Amherst College Athletics

WORCESTER, Mass. -- Senior Shawn Rapal's goal in the 58th minute was the difference Saturday as the 13th-ranked Amherst College men's soccer team clipped SUNY-Poly, 2-1, in a 2023 NCAA Div. III Tournament game first round game played at WPI.

Amherst improved to 14-2-3 with the win and will face Stevens, which advanced past host WPI in penalties, Sunday at 1 p.m. at WPI. SUNY Poly finishes its season with a 13-6-1 record. 

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* The Mammoths started the scoring out in the first half, when Luka Ohadike found the back of the net in the 24th minute of action. After clearing the ball out of their defensive half, Amherst raced down the right side of the field as Ioannis Hadjiyiannis corralled the ball along the sideline and sent a perfect pass to a streaking Ohadike who dribbled once and sent a cross from the far right across the goal and just found the opposite post to get the scoring going.
 
* Rapal's game-winner came in the 58th minute. Ryan Gomez started the scoring play off with a corner from the right side of the field slicing a pass low and directly in front of the goal, finding the foot of Rapal for the game-winning score. 
 
* SUNY Poly was able to get on the board in the 74th minute of action to keep things interesting down the stretch. As the Wildcats sent a free kick into the box and towards the goal, an Amherst defender went to clear and instead netted an own goal to help SUNY Poly cut the lead in half. 
 
However, the Amherst defense shut down the Wildcats for the remainder of the game, not allowing another shot and coming away with the victory. 



BY THE NUMBERS: 
 
* Amherst finished the game with 9 shots, 6 of which came on goal while SUNY Poly took 8 shots on the day with 3 finding their way towards the net. 

* Amherst goalkeeper Max Landa finished with 2 saves, including an outstanding stop late in the first half, while the Wildcats goalie Ryan Primus  made 3 saves on the day.