UMass basketball: Holy Cross halts Minutewomen's two-game winning streak with 75-70 win

By RYAN AMES

AMHERST – The UMass women's basketball team's two-game winning streak was snapped after a 75-70 loss to Holy Cross on Wednesday night at the Mullins Center.The Minutewomen led 52-46 after three quarters of play, but the Crusaders' ability to sink...

Meet the Daily Hampshire Gazette's newest sports reporter, Ryan Ames

Hey UMass hockey fans, remember me?I'm back in the Pioneer Valley, this time as the Daily Hampshire Gazette's newest sports reporter.For those of you who don't know who I am, my name is Ryan Ames and nearly six years ago, I graduated from UMass.I...

Colleges: Amherst men and women sweep basketball doubleheader

By GARRETT COTE

AMHERST — All five of the Amherst College women’s basketball team’s starters scored in double figures, led by Laura Mendell’s game-high 18 points, and the Mammoths limited Albertus Magnus to just one field goal in the fourth quarter to pull away with...

Boys soccer: Lynnfield tallies in the second half to knock off Frontier, 1-0, in MIAA Div. 4 semifinals

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

AYER — Throughout its MIAA Division 4 postseason run, the Frontier boys soccer team has found moments of brilliance to keep its season alive. That moment never quite materialized on Tuesday in its semifinal contest against second-seeded Lynnfield. The...

UMass football: Interim coach Shane Montgomery admits Don Brown’s firing leaves Minutemen, staff with “uncertainty”

By GARRETT COTE

AMHERST — In the wake of UMass Director of Athletics Ryan Bamford’s firing of former head football coach Don Brown on Monday, interim head coach Shane Montgomery gave the Minutemen players the day off from practice to give them time to digest the...

Boys soccer: Frontier takes on second-seeded Lynnfield in Div. 4 semifinals

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

Sometimes a deep state tournament run produces a special, magical moment along the way.Those memorable moments seem to happen every time the Frontier boys soccer team has been on the field throughout the MIAA Division 4 state tournament. From a Will...

UMass football: Minutemen players react to Don Brown’s firing; plus potential replacements

By GARRETT COTE

AMHERST — In Monday’s press release issued by UMass athletics regarding the firing of Minutemen head football coach Don Brown, Director of Athletics Ryan Bamford offered some praise for the program’s now former head coach.“Upon [Brown’s] return in...

Amherst College soccer teams both advance to Sweet 16

By RYAN AMES

The Amherst College men’s and women’s soccer teams advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III tournament this past weekend, each claiming dramatic wins in the Round of 32.The men’s team edged the Stevens Institute of Technology in penalty...

Colleges: UMass men’s soccer, Smith College volleyball earn NCAA tourney bids

For the sixth time in program history — and the first time since 2020 — the UMass men’s soccer team is heading to the NCAA Tournament. Following a 10-3-5 season that saw the Minutemen reach the Atlantic 10 quarterfinals, UMass received an at-large bid...

UMass fires head football coach Don Brown after nearly 3 seasons

By GARRETT COTE

AMHERST — UMass Director of Athletics Ryan Bamford announced on Monday morning that Minutemen football head coach Don Brown has been released of his duties with two games remaining in his third season leading the program.The 69-year-old Brown finishes...

Colleges: UMass field hockey beats Harvard, advances to first NCAA Final Four since 1992

For the first time in 32 years, the Minutewomen are Final Four-bound.UMass claimed a historic 1-0 shutout victory over No. 10 Harvard in the NCAA Elite Eight on Sunday at Nancy Stevens Field in Storrs, Conn. With the win, the Minutewomen advanced to...

UMass basketball: Minutemen edged by Hofstra in OT for 3rd straight loss

By HOWARD HERMAN

AMHERST — The finish wasn't what Frank Martin and the UMass men’s basketball team might have hoped for.The Minutemen dropped a 75-71 overtime thriller to undefeated Hofstra Saturday night at the Mullins Center. But it wasn't the final five minutes,...

Williston athletics: Wildcats capture Danny Smith Bowl, field hockey wins Class B title

By HANNAH BEVIS

EASTHAMPTON — The Cheshire Academy football rumbled into Sawyer Field ready to prove something against Williston Northampton School in the annual NEPSAC Danny Smith Bowl. The two teams had clashed earlier in the season and the Wildcats had snagged a...

Cross Country: Amherst girls place second at MIAA Div. 2 State Championship (PHOTOS)

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

DEVENS — The Amherst girls cross country team nearly walked away with the program’s eighth state championship on Saturday during the MIAA Division 2 State Championship at Fort Devens. The Hurricanes ran about as well as they could have hoped, led by a...

UMass football: Minutemen fall to Liberty in overtime, 35-34, after missed extra point

By HOWARD HERMAN

AMHERST — The decision was the right one. It did not pay off.In a tie football game, UMass kicker Jacob Lurie had a chance to be the hero. All he had to do was boot a 43-yard field goal as time expired to give his team a hard-fought victory over...

Football: Smith Voc can’t keep pace with Upper Cape Cod in 52-20 state vocational playoff loss (PHOTOS)

By RYAN AMES

EASTHAMPTON – The Smith Vocational football team couldn’t keep pace with Upper Cape Cod Regional Vocational Tech in its 52-20 loss in the state vocational small school quarterfinal round on Saturday afternoon at Mountain View School.The first quarter...

Football: Big second quarter lifts South Hadley past Pathfinder, 27-9

By RYAN AMES

SOUTH HADLEY – A 20-point second quarter powered the South Hadley football team to a 27-9 win past Pathfinder in a non-playoff game Friday night.Senior Julius Hebenth scored two of the Tigers’ three second-quarter touchdowns, including a lengthy run...

UMass field hockey rallies past UConn for spot in NCAA Elite Eight

By RYAN AMES

Hannah de Gast came up clutch for the UMass field hockey team in its 2-1 win over No. 3 UConn during the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.The senior scored the game-winning goal late in the fourth quarter to send the Minutewomen to...

UMass football: Kaidon Salter, Liberty come to town as Minutemen enter home stretch of 2024 season

By GARRETT COTE

AMHERST — The UMass football team has two more opportunities in its last three contests to salvage something this season, the first coming on Saturday afternoon when the Minutemen host Liberty for a noon kickoff at McGuirk Alumni Stadium.Through nine...

MIAA Cross Country: Amherst, Northampton girls eyeing podium finishes at Fort Devens

By JEFF LAJOIE

It’s championship weekend for high school cross country runners, as local harriers will compete in the MIAA Division 2 and 3 Championships at Fort Devens on Saturday.The Division 2 races begin at 12:30 p.m. (girls) and 1:15 p.m. (boys), while the Div....