Courtesy of Bates College

LEWISTON, ME – Spencer Noon '13 (Farmington, CT) scored a pair of goals to lead the Amherst College men's soccer team to a 5-0 win at Bates College Tuesday afternoon.

Noon converted a penalty kick less than two minutes into the game and the Lord Jeffs (6-1-3, 2-1-3 NESCAC) never looked back against the Bobcats (3-6-1, 1-4-1). Tuesday marked the third two-goal performance of the season for Noon, who now leads the conference with nine goals.

Amherst—ranked fourth in New England—rebounded from its first loss of the season by earning its sixth shutout. The Jeffs are unbeaten in their past six games against Bates.

After an Amherst player was taken down in the box in the second minute, Noon beat Bates junior goalie Greg Watts on the penalty kick to provide the Jeffs with an early spark. Amherst added two more goals in the opening 13 minutes to blow the game open, with Julien Aoyama '14 (Narberth, PA) recording his first collegiate goal to make it 2-0. With 32:01 left, James Mooney '12 (Princeton, NJ) collected the ball outside the Bates box, dribbled in and pushed it past Watts from about 10 yards away to bump the visitors' lead to 3-0.

Noon's second tally came with 22:16 left in the game. Sam Kaplan '12 (Brunswick, ME) delivered a free kick from near midfield and Noon flicked it on with his head from 15 yards away, as the ball looped over an advancing Watts and into the net. Amherst cashed in one more time with 19:09 left in the game, as sophomore Casey McNamara (Montclair, NJ) cleaned up a rebound after a Watts save.

Amherst out-shot Bates by a 22-11 margin, with the Bobcats achieving several scoring chances in the second half but misfiring on volley attempts. Watts made eight saves before getting relieved by junior Brian Goldberg, who made three saves over the final 19 minutes of the game.

Amherst junior keeper Lennard Kovacs (Wolfersdorf, Germany) made one save in a shared shutout with sophomore Brandon Saldana (Garden City, NY), who played in goal for the final 13:20. Ian Rothkopf '11 (Harvard, MA) and Kaplan each had two assists in the game, with Mooney adding a helper of his own.

The Lord Jeffs began the week in a tie for sixth place in the NESCAC standings, but Tuesday's win bumped them into a tie for fourth with Colby College. Amherst will host Colby (6-3-1, 3-3-0 NESCAC) Saturday, Oct. 16, at 11 a.m. on Hitchcock Field.