LEWISTON, Me. –
Fynn Hayton-Ruffner scored two goals Saturday as the Amherst College men's soccer team earned a hard-fought victory at Bates, 3-2.
"We need to stop giving up goals, " Amherst head coach
Justin Serpone said.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
* Amherst's first goal originated from a free kick taken on the left wing. Junior
Ada Okorogheye took the free kick, curling a floating cross into just past the back post of the goal to fellow Junior teammate,
Declan Sung, who sprung up to head the ball back into the mix of Amherst and Bates players. Sophomore
Fynn Hayton-Ruffner met the ball with his head to score his fourth goal of the season from close range.
* Bates equalized shortly before the end of the first half. A long throw from #2 was flicked on by the head of the eventual goalscorer, Ciaran Bardong. A manic set of events ensued; Amherst goalkeeper, Senior
Bernie White, mishandled the ball before Bardong scrambled the ball into the goal from the near post - among a congested sea of players just in front of the goal.
* Beginning the second half at 1-1, Amherst quickly took the lead again early into the second half. Okorogheye lays the ball off to Sophomore
Niall Murphy, who aims for the top corner with his left foot from the edge of the box. A diving save from the Bates goalkeeper parries the ball out only to as far as Hayton-Ruffner, who confidently slots the ball into the goal on the rebound.
Amherst's third goal came directly from a penalty kick which was awarded for a push in the back during a long throw. Sophomore
Ben Clark-Eden confidently sends the Bates goalkeeper the wrong way for his first goal of the season in the 53rd minute. Next, the Bobcats were awarded a penalty kick for tripping up a Bates forward along the goalline to the left of the goal. Bates put the ball past
Bernie White's right side to convert the penalty kick into a goal.
BY THE NUMBERS:
* Amherst now has a 5-1-1 overall record (1-1-1 in NESCAC) for the season.
* Up next: after winning the first two of five away games in a row, the Mammoths will remain in Maine to next take on NESCAC opponents, the Colby College Mules, on Sunday at 2pm on the Serdjenian Field in Waterville, Maine.
* The Mammoths now have 6 players who have scored 5 goals so far this season, and 2 who have scored 6 (Sophomores
Simon Kalinauskas and
Fynn Hayton-Ruffner).