WILLIAMSTOWN, MA - The Amherst College women's soccer team scored five times over the game's final 24 minutes - including a pair of goals each by senior tri-captain Cathy Poor (Harwich Port, MA) and first-year striker Tracy Montigny (East Granby, CT) - en route to a 5-1 win over Middlebury College in the NESCAC Tournament semifinals Saturday at Williams College. The Jeffs will play top-seeded host Williams Sunday at noon in the NESCAC Championship game with an automatic bid to the Division III NCAA National Championship Tournament at stake.

The game remained scoreless until the 66th minute, when Amherst senior Sarah O'Keefe (West Hartford, CT) took a pass from first-year Lee Jay Henry (Springfield, MA) and notched her third goal of the season, giving the Jeffs a short-lived 1-0 advantage. Middlebury's Meg Bonney answered just one minute later off an assist from Cumsky Whitlock before Amherst broke the game open with a four-goal flurry.

Poor ignited the Amherst barrage with her 35th and 36th career goals at 67:45 and 78:30, respectively - both unassisted - before Montigny took over. Montigny's first insurance tally came off an assist from Poor in the 83rd minute, followed by her seventh goal of the season - courtesy of a nifty helper from sophomore Jenny Rossman (Newton, MA) at 86:15.

Amherst junior netminder Brooke Diamond (Longmeadow, MA) was spectacular in goal with a career-high 16 saves, as the Jeffs improved to 10-4-1 overall. The Amherst win broke a three-season drought against Middlebury, whom the Jeffs hadn't beaten since 1997, including a string of five straight regular-season losses. Middlebury stands at 11-5 overall and will await word of an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

With her two goals, Poor surpassed her previous season-high of 25 points, set as a sophomore in 1999. She now has 26 points on the season on 11 goals and five assists - all team-highs - courtesy of her sixth career multi-goal game.