AMHERST, Mass. -- In a rematch of the 2021 Div. III national championship game Wednesday, the #16-ranked Amherst College men's soccer team fought to a 1-1 tie with conference rival Connecticut College on Hitchcock Field. 

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* The beginning half hour of the match began as a close contest; Amherst had five attempts and Conn had two blocked shots. Amherst then found a way to open the scoring in the 30th minute with a goal scored directly from a penalty kick. 
The referee awarded a penalty to Amherst when junior Ada Okorogheye was dribbling on the left side of the box; Okorogheye's quick, agile feet took the ball past several defenders until he was tripped up by a trailing leg. Sophomore Ben Clark Eden calmly converted the penalty by accurately sending the ball past the keeper. The goalkeeper guessed and dived in the correct direction but he could not get a glove to the ball thanks to Clark-Eden's penalty being perfectly placed.

* Six minutes later, Okorogheye was involved again in an attacking move when, during a fast break-away move, he dribbled around 50 yards with the ball from behind the halfway line to approach the goal. The experienced forward was left with just the goalkeeper to beat in a one-on-one situation but his shot ended up just wide of the goalpost.

*Twelve minutes into the second half, Conn earned their most promising opportunity of the game. A corner kick traveled across the box untouched and landed at the feet of Conn's Matt Scoffone. The Camel delayed himself in pulling the trigger which gave Amherst defenders the time to block the powerful effort. Six minutes later, Okorogheye dribbled past defenders to open up a scoring opportunity from close range but his shot was blocked by the outstretched leg of Conn goalkeeper, Peter Silvester. Shortly after, Sung launched a shot toward the goal, from the edge of the box, which accelerated narrowly over the bar. 

*Against the run of play, Conn equalized in the 81st minute. Amherst gave away a free kick for pulling a shirt of a Conn forward who, on the counterattack, was sprinting behind the Mammoths' defense to run onto a through ball. The ensuing free kick was delivered into a dangerous area and Amherst's goalkeeper, senior Bernie White, was overcrowded when he left the goalline in his attempt to catch the ball. The ball fell to the feet of Jack Kelesoglu who nudged the ball into the empty goal. The game's remainder ended with Clark-Eden forcing two more saves from Silvester as Amherst fought to find a winning goal.

BY THE NUMBERS:

* Amherst now holds a 7-1-5 overall record (2-1-5 in NESCAC) for the season. 

* Up next: Amherst will play their penultimate match of the regular season on Saturday versus NESCAC opponents, the #25 Hamilton College Continentals, at 1:30 pm on Love Field in Clinton, NY.

* The Mammoths took 20 shots (7 on goal); Conn took 7 shots (2 on goal).