The Amherst College men's squash team will kick off the winter championship season at the 2022 NESCAC Tournament this weekend at the Ferris Athletic Center at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. The Mammoths earned the fourth seed in the tournament and a first-round bye and will open tournament play with a matchup against fifth-seeded Bates in the quarterfinals on Saturday (Feb. 5) at 9 a.m.

After Saturday morning's match, the Mammoths will play again at 3 p.m. on Saturday in either the semifinals or the consolation round with the championship match to come on Sunday. All matches will be streaming live while spectators are limited to individuals on team pass lists.

Seeding is based on the CSA national rankings and Amherst's national rank of 21 slots the Mammoths fifth among NESCAC teams. Williams will not be participating in this year's tournament due to COVID-19 protocols so the Mammoths claim the fourth seed in the 10-team field.

The Mammoths (8-7) enter the tournament as the fourth seed just as they were the last time this tournament was held in 2020. The quarterfinal meeting with Bates (3-9) provides an intriguing rematch of a Jan. 13 meeting in Lewiston, Maine, that Amherst won by a slim 5-4 margin, the closest match of the season against a NESCAC opponent. Bates is 5-0 all-time against Amherst in the NESCAC Tournament and defeated the Mammoths in the 2019 quarterfinals.

The winner of the Amherst-Bates match will move on to a semifinal contest against either top-seeded Trinity, eighth-seeded Hamilton or ninth-seeded Wesleyan, though the Bantams are as always the team to beat in the NESCAC. Trinity (11-2) has won all 14 NESCAC Championships since the tournament began in 2007, capturing nine national championships in that stretch, and is currently ranked third in the nation. The Bantams are 5-0 against NESCAC opponents this season, including a win over Amherst in December.

Second-seeded Tufts (5-4) will have a quarterfinal matchup against the winner of the first-round match between seventh-seeded Middlebury and 10th-seeded Connecticut College. The Jumbos' second seed is their highest in program history. The Mammoths fell to Tufts in a meeting on Jan. 23 and have wins over both Middlebury and Connecticut College this season.

Third-seeded Bowdoin and sixth-seeded Colby will square off in the other quarterfinal. The Polar Bears claimed an 8-1 victory over their Maine rivals in January and defeated the Mules in the consolation rounds of the 2020 tournament. The Mammoths fell to Bowdoin and defeated Colby on a swing through Maine in January.

Senior Robinson Armour, an All-NESCAC selection in 2020, has spent most of the season playing at the top of the ladder for the Mammoths. Junior Adam Lichtmacher recently moved up to the #2 spot and enters the tournament with a 8-3 record this season. Senior captain Andrew Leung brings a 6-5 record into the tourney and fellow captain Charles Sutherby has posted a 7-6 mark.
 

	Tournament Seed	National Ranking	Overall Record	Record vs. NESCAC
Trinity	#1	#3	11-2	5-0
Tufts	#2	#19	5-4	4-2
Bowdoin	#3	#20	6-6	3-2
Amherst	#4	#21	8-7	5-3
Bates	#5	#22	3-9	3-4
Colby	#6	#24	2-8	1-5
Middlebury	#7	#25	2-8	1-4
Hamilton	#8	#28	4-7	2-3
Wesleyan	#9	#29	3-5	2-2
Connecticut College	#10	#31	4-8	0-5