The 20th-seeded men’s squash team finished 21st in the nation after going 2-1 over the weekend in the Summers Cup (C Division) at the CSA National Team Championships held at Wesleyan Univ.
The Jeffs dropped their first match to Bowdoin before defeating Conn. College and Drexel Univ. to end their season on a high note.
The team came into their first match confident, having defeated Bowdoin earlier in the month at the NESCAC Championships, 6-3.
The women’s squash team capped their season in impressive fashion, finishing ranked 15th nationally in the season-ending CSA National Championship Kurtz Cup held at Yale Univ The Lady Jeffs fell to Dartmouth and George Washington before rallying to defeat Franklin & Marshall in their final match of the season.
In their first match of the Kurtz Cup, the eighth-seeded Jeffs were clearly overmatched against top-seeded and No. 9 nationally Dartmouth, falling 9-0.
They only managed to win one game in the defeat, which came from first-year standout Taryn Clary ’16.
The men’s and women’s squash teams both went 3-1 on the weekend to finish fifth at the NESCAC Championships. For the men, who came in seeded seventh in the conference, it was an impressive finish that included upsets of Wesleyan and Bowdoin. For the women, it was an expected result as they were seeded fifth in the NESCAC coming into the tournament.
As the start of the new semester begins, the men’s and women’s squash teams head into the final stretches of what have been equally dramatic and unexpected seasons. The men, battling injuries all season, currently sit at 7-11 while the women, led by five first-year players, own an impressive 10-6 record and sit at 16th in the country — their highest position in recent Amherst squash history.
Men
The season ended earlier than anyone expected. The women’s soccer team, seeded number one in the New England region, was upset in the first round by unseeded Lasell College.
Having earned the right to host at least the first four rounds, the Jeffs fell 3-1 to the Lasers. Molly Masiero ’16 struck in the 22nd minute. Perhaps more importantly, center back Sandy Shepherd ’13 was injured on the play and would not return to the game. The College’s other center back, Emily Little ’13, was suspended for her now-infamous throw-in.
The women’s soccer team may have lost the battle, but they have yet to lose the war. The Jeffs fell to Bowdoin in a penalty shootout after two overtime periods failed to separate the teams.
The Jeffs felt confident going into the game. They had just defeated Colby 1-0 in a game that was not as close as the score line indicated. Earlier in the season, they had handled the Polar Bears 4-1. The stage seemed set for an Amherst at Williams NESCAC Final, but Bowdoin played the role of spoiler.
Stayin’ alive.
The women’s soccer team kept their season alive with a 1-0 victory over 6th seeded Colby in the NESCAC quarterfinals. Previously, the College defeated Connecticut College 2-1 to finish in a three-way tie atop the NESCAC regular season standings.
Having lost the tiebreakers to both teams, however, the Jeffs garnered the third seed in the conference championship.
In the Wednesday, Oct. 24 game against Conn. College, Kathryn Nathan ’13 and Megan Kim ’16 scored first half goals to lead Jeffs to a 2-1 victory.
