AMHERST, Mass. –  The #8 Amherst College women's soccer team beat the #22 Tufts University Jumbos 1-0 in overtime in the semifinals of the NESCAC championship on Hitchcock Field Saturday.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* After finishing first in the 2022 NESCAC standings and overcoming the Connecticut College Camels 3-0 in the NESCAC championship quarterfinals last week, Amherst took on Tufts - who finished seventh in the NESCAC, beat Williams in the quarterfinals, and held a 10-4-2 overall record for the season. Both teams were therefore high on confidence and demonstrated this during the early stages of the first half. It took just under eight minutes for Tufts to fire the first shot of the game which came as a header that forced Amherst goalkeeper, junior Mika Fisher, to make a confident save. The away side's next effort missed wide before Amherst's senior, Alexa Juarez opened the Mammoths' shot tally with an attempt high of the goal. Amherst then had a  five-minute attacking period with a string of shots from sophomores Sierra Rosado and two-time NESCAC Player of the Week Patience Kum.

* The trend of each team sharing waves of alternating forward play continued for the remainder of the first half to provide an exciting game of possession moving from one end of the field to the other. The higher-seeded Amherst ended up testing the Tufts goalkeeper, Hayley Bernstein, to make four saves while Fisher was responsible for stopping two Jumbo efforts on goal throughout the half.

* Tufts began the second half on the front foot with an attacking spell during the first eleven minutes which led to the Jumbos making two attempts - one which tested Fisher's shot-stopping abilities. Amherst's coaching team of Jen Hughes, Su Delguercio, and Jeff Huffman reacted to the threat by making a triple substitution, and the home side gradually fought their way back into the game. In the 71st minute, the Mammoths came incredibly close to scoring when junior Abby Schwartz hit the post. Tufts' goalkeeper Bernstein made five saves throughout the half. However, in a similar fashion to the first half, neither team could break the deadlock to earn the elusive first goal of the game. This triggered the game to go overtime. 

* In the 97th minute, Amherst finally took the lead. After a Tufts foul in the penalty box on senior Ally Deegan, senior Alexa Juarez stepped up, under pressure, to take the penalty. Bernstein initially saved it but could not react to Juarez's rebound rapidly after. In the second half of OT, Fisher made an incredible save to retain Amherst's lead. 

BY THE NUMBERS:

* Amherst now holds a 15-2-0 overall record (8-2-0 in NESCAC regular season; 2-0-0 in NESCAC post-season) for the season.

* Up next: Amherst's win qualifies them for the final of the NESCAC Championship. The game will again be hosted on Hitchcock Field and will take place on Sunday at noon versus No. 6-seeded Wesleyan, which defeated Trinity 3-0 in Saturday's second semifinal. 

*  Amherst took 22 shots (10 on goal); Tufts took 10 (5 on goal).