Women’s Soccer Beats Trinity in Regular Season Finale 2-0

The final week of regular season play for the Mammoths began with a tough road matchup against the 8-3-2 Wesleyan Cardinals. Amherst entered the weekend with momentum following a seven-game undefeated tear, during which it had outscored opponents 23-1.

Thanks to their win streak, the Mammoths had obtained 19 points thus far in the NESCAC, and with postseason play fast approaching, Amherst sought to cement a strong seeding against its Little Three rival.

Amherst deployed its usual 3-5-2 formation, utilizing width from its wingbacks and a packed midfield to retain possession and screen the veteran back line.

However, the game started off poorly for the Mammoths, with Wesleyan opening the scoring in the 13th minute off of a throw-in. Goalkeeper Antonia Tammaro ’21 got her hands to the ball but was unable to clear it completely, and the ball sailed into the back of the net.

As Tammaro had made contact with the ball, there was no concern about a goal directly off a throw in and the Cardinals’ goal counted.

Only six minutes later, the Mammoths responded when Natalie Landau ’21 whipped a cross into the box towards striker Rubii Tamen ’19. The cross found the foot of Tamen, who in turn found the back of the net.

Two minutes later, Tamen almost netted another goal, when she ripped a shot on target that rebounded off the crossbar and fell to her feet. Tamen latched onto the bouncing ball and sent a shot just wide of the net.

Apart from Tamen’s chance, the match remained knotted at one goal apiece until the 61st minute when Wesleyan, capitalizing on an Amherst defensive error, scored to go up 2-1.

The Cardinals struck again just 10 minutes later to attain a comfortable two-goal margin with under 20 minutes remaining.

In the 85th minute, Tamen injected hope into the Mammoths with her second goal of the day, a tally that doubled as her conference-leading 10th of the season. Though Amherst pressed for the game-tying goal in the last five minutes of the game, Wesleyan was up to the task defensively and left the field with a 3-2 victory.

The stat line evidenced the generally even nature of the contest with each team attempting 14 shots and four corners.

Tammaro finished the game with four saves on seven shots on target, ending her impressive run of four-consecutive clean sheets.

Following the defeat against Wesleyan, the Mammoths looked to bounce back against Trinity in the team’s regular season finale.

The first half saw Amherst and Trinity deadlocked until the thirty-first minute when Tamen scored off an assist from Sophia Fikke ’22 to break the tie.

The Mammoths would go in to the half with only Tamen’s effort separating the two sides, but just two minutes into the second half, Tamen notched another goal, assisted by fellow striker Alexa Juarez ’22.

The scoreline would hold, and Amherst was able to leave Hartford with the 2-0 victory.

Following this contest, the Mammoths will proceed to the NESCAC Tournament Quarterfinals on Oct. 27, with their opponent to be decided in the coming weeks based on the outcome of the final NESCAC games.

In addition on Friday, Oct. 18th, the team was named a “Beneski team,” alongside the men’s soccer team, in honor of the contributions of the Beneski family to Amherst.