Rival Wesleyan In Overtime Finals
Amherst made the first goal of the game in the first half. Freshman midfielder Franklin Perry knocked in his team-leading seventh goal of the season 24 minutes into the game.
This gave Amherst a 1-0 lead in the first half leading late into the second. Amherst continued to dominate throughout the first half.
"We hit the post four times," said Pat Garvey '03. "We expected more goals."
Although they didn't make any more goals, the Jeffs held back the Cardinals through strong midfield and defensive play led by Tim Canon '04, co-Captain Steve Squillario '01 and Pat Garvey '03.
Fullback Mike York '04 was tough on defense and won a lot of 50-50 balls.
Wesleyan retaliated in the 79th minute when Emilio Parker shot from the top of the box to tie 1-1. This sent the game into overtime.
In the 20th overtime minute, Wesleyan player Pad Hughes received a pass from Nick Katzenbach and sent it just past Amherst goalkeeper Bill Orum '02 and into the goal. This gave Wesleyan the win with a final score of 2-1.
Orum finished with those two saves, while Wesleyan goalie Mark Penrod played a strong game with nine saves. Both teams had 13 shots each.
Although the Cardinals played well, Garvey noted that Amherst should have had an edge.
"We were caught offsides a lot," he said. "We kept trying to play the long ball, and it wasn't working."
The Amherst team still wants to improve on finishing their game, playing the full 90 minutes instead of in 25-minute spurts.
"We need to work on maintaining a high level of intensity," said Perry.
This game gave both teams the NESCAC record of 3-5. Amherst fell to 5-5-2 overall with the loss, while Wesleyan improved to 6-6.
This Saturday's match will determine whether Amherst will continue with post-season NESCAC conference play.
The Jeffs hosted Springfield College last night in a weekday matchup. The Jeffs shot past the Pride to take the victory, 3-0. Details will be reported on next week.