LEWISTON, Maine -- The No. 4 nationally ranked Bates field hockey team welcomes No. 25 Amherst, No. 18 Williams, and No. 6 Tufts to Campus Ave. Field this weekend for the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 of the NCAA tournament as the four NESCAC schools compete for a coveted spot in the Final Four.
The Bobcats (15-3) host Amherst (9-8) Saturday at 11 a.m. while Tufts (15-3) takes on Williams (9-8) Saturday at 2 p.m.
The winners advance to Sunday's NCAA quarterfinal, which is set for 1 p.m. The winner of Sunday's game advances to the Final Four, taking place Nov. 21-23 on the campus of Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.
This is the first time ever that four NESCAC schools have all met in the same location for the Sweet 16 and Elite 8. Eight of the remaining 16 schools in this year's 28-team NCAA tournament hail from the NESCAC.
Tickets for Saturday and Sunday can be purchased on-site for $5 and are only $3 for children (3-12) and seniors (65-plus). The first 100 students with a Bates I.D. get in for free!
Meet the Teams
No. 4 Bates College Bobcats (NESCAC Champions, 15-3)
Head Coach:
Dani Kogut (107-91, 13th year, 12th season)
Notes
- Third straight NCAA tournament appearance, and third overall in program history. First time earning a bye to the second round. Looking for the program's first appearance in the Final Four.
- Advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals for the first time last year, falling to Tufts at Tufts 2-1 in overtime.
- The Bobcats entered this year's NESCAC tournament as the third seed after going 7-3 in conference play, matching the program record for NESCAC wins in one season, which was set in 2023. The Bobcats proceeded to beat sixth-seeded Hamilton 1-0 in a shootout, second-seeded Middlebury 1-0 in a shootout, and fourth-seeded Wesleyan 2-0 to clinch the program's first NESCAC championship.
- Bates became the first team in NESCAC history to shut out all three opponents on their way to a conference title.
- 15 wins is a new program record, breaking the previous mark of 14 wins, set last season. The Bobcats started the year 9-0, the best start to a season in program history.
- Bates defeated Amherst at Amherst on Sept. 27 by a score of 2-1, with goals off penalty corners from senior captain Lucy Norris (Chicago) and junior Amy LaBelle (Barrington, R.I.) helping Bates rally from a 1-0 deficit to win on the road at Amherst for the first time since 2006.
- Bates defeated Williams in Lewiston by a count of 2-1 on Oct. 4., with goals from senior captain Brooke Moloney-Kolenberg (Winchester, Mass.) and sophomore Rose Gordon (North Andover, Mass.) helping the Bobcats defeat the Ephs for the third time in their last five matchups.
- Bates fell to Tufts 3-1 at Tufts on Oct. 11, with Moloney-Kolenberg finding the back of the cage in the loss. The Bobcats have dropped 10 in a row to Tufts, with six of the 10 losses being by one goal.
- Moloney-Kolenberg and junior captain Haley Dwight (West Newbury, Mass.) were named first team All-NESCAC. Sophomore Elsa Copeland (Toronto, Ontario) was named second team All-NESCAC.
- Dwight was named the NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year after leading the conference with eight defensive saves.
- Kogut, Kelly McManus '12, and Ian Wagge earned NESCAC Coaching Staff of the Year honors. Kogut picked up her 100th career win at Bates earlier this season when the Bobcats defeated Amherst 2-1 at Amherst.
- Moloney-Kolenberg is the team's leading scorer, with 10 goals and six assists.
- Copeland is second on the team with six goals and five assists.
- Sophomore Caroline Nowak (Pelham, N.Y.) is third on the team with five goals and two assists.
- Sophomore goalie Ava Donohue (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) is the reigning NFHCA National Defensive Player of the Week after tallying a season-high 11 saves in back-to-back games to cap off a brilliant conference tournament that saw Donohue raise her save percentage to .816, the best in the NESCAC so far this year. She has also won back-to-back NESCAC Player of the Week awards.
- The Bobcats are 2-0 in shootouts this season, with wins over Hamilton and Middlebury both coming in the NESCAC tournament. The shootout against Hamilton in the NESCAC quarterfinal is believed to be the first home shootout in program history. Bates is also 2-0 in overtime games this year that do not go to shootouts, with road wins over Bowdoin and the University of New England. The Bowdoin win featured Bates coming back from a 3-0 deficit to win 4-3, the largest come-from-behind victory in program history.
- Over the past two seasons, Bates is 26-0 in games where they score first against their opponent.
No. 25 Amherst College Mammoths (NESCAC Quarterfinalist, 9-8)
Head Coach: Carol Knerr (244-139, 25th year, 24th season)
Notes
- First NCAA tournament appearance since 2011 and sixth overall in program history. Looking for program's second appearance in the Final Four, previously advancing to the national championship game in 1999.
- Defeated No. 10 nationally ranked Stevens in the first round of the NCAA tournament by a score of 2-1, winning a dramatic sudden-death shootout to upset the Ducks in Hoboken.
- Senior Justine Liguori (Greenwich, Conn.) scored in regulation for the Mammoths against Stevens and tallied a goal in the shootout. First-year Emma Zhang (St. Louis, Mo.) scored once during the best-of-five portion of the shootout and also tallied the eventual game-winner in the sudden-victory portion. Junior Genevieve Caruso (Greenwich, Conn.) came up huge, successfully converting an attempt to force the sudden-victory portion, as Amherst trailed 3-2 before Caruso tied things up on their final attempt.
- The Mammoths entered this year's NESCAC tournament as the eighth seed after going 4-6 in conference play. Took top-seeded Tufts to the wire before falling 3-2 in the NESCAC quarterfinal.
- Amherst fell to Williams 2-0 on Sept. 13 for their fourth straight loss to the Ephs.
- Amherst lost 2-1 to Bates on Sept. 27 despite getting on the board first thanks to a goal from senior Molly Donegan (Wallingford, Conn.) in the fourth minute.
- Amherst lost twice to Tufts this year at Tufts, falling 3-1 in the regular season on Oct. 8 despite another early goal from Donegan. Then they lost 3-2 in the NESCAC quarterfinal. The Mammoths fell behind the Jumbos 2-0 before rallying to tie the game on goals from Caruso and sophomore Caroline Busler (Greenwich, Conn.) in the second quarter. An early fourth-quarter goal from Tufts proved to be the difference. Amherst has now dropped four straight to the Jumbos.
- Junior back Maya Harrington (Highland Village, TX) and sophomore midfielder Katie Savino (Darien, Conn.) both earned second team All-NESCAC honors. Harrington has started and played in all 17 games for the Mammoths this season. A skilled defender, she has also contributed on penalty corners, compiling two goals and two assists for six points this season. Savino is a key to the Mammoths' success not only defensively but also when in transition. She had also started and played in all 17 games this season.
- Liguori leads the team with 13 points on the season, having scored five goals and dished out three assists.
- Donegan and first-year Bella Kim (Vienna, Va.) have both tallied 11 points, with Donegan recording four goals and three assists and Kim tying Liguori for the team-lead in goals scored with five.
- Zhang leads the team with five assists. She has also tallied one goal.
- Busler and Caruso have scored four goals apiece, with Busler dishing out one assist.
- Sophomore Kate Grady (St. Louis, Mo.) has played 632:32 minutes in goal and has a save percentage of .712. Junior Grace Puchalski (Waxhaw, N.C.) has played 454:53 minutes in goal and has a save percentage of .677. Puchalski played all 80 minutes against Stevens in the first round of the NCAA tournament and made three saves. She denied four out of the seven attempts she saw in the shootout as the Mammoths prevailed.
- Grady played 30 minutes against Bates earlier this year and allowed two goals. She played 55:10 against Tufts in the regular season and allowed two goals while making three saves. She started the NESCAC quarterfinal against Tufts and played 22:10, allowing two goals. She did not face Williams this season.
- Puchalski played all 60 minutes against Williams and allowed two goals while making four saves. She played 25:08 minutes against Bates and did not allow a goal while making one save. Puchalski came off the bench in the NESCAC quarterfinal against Tufts and played 34:01 minutes, allowing a goal but also making two saves.
- The Mammoths are 1-2 in shootouts this year, falling to MIT and Hamilton before prevailing over Stevens in Puchalski's first shootout of the year. Amherst is 3-1 in overtime games that do not go to shootouts, with wins over Connecticut College, WPI, and Bowdoin, and a loss at Middlebury.
No. 18 Williams College Ephs (NESCAC Quarterfinalist, 9-8)
Head Coach:
Alix Barrale (269-159, 26th year, 25th season)
Notes
- Fourth straight NCAA tournament appearance and 15th overall in program history. Looking to make their second straight Final Four appearance and their third in the past four seasons.
- Williams fell 1-0 in overtime to Tufts in the national semifinals last season. The Ephs lost 1-0 to Johns Hopkins in the national semifinals in 2022.
- Defeated Vassar 4-0 in the first round of this year's NCAA tournament, with four different Ephs finding the back of the cage in the victory.
- Entered the NESCAC tournament as the fifth seed after going 6-4 in conference play during the regular season. Fell 2-1 to fourth-seeded Wesleyan in the quarterfinal, with a late goal from senior Anna Miller (Weston, Mass.) preventing a shutout.
- Williams started the year strong, defeating Tufts in their NESCAC opener on Sept. 6 by a count of 3-1. Junior Claire Colvin (Winchester, Mass.) got the scoring started in the ninth minute. Tufts picked up the equalizer in the 24th minute but senior captain Kiki Higgins (Weston, Mass.) took care of the rest, scoring in both the 43rd and 49th minutes to put the game away. It was only their third win in their past 27 games against Tufts, but their second in their past four.
- Williams defeated Amherst 2-0 on Sept. 13, with goals from Colvin and senior captain Pilar Torres (Madison, N.J.) making the difference.
- Williams fell to Bates 2-1 on Oct. 4 despite a goal in the 45th minute from Higgins.
- The loss to Bates came in the midst of a five-game losing streak, but the Ephs have bounced back to win three of their past five games.
- Higgins was named the NESCAC Offensive Player of the Year and currently ranks third in the conference with 31 points (12 goals, seven assists).
- Torres joined Higgins in earning first team All-NESCAC honors as she's netted five goals and four assists so far this year.
- Colvin rounds out a dynamic trio of scorers with six goals and four assists. Miller has chipped in four goals for the Ephs while junior Laura Ryan (Skytop, Pa.) has added three tallies this year.
- Sophomore Ellie Smith (Wayland, Mass.) has played 1060:23 minutes in goal this year and sports an impressive save percentage of .800, which ranks fourth in the NESCAC.
- The Ephs are 1-1 in shootouts this year, with a win over Hamilton and a loss to Middlebury. They are 0-2 in overtime games that do not go to shootouts, with losses to Babson and Bowdoin.
No. 6 Tufts University Jumbos (NESCAC Semifinalist, 15-3)
Head Coach: Tina Mattera (301-90, 22nd year, 21st season)
Notes
- Seventh straight NCAA tournament appearance and 16th overall in program history. Looking to make their second straight Final Four appearance and seventh overall.
- Only team in this group of four to have won a national championship, with Tufts securing the title in 2012. Finished national runner-up to Middlebury last season, losing 2-1 in the championship game.
- This year's Sweet 16 game between Tufts and Williams is a rematch of last year's national semifinal, won by Tufts 1-0 in overtime on a goal by Lainie Pearson.
- Defeated Dean 11-0 in the first round of this year's NCAA tournament, with six different Jumbos finding the back of the cage. Tied the NCAA Division III record for goals scored in an NCAA tournament game and also broke the school record for goals in a game.
- Entered the NESCAC tournament as the top seed after going 9-1 in conference play this year. Defeated Amherst 3-2 in the quarterfinal before falling to Wesleyan 2-0 in the semifinal.
- Fell to Williams 3-1 on Sept. 6 despite a goal from junior Sophie Brants (Littleton, Colo.) to tie the game in the 24th minute.
- Defeated Amherst 3-1 on Oct. 8 thanks to goals from senior Hannah Biccard (Cape Town, South Africa), sophomore Hannah Murray (Worcester, Mass.), and junior Claire Casey (Charlotte, N.C.). First-year Eleanor Helm (Loudonville, N.Y.) tallied a goal and junior Reagan Malo (Sudbury, Mass) scored twice in the rematch, a 3-2 win for Tufts over the Mammoths in the NESCAC quarterfinal.
- Murray, sophomore Eleanor Luft (Ridgefield, Conn.), and Biccard all scored goals when Tufts beat Bates 3-1 on Oct. 11.
- The Jumbos have a high-powered offense, averaging a NESCAC-best 3.611 goals per game. Besides Tufts, Bates is the highest-scoring team in this group of four, at 2.278 goals per game. Tufts has outscored their opponents by a NESCAC-best 2.55 points per game.
- Five Jumbos earned All-NESCAC honors this season, their most since 2013. Biccard and Casey were named first team All-NESCAC while senior goalie Lydia Eastburn (New Hope, Pa.), Luft, and Helm were all second team selections.
- Biccard leads the NESCAC with 15 goals scored on the year and ranks second in the conference with 34 points.
- Casey has recorded eight goals and five assists despite playing on the defensive side of the field for Tufts.
- Helm has added 11 goals and a team-high seven assists in an impressive rookie season. Luft is another strong defender who has added a goal and three assists.
- Eastburn is now a two-time All-NESCAC selection who sports a save percentage this year of .764. The Tufts defense has been so good that Eastburn has only had to make 3.06 saves per game, eighth in the NESCAC.
- Tufts has not competed in a shootout this year. They are 0-1 in overtime games, having lost 2-1 to Babson on Sept. 17. However, last season, the Jumbos were outstanding in shootouts, going 4-0 and also winning a pair of overtime games in the NCAA tournament that did not go to shootouts, defeating both Bates and Williams in OT on their way to the national championship game.
