AMHERST, Mass. – Junior midfielder
Brock Gonzalez scored a hat trick as the Amherst College men's lacrosse team advanced to the NESCAC semifinals with an 11-7 win over Williams College on Saturday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the NESCAC Championship on Pratt Field at Lehrman Stadium.
The third-seeded Mammoths, ranked 19th in the nation in the latest USILA Division III Poll and fourth in the region in the NCAA Regional Rankings, improved to 10-5 with their sixth straight win. The sixth-seeded Ephs, ranked fifth in the region, concluded their season at 7-9.
The Mammoths advance to face second-seeded Bowdoin in the NESCAC semifinals at Tufts University on Saturday, May 7, at 3 p.m.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
* The Ephs got the scoring started as first-year midfielder Nolan Cooleen netted his first collegiate goal just under five minutes into the contest.
* The Mammoths equalized about four minutes later when senior
Carter Tate scored his 20th goal of the season.
* Williams pulled ahead again on a goal from sophomore attack Calvin Caputo but the Mammoths struck back with two goals in the next minute to take the lead as Gonzalez and senior captain
PJ Clementi found the back of the net.
* The Ephs scored a pair to reclaim the lead as sophomore Pearse Glavin scored his 27th of the season in the final minute of the first quarter and Caputo opened the scoring in the second.
* The Mammoths kept the Ephs off the scoreboard for the remainder of the second quarter and scored five straight goals to take control of the game. Senior
Robinson Armour scored his second goal of the season to tie the game at 4-4 and Gonzalez gave the Mammoths a lead they never relinquished with 8:02 to go.
* The Mammoths scored twice in the final 12 seconds of the first half. Gonzalez scored with 12 seconds left before sophomore midfielder
John Fitzhenry scored a buzzer-beater to give Amherst a 7-4 halftime lead.
* Sophomore midfielder
Connor Guest scored his 12th goal of the season to open the second half before first-year midfielder Jesse Shapiro scored for the Ephs to stop the string of five straight Amherst goals.
* Junior midfielder
Tanyr Krummenacher scored a pair late in the third quarter and Clementi netted his second of the game in the fourth.
BY THE NUMBERS:
* Gonzalez reclaimed the NESCAC goal-scoring lead with his hat trick giving him 56 goals on the season. He has scored multiple goals in every game he has played this season.
* Mammoths first-year goalie
Mitch Likins made 19 saves while allowing only 6 goals. Ephs junior Matt Freitas made 13 saves as Amherst held a 45-39 advantage in shots while Williams had a 27-24 edge in shots on goal.
* First-year
Nicholas Kopp won 13 of 19 face-offs and picked up 7 ground balls.
* Each team committed 19 turnovers.
