AMHERST, Mass. – Down 1-0 with 15:49 to play, the Purple & White battled back to register two unanswered goals in the final 10 minutes of play, as the top-seeded Amherst College men's soccer team defeated seventh-seeded Bowdoin College, 2-1 Saturday afternoon at Hitchcock Field.

With the win, Amherst improves to 15-1-1 on the season, while Bowdoin falls to 9-4-4 overall. Advancing to the conference finals for the first time since 2014, and for the ninth time in program history, Amherst will face off against fourth-seeded Hamilton College tomorrow, Sunday, Nov. 6 in the NESCAC Championship game beginning at 12 p.m. at Hitchcock Field.

In an evenly matched opening 45 minutes featuring staunch defense, each side was only able to put one shot on frame.

One of Amherst's best offensive chances of the first half came with 9:57 on the clock. Bolting across the box in a bid to get a foot on Andrew Orozco's '17 header, Christopher Martin's '17 attempt went just wide left of the goal as he collided with a Bowdoin defender.

Keeping the score deadlocked at 0-0, Bowdoin goalkeeper Noah Safian came up big for the Polar Bears with 33:56 on the clock in the second half. Getting his head on the ball following an Amherst service from 30 yards out, Luke Nguyen '19 powered an attempt on goal and seemingly over the head of the netminder, however Safian jumped and reached behind himself to get his fingertips on the ball and record the save.  

Less than a minute later Purple & White junior goalie Lee Owen returned the favor, making a spectacular diving save to thwart Moctar Niang header attempt after a corner kick by Matt Dias Costa in the 57th minute.

Kieran Bellew '18 nearly tallied the game's first goal at the 66:15 mark, corralling a long throw in and driving a shot on target from 10 yards out, but the Bowdoin keeper was up to the task and dove to his left to make the stop and smother the rebound.

Netting his second goal of the season, Will Herman gave the Polar Bears a 1-0 lead with 15:49 remaining in the matchup. Capitalizing on their second corner kick of the game, Herman one-touched a centering header by Dias Costa into the bottom right over of the goal.

Undeterred, Amherst, for the third time this fall, tallied two unanswered goals in the final 10 minutes of regulation to secure the victory.

The Purple & White began their comeback in the 80th minute as senior Justin Aoyama launched a ball towards net from 40 yards out. Misplaying the angle, a Bowdoin defender's attempted clearing header in the box ricocheted behind him and tucked just inside the right post to even the score at 1-1.

Utilizing the momentum, Amherst notched what proved to be the game-winner two minutes later at the 82:21 mark. Gathering a pass from Martin at the top left of the box, Weller Hlinomaz '18 cut across the field and ripped a low, hard shot past Safian and into the bottom left corner of the net.

The Polar Bear's final scoring chance of the outing came with 1:19 to play, as Jake Stenquist sent a shot towards net from the top left of the box, but the attempt soared just wide.

GAME NOTES

• In goal, Owen (14-1-1) recorded four saves for Amherst in the winning effort, while Bowdoin's Safian (5-1-1) made four saves in the loss.
• Amherst owned a 14-10 edge in shot differential, while each side earned four corner kick opportunities.
• Both teams were whistled for 13 infractions in the hard-fought matchup.  
• Hlinomaz led the outing with four shots, while Bryce Ciambella '17 had three shot attempts for the Purple & White.
• Leading the Bowdoin offense, Austin Downing and Jake Stenquist each took two shots for the Polar Bears.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• With the victory, Amherst improves its all-time NESCAC Championship record to 23-10-3.
• Sunday's matchup will mark the second-ever meeting between Amherst and Hamilton in NESCAC postseason play, with the Purple & White holding a 1-0-0 record against the Continentals after earning a 4-1 victory in the 2013 quarterfinals.