The men’s soccer team came back from their first loss, suffered against Connecticut College (Conn. College), to take home a victory against the Springfield Pride last Wednesday. The Jeffs dominated the field, not allowing Springfield to score in either half.

James Mooney ’12 owned the field with quick and successful plays. As a result of a foul by Springfield, forward Ian Rothkopf ’11 and defender Reid Wilson ’10 were able to set up a perfect shot from the corner for Mooney to plant into the goal, igniting the Amherst fire in the game. The Jeffs maintained the one-point advantage throughout the first half, pressuring the Springfield offense to avoid a tying goal.

With little over 17 minutes left in the game, first-year forward Robert Gooden made a quick pass to Mooney, allowing a shot straight pass the Springfield goalie. The Amherst two-point advantage did not last long. It quickly spiraled into a three-point advantage when Mooney singly fought pass the Springfield defensive wall to score the final score of the game and complete his hat trick.

Despite the team’s pregame cries of “Beat Williams,” the Jeffs fell short against Little Three and NESCAC rival Williams College. After an Amherst attempt to make the first goal of the game, Williams goalie Andrew Graham stopped the shot. Immediately, the Ephs tried to come back with a shot. However, the Jeff defense stopped the speedy Williams player, P. Meloty-Kapella, from scoring an off-side goal. The Amherst defense was a key factor in the game in limiting the number of goals the Ephs were able to score.

Unfortunately, Amherst lacked the necessarily offensive power to gain an advantage. Wilson and Mooney teamed up to put pressure on Williams’ Will Whiston, to avoid a potential score and put the ball into Amherst possession. Gooden and midfielder Jelani Rooks ’13 tried to force a Jeff score, but fall short in the attempt against the Williams defense. Shortly after, opponent Gaston Kelly picked up a loose ball and kicked the ball into the Jeffs goal. With little time left in the first half, the Jeffs tried to force a score, but were unable to match Williams before the end.

The Jeffs continued to have strong defensive play, conversely lacking in offensive play. Casey McNamara ’13 fought hard offensively, but had little support near the Williams goal and was unable to successfully score a shot. Meanwhile, Amherst goalie Lennard Kovacs ’12 was fighting a huge defensive fight against the Williams offense. Kovacs blocked six shots, making a major save from a forceful corner kick by Williams. With 20 minutes left in the game, Williams scored another goal, increasing their advantage to two-point and leaving little hope for Amherst.

The intensity on the field rose as fouls were called, players slid on the wet field and both teams fought the downpour. The Jeffs needed to make a move quickly. In the 78th minute, Amherst received a penalty kick and it was successfully scored by co-captain Matt Lewis ’10. Despite the small boost, Amherst was unable to adjust the offensive strategy to score another goal to force overtime.

The Amherst fans disappointedly walked back up Memorial hill as Williams’ fans rushed onto the field to celebrate the victory with their team.

Head coach Justin Serpone offered his insight into the loss.

“Anytime you lose to Williams it’s heartbreaking. One of our goals every year is to beat our rivals and we fell short on Saturday,” said Serpone.

But, he continued, “Our best soccer is ahead of us. When you hit adversity, you can either sink or swim. The one thing I can promise you is that for the next four weeks Amherst Soccer is going to swim as hard as we possibly can.”

The Jeffs have only suffered two losses this season and have a strong team that is sure to rise from this defeat and move into victories. The Jeffs will try to stay afloat against Framingham State College on tonight on Gooding Field.