AMHERST, MA - The Amherst College men's soccer team posted a thrilling 2-1 victory over visiting NESCAC rival Middlebury College on Thursday afternoon. Red-hot junior striker Mike Wohl (Northampton, MA) notched two goals to lead the Jeffs, while rookie Nick Lynch (Kingston, Jamaica) and sophomore Ryan O'Donnell (Belchertown, MA) tallied an assist each.

The Panthers opened the scoring early when a Jeff defender was shoved toward a corner kick from senior Jacob Whitted (Omaha, NE) and inadvertently deflected the ball into the back of the net at the 6:32-mark. Amherst settled in and responded at the 38:34-mark when O'Donnell took a ball at the touchline, beat two Middlebury defenders and sent a bouncing cross onto Wohl, who calmly one-timed an acrobatic volley into the upper left corner for the equalizer. The Jeffs nearly added another score just minutes later when Lynch launched a low laser to Panther goalkeeper Zack Toth's (Carlisle, MA) left, but Toth came up with a sprawling save to keep the game deadlocked heading into the break.

Amherst came out firing on all cylinders in the second stanza, and added the eventual game-winner when Wohl buried his fifth goal in his last two outings with another well-placed volley from 20 yards out off a long Lynch pass from near midfield. Middlebury fought desperately to counter, but Amherst senior Greg Lockwood (Vancouver, WA) and rookie Jeff Grover (Framingham, MA) combined for six saves in goal to clinch the victory.

The Jeffs improved to 7-3-2 (4-2-1 NESCAC) on the season with their third win in four games, while the Panthers fell to 8-3 (5-2 NESCAC).

Amherst returns to action Saturday at 11 a.m. against visiting NESCAC rival Wesleyan University.