Women’s Golf
The Bates women’s golf team is looking forward to the 2025 – 2026 season, which will officially begin on September 13 with the Husson Invitational at Bangor Municipal Golf Course.
Last fall, Bates won the event as a team and then first years Isabelle Meltzer ‘28 and Sarah Wicks ‘28 took home the individual title. With the recent hiring of Head Coach Ian Gould, the team is eager to continue building on its strong foundation. Tory Adams ’27 shared with The Student, “We are all really excited about our fall golf season, and are thrilled to have Ian Gould as our new women’s coach! We hope to make this one of our best seasons yet!”
Mehar Nijjer ‘27 echoed Adams’ sentiments, “Last fall, our team built momentum with consistent and competitive performances in tournaments. This season, I’m looking forward to lowering our scores further and competing for stronger finishes within our conference.” Stay tuned for what is sure to be an exciting fall for the program with lots of action on the links here in Maine and around the New England area.
Men’s Golf
The Bates men’s golf program has grown tremendously over the past couple of years, which has allowed it to become a fierce competitor in the NESCAC conference. After speaking with team captain Henry Ehrlich ‘26, who tied for first place as an individual in the NESCAC Championship back in April of 2024, it’s evident the team is heading into the season with unwavering confidence– and rightfully so.
“Here on the men’s golf team, we’re looking forward to continuing the upward trajectory we’ve been on as a program in the past few years. Between a world-class coach, three exciting first-years and the simultaneously hard-working and friendly team culture that we work to foster, we’re slated to compete for the top of the leaderboard every weekend this fall,” Ehrlich said.
He went on to add, “While we didn’t perform our best at the NESCAC championships, we solidified our place in the conference as a team to look out for and as a team which other schools look forward to playing with.”
Their season opener on September 20 at the Williams Fall Invitational, which will be played at Taconic Golf Club is going to be the tournament to watch.
Women’s Cross Country
The women’s cross country team ran into action last weekend at the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin (CBB) meet, which was hosted in Brunswick at the Pickard Field Cross Country Course by Bowdoin College.
Five first-year students had stellar performances, especially Maeve Ginevan who placed sixth out of 41 runners. Bowdoin College and The Pickard Field Cross Country Course will also be the host of the Maine State Meet on September 20, which the team won last fall beating out seven competitive programs.
When asked about her feelings on the season ahead, team captain Gwendolyn Anderson ’27 said, “We’ve had a wonderful class of recruits come in and we are so excited to work hard and run fast this season!”
Given the immense amount of talent this team possess and the leadership qualities of their captains, Anderson, Lucy Paynter ’26 and Leah White ’27 this season is bound to be a memorable one.
Men’s Cross Country
Just like the women’s team, the men’s cross country team kicked off their season last weekend at the CBB meet. They also gave their first-year runners a chance to compete and Carsten Lyons ‘29 had an impressive debut finishing in tenth place in a field of 48 competitors.
The upcoming Maine State Meet is likely to be an exciting meet for this team as they won last fall, beating out nine competitive programs. While the rest of the season didn’t pan out like the team would have liked, Callahan Porter ‘27 said, “We left last season with some remorse but, we are ready to use that as fuel, ambitious for the upcoming fall.”
The team is also captained by Jackson Monz ‘26 and Ross Tejeda ‘26, both of whom have had strong running careers at Bates thus far.
Football
The Bates football team is set to begin the 2025 season this Saturday, where they’ll take on the Amherst College Mammoths on Garcelon Field. This game will also be special as it’s the 150th anniversary of the Bates football program, which has been a pivotal part of campus culture since its founding.
While the team has experienced some ups and downs when it comes to season records, they solidified themselves as promising competitors last fall after securing a big win on the road at Wesleyan and later beating Middlebury at home. Both Wesleyan and Middlebury are two of the most competitive teams in the NESCAC, so it’s very likely these wins foreshadowed future success that will hopefully be awarded to the Bobcats this fall.
Volleyball
The Bates volleyball team opens the 2025 season with fresh energy and high expectations under a new coaching staff consisting of Head Coach Carissa Bradford and Assistant Coah Sachio Kekati. The team looks to climb the NESCAC standings after going 2-8 in conference play in 2024.
The Bobcats will lean on outside hitter and two-year captain Ami Evans ‘26, who led the team with 218 kills last season, along with middle Sofia Castiglioni ‘27, who added 160 kills and 34 blocks. On defense, libero Ellie Asada ‘26 anchors the back row after posting 171 digs in 2024.
After sweeping Southern Maine in the opener and pushing UNE to five sets, Bates looks to build consistency on offense, speed up its front-row attack, and finish strong in tight matches. With a mix of veteran leadership and new talent, the Bobcats aim to break through and secure a NESCAC playoff spot.
Women’s Soccer
After a 2024 season in which the Bobcats went 5-9-1 overall and 2-8 in the NESCAC, Bates enters 2025 eager to gain more NESCAC wins. A defense and midfield heavy team, they’ll be leaning heavily on forward Gabby Monaco ’26, whose speed (also used in track) makes her a top offensive threat and Eleanor Martin ’28, who showed promise last year with three goals.
Team captains Tess Griffith ’26 and Sam Bunar ’26 (also a goalkeeper who notched her first collegiate goal against Thomas on Wednesday) lead with starting goalkeeper Sydney Litney ’27 on the defensive side of things. Meanwhile, midfielders like Rachel Suh ’27 (who already has two goals for the year) and Gwyn Jamison ’28 hold down the midfield.
The team kicked off their season with some encouraging early performances, including a dominant 8-0 non-conference win over Thomas College and competitive showings elsewhere. Key to improvement will be scoring more consistently, defensive tightening and more conference wins. With a full schedule that includes several tough NESCAC matchups, Bates has promising a chance to build momentum and climb the standings.
Men’s Soccer
Bates enters the 2025 season looking to build on a mixed 2024 campaign (6-7-2 overall, 2-6-2 in the NESCAC) under second-year Head Coach Ben Brewster. The roster features returning starters like forward Wilson Smith ’26, midfielders including team captain Sebastian Iacovitti ’26 and Lane Foushée ‘26 who has two goals and two assists for the year already. Forward Luke Cunniffe ‘29 has started all three of the Bobcats’ games in the 2025 season. Defender and captain Noah Greiff ’27and Alden Yu ’29 join goalkeeper George Nassar ’28 (a starter since his first year) in leading the Bobcats on the defensive end. With an early non-conference win at home over Saint Joseph’s College of Maine setting the tone, the Bobcats must improve their conference consistency and find steady scoring in order to climb the NESCAC standings.
Field Hockey
The field hockey team enters their 2025 season ranked No. 8 nationally after a historic 2024 campaign (14-7 overall) that saw them reach the NESCAC championship and NCAA quarterfinals. Though their NFHCA First Team All-American scorer Anna Cote ’25 graduated, the Bobcats return with key offensive threats in Brooke Moloney-Kolenberg ‘26, team captain Lucy Norris ’26, and Sophie O’Sullivan ‘27, along with rising midfield anchor Rose Gordon ‘28.
Team captain Haley Dwight ’27 and Amy LaBelle ’27 join goalkeeper Ava Donohue ’28 (Bates Female Rookie of the Year 2024) on leading the Bobcats from the defensive end. With early wins already under their belt and an undefeated 4-0 record, Bates faces a challenging NESCAC slate that will demand depth, balance, and consistency. Success will hinge on spreading the scoring load, controlling the midfield, and maintaining composure in tight games. If they can build on last year’s momentum, the Bobcats have the talent to contend for both a NESCAC title and another deep NCAA tournament run.
