The Camel fans came out in force, 400 strong, for their home opener game to support the team and new head coach, Kenny Murph. The Camels definitely had the necessary support for a win, in addition to the necessary skill to out-perform the Amherst Jeffs during Saturday’s game.
“Conn. College showed up to play on Saturday and we didn’t,” said Coach Serpone to describe the teams’ performance. Indeed, Conn. College did come out to play hard and win. In the beginning half of the match, each team had eight attempted shots. The Jeffs were unsuccessful in their attempts to gain the lead in the game. After 40 minutes of back and forth exchange of failed attempts at scoring a goal, Conn. College sophomore Oscar Brown chipped in the ball at the far post with the assistance of his teammate Trevor Prophet ’11. The first half concluded with the Camels holding a one-point advantage over the Jeffs.
At the start of the second half, the fight for the ball began again. Both teams rushed in to try to secure an advantage to ensure a win. The clocked ticked by in the second half as neither team scored a goal. With less than 10 minutes left in the game, the action picked up when Conn. College first-year Graham Christensen scored a loose ball off a rebound unassisted to move the Camel advantage to a threatening 2-0 lead. Within the next two minutes of his first collegiate goal of his career, Christensen was assisted by classmate Nick Maghenzani from 35 yards out and was able to make a goal from the far post. In a little under three minutes, Lord Jeff first-year Spencer Noon was assisted by Ian Rothkopf ’11 in scoring Amherst’s first and final goal of the game.
Unfortunately, the Jeffs only had the ability to score one out of 11 attempts — and it was not enough to put a dent in what was now a 3-1 Camels game. In the final minutes of the game, Conn. College junior Trevor Prophet scored the final goal of the contest and the fourth goal for the Camels, claiming a definite win for lesser-ranked NESCAC rival Conn. College.
“The Conn. game was really tough, but we can learn a lot from a loss like this, put it behind us, and get after it this week,” said Christopher Skayne ’11.
Serpone echoed Skayne’s sentiments. “Every single person involved with our team needs to work harder. From the players to the assistant coaches, and most importantly, me,” said the coach.
It is going to take a huge team effort to pull the Jeffs back up to speed and send them off into a successful play in this week’s game. The Jeffs, previously ranked second nationally, are now not in the top 25 teams in the country. Considered the fifth-best team in New England by the National Soccer Coaches’ Association of America, the Jeffs will face Williams College on Saturday at home. The Ephs are currently ranked first in the region and seventh in the country. With a victory, the Jeffs could shake up the national rankings. One of six Jeff-Eph match-ups of the weekend, the game will be one to watch.