Since the turn of the new year, Cougar athletics have seen quite the action with the continuation of men’s and women’s basketball in the President’s Athletic Conference (PAC) campaigns and men’s and women’s hockey pushing through United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) play.
Saturday, Jan. 3
The new year began with a contest between Chatham men’s basketball and the Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets. The Jackets extended a small early lead of five to begin the game before the Cougars established control with a 7-0 run where five of the points came from Diaun Pinkett ‘26.
Control would continue for the Cougars as it went on to finish out the win 62-55 over the travelling Jackets. The Cougars were led by Sam Norfleet IV ‘28, who finished the game scoring 14 points, shooting 4-6 from the field and 6-6 from the free throw line on the night.
Another notable performance came from Jake TenBerge ‘26, who hauled in 11 points and seven rebounds in the game.
Men’s hockey would continue the opening weekend of the new year with a 5-1 UCHC victory over SUNY Morrisville. The Cougars would open its attacking hot on the night with 19 shots in the first period before Oscar Saarinen ‘26 would open the scoring with his first of the season.
The team would be bolstered by goals from Andrew Martino ‘27, Michael Roby ‘27, Dylan Young ‘28 and Jake LaRusso ‘27 on its way to the 5-1 victory.
Sunday, Jan. 4
The Cougars men’s hockey team would square off for its second matchup with SUNY Morrisville, and it would defeat it 7-4. Within the first period the Cougars would soar to a 5-1 lead with goals coming from Tyler Samodral ‘28, Nick Cyprian ‘26, Kyle Contessa ‘27, Caden Pendo ‘29 and Roby.
The Mustangs would fight back, outscoring the Cougars 3-0 in the second and leaving the game at 5-4 in favor of the Cougars heading into the third period.
Battling back to restore the three goal lead, the Cougars would score two in the third to win the game 7-4 on the night with Samodral scoring his second and Ian Norkevicus ‘29 finishing out a strong performance from the team.
Monday, Jan. 5
The UCHC announced its weekly awards where two Cougars were recognized for their efforts in the back-to-back wins over SUNY Morrisville. Pendo and Norkevicus were named as the UCHC Player of the Week and Co-Rookie of the Week.
Pendo recorded two assists in the first game and a goal and three more assists to bring his tally to five on the weekend. Norkevicus was named the Co-Rookie of the Week from his contributions of an assist on the Saturday matchup before adding on another goal and three assists on Sunday.
Wednesday, Jan. 7
Wednesday night would be a return to action for both of the basketball teams where they would face off with the Waynesburg Yellow Jackets in PAC action.
Women’s basketball would open the night with its victory over the Jackets, claiming a 71-65 win to secure its first PAC win on the season.
Alyssa Laukus ‘26 would lead the team with 21 points on the night, with Madison Nereu ‘26 adding on a double-double performance of her own with 19 points and 11 rebounds to cap off a very successful night for the Cougars.
The second matchup would see men’s basketball face off against the same opponent. With a strong scoring night being the tale of the tape, Lovenson Xavier ‘26 scored 32 with eight rebounds and two steals on his way to helping the Cougars win 98-73.
Xavier’s powerful performance led him to breaking through the 1,000 career points mark and the second-most field goals in a single game with 13 on the night. TenBerge added 14 points, six rebounds and four assists of his own.
Friday, Jan. 9
Friday would see a return to action for both the men’s and women’s hockey squads where the men’s team would face off with the Hiram Terriers and the women’s team would travel to the Trine Thunder.
The men’s hockey squad would defeat the Terriers 13-2 in a record-setting affair in its Alumni Night victory. Early on the Cougars would be bolstered with five goals in the first period, coming from Norkevicus, Roby, Bekk McClaine ‘26, Cyprian and Nicholas Babbie ‘27.
Eight more goals would be scored throughout the affair with True Crowe ‘26 and Pendo opening the second period scoring. Before Cyprian would get his hat trick scoring his third in the third, Roby would grab a second with Martino, Young, and Kowin Belsterling ‘29 finishing out the scoring.
This matchup would break the single-game team goals record, previously set earlier on this year.
Women’s hockey would travel to Angola, Indiana to square off with the Trine Thunder on the same day. Chelsea Clark ‘26 would strike first, opening the scoring for the Cougars.
However, three unanswered goals in the second and third periods would stop the Cougars from claiming a victory. In net, Samantha Brophy ‘26 made 26 saves on the night.
Saturday, Jan. 10
Saturday opened with the second matchup between men’s hockey and the Hiram Terriers. The team honored its seniors during the pregame. The Cougars would go on to win the affair 15-1 with goals from Brendan Pomerantz ‘26 and Cyprian who opened up the scoring in the first period. Samodral, McClaine, Camden Davis ‘27, Young, True Crowe ‘26, LaRusso, Roby and Cyprian brought the score to 10-1 by the end of the second period.
Five more goals would come in the third with McClaine bringing in his hat trick and Martino, Belsterling and Saarinen closing out the scoring for the Cougars.
Cyprian’s early goal made him the first-ever Cougar to cross the 100-point mark in history with the team smashing the single-game goal record yet again with 15 over the day before’s 13.
Women’s hockey would close out its series with the Trine Thunder with a 4-4 tie to close out the weekend.
Only 26 seconds after the Thunder opened the scoring, Klara Miuller ‘28 would respond with her second goal of the year. Miuller would then bring the lead to 3-1 after netting her first career hat trick.
Isabela Allsopp ‘28 would be credited with three assists on the three goals on the night, but despite the efforts of the team, the score would fall back even at 3-3.
To start the third period, the Thunder would go ahead 4-3 before Liv McTavish ‘26 would equalize at 4-4. The game would head to overtime where the efforts of Brophy in goal would hold them with the tie on the night with her five overtime saves keeping the score level.
Men’s and women’s basketball would then square off against the Thiel College Tomcats in a double-header matchup.
Women’s basketball would run away with an 85-54 victory over the Tomcats on a dominant three-point shooting wind.
The team shot 53% from the field as a whole and 40% from three-point range, led by Nereu’s 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists. The team also managed to hold Thiel to shoot just 37% from the field including just 28% in the fourth and final quarter.
Men’s basketball would follow the women’s team with a victory of its own over the Tomcats, 73-56.
Pinkett led scoring on the night with 21 points and nine rebounds with other notable performances from Xavier who pulled in 12 points and eight rebounds and Drew Vizenor ‘27 with 11 points and eight rebounds of his own.
After the first half ended 34-29 in favor of the Cougars, the team would come out of halftime storming to a commanding lead with a 21-2 point run over the first 12 minutes of the second half. It held the Tomcats to just 35% from the field and 27% from three-point range.
Men’s and women’s swimming and diving would open up its 2026 calendar season with a tri-meet against Washington & Jefferson (W&J) and Franciscan on Saturday as well.
The men’s side would host several top three finishers but would fall 221-48 to the Presidents. Second-place finishes were brought home by Brady Gardner ‘26 in the 1650-meter freestyle, John Mitchell ‘29 in the 200-meter backstroke and Caleb Trainum ‘27 in the 100-meter butterfly and 400-meter individual medley (IM).
Third-place finishes were secured by Xavier Johnston ‘27 in the one-meter dive, Maxwell Rollins ‘28 in the 100-meter backstroke and Ethan Hopkins ‘28 in the 100-meter breaststroke. The 200-meter freestyle relay team also brought home second place.
The women’s team fell to the Presidents 145-88 but defeated the Lady Barons of Franciscan 123-63.
Alayna Kercher ‘28 would secure wins in the 500-meter and 1650-meter freestyle as well as Hannah Uhrinek ‘28 in the 100-meter and 200-meter butterfly and Olivia Mucha ‘29 in the 200-meter backstroke. Second-place finishes came from Carlie McClurg ‘28 in the 100-meter backstroke and freestyle along with Siera Schmitt ‘27 in the 100-meter breaststroke and Kercher in the 400-meter IM.
Kercher, Mucha and Schmitt would also secure third-place finishes in some of their other events and so would Hannah Kane ‘26 in the 100-meter freestyle. The 200-meter freestyle relay team would finish in second place as well.
Sunday, Jan. 11
Men’s and women’s squash would open up the new year facing off with Vassar College. The men’s program would sweep Vassar securing seven straight wins with Keyel Beasley ‘26 battling his opponent through five games on the day.
For women’s squash, it secured its first victory of the new year winning 4-3 in its matchup with Vassar. Clara Braga ‘27, Vasundhra Vasanthan ‘26 and Sofia Pinto Combita ‘26 would all sweep their opponents and Ta’Niya-Marie Nored ‘26 would take her opponent to four games before earning her win.
Monday, Jan. 12
The PAC and UCHC announced its weekly awards for Jan. 5-11. Mitchell was recognized in the Freshman of the Week pool for his performance in the meet against W&J.
Nereu was named the PAC Player of the Week for women’s basketball after recording her sixth double-double of the year with 19 points and 11 rebounds against Waynesburg. She also recorded her 1,000th career point before she recorded 20 points against Thiel on Saturday.
In the UCHC awards, Cyprian, Belsterling and Miuller were recognized for their efforts in the men’s and women’s hockey teams weekends.
Cyprian was named Co-UCHC Player of the Week after tallying six total points with a hat trick in the first game against Hiram before adding on two more goals and an assist in the second affair.
Belsterling was named Co-UCHC Rookie of the Week after bringing in six points of his own. He brought home a goal and four assists in the first game against Hiram where he tied the single-game points record for the program and broke the single-game assists record. He would add a second goal in the second game to wrap up his weekend.
Miuller was named UCHC Player of the Week after her hat trick performance in the Saturday matchup with Trine where she scored three goals and gathered an assist as well. She leads the team in goals on the season as well.
Tuesday, Jan. 13
Tuesday began the third campaign of Chatham men’s volleyball where the team was selected to finish fourth in the PAC for this season. The Cougars are looking to build on their 8-4 PAC season from the previous year.
Five cougars were selected as players to watch including Tim McCabe ‘27 who had the third most kills (85) and points (110.5) on last year’s squad and Ben Shelestak ‘27 who was an All-PAC first-team selection in 2025 with the third most kills in PAC play last year and the eighth most digs.
RJ Nagg ‘27 was an All-PAC Honorable Mention with the third most assists per set in PAC play last season. He led the team with 19 aces.
A pair of first-years, Armani George ‘29 and Derek Paul ‘29, were also selected for the Players to Watch list.
The Cougars would open their season traveling to Mount Aloysius where the team would sweep the Mounties 3-0 (25-8, 25-15, 25-16). Paul would contribute heavily in his debut with eight kills and a match-high nine digs.
Other cougars would also contribute to the sweep with McCabe contributing six kills and a 50% hitting percentage. Andrew Shepard ‘28 would contribute four kills, five digs and five aces on the night and Jordan Haas ‘27 would contribute four kills and a 100% attack percentage on the night.
Wednesday, Jan. 14
Wednesday would host a pair of matchups in basketball with both the men’s and women’s teams squaring off with the Saint Vincent Bearcats.
Women’s basketball would open the night, falling to the Bearcats 56-51 after four close quarters despite the efforts of Nereu, who recorded her fifth double-double in just six games, recording 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Cougars. Laukus also contributed greatly to the effort with 16 points and eight rebounds of her own.
The game was a defensive battle with both teams shooting under 40% from the field (Chatham 31% and Saint Vincent 39%). Both teams forced over 10 turnovers each, ultimately ending in the win for the Bearcats.
Men’s basketball would follow with its fixture against the Bearcats, where it would take the victory 87-80 on the night.
The team would battle through the first half, trading blows and runs with the Bearcats before leading 39-35 heading into halftime.
The team would slowly increase its lead through the second half before a 10-2 run with eight minutes remaining would put the score to 70-55. The game was closing out before a Bearcat 15-4 run, which brought the game within five points.
Perfect free-throw shooting throughout the game would pay off, however, as the Cougars would close out the game to finalize its victory. On the night, the entire team went 11-11 from the charity stripe.
Pinkett led the squad with 21 points, seven rebounds and four steals followed closely by double-doubles from Xavier and TenBerge, who recorded 19 points and 13 rebounds, and 17 points and 11 rebounds respectively. Vizenor would also add 14 points of his own to wrap up the game.
Friday, Jan. 16
Friday would see a return to action for both the men’s and women’s hockey teams. The men’s team would finish out a trio of matchups with the Hiram Terriers while the women’s team would travel to SUNY Potsdam.
First up was men’s hockey in its third matchup with the Terriers. The Cougars would begin the game with 17 shots in the first period but were unable to find a breakthrough.
The scoring would be opened with three goals in the second period through Charlie Smith ‘29, Pendo and Roby.
Belsterling would extend the lead to 4-0 in the third period with his goal to close off the game.
In net, first-year goalie Noel Friedman ‘29 would make 30 total saves and keep his first career shutout.
Women’s hockey would square off with SUNY Potsdam. A single minute into the matchup Chelsea Clark ‘26 would open up the scoring on the night. The Bears would answer back to level the score at 1-1.
Just 28 seconds later, Lily Schmear ‘28 would score her first of the season to bring the Cougars back into its second lead of the night.
The Bears would equal the scoring again at 2-2 before overtime and a shootout would be needed. The team would fall 2-1 after seven rounds of shootout attempts.
Saturday, Jan. 17
Saturday would be an action-packed weekend for the Cougars with basketball, men’s volleyball, swimming and diving and track and field all having weekend events.
Women’s basketball would open the day with its matchup against the Grove City Wolverines. The team would come out hot, winning the first quarter 27-12 which gave the team enough momentum to roll to an 84-54 victory.
Laukus would lead the game in scoring with 25 points. She became just the seventh player to score 1,000 points for the Cougars. Nereu would record a sixth double-double in seven games with 21 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
Men’s basketball would follow the women’s victory with a win of 67-61 over the Wolverines.
Pinkett would tally a game high of 22 points for the Cougars while Xavier would bring in his second consecutive double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Women’s hockey would see its second matchup against SUNY Potsdam end in an overtime heartbreak.
Early in the second period, the Cougars broke what was a tight affair with a goal from Miuller. The Bears would level the scores at 1-1 around nine minutes later.
Miuller would score her second of the night early on in the third period for her sixth of the season. The Bears would answer back under a minute later to force overtime where it would only take 32 seconds for the goal to end the game.
Swimming and diving would travel to face off with the Hiram Terriers this Saturday with another PAC meet.
For the men’s team, it would fall to the Terriers 146-74 despite standout performances from several members of the team.
The 200-meter relay team would claim a first-place finish, and the 200-meter medley team would earn itself a second-place finish. Max Rollins ‘29 would finish first in the 50-meter butterfly and second in the 200-meter freestyle. Caleb Trainum ‘27 would earn a second-place finish in the 50-meter breaststroke, 100-meter backstroke and 200-meter IM.
For the women’s team, the Cougars would claim victory over the Terriers 115-78. The 200-meter medley and freestyle relay teams would both take first place in the meet.
Kercher would earn first place in the 800-meter freestyle, 400-meter freestyle and second in the 50-meter backstroke. Uhrinek would place first in the 200-meter freestyle, 200-meter IM and 100-meter freestyle. Schmitt would place first in the 50-meter butterfly.
Track and field would open up its year as well with a contest at Muskingum where the Cougars would find several top-20 finishes.
Najiyah Smith ‘28 would make a great start to the season with a treble in top fifteen finishes, earning fourth in triple jump, seventh in high jump and 15th in long jump.
Virginia Malkin ‘28 would claim sixth in the 400-meter dash, Eliana Borne ‘29 would claim 14th in the 800-meter and 15th in the mile while Isabella Brunetto ‘28 would earn a 16th place finish in the 1,000-meter race.
To wrap up Saturday, men’s volleyball would close off the day with the home opener against the Bridgewater Eagles in a 3-0 victory (25-12, 28-26, 25-22).
Shelestak would tally 10 kills, two aces, two blocks and nine digs to lead the Cougars in what would be a strong night for the team. McCabe would record 10 kills and three blocks of his own to assist in the defensive effort.
The Cougars were able to hold the Eagles to an impressive -3.7% attacking percentage and hold the edge in kills 35-23 on the night.
Sunday, Jan. 18
Sunday would see the hosting of Senior Day for both the men’s and women’s squash teams as they celebrated the success and careers of their leaders.
Both teams would square off with Bard and see two victories. For the men’s team, it was a 7-0 win with seven consecutive sweeps.
As for the women’s team, it would defeat Bard 7-1 with five of the matches being sweeps.