AMHERST, MA – Senior Joe Gannon (Hanson, MA) converted a penalty kick with just four seconds remaining in the second overtime to give the fourth-seeded Amherst College men's soccer team a 2-1 NESCAC Tournament Quarterfinal victory over visiting No. 5 seed Bates College on Sunday. Amherst (8-4-3) advances to face third-seeded Middlebury College , who earned a 1-0 first-round win over sixth-seeded Tufts University , Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at top-seeded host Williams College .

Gannon opened the Jeffs' scoring in the sixth minute as he corralled a deflected shot in the left side of the box and floated it over the head of Bates sophomore keeper Aaron Schleicher (Londonderry, NH) for the unassisted tally. Bates junior Ithai Schori (New York , NY) answered at the 32:54-mark, taking a long feed from sophomore Brent Morin (Hanover, NH) and sliding a breakaway shot into the lower left corner to even the count at 1-1. Amherst nearly notched the game-winner on several opportunities, most notably a penalty kick by sophomore Ryan O'Donnell (Belchertown , MA), but Schleicher managed to turn the Jeffs away and force extra time.

As time ticked away it seemed the winner would be decided by a shootout, but a Bates foul in the box in the waning seconds left the game in the hands of Gannon, who fired home the penalty kick for the win.

Amherst rookie Jeff Grover ( Framingham , MA ) earned four saves in the win, while Schleicher notched six stops as Bates finishes its season at 9-3-2.

2005 NESCAC MEN'S SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
First Round—Sunday, Oct. 30 at Higher Seeds at 12:30 p.m.
No. 7 Wesleyan 4 at No. 2 Bowdoin 1
No. 6 Tufts 0 at No. 3 Middlebury 1
No. 5 Bates 1 at No. 4 Amherst College 2 (2OT)

Semifinals—Saturday, Nov. 5 at Williams
No. 1 Williams vs. No. 7 Wesleyan (11:30 a.m.)
No. 3 Middlebury vs. No. 4 Amherst (1:30 p.m.)

Finals-Sunday, Nov. 6 at Williams
Semifinal Winners (noon)