AMHERST, Mass. – Battling to back-to-back one-goal victories, the No. 13 Amherst College men's soccer team earned two wins on the weekend as the Mammoths downed archrival Williams College, 2-1, before dealing Middlebury College a 1-0 loss a day later to improve to 8-1-0 on the season and to 4-1-0 in conference play.

The Mammoths return to the field this Saturday, October 9 when they travel to Little III rival Wesleyan for a 3:00pm bout.

GAME ONE: Amherst 2, Williams 1
"It goes without saying that Williams is an awesome team. Well coached, talented and hard working," said head coach Justin Serpone. "Anytime you beat Williams, you check off an important program goal for that season. It's an historic rivalry and today's game lived up the billing. Both teams competed hard and we were fortunate to come away with a win."

• Capitalizing on a strong defensive play by junior Alex Shahmirzadi that kept the ball deep in Williams' territory, Amherst took a 1-0 lead in the 59th minute as Ada Okorogheye '24 got the angle on his defender and cut across the left end line before sending a pass to Nico Kenary '23 near the penalty dot. One-touching a left-footed shot off the dish, Kenary potted his first score of the fall as his rising blast beat the Ephs' netminder with 29:53 to play in regulation.
• Returning the favor 22 seconds later, Nathan Song connected with Jake Saudek at the top middle of the box who ripped a waist-high shot inside the left post.
• Netting the game-winner with 8:37 on the clock, the Mammoths made the most of a free kick just right of the box, as Ignacio Cubeddu's '23 kick was redirected by senior German Giammattei over the goal line, nearside.
• Tabbed with the start for Amherst, Bernie White '23 made two saves in 15:16, while Kofi Hope-Gund '22 (1-0-0) went without a stop in 74:44 in relief. Ben Diffley took the loss for the Ephs, racking up seven stops.
• The Mammoths closed out the contest owning the edge in shots (23-7), shots on target (10-3), and corner kicks (6-4).

"Special shout-out to the support from the fans today," continued Serpone. "The energy on Hitchcock field was awesome and I think the fans made the difference in the game. We're grateful for the support and never take it for granted."

GAME TWO: Amherst 1, Middlebury 0
"We lost one game the first weekend of the year and all of a sudden everyone thought we weren't any good," commented Serpone. "We were dropped from every ranking and completely forgotten about. That's what's motivated us for the last month. There is still a long way to go on the 2021 season but all I know is that I love every guy in that locker room. Proud of them always- win, lose or draw."

• The contest's lone goal came at the 21:39 mark, with senior Sebastian Derby's first goal of the season standing as the game-winner. Attempting to clear the ball to safety, a deflection off of a Panther defender landed at the feet of Giammattei who touched the ball back to Derby 15-yards out. Making a highlight reel moment from the opportunity, Derby powered a left-footed volley past the diving Middlebury keeper and into the top right corner.
• Making a bid to double the score in the 65th minute, first-year Niall Murphy sent a hard shot towards goal, but his attempt was deflected by the Panther goalie over the crossbar.
• Middlebury's best chance to even the score came inside the final five minutes when Jordan Saint-Louis served a ball from the left side that Ben Powers was able to get a head on, but the shot went inches wide right.
• Amherst owned a slight edge in shots (8-5) and shots on frame (3-1) in the tightly battled contest, while both sides drew five corner kicks each.
• Hope-Gund (2-0-0) registered on stop in the win in net for the Mammoths, while Ryan Grady made two saves for Middlebury in the losing effort.

"I'm so happy for Sebastian Derby to have scored today. He's as impressive of a person as I've ever coached," said Serpone. "We were without Bernie, Gabe and German (for a half) today, so to get a NESCAC win on the road speaks to the depth of our group. That will be important moving forward."