ONEONTA, N.Y. – After playing to a scoreless double overtime draw, the 13th-ranked Amherst College men's soccer team eventually fell to No. 5 Brandeis University, 6-5 on penalty kicks in the sectional round of the NCAA Division III Championship tournament on Saturday afternoon on the campus of SUNY Oneonta.
With the draw, Amherst concludes its season 14-1-6 overall and is eliminated from tournament play. Brandeis (19-2-1) will take on sectional host and third-ranked SUNY Oneonta (20-0-2) in the "Elite 8" on Sunday, November 23 at Red Dragon Field at 1 p.m.
"Brandeis is a very good team," Amherst head coach Justin Serpone said following the game. "They are well coached with a lot of great players. We all wish them the best of luck in the tournament moving forward."
The Jeffs, who advanced to the sectional round via a penalty kick shootout triumph over No. 9 St. Lawrence University last Sunday, have now seen three of their last four contests result in a double overtime deadlock and decided on penalty kicks. Amherst also lost a 5-4 PK decision to Bowdoin College in NESCAC Championship Tournament title game on Nov. 9 before the win over the Saints.
In regulation, Amherst held an 11-8 advantage in shots as Brandeis goalkeeper Joe Graffy was called upon to make six of his eight saves during the first 90 minutes. With shots even at 3-3 in the second half, Jeffs' goalkeeper Thomas Bull '16 was equal to the Judges' challenge making three of his seven saves in the period, including big stops in the 86th and 87th minutes.
In the first frame of extra time, Brandeis continued to pressure the Amherst goal, but Bull delivered three more saves and the Jeffs' defensive line provided a block to help keep the game level at 0-0.
In the second stanza of overtime, sophomores Cameron Bean and Andrew Orozco each fired shots that struck the post, and Christopher Martin's '17 shot sailed high. Kieran Bellew '18 and Nico Pascual-Leone '16 each blasted shots on target, but Graffy was there to deny the efforts as the game finished 0-0 after 110 minutes.
For the second straight game, Amherst sent first-year keeper Lee Owen between the posts for the shootout, and like he did against St. Lawrence, Owen made a terrific save on Tyler Savonen's opening try. Pascual-Leone netted the Purple & White's first attempt to give Amherst a 1-0 lead. Michael Soboff and Bryce Ciambella '17 traded conversions, as did Josh Ocel and Gabriel Wirz '15 to set the score at 3-2 in favor of the Jeffs. Following a make by Conor Lanahan for Brandeis, Graffy saved Bellew's ensuing try to even the shootout at 3-3. Robbie Lynch and Milton Rico '15E exchanged makes, and Zach Vieira and Greg Singer '16 each found the back of the net to make it 5-5. A score by Evan Jastremski proved to be the clincher for the Judges as Martin was errant with his shot.
"It's impossible to be more proud of a group of people than I am of our team and especially our senior class," stated Serpone. "We started the journey of this year at the beginning of the summer in Monaco and created memory after memory until today. I know we all know how fortunate we are to be part of Amherst Soccer."
In 2014, Amherst made its ninth straight NCAA Division III Championship and 14th overall. The Jeffs, who also advanced to the sectional round for the third straight season, entered NCAA postseason action with a 20-9-7 mark during NCAA play and now stand at 21-9-9.
