HARTFORD, Conn. – Sophomore Ryan Gomez scored a brace to help the #10 Amherst College men's soccer team earn an important 5-1 win versus the Trinity College Bantams on Wednesday night on the Trinity Soccer Field.

The win enabled the Mammoths to conclude the regular season with a 9-1-5 overall record. Their 4-1-5 conference record has them seeded 3rd for the upcoming NESCAC Tournament, and they will host Wesleyan University, the 6th seed, Saturday, October 29th, at 12:30 p.m.

"It's amazing to think we're at end of the regular season. It's gone by so quickly," Amherst head coach Justin Serpone said. "I'm really proud of this group. To think that we graduated our back four, our goalkeeper, the National Player of the Year and have been without the Offensive MVP of the Final Four- and yet, we're a half-game behind where we were a year ago. That's a testament to the toughness of this team. The expectations couldn't be higher for this program and these guys have been so focused to meet those expectations.

"Now we have to get focused on a really good Wesleyan team in the NESCAC quarterfinals. It should be a great Homecoming Saturday."

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
* Amherst looked like the faster and better-organized team in all areas of the pitch from the start throughout the whole game. The Bantams committed four fouls within the first six minutes as they struggled to keep up with the pace of the away side's fast one-touch passing. It took seven-and-a-half minutes for Amherst to gain the lead. Sophomore Aiden Curtis netted his third goal of the season with the first shot of the game to put Amherst 1-0 up. A diagonal pass found senior Andrew Barkidjija jogging wider and wider into some space on the right side of the field. Barkidjija took a touch and whipped a beautiful cross into the middle of the penalty box. Curtis positioned himself perfectly in between two Trinity central defenders to glance the ball into the bottom corner of the goal with a well-controlled header. 

* Curtis' goal turned out to be the first of three for the Mammoths in the first half. Gomez then doubled Amherst's lead by scoring his first goal of the season. Initially, Junior Declan Sung received the ball in the middle of the penalty box from a threaded, diagonal pass along the ground. Sung's effort was blocked by a last-minute sliding tackle, but the ball ended up to Sung's left, where Gomez ran in to convert the move into a goal with a first-time shot past the defender and goalkeeper - who did not have time to get up from the ground to recover from his initial dive.

* Sung added his name to the goal tally this time with Amherst's third goal. Sung picked up the ball from just behind the edge of the box and skillfully dribbled past two defenders with quick footwork before powering the ball into the near top corner of the goal from close range. 

* Trinity managed to pull one goal back with a close-range header that ricocheted into the goal, but Amherst extinguished any hope of a late comeback with a fourth goal. Gomez doubled his season's goal tally to put Amherst 4-1 up. A beautiful back heel wrongfooted Trinity defenders to give the ball to Gomez, who dodged past tackles to enter the penalty box and delicately dinked the ball over Trinity's goalkeeper in a magnificent, eye-catching goal. One second before the final whistle, the Mammoths scored a fifth in the nick of time. Curtis assisted junior Joseph Raymond for his first goal of the season. 

BY THE NUMBERS:

* The Mammoths took 11 shots (6 on goal); Trinity took 3 shots (2 on goal).