Men's soccer: Jeffs win 2-1 over Jumbos

Amherst snapped Wheaton’s 28-game home undefeated streak, which spanned three seasons, on Oct. 30. The Jeffs blanked the Lyons 2-0 who were ranked 13th in the country at the time.

After a scoreless and fairly even first half, Amherst got on board in the 55th minute, when junior midfielder Franklin Perry scored on a header from a beautiful corner kick by senior quad-captain Carlo Valdesolo.

The Jeffs added the insurance goal with only 15 minutes left to play, when forward Joaquin Walker ’05 took a pass from defender Roger Boulay ’03 and put it in the back of the net to seal the Jeffs’ win.

The following Saturday, the Jeffs travelled to Trinity to take on the Bantams. The two teams competed for the honor of hosting a first-round game in the NESCAC Tournament the following day.

Forward Dave Michner ’03 and midfielder Jeff Cantwell ’04 both scored goals to give the Lord Jeffs the 2-0 victory and the fourth seed in the tournament. As a result, Amherst hosted fifth-seeded Tufts University in first round action.

“The strength of our team is its depth. We are able to play 20 players without sacrificing any quality on the field,” said defender Matt Langione ’05 of the team’s recent success. “We are a very talented team. It was always just a matter of putting together a team effort, playing with each other.”

The Jeffs came ready to play early on in the Tufts game, scoring only eight minutes into the contest when Boulay flicked the ball to senior midfielder Chris Kane who tallied the first goal of the elimination game.

Fifteen minutes later junior midfielder Tim Canon notched what would prove to be the game winner on a shot that was actually saved by the Tufts goaltender-unfortunately on the wrong side of the goal line.

Tufts cut the lead in half at the end of the first stanza, making the score 2-1 going into halftime. However the Jeffs held them off and secured the 2-1 victory.

Amherst now has a spot in the NESCAC semifinals next weekend at Bowdoin College, where the Jeffs will take on the host Polar Bears on Saturday at 11.