Though the fall semester has just begun, for weeks varsity teams have been playing their way to victories – or losses. Their performances so far can help us predict what will happen during the rest of the season.
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Though the fall semester has just begun, for weeks varsity teams have been playing their way to victories – or losses. Their performances so far can help us predict what will happen during the rest of the season.
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.
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 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?
Three weeks ago, I flew down to Atlanta to visit a friend at the University of Georgia (UGA) and watch a football game. The UGA Bulldogs are one of the most high-profile teams in college football, with an enormous fan base and high rank. That weekend, the Bulldogs were slated to play the UMass Amherst Minutemen. Given the records of both teams, it was expected to be a blowout in favor of Georgia. The final score was 66-27 Georgia, but the UMass offense put up an admirable fight. Amongst UMass’s tenacious offense, one player stood out in particular — Andy Isabella. I could hear Georgia fans behind me talking about how fast and crafty he was, making him difficult to cover. An old man sitting to my right was cursing him every time he made a catch: “That damn Isabella.” His presence on the field was unmistakable, and everyone around me noticed. In that game, Isabella — a senior math major from Ohio — received over 200 yards and scored two touchdowns, including an impressive 75-yard touchdown.
As the fall sports season ends and the air starts to bite, we look toward our winter sports teams. How will they fare this season? The Smith College ice hockey team (SCIH) began their season this past weekend with an away game against Keene State College.