Bates later in the season to mark the first time the Mules posted victories against the two in-state opponents in the same season. DeWitt joins a short list of Colby Women's Soccer players who have been named to the all-conference team at least twice.
Swimming & Diving Hosts Amherst to Begin 2024-25 Season
The Mules hosted the Mammoths Saturday afternoon for the first home meet of the season. The men’s team came up short with a score of 116 to 178 while the women’s team was able to sneak away with an amazing 151.5 to 147.5 victory after winning the final relay event to defeat Amherst for the first win over the Mammoths since the two foes began competition in 1996.
"We challenged the teams this year to take advantage of every opportunity and make sure they went after everything." - Head Coach Tom Burton
Women’s Event Winners:
- Lexi Asch - 100 & 200 Butterfly
- Zoe Buzzelli - 200 Freestyle
- Alexis Coates - 200 Backstroke
- 100 Backstroke (podium sweep): Coates 1st, Gabriella Landau 2nd and Sarah Michael 3rd
- 200 Medley Relay - Coates, Eliza Marco, Asch and Lily Moy
- 200 Freestyle Relay - Marco, Buzelli, Moy and Landau
Men’s Event Winners:
- Spencer Cohen - 100 & 200 Backstroke
- Carson Rehkopf - 200 Freestyle
- Brandon Xiong - 50 Freestyle
- Ivan Knoepflmacher - 1M Dive
- 200 Freestyle Relay: Xiong, Brandon Morrison, Rehkopf and Michael Fiechter
Colby Swimming & Diving will be back in action November 24th hosting both Hamilton and Trinity.
Men's Ice Hockey Splits Opening Weekend Road Games
The Mules hit the road over the weekend to get the 2024-25 campaign underway with their first stop being Williamstown, Mass. against the Ephs Friday night then heading to Middlebury, Vt. on Saturday to take on the Panthers.
Against Williams, Jayden Grier, Colby's top scorer from last season, picked up right where he left off by finding the back of the net eight minutes into the game for the Mules first goal of the season. In the second period Colby struck twice more just a minute apart from each other off the sticks of Max Abene and Massimo Gentile's first collegiate goal.
Heading into the final frame with a commanding 3-0 lead, the Ephs were able to grab a goal of their own early in the third period but the Mules slammed the door shut after adding a fourth goal by Will Soloway (first collegiate goal) leading to the 4-1 victory. First-year goalie Cooper Rautenstrauch totaled 28 saves in his first ever start as Dhillon Wilde picked up two assists in the contest.
The following day in a physical battle with Middlebury, a game that saw 15 total penalties, Will Molson gave the Mules a rapid 1-0 lead just 34 seconds into play. The Panthers were able to answer about six minutes later knotting the score at 1-1 before taking a 2-1 lead following a power play goal. Middlebury then pushed their lead to two after netting a lone goal in the second frame of action. Colby looked to respond but could not sneak the puck past the Panther netminder despite their offensive presence with 39 total shots on net. Gentile played well at the faceoff dot winning 14 out of 20 attempts.
Next up, the 1-1 Mules will host the annual Colby vs Bowdoin Men's Ice Hockey game this Friday Night, November 22nd, in the most anticipated matchup of the season.
Women's Basketball Takes the Crown Hosting Gene-DeLorenzo Tip Off Tournament
To kickoff the 2024-25 season, the Mules hosted a four team tournament consisting of Plymouth State, Thomas and Westfield State alongside Colby.
The Mules faced the Panthers on day one Saturday where they dominated from the jump starting with a 10 point lead at the end of the first quarter. From that point on the Colby lead continued to grow with great offensive play on top of tight defense (29 points off Plymouth turnovers) to take care of their opponent with a 67-24 final score. The scoring was well balanced for the Mules with Ana Von Rumohr leading the way with 12 points and just short of a double double with nine rebounds. A trio of Mules followed closely behind Von Rumhor each contributed 11 points. Lily Nagy, Lydia Mordarski and first-year Defne Pekinbas making her collegiate debut.
On Sunday the two Saturday winners, Colby and Westfield State, faced off as the Mules once again came out of the gates hot. Led by Von Rumhor with 11, Colby's 24 points over the Owls six in the opening quarter set the tone for the rest of the game. Westfield was able to get into the double digits in scoring for the remaining three quarters but Colby stayed ahead outscoring their opponent in each frame for a commanding 85-49 win and tournament trophy. Rumhor finished the game with 20 points (career high) as four other Mules scored 10 plus including Nagy's 10 point, 10 rebound double-double.
The 2-0 Mules will remain at home for their next game versus Maine Maritime on Wednesday at 7:30pm before heading on a three game road trip.
Men's Basketball Begins Season 2-0 Hosting Tip Off Tournament
In a weekend hosting a four team tournament (Worcester State, UMaine Farmington, UMaine Augusta) the Mules defended their home court to being the 2024-25 campaign 2-0.
In game one action versus the Lancers, Sam Hinman came off the bench and was lights out from beyond the arc netting five threes in the first 20 minutes of play to help propel the Mules to a 43-27 halftime advantage. Worcester picked up their pace of play in the second half to narrow the lead to single digits (eight) with just under two minutes to go but clutch three throws and a Max Poulton layup sealed the 82-72 win. Hinman finished with 20 points (career high) as Poulton added 17 and Jack Lawson with 16.
The following day against the Beavers, it was Savion Stroud's 21-point, 14-rebound double-double that stole the show on top of only missing two shots in both games combined. Marcos Montiel and Poulton combined for 24 in the opening half to lead the Mules to a 46-37 advantage before Stroud irrupted in the second half for the 90-78 victory. First-years Dan Civello and Jack Gatanis added on 11 points each in the win.
Colby will host Thomas on Tuesday at 7:00pm before heading on a hefty eight game road trip.
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.