For the second time this season, the men’s soccer team has put together a winning streak. After a thrilling overtime 1-0 victory over Springfield College last Tuesday, the men beat NESCAC rival Tufts University at home on Saturday to extend their streak to two. The win improved the team’s overall record to 5-2-0 and 2-2-0 in the NESCAC.
Amherst was led against the Jumbos by two rookies: forward Jae Heo and goalkeeper Lennard Kovacs. Heo led the team with a natural hat trick, and sophomore midfielder Thebe Tsatsimpe supplemented the South Korean’s strong play, connecting with him on two assists.
The home NESCAC game was a lot of fun for the Jeffs, especially after a close overtime win last Tuesday, and their excitement showed from the outset. A cross from Tsatsimpe on the left wing led to a header by Heo that put Amherst on the scoreboard only five minutes into the game.
“We were all excited for this game,” said Kovacs. “Every NESCAC game, especially if it is at home, is great to play. Team morale was great. We knew that the season was far from being over, and we still have our chance.”
In the 20th minute, a through-ball by Tsatsimpe put Heo against Tufts senior goalkeeper David McKeon. Heo was just able to beat McKeon to the ball and he poked a slow roller into the goal to earn his second point of the game.
Meanwhile, Kovacs played well for the Jeffs, holding the Jumbos scoreless while notching six saves in the game. The Jeffs’ final goal came in the 64th minute. The play was slow to develop, as three defenders covered Heo closely. A fortunate bounce gave him the ball, however, and he capitalized, dribbling to the 18 and scoring on a shot just inside the left post.
The Tufts match was another opportunity for Heo and Kovacs to shine. The pair of first-years is having an outstanding rookie season and each has made an immediate impact on the team. With his natural hat trick on Saturday, Heo has fifteen goals on the season; Kovacs, for his part, lowered his goals-against average from .300 to .230. The rookie goalie from Germany has not been scored on in his last 298 minutes of play and has blocked 93.8 percent of all shots taken on him.
Although the game against the Jumbos was exciting to watch and undoubtedly even more so to play, the Jeffs’ level-headedness, according to Tsatsimpe, was crucial.
“Calmness during the game was key for us,” he said. “We have a tendency to panic as a team, but [Saturday] was different. We waited for opportunities to present themselves as opposed to forcing them. Most importantly, everybody stuck to the coaches’ instructions, played their role and used their discretion wisely. After all, an early goal is always good to calm things down a bit. We learned a lot from the Bowdoin game, and we made sure not to have a repeat of it.”
The team has not let up in practice, despite its two-game winning streak. Moving forward and capitalizing on their momentum, the Jeffs will work on taking their play to the next level—a welcome change from having to constantly work on correcting early-season mistakes.
In just two weeks, the Jeffs will face tough competition from Wesleyan University and Williams College. The team will use the next weeks of practice and games, such as today’s match against NESCAC opponent Connecticut College, as opportunities to further improve its strategy and play. But for now, Amherst isn’t worrying about those two games.
“[Williams and Wesleyan] seem like a year away at this moment in time,” said Tsatsimpe. “We take every game as it comes and channel all of our energy into the next game. No thoughts about the Wesleyan and Williams games are prevailing in the team at the moment, but they definitely will the closer we get to those games. We know that they will be tough games and will require us to be at our best to even smell a result coming from those games. But, the Conn. College game is equally important, and at the moment, it’s our primary focus.”