Amherst, Massachusetts- Colby Men's soccer traveled down to Massachusetts this weekend to play against the Amherst Mammoths in their first game of NESCAC playoffs. The teams battled through 110 minutes of scoreless action before deciding who would advance via a shootout. Colby outscored the Mammoths in pentaly kicks with a score of 4-3. Officially going down in the record books as a tie, the Mules are now 7-7-2 on the season, while Amherst moves to 12-2-2. Before today, the Amherst Mammoths were 8-0 at home.
The teams played in an evenly matched game in the first half. The Mules and Mammoths battled it out in a possession based half, with almost no shots from either team. The only shot on goal in the half came from Amherst in the 39th minute. Colby keeper Noah Jackson made the save keeping a tie game. After 45 minutes of play the half ended, with a box score of 0-0 for a tie going into the second half.
The teams came on to the field for the second half ready to fight. The shot count in this half increased by three-fold compared to the first, with eleven from Amherst and three from Colby. The first shot for Colby came from Paul Hawking in the first minute, but the ball went wide of net. Two shots on net were seen from Amherst in the half, both saved by Jackson. In the 31st minute of the half, Ethan Fabricant took a header shot against Amherst, but the shot was saved. In the same minute, Colby's Ethan Franco shot, but again the shot was saved by Amherst's keeper. Following the attempts from Colby, Amherst shot at the Mule's net, but the defensive line made a team save. The first 90 minutes of regular play ended with a box score of 0-0, moving the teams in to overtime.
The first 10 minute OT period was aggressive, both teams itching for a goal that would stop the clock. Two shots from the Mammoths came in the period, both saved by Jackson. The period ended with a 0-0 score.
The second OT was also scoreless, with only one shot coming from Amherst, the ball going high of net. The overtime periods ended with a score of 0-0 moving the teams into a shootout.
Jackson remained at goal for the shootouts, with each team taking 5 shots. Franco made the first goal for Colby, followed by a goal from the Mammoths brining the score to 1-1. The Mule's responded when Josh Rubin scored for Colby's second shot, but the Mammoths again matched Colby brining the score to 2-2. The third shot came from Colin Sullivan, but the shot was missed. Jackson kept the shootouts in a tie when he made a save on Amherst's third shot, the score remaining at 2-2. Colby's Nick Lemire took the next shot, and scored. Amherst matched again, brining the score to 3-3. The last shot for Colby came from freshmen Mario Simoes, who made the goal, brining the score to 4-3. It all came down the last shot from Amherst. With the pressure on, Jackson made the save, ending the game at a score of 4-3. The Mule's ran to Jackson in celebration, piling on the keeper that pushed Colby further into playoffs! The Mules will play again in the NESCAC playoff finals as they advance up the rankings!
The next game for the Mule's will be announced shortly.
