MEDFORD, MA -- The No 12 Amherst College men's soccer team snapped a three-game losing streak to Tufts Sunday, scoring two second-half goals to defeat the No. 24-ranked Jumbos on Bello Field, 3-1.
The Mammoths (3-0-1) and head coach
Justin Serpone, won for the first time on Bello Field. Earlier in the week, Serpone became the all-time winningest head coach in Amherst men's soccer history with his 233rd win, surpassing Peter Gooding's 232-win total.
"Peter Gooding is a legend," Serpone stated. "We play a lot more games now and are able to go to NCAA"s, etc. I'm just glad we helped continue the tradition that he and Milton worked so hard to build."
Up next for Amherst is its first home game, a Tuesday tilt on Gooding Field versus Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Game time is 7 p.m.
"We have three games in six days coming up so this is an important stretch- starting with WPI on Tuesday," Serpone noted. "WPI has been a hard matchup for us in recent years so we're going to have to refocus pretty quickly. "
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS:
* Tuft took an early lead on a Mike Brady goal in the game's 21st minute.
* Amherst gained the equalizer in the 32nd minute when
Ada Okorogheye slotted a nice pass off a restart that
Declan Sung gathered and dribbled into the box. Sung drew a penalty kick after contact. Okorogheye took the penalty and slid a crisp shot along the ground into the far right corner as the Tufts goalie dove left.
*In the game's 68th minute, Amherst took the lead as a long throw-in from the sideline bounced threw the box glancing off a Tufts defender and into the net on the far side for a 2-1 Mammoths lead.
* The Mammoths kept battling and first-year
Mohammed Nuhu scored the game-clincher in the 79th minute. The play began when Amherst goalkeeper
Max Landa snared a free kick in his own box and delivered a perfect throw down the left sideline to
Fynn Hayton-Ruffner. Hayton-Ruffner crossed the ball to the middle of the field, where Nuhu outraced a Tufts defender to the ball, dribbling in on the keeper and slotting a shot into the far right corner for a two-goal advantage.
"Today was a classic NESCAC battle," Serpone said. "Two good teams competing... where every play mattered."
BY THE NUMBERS:
* Tufts out shot Amherst, 14-9. Each team had six corner kick chances in the game.
* Landa finished with six saves on the day.
"
Max Landa was terrific all day,- both on shot stopping and on his distribution," Serpone said. "The last goal came from his throw which might be the first time that's happened since I've been at Amherst. "
