AMHERST, Mass. -- Senior Simon Kalinauskas.scored off a header in the  team 106th minute Saturday to lift the #13th-ranked Amherst College men's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over Occidental in the NCAA Div. III Tournament Round of 16 contest played at Hitchcock Field. 

The Mammoths (16-2-3) advance to the Elite 8 game Sunday at 1 p.m., back on Hitchcock, against conference rival Middlebury (15-1-4).

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* The Tigers absorbed some early first-half pressure from Amherst and slowly began to find their footing. Meanwhile, the Mammoths had four first-half opportunities, but none of which challenged Occidental goalkeeper Riley Nyhan above his skill level. 

* Despite Amherst out shooting Occidental 8-3 over the first 45 minutes, the best chance off the opening stanza cam from the Tigers' Andrew Notter with 1:27th remaining.  Tyler Na-Nakornpanom drove a ball into the Mammoths' box from the right side that Notter put his head on, sending it to the upper 90 of the right side of the goal. Amherst goalkeeper Max Landa made a leaping effort, punching the ball out of harms way with his right arm as he crashed into the post. 

* The Mammoths possessed more in the second half and that led to a few more shots on goal. Senior Shawn Rapal had a diving header go wide right. Wyatt McCarthy and Fynn Hayton-Ruffner had attempts stopped by Nyhan. 

* Occidental did have, once again, one dangerous opportunity. In the 65th minute, Tiger Sebastian Romero rocketed a long ball into the Mammoths box. Kalinauskas.got his foot on it to direct it back to Landa, but the pace of the ball slowed and Na-Nakornpanom raced by two Mammoths and flicked at the ball with his right foot. Out raced Landa, arms outstretched, and he managed to block the ball with his body and keep the game scoreless. 

* In the first 10-minute overtime, Rapal had another great chance with another diving header off a skillfully driven ball from Hayton-Ruffner, but his shot went wide left. 

* In the second OT period, the first, and best, opportunity came after a Tiger received a yellow card about 15 yards wide right of the box. Ada Okorongheye  lofted a perfect serve into the Occidental box, to the lower left side where Kalinauskas.was battling a Tiger for position. Kalinauskas.
got his head on the ball, and his shot floated back to the far right side of the goal over Nylan and a crowd of defenders, and into the side netting with 4:20 remaining. 



BY THE NUMBERS: 

* Amherst finished with a 16-5 shot advantage and had nine corner kicks to Occidental's eight. 

* Landa finished with 2 saves while Nylan made 7.