The Colby College women’s hockey team is once again off to a strong start to a season.

The Mules are 8-2-0 (2-2 in the New England Small College Athletic Conference) to start the 2023-24 season, the same record they had 10 games into last season. Colby went 18-8-0 (10-6 NESCAC) last season and earned a trip to the NCAA Division III tournament.

The statistics through the first 10 games are similar to last season as well. The Mules have scored 38 goals in their first 10 games — including a 9-0 win over Plymouth State University on Jan. 2 — and have allowed just 10 goals. Colby has four shutouts this season.

“(The early record) is always a little bit deceiving, because don’t play a NESCAC-heavy schedule early on,” said Colby head coach Holley Tyng. “We have a lot of our non-conference games at the start of the year. We have a league bye the first regular season weekend. It kind of blows my mind that they do that to us, year after year. We’re a couple games short in regards of conference play, but we’re in the thick of it now.”

Though the Mules are 2-2 in conference play, they’ve already cleared a hurdle by splitting a two-game series with Hamilton College — a 2-1 win on Jan. 5, followed by a 3-2 overtime loss on Jan. 6. Hamilton has given Colby fits in recent years. The Mules have another tough series this weekend, when they head to Vermont to take on Middlebury College (5-2-2, 2-1-1 NESCAC).

“I was psyched to get a split with Hamilton and play in overtime of that second game,” Tyng said. “We played amazing on Friday and then didn’t have a lot in our tank on Saturday. We didn’t play quite as well (on Saturday), so to get to overtime was really impressive. It’s a really good start, and it helps get some younger players some experience. All of our goalies have played at this point, which is awesome. There’s some great things about this start. It’s just a little different when we get in the thick of NESCAC play.”

Colby College senior forward Meg Rittenhouse skates during a Jan. 6 women’s college hockey game against Hamilton in Waterville. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

The Mules have several returners who gained experience last season. Senior forward Meg Rittenhouse (eight goals, six assists) leads the team with 14 points, while sophomore forward Sophie Melsness (three goals, eight assists) has 11 points. Junior goaltender Paige Bolyard (4-1-0 record, 1.40 goals allowed average) has had a near even split with sophomore Grace Caligiuri (3-1-0, 0.76 GAA, three shutouts) between the pipes, though junior Mandy Busky (1-0-0, 0.00 GAA) has also seen action.

Tyng said the split with Hamilton will give the Mules some confidence heading into the series with Middlebury.

“To have that inspiration and that kind of pit in our stomach, that has to drive us this whole week,” Tyng said. “I think, if we can use it to our advantage and use it to our motivation, that sort of pit in our stomach, it can help us.”

• • •

A new wrinkle has been thrown into the rivalry between the Thomas College and University of Maine at Farmington men’s basketball teams.

The inaugural Dick Meader Cup will take place when the Terriers and Beavers meet on Jan. 23 in Farmington. The trophy — named for the longtime head coach of both the Thomas and UMF programs — will be awarded annually to the winner of the first matchup between the men’s hoop teams each season.

“We’re excited about the idea,” Thomas College head coach Marquis Mason-Pollard said. “The coaches, – myself, my associate coaches, (UMF head coach) Sam (Leal), wanted to honor Coach Meader in a way that both programs are part of it. We thought that maybe having a traveling cup — whoever wins it gets to hold it for a year — is a good way to remember Coach Meader and what he did for both these programs and keep the competition decent as well.”

Meader, who died in October 2022 at the age of 76, had a storied career with both schools. A 1968 UMF grad, Meader scored 1,195 points during his time with the Beavers. He spent 44 years as a head coach between both programs, first at Thomas, where he had 160 wins over 17 seasons. In his 27 seasons at UMF, Meader led the Beavers to 353 wins, the most in program history.

“It’s so cool to honor someone who made such an impact on basketball for the state of Maine,” said Leal, who played under Meader at UMF before turning to coaching. “With both of our universities, he started and made a great impact at Thomas College before making it back over to his alma mater at UMF, where he finished his career. Forty-plus years in coaching at both schools, for us it’s a really special way that we can recognize not only him, but his family and his family’s impact on basketball.”

Meader is in both the Thomas College and UMF halls of fame, along with the Maine Sports Hall of Fame, the Maine Basketball Hall of Fame and the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.

• • •

The battle for the Meader Cup could be a tight one, as both the UMF and Thomas men’s basketball teams are battling near the top of the North Atlantic Conference.

UMF (8-5, 2-2 NAC) is off to a strong start in a year of transition. The Beavers graduated their top players, including guard Terion Moss and center Jack Kane. This year, UMF has received strong play from its upperclassmen, as well. Senior guard Zahary Mickle leads the team with 12.1 points per game, while junior forward Will Harriman is averaging 11.5 points per game. The team has also received help from its newcomers. Freshman forward and Winslow graduate Jason Reynolds is averaging 8.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Brewer graduate Brock Flagg is averaging 8.1 points per game. UMF is second in the NAC standings behind Husson University (9-0, 4-0 NAC).

“We just have a tremendous group of unselfish players,” Leal said. “They’ve really stepped up in the vacancy of all the graduations we’ve had. There was an eagerness for the opportunity that our players have had ahead of them, and they’ve stepped up expectations. We play a really good, unselfish brand of basketball, and it’s enjoyable to watch these guys play and compete.”

Thomas (5-9) is already off to its best start since the 2019-2020 season. Forward and Oceanside High School graduate Cooper Wirkala leads the Terriers with 14.3 points per game, while sophomore guard James Phelan is averaging 12.4 points per game. Forest Hills graduated Parker Desjardins, a junior guard, is averaging 10.1 points per game. The Terriers are fourth in the NAC standings.

“I’m really excited about the group we have, we have a lot of new guys,” said Mason-Pollard, who is in his second year leading the program. “We’re starting to gel. We’ve played some tough teams in our non-conference games. But we already surpassed our wins from last year by two… We’re right where we want to be. From where we were from a year ago, I think we’ve made a lot of progress as a program.”

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