AMHERST, MA. – A 24
th minute goal from super-senior
Abby Schwartz gave the No. 18 Amherst College women's soccer another shutout NESCAC victory on Saturday, Oct. 29. The fourth-seeded Mammoths opened their postseason run with a gritty performance, gutting out a 1-0 win against number five seed Middlebury 1-0.
With the win, the Mammoths advance 10-1-5 overall and advance to the NESCAC semifinals for the eighth straight year, while Middlebury drops to 8-2-6 this year. The NESCAC Championship weekend will begin next Saturday, Nov. 9 at Wesleyan University. The Mammoths will face second-seeded Tufts in a rematch of the Amherst's only loss of the season, a 2-1 defeat on October 15. Their kickoff time in Middleton, Conn. will be announced shortly – either 11am or 1:30pm.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
* The game began as a back-and-forth affair, with neither team getting a shot off in the first 10 minutes. That changed when
Sierra Rosado was able to get on the end of a missed clearance by the Panthers, found her window, and ripped a left-footed shot from the top of the box that was saved by the Middlebury keeper.
* That shot catalyzed a period of pressure from the Mammoths that resulted in Schwartz's goal. Pressure from
Patience Kum allowed Rosado to win the ball off of a Middlebury back. She played it forward to Kum, who found Schwartz all alone behind the Panthers' defense. From just to the left of the near post, Schwartz's composed finish to the far side-netting gave the Mammoths the lead. Kum recorded her NESCAC-leading eighth assist on Schwartz's tally, the Georgia native's sixth of the season and fourth in the last three games.
* Amherst didn't let up heading into the half, recording the last seven shots of the half and making the Panthers' goalie work hard to maintain their deficit at just one. The most promising chance was a one-touch volley from junior
Halle Hanna that dipped toward the far post and was barely kept out by the Middlebury netminder, leaving the score at 1-0 entering the break.
* The away side came out of the half in a new formation and with a renewed energy, but Amherst withstood the Panthers' barrage while still getting chances of their own on the counterattack. The most promising of those was a textbook move in which
Sophia Haynes looped a perfect ball over the Middlebury defense to
Caroline Coletti, whose touch was just a little long and the ball was collected by the Panthers' keeper.
* The most valuable players of the second half by far were the Mammoths' defensive players. The defense that has given up only eight goals all year --- goalkeeper
Mika Fisher and defenders
Charlotte Huang,
Fiona Bernet,
Ella Johnson,
Kate Quigley, and
Carter Hollingsworth --- stood tall despite the pressure they faced. Fisher made multiple saves to stifle Panthers' chances, including an athletic snag off a looping freekick, and all five defenders put their all into winning every 50-50 ball as Middlebury started launching long-balls trying tie the game late. That effort paid off, preserving the shutout and delivering Amherst a 1-0 victory.
BY THE NUMBERS:
* The Mammoths outshot Middlebury 12-10, with five of those shots on frame. They also outshot the Panthers 9-1 in a dominant first-half performance.
* The Mammoths will face the Jumbos in the NESCAC Tournament for the third straight year. Amherst has won both previous matchups – a 2-1 OT victory in the 2022 semifinal and a 3-1 victory in last year's quarterfinal.
* Fisher started in net for the Mammoths and made six saves on the day.
