The Colby College men’s hockey team plays against Tufts on Saturday in the New England Small College Athletic Conference semifinals. Jamie Fiedorek photo courtesy of Colby College Athletics

It’s going to be a busy Saturday on the ice for Colby College.

The men’s and women’s hockey teams will play in New England Small College Athletic Conference semifinals. Colby (14-5-6) plays Tufts (11-12-1) in the men’s semifinals in Clinton, New York, and the women (17-5-2) head to Amherst, Massachusetts, to play Middlebury (19-5-1).

The Colby men are trying to reach the conference final for the first time since 2022, when they lost to Trinity, 4-1. The Mules are a battle-tested group, going into overtime six times in the month of February. They advanced to the semifinals with a 3-2 win in double overtime over Amherst last weekend in Waterville.  Junior forward Max Abene scored the winning goal.

“I think our mindset has been in such a strong place for the last month and a half,” said Colby coach Blaise MacDonald. “That’s a direct result of good leadership, believability and trust. We kind of feel like (the playoffs) is business as usual. All year, we’ve played much better than I personally expected us to play, having lost eight seniors (from last year). Two of them were all-Americans, one of them was all-NESCAC. We lost some good players.

“We’re in a good place. We’re not too high, we’re not too low. We’re in a good workmanlike mindset.”

The Mules have a balanced offense, led by freshman forwards Massimo Gentile (eight goals, 11 assists) and Will Soloway (six goals, 12 assists). Colby has eight players with 10 points or more.

“We have so many people who contribute in so many ways, and we need that collective effort,” MacDonald said. “The fact that we finished third in our conference, and are playing in the final four of our league championship, it’s all hands on deck and everyone has contributed to that success.”

Colby College goaltender Cooper Rautenstrauch, right, has an 11-3-5 record this season, with a 1.92 goals-against average. The Mules play Tufts University in the NESCAC semifinals on Saturday. Ansley White photo courtesy of Colby College Athletics

The Mules have another freshman standout between the pipes. Cooper Rautenstrauch is 11-3-5 with a 1.92 goals-against average. He has three shutouts.

Colby won both regular-season meetings with Tufts, 6-4 on Dec. 6 in Waterville and 3-2 in overtime on Feb. 21 in Medford, Massachusetts.

Junior forward Max Resnick (nine goals, 12 assists), leads Tufts.

“Tufts is a team that’s fun to watch,” MacDonald said. “They’re dynamic up front. They have extremely creative and skilled forwards who are very dangerous. They’re a little bit young on the back end, but they’ve got a goaltender (Gustave Bylin) that’s huge and has the potential to make 50 saves, if he needs to.”

The Colby women have reached the NESCAC semifinals in five straight seasons. Coach Holley Tyng said this year’s team may have had the toughest path to a semifinal appearance.

“They’ve blown me away. Of all the years, I think this is the one that we’ve worked the hardest for,” Tyng said. “We graduated some key players from last year, and I think at the start of the year, we were really trying to find our identity until that Christmas break. We didn’t really start coming into our own until mid-January. It’s been amazing to see them come together and find the success that they found. They’ve really put in the work for it. This one feel’s really special.

“Going into this weekend, knowing that we’ve been successful against every team that we’ll go up against, it just gives us a different sense of confidence. In the past, we’ve always believed in our abilities. But to sort of know that we can (win) is just sort of a different factor for us this year.”

Colby College senior goaltender Mandy Busky has an 11-1-2 record this season, with a 0.92 goals-against average. She also has five shutouts. The Mules play Middlebury College in the NESCAC semifinals on Saturday. Contributed photo by Colby College Athletics

Junior forward Courtney Schumacher (eight goals, eight assists) and senior defenseman Georgia Pettygrove (five goals, 11 assists) are Colby’s leaders in points, followed by junior defenseman Breanna Studley (eight goals, seven assists) and sophomore forward Molly Lefebvre (six goals, nine assists).

The player of the season for the Mules has unquestionably been goalie Mandy Busky. A senior, Busky is 11-1-2 this season, with 0.92 goals-against average and five shutouts.

“We’ve seen Mandy’s confidence grow (over the years),” Tyng said. “It’s the belief in herself and our belief in her as a staff (that’s key). I think when you’re all on the same page, you’re setting an athlete up for success. She knows we have the upmost confidence in her, and I think it’s been fun to see her grow and develop and it’s been fun to see the team shine in front of her, too.”

Middlebury has 20 wins but lost both regular-season meetings with the Mules — 3-0 on Feb. 21 and 2-0 on Feb. 22. The Panthers won the NESCAC title last year and reached the NCAA Division III semifinals. They’re led by senior defenseman Sabrina Kim (one goal, 19 assists) and sophomore forward Kate Flynn (10 goals, eight assists). Senior goalie Sophia Merageas is 11-1-1 with a 0.88 GAA.

“There’s pros and cons (to playing a recent opponent),” Tyng said. “The familiarity, I think, is great. What are they going to adjust (from the last game)? What do we need adjust? And what do we need to be prepared for? (Middlebury coach Bill Mandigo) is an incredible coach on the other side. I know he’ll have something up his sleeve. We just need to make sure we’re prepared and ready, identify (changes) early and be prepared to counter.”