AMHERST, Mass. – Two second-half goals three minutes apart gave the #8 Amherst College women's soccer team a 2-0 win over Wesleyan to win the 2022 NESCAC Tournament Championship Sunday on Hitchcock Field.
The title is Amherst's sixth conference crown in program history and the win improved the Mammoth to 16-2-0 on the year. They receive an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Div. III Women's Soccer Selection show is slated to start at 2 p.m. Monday.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
* After beating Tufts 2-1 in OT in the semifinals, the Mammoths had less than 24 hours to recover and prepare for the final versus the Wesleyan University Cardinals. Wesleyan beat the Bowdoin College Polar Bears and the #19 Trinity College Bantams in the quarterfinals and semifinals. The Cardinals carried an 8-5-4 overall record for the season and finished sixth in the regular season NESCAC standings.
* Plenty of slick team passing and talent was on show from the first whistle and it was evident why both teams had reached the final. There was little evidence of fatigue from Saturday's game. Senior
Isabel Stern opened the Mammoths' tally in the fourth minute but Wesleyan began taking efforts shortly after in a balanced and entertaining contest. Neither side could open the deadlock in the first 45 minutes and neither goalkeeper was put under extreme pressure throughout the half. Amherst's goalkeeper, junior
Mika Fisher, was given two saves to make while Wesleyan's goalkeeper, Sarah Hammond, was tested only once. Both Wesleyan and Amherst were yet to concede a goal in the NESCAC Championship and it was obvious why that was the case with organized defending on display at both ends of the field. The score was 0-0 at half-time.
* The second half began with a Wesleyan blocked shot before Amherst began a spell of attacking football that generated two key goals. The first began when Stern, on the edge of the box, passed the ball out wide to first-year
Sophia Haynes who collected the ball and sped down the right wing to open up space to deliver a cross into the box. Junior
Ally Deegan, the only Amherst forward in the penalty box, found space between two Wesleyan defenders and volleyed the cross into the bottom right goal with her left cleat.
* The second goal was also produced from Amherst's right side. During a fast, attacking move, junior
Liza Katz had the time to whip a perfectly-placed cross into a dangerous area. Junior
Abby Schwartz, from a similar position to Deegan during the first goal, headed the ball down into the ground powerfully to double Amherst's lead. Schwartz is Amherst's top-scorer and has netted 11 goals (8 assists) for the Mammoths this season. The higher-seeded, the home side closed out the game confidently and ceased to give Wesleyan any opportunity to test Fisher with a shot on goal. Amherst has kept five successive clean sheets as it heads into the NCAA Championship with a lot of confidence and as the 2022 NESCAC Championship winner.
BY THE NUMBERS:
* Up next: Amherst will look forward to the NCAA Championship. The field will consist of 64 teams and begin on November 12. Details TBA.
* Amherst took 13 shots (4 on goal); Wesleyan took 8 (2 on goal). Fisher finished with 2 saves.
