SALEM, Va. – The Amherst College men's soccer team will play for a national championship after advancing on penalty kicks following a 2-2 draw with Washington & Lee University in the semifinals of the NCAA Division III Championship on Friday evening at Kerr Stadium on the campus of Roanoke College.
The NESCAC champion Mammoths (17-2-4) will face MIAC champion St. Olaf (19-3-3) in the national championship game on Sunday (Dec. 3) at noon at Kerr Stadium.
Amherst will be appearing the national championship game for the third time in the last four seasons and seeking its second title after winning the championship in 2015.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
* The Mammoths scored first in the 18th minute when junior forward
Fynn Hayton-Ruffner intercepted an attempted clear and unleashed a one-timer from outside the box that rocketed to the top left corner, slipping just under the crossbar and over the diving leap of the Generals goalkeeper.
* The lead remained 1-0 through halftime but just 28 seconds into the second half, senior midfielder
Wyatt McCarthy sent a pass forward to junior midfielder
Niall Murphy. Murphy sent a high looping pass to first-year forward
Mohammed Nuhu, who raced behind the defense and flicked the ball over the goalie's head for his team-leading eighth goal of the season.
* The Generals scored twice in the final 30 minutes to force overtime. In the 67th minute, sophomore defender Willy Hall took a shot from just outside the box that bounced in for his first collegiate goal.
* Washington & Lee found an equalizer in the 88th minute. Beginning with a throw-in, the ball found the foot of junior defender Will Luik, who took a shot into a crowded box that deflected off a Mammoth defender into the goal to send the game to overtime.
* The Generals had the better of the chances in the overtime periods, outshooting the Mammoths by a 7-0 margin, but the only shot on goal was saved brilliantly by the dive of senior goalkeeper
Max Landa in the final seconds of the first overtime to keep the game tied.
* With the score deadlocked through 110 minutes, the game went in the books as a draw and the teams engaged in a best-of-five penalty shootout to determine who would advance to the championship game. Nuhu was the only one of the first three Mammoths to score, but Landa saved two shots and watched two others hit the crossbar to keep the Generals scoreless in the shootout. That set up senior midfielder
Shawn Rapal with a kick to send the Mammoths to the title game and he buried it to give the Mammoths a 2-0 win in the penalty shootout.
BY THE NUMBERS:
* Washington & Lee posted a 16-8 advantage in shots in the match. The Mammoths held a 5-3 edge in the first half but the Generals outshot Amherst by a 13-3 margin after halftime.
* Landa made two saves in goal for the Mammoths, while sophomore Will Joseph stopped three shots for the Generals.
* The Generals had a 5-4 edge in corner kicks in the contest.
