Contact: Mike O'Brien

AMHERST, Mass. – The fourth-ranked Amherst men's soccer team extended its unbeaten streak to 27 games Saturday following a 2-0 win against 23rd-ranked Tufts at Hitchcock Field. With the win, Amherst improved to 6-0-1 overall and 4-0-1 in the NESCAC, while Tufts fell to 4-2-2 on the season and 2-2 in league play.

The first strong scoring chance for either team came at the eighth minute when Justin Aoyama '17 got around Jumbo defenders and found Greg Singer '16 for a header that went high. A few minutes later, Singer had another opportunity on net when he took a Jeffs' penalty kick. However, his attempt was blocked by Scott Greenwood '17 and bounced out to Nico Pascual-Leone '16, who then missed an open net wide right.

Tufts put together a nice attempt at the 27th minute when Tal Smith's '16 shot was blocked and rebounded to Jason Kayne '16. Kayne received the ball in the box but missed wide right on his opportunity as the score remained tied at 0-0.

Later in the half, a series of opportunities arose for Amherst as they maintained possession directly in front of the net. Gabriel Wirz '15 eventually lofted one over the goalies outstretched arms into the top right corner of the night, putting the Jeffs ahead 1-0 at the 33rd minute.

Amherst fell short of increasing its lead just six minutes later as Pascual-Leone found Christopher Martin '17 on a great cross to the left side of the field. Martin received the pass but missed his shot wide left. Entering the break, Amherst led 8-4 in shots and 4-2 in corner kicks with a 1-0 goal advantage.

Kento Nakamura '15 registered the first scoring opportunity of the second half with a direct shot into the hands of Thomas Bull '16 at the 48th minute. Three minutes later, Justin Aoyama '17 found Greg Singer '16 on the right side and sent one to the top left corner for the Jeffs' second goal.

Tufts had an opportunity to cut the deficit to one just a minute following Singer's score but came away with nothing when Kayne's attempt was blocked and Kyle Volpe's '15 shot went high.

Amherst is unbeaten in the last eight meetings against its NESCAC opponent and has outscored the Jumbos 19-1 in that span.

The Jeffs return to the field tomorrow at 3 p.m. for a NESCAC road game against Bates.