Five of Smith’s varsity teams dominate the spring calendar: lacrosse, softball, tennis, track and field and crew. How have these teams fared so far, and what do they have on the horizon?
Posts published in “Sports”
Elizabeth Muirhead ’20 | Assistant Sports Editor
Here at Smith, most of our winter sports are wrapping up, and we can begin looking toward the spring season. But in the world of Division I sports, the winter season stretches into March. Hockey fans, in particular, can look forward to enjoying the UMass Amherst Minutemen’s performance. They rattled the hockey world with their strong play straight out of the gate. Last season, the Minutemen finished with a record of 17-20-2 and got knocked out of their conference tournament in the second round by Northeastern University; they didn’t earn a spot in the following NCAA Men’s tournament to compete for the championship. But this season, the best in the team’s history, has been a totally different story. At this point, their record stands at 24-7, and they have held a No. 2 ranking for the majority of the season.
This fall, Rachel Simmons worked with coaches in the athletic department retreat at the beginning of the semester. Kristin Hughes said, “I thought some of her messages, especially as they related to failing, could be really powerful for our student-athletes as well.” Hughes added: “Handling failure is as much a part of the athletic experience as is winning. So, building skills and a mentality that allow you to grow from it and not be stopped by it is really significant. And Rachel is a former athlete and has a great delivery and connection with students.” Simmons was eager to take on a project at Smith and had been looking to collaborate with different departments. She thought that a team dynamic would be a perfect way to work regularly with Smith students and pitched her idea for the “Failing Well” series to the athletic director and the coaches.
On Jan. 19 and 20, the Smith swimming and diving team competed in the Seven Sisters Championship along with Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke, Vassar and Wellesley. Smith finished third with 511 points, ahead of Mount Holyoke and Bryn Mawr and behind Wellesley and Vassar. Wellesley took first place with 1334.5 points, and Vassar ranked second with 983.5 points. Mount Holyoke snagged fourth with 483 points, while Bryn Mawr closed out the ladder with 295 points.
This past Sunday, the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams faced off in Super Bowl LIII. This marked New England’s ninth Super Bowl under the coach-quarterback duo of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, which is more Super Bowls than any other pair in league history have had. The Patriots have been a force in the NFL since the early 2000s. As broadcaster Scott Zolak said after the Patriots defeated the Chiefs two weeks earlier to earn their spot in the Super Bowl, “America’s worst nightmare is back.” Winning this Super Bowl would tie New England with the Pittsburgh Steelers at six wins, the most in franchise history. For the Rams, this would have been their first Super Bowl win since moving back to Los Angeles from St. Louis in 2016 and for their starting quarterback, 24-year-old Jared Goff.
This Sunday, Smith College Ice Hockey traveled up to Hanover, NH to face off against Dartmouth College at the Thompson Arena. The team arrived with a 4-3 record to play against Dartmouth with a 3-3 record. Earlier in the season, Smith beat Dartmouth 7-1 at home. Dartmouth arrived with only six skaters, and Smith was able to tire out the team and keep up the momentum through all three periods. The odds were a little more even with Dartmouth at home, with their whole roster of 10 and a small fan base to cheer them on.
This past Saturday, sandwiched in-between the NFL’s conference championship and the Super Bowl, a significant college game took place: the Senior Bowl. The Senior Bowl is a North vs. South all-star game for draft prospects. Compared to the NFL’s all-star game, the Pro Bowl, which took place the next day, the stakes are much higher. For these players, their football future is on the line, making it both tense and competitive. It’s one of the last opportunities for players to showcase their skills before the draft in April.
This season, the UMass men’s hockey team has taken UMass athletics and the college hockey world by storm with their phenomenal opening half of the season. As of Mon., Dec. 10, their record stands at an impressive 13-2, and they’re ranked second behind St. Cloud State in Minnesota. Their record looks even more impressive when you consider the mixed results that the team earned last season; they finished with a record of 17-20-2. So what changed this season to make the team more successful?
This past weekend, Smith College ice hockey had a packed weekend with two competitions: the first doubleheader weekend of the season and the team’s second and third contest. The team faced off against Mount Holyoke’s club team Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at the Fitzpatrick Arena. In the past, Smith has had a strong game against Mount Holyoke and has won every game against their program for the past five years. This year’s matchup was no different. The starting line included goalie Anna Freund ’20, senior captain Raegan Stokes at center and wings, Shaia Bierman-Cow ’20 and Florence Zhang ’20, along with the defensive pair Eleanor Donaher ’20 and Elizabeth Muirhead ’20. The second line was sophomore captain Kate Ginder with Olivia Sheets ’22 and Sophia Foster ’20 and defensemen Rebecca Schaffer ’19 and Natalie Schindler ’19. The third line of the game included Meghan Johnson ’19 and Jocelin (Jojo) Ong ’22 on wing with Madeline Hubbard ’19 centering and Hannah Vogel ’21 and Sophie Guthrie ’20 on defense.