PHOTO GALLERY

AMHERST, Mass. – Amherst College's Nico Pascual-Leone '16 scored his third goal of the season in the 19th minute of play as the 15th-ranked Jeffs bested Hamilton College, 1-0 in Saturday afternoon's NESCAC men's soccer game at Hitchcock Field.

With the win, Amherst improves to 7-0-2 on the season, 5-0-2 in NESCAC play, and improved its current league unbeaten streak to 27 games. Hamilton moves to 4-3-1 overall, 1-3-1 in conference play.

Amherst controlled the pace of play early in the contest and had a tremendous opportunity to take a 1-0 lead when Milton Rico '15 sent a shot just over the bar just two minutes into the game.

Rico was in the action 17 minutes later as he controlled a cross from first-year Bryce Ciambella and then found Pascual-Leone who slotted the ball into the back of the net to give the Jeffs a 1-0 lead at the 18:13 mark.

Pascual-Leone nearly doubled his tally 20 seconds later when he found himself alone in the box, but Hamilton goalkeeper Harris Pollack made a brilliant sliding save to keep the Continentals' deficit at one.

Amherst held a 13-3 shot advantage in the first half, and the Purple & White's defense posted its fourth shutout of the season in front of junior keeper Thomas Bull. Rohan Sood '17, Gabriel Wirz '15, Justin Aoyama '17, and Ciambella were superb in shutting down the Hamilton offense, while Andrew Orozco '17 and Mikey Hoeksema '15 provided solid defensive work of their own.

The Jeffs edged the Continentals in shots, 9-8 in the second half, and also had the best opportunity in the second half to score when Jae Heo '15 fired a curling rocket off the left post.

Amherst, winners of three straight, will take to the road on Tuesday, Oct. 7 at Elms College for a 7 p.m. contest at Leary Field.