AMHERST, MA – The Amherst College men's soccer team played host to NESCAC rival Middlebury College this afternoon on a cool and cloudy day at Hitchcock Field. The Lord Jeffs scored a trio of beautiful goals en route to a 3-0 victory to improve to 6-2-0 (3-2-0 NESCAC) on the year. Middlebury falls to 4-3-2 (1-2-2 NESCAC) with the loss.
The Lord Jeff-Panther matchup has become one of the best rivalries in the New England region in recent years, with back-to-back NESCAC Championship games featuring the two sides. Amherst entered the day with a four-game unbeaten streak against Middlebury on Hitchcock Field.
Neither team presented a threat to score until the 26th minute when Amherst was awarded a free kick on the corner of the Middlebury penalty box. Senior winger Chris Devine (Auburn, WA) lofted the free kick into the six-yard box, where Amherst was whistled for a foul while trying to find the end of the pass.
Just moments later, Amherst opened the day's scoring as Devine knocked down a long entry pass with a flick of his head. First-year Spencer Noon (Farmington, CT) was set free by the re-direction, and smashed home a one-time shot past Panther goalie Tim Cahill.
The first half came to a close without another score, and Amherst holding just a 4-3 edge in shots at the break. The Jeffs had a 4-2 advantage in corner kicks in the frame, while 21 fouls and one card were issued before halftime.
Early in the second half, Middlebury increased its pressure on the Amherst defense, as the Lord Jeffs struggled to connect passes. However, in the 58th minute, Amherst scored a second goal, this time against the run of play. Noon broke down the left side of the Middlebury 18-yard box, froze one Panther defender and whipped a perfect cross into a streaking Ian Rothkopf (Harvard, MA) for a header inside the six.
With just under 22 minutes to play, Rothkopf set up another Amherst goal, putting the Jeffs up 3-0 and sealing the result. First-year Robert Gooden (Atlanta, GA) carried the ball up the left side and found Rothkopf in the middle of the pitch. The Amherst midfielder squared a pass to his right for James Mooney to run onto and strike one time off the bottom of the crossbar and in from 30 yards out.
Three minutes later, Middlebury forward Zach Smith found the ball at his feet during a broken play at the top of the Amherst 18-yard box. Smith turned to fire on net as goalie Lennard Kovacs (Wolfersdorf, Germany) was off his line, but the Amherst stopper was up to the test and made an easy save.
Kovacs finished the day with four saves to preserve the shutout win, his second straight and fifth of the season. Cahill made four saves in net for Middlebury, who gave up three goals for the first time in 2009.
The Lord Jeffs will travel to face local foe Elms College on Tuesday evening at 7 p.m., while Middlebury will host Castleton State midweek in non-conference play.
