No. 2 Amherst Too Much for Men’s Soccer, 4-0

AMHERST, Mass. – Suffolk men's soccer suffered its first setback of the season as No. 2 Amherst handed the Rams a 4-0 loss Wednesday night at Gooding Field.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 0 | No. 2 Amherst 4
RECORDS: Suffolk (1-1-1) | No. 2 Amherst (1-0-0)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Amherst stole a clear attempt by Suffolk, took the ball in the box and forced a corner kick early on. The corner kick paid off for the Mammoth's as the ball whizzed off Fynn Hayton-Ruffner's boot past a diving Nathan Harlow to put the host ahead 1-0 8:45 into the action. Riley Priddy helped set-up the game-opening goal.  

The Mammoths extended the margin to a pair about five minutes later. After Suffolk was whistled for a foul, Mohammed Nuhu set up for a free kick about 30 yards out on the left sideline. Harlow went out to save the initial attempt, but Aidan Curtis snuck in to tuck the ball by him before the Rams' keeper was able to get a glove on it. 

The score stood still the rest of opening half as the blue-and-gold managed to limit the Mammoth's offensive output to the first 13 minutes. Suffolk's scoring meanwhile was only able to get two shots off in the first 45 minutes, neither were on target.  

Out of the locker room Suffolk was the first team to put an attempt on target. First Ricardo Feliciani headed the ball towards the cage before Dylan Trachtenberg tested Trey Sheppard, who came in at the break. The fresh set of gloves managed to stop both shots to keep a zero on the scoreboard for the blue-and-gold. 

Amherst on the other hand matched its first half scoring in the second to make the gap lopsided, 4-0, where it stood at the final buzzer.  

KEEPING UP WITH THE KEEPERS

• Harlow suffered his first setback of the season. He had a three save effort. 
• Juan Perez, Amherst's starter, earned the decision. 
• Sheppard finished with two saves in the second half in net for the Mammoths. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Amherst had two goals in each half. 
• The Mammoths outshot the Rams, 17-4. 
• Amherst took more corners than Suffolk as well, 5-2.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk and Amherst met for the first time. 
• Niklas Nilsson took a career-high two shots, the first shots of his Suffolk career.  

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Rams return to James A. Sartori Stadium at East Boston Memorial Park Saturday, Sept. 7 when they host Husson at 3:00 p.m. The outing is the tail end of a doubleheader that opens at 12:00 p.m. when Suffolk's women's squad hosts Worcester State.