AMHERST, MA – The Amherst College men's soccer team scored early and often against visiting Elms College, improving to 7-3-0 on the season with a 7-0 non-conference victory at Gooding Field. The Blazers drop to 4-9-0 overall, while the Lord Jeffs increase their regular season non-conference winning streak to 14 games.
First-year James Mooney (Princeton, NJ) needed only 20 seconds to record his second collegiate goal, as Elms had possession on the opening whistle and tried to quickly push up the right wing, but Amherst pushed right back. Junior Reid Wilson (Portland, OR) settled the ball and sent it ahead to Mooney, who weaved in and out of defenders before using some finesse to place a perfect shot to the side netting on the far post to give the Jeffs an early 1-0 lead.
The lead was increased to 2-0 less than six minutes later when Amherst capitalized on a corner kick. Senior quad-captain Grayson Holland (Sudbury, MA) was credited with his second goal of the season after the Blazers had a minor lapse on defense and failed to get a solid touch on the ball, with Wilson picking up his first assist of 2008.
Sophomore Chris Skayne (Boxborough, MA) created his second penalty kick opportunity in as many games when he had a clear path toward the goal before being pulled down in the box with 17:15 showing on the clock. Senior midfielder Joe Addison (Midlothian, VA) was given the nod for the PK and took advantage of the opportunity by netting his first goal of the season, as he placed his shot low and to goalie Ryan Sullivan's right to give Amherst a 3-0 lead.
Amherst took its 3-0 lead into halftime with a 6-0 advantage in corner kicks and a 10-0 advantage in shots, as senior Jeff Grover (Framingham, MA) saw plenty of action but did not need to make any saves. Five of Amherst's 10 shots were on goal, with Sullivan making two saves in the first half.
The Jeffs doubled their lead in a span of five minutes and 53 seconds, as a stretch of three Amherst goals began after 15 minutes of second-half action. Junior midfielder Rob Denious (Bloomfield Hills, MI) made a great run on a throw-in from junior Chris Devine (Auburn, MA) and sent a header to the back of the net to mark his first goal of the year. Just 61 seconds later, Devine set up another goal with a throw-in, this time with Addison recording an unassisted goal to make it a 5-0 game.
Amherst's sixth goal came with 23 minutes remaining in the game and was set up by first-year defender David Masterman (Needham, MA), who thread the needle with a beautiful pass up the left wing. Masterman's pass made its way to a streaking Addison, whose cross found the head of senior Taylor Brown (Boulder, CO). Brown scored again nearly 10 minutes later when Devine set up yet another goal on a throw-in, giving the Jeffs a 7-0 lead with 13:42 to play.
The 7-0 score held up the rest of the way, with Amherst out-shooting Elms 19-1 and winning the corner kick battle, 11-2. Sullivan finished with two saves in 87 minutes of action for Elms, while junior Ansel Orr (Houston, TX) played the second half in net for Amherst to share the shutout with Grover.
The Lord Jeffs and Blazers return to action Saturday, Oct. 18, with Amherst traveling to take on Wesleyan University at 2:30 p.m. and Elms continuing its road trip with a 2 p.m. game at Becker College.
