Around the Herd: Feb. 15 to Feb. 21 in Amherst Sports

Hedi Skali ’25 Managing Sports Editor

Women’s Hockey

This past weekend, the women’s hockey participated in a two-game series against Williams. In the first game, at home, the Mammoths secured an intense 2-0 victory, led by goals from Emily Hohmann ’26 and Avery Flynn ’23. Student-Athlete of the Month Natalie Stott ’26 came up with a season-high 28 saves, 14 of which came in the third period where the Ephs were playing up a skater. During the last six minutes, Williams’ forward Maddie Tix found herself in a breakaway 1 on 1 with Stott, but could not get past the mitt of Amherst’s stellar first-year goalie. With this victory, the Women’s Hockey team won the Little 3 championship and clinched the first seed for the upcoming NESCAC tournament this weekend.

The next day at Williams’ Lansing Chapman Rink, the Mammoths suffered a 2-1 loss to the Ephs. Though Williams’ early lead in the first period was immediately erased with a goal by Rylee Glennon ’24, Amherst was unable to convert the rest of their 45 total shots on goal. This allowed Tix to get her revenge on Stott with the game-winning goal in the second period.

Ultimately, the women’s hockey team ended their regular season with an incredible 21-3-0 record, setting themselves up to be the favorites to take the NESCAC Championship this weekend.

Men’s Hockey

The men’s hockey team also showed off against Williams this past weekend. With a 14-5-3 record, Amherst was favored in the matchup but fell behind in the second period even after starting with the lead early in the game. Nevertheless, Ryan Corcoran ’26 found the puck after a messy face-off late in the third period and fired a backhanded shot that was initially saved but followed up by Bobby Luca ’25 into the bottom right corner to tie the game.

After their 2-2 tie against Williams, the Mammoths finished off their season at Middlebury’s Chip Keynon Arena in dominating fashion. Among the four first-years who each scored in the 5-0 victory, Ben Ritter ’26 netted the first goal of his collegiate career. Simultaneously, goalkeeper Connor Leslie ’25 drew a season-high 31 saves in the win, also earning his second shutout of the season.

This Saturday, the team will host Tufts to begin the NESCAC Championship quarterfinals.

Women’s Basketball

The women’s basketball team’s loss against Trinity College in the quarterfinals of the NESCAC Tournament ended this year’s season in a tragic fashion. Kori Barach ’25, who has led a stellar campaign this year, started off the game with 15 points en route to a 6-point lead in the first half. However, the star player was unable to make any of her nine shots in the third quarter, where the Mammoth’s shooting struggles held them to 4 points in the entire quarter. Led by Anna Tranum’s ’26 season-high 20-point performance and Barach’s clutch jumpers late in the game, the Mammoths were able to claw back a one-point deficit with 22 seconds left in the game. After a timeout, a play was drawn up for veteran guard Reeya Patel ’24 but her shot missed, hitting the front of the rim to end their season with a 17-8 record.

Women’s Squash

This past weekend the 15th-seeded women’s squash team went to Philadelphia to make a run for the Kurtz Cup in the College Squash Association Team Championships. However, the team quickly fell to Dartmouth in their first matchup in a 3-6 loss marked by its rapidity, with none of the matches going to five games. After beating William Smith College in the consolation round with a dominating

8-1 performance, the team faced their arch-rivals Williams College in a fifth-place game for the second year in a row. Last year’s 5-4 win was their first victory against Williams in a decade. This year, the Mammoths rallied to a 6-3 win, featuring three comebacks by Daksha Pathak ’23, Lauren Weil ’23, and Morgan Chaudhary ’26. The first four seats dominated their Williams opponents and Tanmai Pathak ’25 won her game in only 15 minutes in the sixth seat.

With a 14-6 season, and clinching fifth place at the Kurtz Cup over Williams again, the Mammoths should be proud of their season as they send their best players to the CSA individual tournaments this weekend.

Men’s Squash

The men’s squash team had no games this week, but they will be participating in the College Squash Association Team Championships this weekend as the second seed in the Summers Division.

Women’s Swim and Dive

On Saturday, the women’s swim team finished in fourth place in the February NESCAC Invitational, having only sent two swimmers. Grace Walker ’24 swam a 4:36.54 in the 400-meter individual medley, while Jenn Adams ’25 swam a 1:52.43 in the 200-yard freestyle. The team will be competing in NCAA Northeast/North Diving Regionals this upcoming weekend.

Men’s Swim and Dive

This Sunday, the men’s swim team participated in NESCAC Championships at Wesleyan College. A stellar time of 15:33.68 netted Gabriele Lunardi ’25 a second-place finish and a personal best in the 1650 Freestyle, only falling to Williams’ Carter Anderson by a hundredth of a second. The Mammoths posted two teams in the 400-meter freestyle relay, and were able to clinch ninth and 17th, with times of 3:05.06 and 3:07.89 respec- tively. These were both season-bests in the 400-meter freestyle relay for any Amherst squad. Finally, Tor Metelmann ’25 finished in third place in the 200-meter breaststroke with a time of 2:00.49 which granted him national qualification and a personal best. These incredible performances allowed the Mammoths to clinch a third-place finish in the tournament with a meet score of 1133.5.

Men’s and Women’s Track

This past Sunday’s Triangle Classic at Springfield College was the last opportunity for any Mammoths to qualify for the New En- gland Division III Championships. On the men’s team, Kelechi Eziri ’23, who had previously qualified for the triple jump, secured a second qualification in the long jump, with a 6.70-meter jump. On the women’s team, three different athletes secured qualifying markers in their events. Bridget Cassata ’24 qualified with a 3.15-meter pole vault, while Annelise Romero ’23 qualified with a 10.75-meter triple jump. In the 60-meter hurdles, Myeh Medina ’26 posted a 9.61, also qualifying her for the New England Division III Championships, which will be held this weekend at the New Balance Track in Boston.