Tough overtime loss for men's soccer

AMHERST, Mass. --- The Colby College men's soccer team was down to the final minute of the second overtime and seconds away from earning one point for a tie when Amherst College's Alejandro Sucre scored with 37 seconds left for key 1-0 NESCAC win on Saturday.

The two teams had come into the game tied for fourth place in the conference. Amherst moves to 7-1-3 overall and 3-1-3 in the conference, while the Mules fall to 6-5-1 overall and 3-4 in league play. In a new NESCAC point system format: wins are worth three points, ties are worth one point, and losses are no points.

Amherst dominated the game in statistics, with a 23-4 shot advantage and an 11-4 margin in corner kicks. Colby goalkeeper Ben Joslin, who made nine saves, and the defense of Ben Desmond, Matt Boyes-Watson, Nick Nowak, and Cory Hendrickson kept the Mules in the game.

Amherst junior James Mooney intercepted a pass between two Colby defenders in the eighth minute. He gave himself a breakaway from a tough angle on the right side only to have his shot saved by Joslin. The rebound was on the goal line, but Desmond beat Amherst forward Spencer Noon to the loose ball and cleared the ball away.

Ten minutes later, Amherst junior Sam Kaplan played a great ball on a free kick from left side. Mooney redirected the ball on net, but Joslin made a good save on the high shot to keep the game scoreless. Moments later, Mooney's shot from left side of the box forced a diving save from Joslin.

Joslin came up big again in the 73^rd minute by pushing a save into the crossbar to deny Noon a goal.

Amherst's best chance of regulation came with just four minutes to play in the second half. On a penalty kick, Noon pushed his bid wide right to deny Amherst a possible game-winning score. On the ensuing goal kick, Colby's Nate Tolman was freed for a breakaway, but had his shot go high.

Eight minutes into the first extra stanza, Andrew Meisel had Colby's first shot of extra time off a free kick. Nearly the entire second overtime was played in front of the Mules' goal, but it looked as though Colby would force the draw.

In the final minute, Colby cleared the ball as far as midfield, with it settling to Amherst senior captain Mark Crane. The Lord Jeff defender floated a ball all the way to the six-yard line, where Sucre beat a defender to the ball with Joslin remaining on his line. Sucre put home the sudden victory score with just 37 seconds showing on the clock.

Amherst 1, Colby 0, 2 OT

Colby...............  0  0  0  0 -  0

 Amherst College.....  0  0  0  1 -  1

 SCORING SUMMARY:

  1. 109:23 AMH Alejandro Sucre (Mark Crane) - Crane floats ball in from midfield, Sucre flicks into goal

 Shots: Colby 4, Amherst College 23. Corner kicks: Colby 4, Amherst 11. Saves: Colby 9 (Ben Joslin 9), Amherst College 1 (Lennard Kovacs 1)