For the first time in program history, men’s soccer won the Division III national championship, completing the impressive feat this past weekend with a pair of hard-fought victories against ranked opponents at the Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City, Missouri.
On Friday night in the Final Four, Amherst squared off against SUNY Oneonta, a talented team ranked eighth in the nation. Entering play in Kansas City with a 19-3-1 overall record, the Red Dragons had yet to allow a goal in its four previous NCAA Tournament games this year.
Playing past Thanksgiving and into December for the first time since 2008, men’s soccer looks to make history this upcoming weekend in Kansas City, as the team has a chance to win its first-ever Division III national championship title.
Amherst advanced to its first Final Four since 2008 with a pair of shutout victories two weekends ago on Hitchcock Field, defeating Lycoming, 2-0, in the Sweet 16, and earning a thrilling 1-0 double-overtime victory against Trinity (Texas) in the Elite Eight. Heading into the Final Four, the purple and white stand at 17-1-1 on the season.
Following a commanding homecoming victory against Wesleyan that pushed its record to 14-0-0, men’s soccer was unable to sustain this level of dominance in its past two matchups. Amherst saw its 14-game win streak come to an end following a 1-1 draw against Trinity to close out the regular season, before the No. 1-seeded Jeffs fell to the No. 8-seeded Cardinals, 1-0, and snapped a 15-game unbeaten streak, in the first round of the NESCAC Tournament. The Jeffs now stand at 14-1-1 heading into the NCAA Tournament and are ranked seventh nationally.
This past weekend, the men’s soccer team traveled to Maine and continued their winning ways with a pair of NESCAC victories. By beating Colby, 2-0, and Bates, 3-0, the second-ranked Jeffs extended their winning streak to 13 games and now stand at 13-0-0 on the season and 8-0-0 in NESCAC play.
On Saturday afternoon against Colby, the Jeffs held a 6-1 shot advantage over the Mules in first-half action, but were unable to convert on any of these opportunities in the opening period.
Following men soccer’s thrilling last-minute victory over Williams in double overtime on Saturday, Sept. 26, the safe assumption was that Amherst’s next few games would likely be unable to live up the excitement and intensity of the Jeffs’ dramatic victory over the Ephs. However, the second-ranked Jeffs ended up playing two double-overtime games of similar intensity in their next two matchups against a pair of formidable opponents — Worchester Polytechnic Institute and Tufts, the defending NCAA national champions.
In the team’s first road NESCAC matchup of 2015, Amherst men’s soccer prevailed in dramatic fashion over archrival Williams, adding another classic game to an already exciting history between the two NESCAC powerhouses. With the victory, the fourth-ranked Jeffs extended their winning streak to six games to open up 2015, sporting a 6-0-0 overall record and a 3-0-0 NESCAC mark.
Five games into the 2015 season, the men’s soccer team has impressed both offensively and defensively. After three victories this past week, the Jeffs are riding a five-game winning streak to open the season, standing at 5-0-0 overall and 2-0-0 in the NESCAC.
While Amherst needed a dramatic, come-from-behind victory to beat the Western New England Golden Bears in 2014, this time the Jeffs were in control the whole way in a road game last Wednesday.
