Women's Soccer Takes #1 WashU to the Wire
With a lot of firsts already in the books for the Women's Soccer program already this year, the program's first trip to the Elite-8 was at stake as Colby took to the Midwest to face the top team in Division III, the WashU Bears.
WashU knew better than to look past the Mules, a squad who's resurgence this season has caught the attention of people all over the region and further. While the Bears had yet to suffer defeat this season, a 0-0 game at halftime had onlookers excited for the thriller that was in front of them.
WashU controlled shots (21-5) and corners (10-1), but the resilient defense of the Mules, led by MK Marshall's eight saves, kept the match knotted with under 10 minutes to play. In the 81st minute, the hosts broke through to take a 1-0 victory on to the next round. 81 minutes was the longest WashU had gone scoreless all season.
I felt our team played outstanding against the number one team in all of Division III. WashU does well making the game chaotic, and I thought we did a great job countering that and executing our playing style. I'm very proud of this group and the season we had.
- Head Coach Seth Benjamin
WashU defeated the University of Chicago Sunday to advance to the NCAA Final Four. Colby ends its season with a program best 13-5-3 record.
Volleyball Takes Out UMass Dartmouth, Falls to La Verne
Back in the NCAA tournament for the first time since the storied 2005 season, the Colby Volleyball team traveled to MIT for the Regional rounds of the national showcase.
Facing off against UMass Dartmouth on Thursday, Colby and the Corsairs traded sets before the Mules took control in the third, downing UMass Dartmouth 3-1. Brady Moseley and Sarah Friedrichs led Colby with 15 kills apiece.
In Friday's showdown with the University of La Verne, Colby once again traded sets to open the match. La Verne jumped in front after stealing the third set and carried their momentum through the fourth and onto the Sweet-16, 3-1. Despite the loss, Colby matched up well with the Leopards, pushing ties as late as 20-20 in the second set and 17-17 in the third. Moseley led once again with 17 kills and added 28 digs across the two matches. After two seasons the sophomore has now collected 522 kills and 523 digs over her career.
LJ Grant was named to the regional tournament team after totaling 23 kills and 37 digs over the two days.
La Verne went on to sweep MIT in the Sweet-16 to win the regional and advance to the Elite-8 in two weeks.
After an impressive turnaround over the last three years, Colby ends its season with a 25-4 record. Without a single senior on the roster, this group is poised to remain in conference and national conversations for years to come.
Gould and Mongan Compete at D3 NCAA Championships
After stellar performances last week at the NCAA Regional meet, Catherine Mongan and Chris Gould earned themselves a trip to the NCAA DIII Championships hosted by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Gould placed 134th out of the 294 runners in the 8k with a time of 25:23:5, 85 places ahead of where he finished in the same meet a year ago. In the women's race, Mongan crossed the line of the 6k in 22:38.7, good for 153rd out of 290 competitors. The junior was making her first appearance at the national event.
I'm super proud of both of them. Compared to every other meet, this one is wild, ridiculous energy from the crowd, crazy deep field, and intense racing with everything on the line. Catherine and Chris both managed all of that and were able to run significantly faster than when they ran this same course earlier in the year.
- Head Coach Jared Beers '01
All-NESCAC Awards Continue Rolling In
With six Football awards and five Volleyball awards announced last week, Colby's fall tally runs up to 16 (combined with five a week ago from Field Hockey, Men's Soccer, and Women's Soccer), flying by the fall 2023 total of seven.
Men's Ice Hockey Upends Bowdoin
After splitting their opening weekend (Williams, Middlebury), the Men's Ice Hockey team welcomed Bowdoin Friday night for the annual Colby/Bowdoin game in Waterville.
Jayden Grier opened the scoring near the end of the first period and added a second tally 30 seconds into the second. Colby added two more goals before Bowdoin spolied the shutout six minutes into the third frame. Reese Farrell sunk an empty-netter late, his second score of the game, to send the sellout crowd home exaulted from the 5-1 Colby victory. After having their 14-game unbeaten streak against the Polar Bears snapped in the 2023 playoffs, Colby is back on the right side of this matchup.
Grier now has three goals on the season and is tied atop the NESCAC leaderboards in goals/game. First-year goaltender Cooper Rautenstrauch added his second win in as many games after turning away 25 shots on goal.
The Mules are 2-1, ranked fourth in the NESCAC. Colby will host Suffolk Tuesday before returning after Thanksgiving for matchups with UMass Boston and SNHU.
Women's Swimming & Diving Defeats Hamilton and Trinity, Men Split
After a historic opener a week ago that saw the Women's Swimming & Diving team take down Amherst, the Mules welcomed two more NESCAC foes to town. Taking out Hamilton (190-110) and Trinity (233-67), Colby improves to 3-0 to start the season.
In the tri-meet format, the women's team collected ten event winners (out of 16 events). The relay team of Gabriella Landau, Eliza Marco, Caitlin Lacey, and Lily Moy won the 200yd Medley Relay to kickstart the event while the 400yd Freestyle Relay of Marco, Zoe Buzzelli, Lacey, and Moy capped the tail end. Marco also won the 50 Free and 100 Breaststroke, and Avery Rappaport took both victories on the boards.
The Men's team soundly defeated Trinity (219-77) but was edged by the Continentals (153-141) in a meet that came down to the final event.
Brandon Xiong collected three individual victories, sprinting his way to wins in the 50 Backstroke, 50 Freestyle, and 100 Backstroke. Ivan Knoepflmacher took gold medals on both the 1-Meter and 3-Meters Dives, and Brandon Morrison and Spencer Cohen made it seven events for the Mules by taking the 100 Butterfly and 200 Individual Medley, respectively.
Colby will host the Maine Collegiate Invite next Friday and Saturday to close out first semester competition.
Men's Squash Tops #16 Navy
The Men's Squash team opened the weekend with matches against #16 Navy and #17 MIT. The Mules topped the Midshipmen 5-4 Saturday before falling to the Engineers Sunday 4-5.
The Mules earned victories both days by the 1-4 spots in the lineup (Inwoo Lee, Seif Ashraf, Carlos Zendejas, Timo Radionov), and took the victory over Navy thanks in part to Syed Kashef's 3-2 win out of the five-spot. All-American Lee won both of his matches in three-set sweeps, while Ashraf nearly matched with a 3-0 win Saturday and 3-1 win Sunday.
The Mules will travel to play Denison and Trinity next weekend to finish first semester action.
Men's Basketball Runs Its Record to 4-1
Fresh off a hot 2-0 start, the Colby Men's Basketball team won two out of three games this week to start the 2024-25 campaign strong.
In Tuesday's game against Thomas, the Mules broke the century mark on their way to a 106-81 victory over the Terriers with 13 different players collecting buckets. First-year center Dan Civello led all with 22 points, including going 3-5 from behind the arc. Max Poulton (17), Jack Lawson (13), and Marcos Montiel (11) joined him in double-digits.
Colby's lone setback to this point in the season came Friday night against Ramapo as the Roadrunners used a 47-point second half to come from behind against the Mules for a 76-70 win. Montiel led Colby with 20 points including four three-pointers. Sharp shooter Sam Hinman hit four of his own, and how has 15 three-pointers on through five games.
The Mules got back on track Saturday in a barnburner against Penn State Altoona. Poulton carried more than his share with a career-high 31 points, including seven from deep, and played all 20 minutes in the second half as Colby edged the Lions 78-77. Lawson collected his second double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Poulton leads the NESCAC with 95 points after five games.
Colby will bookend the Thanksgiving holiday with road trips to Salve Regina and Union before finishing the semester with a trip to St. Louis for the WashU Tournament.
Women's Ice Hockey Opens Strong Against Suffolk
Entering the season ranked #12 in the Pairwise rankings, the Colby Women's Ice Hockey team hopped right into the fire with three games in five days.
Colby started off hot with a 6-3 win over Suffolk on Tuesday. Five different Mules tallied goals with Lulu Gray collecting her first and second collegiate scores. After assisting on two of Colby's first three goals, Georgia Pettygrove netted one of her own, proving to be the game-winner.
In Friday and Saturday's home-and-home series with Bowdoin, Colby found itself behind 1-0 Friday night in Brunswick despite a pressuring offense. A standout performance by the Polar Bear goalkeeper and a late empty net score pushed Bowdoin past Colby 2-0.
Back at home in Waterville Saturday, Sophie Kennedy put the Mules out in front in the first period. Bowdoin jumped ahead with two scores in the second, but Anna Staton knotted the game at two midway through the third period. Two minutes into the 3-on-3 overtime segment, the visitors were able to poke a puck loose on the boards and beat the Colby goaltender to steal the series from the Mules.
Colby will travel to USM on Tuesday before taking a brief hiatus for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Women's Basketball Battles MMA Close, Falls to #1 NYU
After opening the season a week ago with a set of victories, Colby eyed a pair of regional powers this week.
Wednesday the Mules hosted MMA, a squad that won over 20 games a year ago en route to a NAC championship and a trip to the NCAA Division III tournament. Down by six at half, Colby stormed out to a strong third quarter to pull within one. The Mariners saved their best for last with a 20-point fourth frame to edge the Mules 60-54. Lydia Mordarski (photo left) and Kate Olenik finished with a team-high 13 points for Colby.
In Saturday's matchup at #1 NYU, Colby had four Mules in double digits (Olenik 13, Chelsea Ibenegbu 11, Ana Von Rumohr 11, Amelia Hanscom 10) but succumbed to the Violets 90-56. Hanscom narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds.
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, Jennifer Maguire P26, Michael Maher, Reese Robinson '27, Ellie Sawyer P25, Jaiden Tripi, Ansley White '26, and the Colby Communications team.