Sunday’s women’s soccer NESCAC quarterfinal game against Wesleyan University was a lot closer than most would have expected. Just two weeks earlier, the Jeffs had cruised to a 4-1 win over the Cardinals, and one week ago, the women managed a 1-1 tie to the nation’s number-one ranked team, Williams College. Yet, though it may not have been pretty, no one is complaining about Sunday afternoon’s 1-0 win. In the playoffs, after all, aesthetics no longer matter. All that counts is winning and moving on, and that is what Amherst did.

Before that, though, Amherst had to lock up its second seed for the playoffs, and it did so with a 3-0 win over Trinity on Friday. The Jeffs started out strong in their game against Trinity, passing well and using their creativity to create scoring chances. The first Amherst goal came about 20 minutes into the contest, when quad-captain midfielder Natalie Ferraiolo ’09 connected on a pass from fellow midfielder Kyla Woodhouse ’11 to put the Jeffs ahead, 1-0. That remained the score until the second half, when junior midfielder Jillian Whiting recorded a goal of her own only six minutes after the break. First-year forward Livia Rizzo rounded out the scoring, with Woodhouse tallying her second assist of the match.

In preparation for their first contest of the conference tournament, the Jeffs concentrated on working as a team and staying focused throughout the entire game.

“We focused on a couple of things before the Wesleyan game,” said Head Coach Jen Hughes of the coaching staff’s remarks before the game. “We emphasized the importance of not underestimating Wesleyan, particularly after beating them 4-1 in the regular season. We also focused on the importance of fighting ... fighting for every inch. We mentioned that from this point on, nothing is deserved and everything is earned.”

Though the Jeffs clearly controlled play from the first whistle, they could not seem to find the back of the net and were continually frustrated by the Wesleyan defense. Amherst outshot the Cardinals 13-3 in the period, but the half ended in a scoreless tie. The second half featured more of the same ball control by the Jeffs. Finally, their effort paid off when Rizzo converted on senior quad-captain defender Kate Moriarty’s corner kick to record her fifth goal of the season. Despite outshooting their opponents 17-0 in the final period, Rizzo’s goal would be the only score of the match for either squad, and Amherst nabbed the 1-0 victory.

“Wesleyan made a lot of last-ditch efforts to keep us from scoring,” said Bentley. “We dominated the majority of the play, and had a lot of opportunities, but had some trouble putting goals away. We out-shot them by a lot, and had many more corner kicks, but struggled to finish. Luckily, we were able to get one in the back of the net.”

With the victory, Amherst is slated to take on the Middlebury College Panthers in the semifinal game of the NESCAC Tournament. The Panthers have knocked Amherst out of the tournament the past two years, making the coming match more fraught with emotion than normal.

“Winning the NESCAC Championship is important for a lot of reasons,” said Ferraiolo. “We just missed winning the regular season this year, and I think we all want to prove that we are the best team in the NESCAC. We’ve put ourselves in a great position going forward, and we should be proud of what we’ve already accomplished, but I think we would all be very unsatisfied with settling for anything less than a NESCAC Championship and a run at NCAAs.”

Amherst began the season on a slightly sour note, losing to The College of New Jersey 5-1 in the opening game of the 2008 campaign. The Jeffs bounced back in their next couple of games, grabbing back-to-back multi-goal victories to start off conference play. After two disappointing ties, the Jeffs went on a six-game winning streak, defeating two teams ranked in the top 20 in the nation.

It looked like the high point of the season would be a victory over archrival and number-one ranked Williams College in the last regular season home game. Amherst led 1-0 for much of the match, but allowed the Ephs to tie it up with under a minute left to play on a fluke goal. After two overtimes, the match ended in a disappointing 1-1 tie.

Throughout the season, the Jeffs have displayed incredible commitment to their teammates. “The strongest aspect of our team this year is really the go-all-out mentality that every player brings not only to games, but to every training session,” said quad-captain defender Alanna Darling ’09. “We have a confidence that comes from knowing that we are working hard all the time, and that that will make good things happen.”

This desire to succeed has led to some impressive individual performances. For the second year in a row, midfielder Meg Murphy ’10 leads the Jeffs in total points, recording ten goals and four assists on the season. After a slow start, fellow midfielder Kyla Woodhouse became one of the most productive players on offense, tallying seven goals and five assists. As a team, Amherst has outscored its opponents 41-16 this season and notched five shutouts.

For the Jeffs to continue their success in the coming weeks, they will need to retain their focus for the entire game. Three times during the season, lapses of concentration forced them to settle for ties.

“We really just need to put together 90 full minutes of good soccer every time we step on the field, without any momentary lapses that can cost us big time,” said Darling. “We have to continue to capitalize on our chances to score, and not let down defensively at any time, because going forward every game we play is do or die and every team is going in with that mentality. We have fought hard for everything we’ve gotten so far, and we are confident that if we keep fighting for every inch, it is going to pay off.”