Courtesy of Sean Elliot
The 2026 Fall Weekend (Oct. 9-10) saw hundreds of students, friends, families, and alumni descend on the Connecticut College campus to enjoy the beautiful weather and festivities. While the majority of campus enjoyed Harvest Fest or had a bite under the tent on Tempel Green, our Fall athletes took on competitive opponents from Maine to Maryland. Five teams put on a show for families who came to New London to see the Camels take down NESCAC and regional opponents alike. Even the rosters not in Southeastern Connecticut for the weekend performed and returned to campus with momentum for future matchups. In this edition of The College Voice, we will recap the weekend’s matchups and how the Camels defended home field.
Women’s Cross Country: Dominating at the James Early Invitational
On Saturday morning, the team went up the road to Westfield, MA, to compete in the 15-team James Early Invitational, where the Camels did anything but disappoint. The roster placed second with five runners: Chase Ireland ‘27, Kaya Schwenke ‘28, Kate Moroney ‘27, Asa Bruno ‘30, and Lilly Pope ‘30, all with under-20-minute personal bests, and placed 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, and 25th, respectively. Of the 16 runners, 12 set personal bests in a competition that has helped the team maintain their 22nd-place ranking in the country and fourth in the NESCAC. After another strong performance the following week at the Connecticut College Invitational, the roster is looking to make some noise in the NESCAC Championship on Halloween, in large part due to the momentum they gained in Stanley Park.
Women’s Field Hockey’s Hard-Fought Defense of Silfen
The field hockey roster took to the home field at 1 p.m. to take on #22 Bates College in a NESCAC matchup with serious implications for Championship seeding. With 300 in attendance, the Camels kept pace with the Bobcats, trading shots for the first 15:30 before Bates took a 1-0 lead off back-to-back penalty corners in the second quarter. The second and final score came on a Bates goal midway through the third quarter, sealing the game for the Bobcats. The Camels tied the Bobcats with six shots on goal led by Sadie Gearan ‘27 and Maddie Mason ‘27 with two each and had the advantage in penalty corners over Bates 11-9. Despite the loss, the team went 3-1 over the next four games, doubling their win total on the season before their final matchup of the season against Wesleyan University.
Men’s & Women’s Rowing Gain Momentum at the Head of the Housatonic
The Men’s and Women’s rowing teams traveled to the other side of the Constitution State to take on the Head of the Housatonic. The women’s roster put three boats in the water for the 8+ event, while the men followed up with one boat in the 8+ and one in the 4+. The women’s 1V8 team placed 4th of 11 with a time of 17:00 while the 3V8 and 2V8 teams followed 1:16 and 1:30 behind, taking ninth and 10th place. The men’s 1V8 team finished 18th of 22 with a time of 15:44 while the 1V4 finished 21st of 24 with a time of 17:59. These strong performances propelled both teams to their solid performances at the Head of the Charles and Wormtown Chase Regattas to close out the fall season as sights get set on the races in the spring.
Sailing’s Triple Regatta Weekend Ends in Success Along the Coast
The Camels took part in three regattas over the Fall Weekend across the East Coast. On the home front, Conn hosted the Stu Nelson women’s regatta, where the Camels placed 10th of 16, led by Lily Saffer ‘27 and Alex Daigle ‘29 with 45 points in the A division boat. The division B and C logged 40 and 36 points, respectively, en route to the best Stu Nelson performance since 2021. Just down the coast, the other New England regatta was taking place off the coast of Newport, RI, in the Salve Regina hosted Sister Esther Trophy. The Camels placed ninth and 10th of 17 with boats manned by Rory Murray ‘29 and Ariel Belson ‘30, and Keegan Chatburn ‘29 and Sienna Young ‘29 in the two Division A boats. Again, the roster logged their best performance in the Sister Esther Trophy since 2021. The Camels completed the 10th-place hat trick in Maryland at the Open Atlantic Coast Championships Round 1A hosted by St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Henry Scholz ‘27 and Wells Connor ‘29 skippered the Division A boat to the sound of 142 points, 34 points fewer than last season’s performance.
Men’s & Women’s Soccer: Freeman Field’s Bates Double-header
Both soccer teams took on Bates on Freeman Field on Saturday. The women went first at 11 a.m. with 527 in attendance and got out to an early lead that they wouldn’t end up letting go of. After three shot attempts in the first 10 minutes of play by the Camels, the fourth, by Claire Chace ‘29, reached the back of the net, putting Conn up 1-0 with 79 minutes left to play. The defense remained stout, especially in the first half, where the Bobcats only took two total shots even with four corner kick opportunities. At the end of regulation, keeper Maia Kafer ‘28 logged eight saves, improving the Camels to 4-5-1. The men followed up at 2 p.m. with a dominant performance against the Bobcats. The Bates offense was held to five shots, none of which were on goal, compared to the Camels’ 17. Even with the stout defense and plethora of offensive opportunities, the white and blue were unable to score as a near-goal that had the 1,600-strong crowd on its feet was controversially called back for an offside penalty. Seven offside penalties killed the offensive momentum and resulted in the game ending in a 0-0 tie.
Men’s Tennis Takes Down Gully 5-2
While the women were taking on Bates on Freeman Field, the men’s tennis team was handing Endicott College a devastating defeat. All three doubles matchups were won by Conn with Arjun Premkumar ‘27 and Noa Hoshino ‘29, Wolf Sohlberg ‘28 and Anthony Chen ‘30, and Edward Petersen ‘29 and Tucker Catalano ‘28 taking down their opponents 6-1, 6-2, and 6-2, respectively. The singles matchups saw the Camels drop the #1 and #4 matches with Premkumar, Sohlberg, Petersen, and Catalano handily disposing of the competition to an overall 5-2 performance on the day for the white and blue.
Women’s Volleyball: From Bates on Friday to Tufts on Saturday
The women’s volleyball team was busy on the road for their double-header in Lewiston, ME, on Friday and Medford, MA, on Saturday. In Friday’s 6 p.m. matchup, they kicked off the Fall Weekend games and four-game gauntlet against the Bobcats with a 3-2 victory. Offensively, led by All-NESCAC Second Team middle blocker Rae Wartelle ‘27, the Camels dropped the first two sets, then won the final three to a margin of 65-48. With the stunning comeback, the Camels extended their win streak over Bates to three straight, the last two of which were on the road. The Saturday afternoon matchup was less forgiving as the Jumbos commanded the offensive and defensive sides of play to a 0-3 loss for the Camels. After the previous evening’s five hard-fought sets, the roster was unable to keep up with a Tufts roster playing a second-straight home game and momentum from their previous night’s win over Trinity College. After a win the following week over Williams College, the Camels have two final NESCAC matchups as they attempt to punch their ticket to a fourth straight NESCAC Championship.
Men’s Water Polo to the Empire State to Play Iona University
The Men’s Water Polo traveled across state lines for their second matchup against Iona University this season. The Gaels jumped out to an early 10-1 lead through the first two periods that a late game surge from Jesse Ellis ‘27 and Paul Podrebarac ‘28 was unable to overcome. Even in the 8-18 loss, the Camels showed fight, only being outscored 7-8 in the final two periods. The loss ended up being right in the middle of a nine game slide that ended on Oct. 24 against Washington & Jefferson College in a 14-11 victory in Baltimore. As the MPSF Championships approach, the team looks to convert their offensive success into a few more victories to truly cement themselves as a competitor in the MPSF East Division.
