WILLIAMSTOWN — Anyone who watched Amherst College practice on Saturday might have been concerned about the Mammoths’ defense.
On the day before the biggest game in program history, the Mammoths didn’t have an especially crisp practice on defense. Yet, you wouldn’t have been able to tell that was the case if coach Jon Thompson didn’t offer up that tidbit after the game.
Amherst suffocated Williams early then shut out the Ephs in the fourth quarter to book its spot in the national championship game in Philadelphia next week with a 12-8 win in Williamstown on Sunday. The Mammoths will face Cabrini, which defeated Salisbury 16-13 in the other semifinal, next Sunday at 4 p.m.
“It just goes to show you, who the heck knows what practice does this time of year,” Thompson said.
The Mammoths (18-3) put in a masterful defensive performance in the fourth quarter after Williams seized all the momentum in the third. They limited the Ephs to just five shot attempts in the final 15 minutes, only one of which actually reached goalie Gib Veserfeld. Williams (18-4) also produced five turnovers under the relentless pressure Amherst was applying, wasting the few possessions it had in the quarter.
The dominance began in the faceoff circle where Amherst was able to win four of the six draws in the fourth quarter. Most of those draws were tough-nosed battles that extended to 10-15 seconds before possession was established. And when the ball was on the turf, the Mammoths found a way to race to it and secure possession in the critical moments to help extend the lead and then bleed clock.
“The 50-50 plays on the wings are the biggest momentum shifters in a game,” said Jimmy McAfee, who scooped up a game-high seven ground balls. “We run four or five guys on the wings on each side. That dictated the fourth quarter, that’s why we pulled ahead.”
After scoring the first four goals of the game in just nine minutes, Amherst lost its offensive flow for a long stretch. It tallied just three goals over the next 36 minutes to trail heading into the fourth quarter. But it didn’t take long for the fifth-best attack in the country to re-discover that rhythm.
Jon Coffey tied the game just 55 seconds into the quarter on a shot that flew past Williams goalie Harry Gahagan before he could even react. Less than a minute later, Williams failed to defend Matt Solberg behind the net and the junior waltzed out to the side of the crease and scored with ease to give Amherst the lead again. Once it regained the advantage, Amherst doubled down on its efforts and stayed focused on finishing strong.
“It’s just so exciting, but we’re trying to take a deep breath in those moments and focus on the next play,” Solberg said. “We can’t get too excited, focus on that goal and let them score the next one and lose what we just gained.”
The fourth quarter dominance was slightly better than the control Amherst showed in the first quarter. Williams took a timeout staring at that four-goal deficit and the momentum began to swing back toward the hosts. The Ephs got on the board with two minutes left in the first and cut the deficit to a single goal midway through the second quarter.
But it wasn’t until the third when Williams started to own the game by disrupting the Mammoths’ movement and not giving them to space in which to operate. The Ephs scored the first three goals of the second half to take their first lead and then responded quickly to Minicus’ tying goal to take the lead into the final quarter.
“We didn’t have the ball a lot in the third quarter, Williams did a great job keeping the ball away from us,” Thompson said. “Defensively we wanted to make sure we had really good second slides (in the fourth quarter) and we weren’t afraid to have a first slide. They’ve got some really big shooters and we were a little bit unorganized defensively in terms of getting the hot slide in (in the third quarter).”
The players listened to their coach and played fearless in the fourth quarter by maintaining faith in their teammates. Amherst moved as one unit on defense to keep Williams out of the dangerous scoring areas and continued to shift and adapt as Williams played with more urgency in the latter stages of the game.
McAfee said that trust in each other has led Amherst to Memorial Day weekend for the first time in program history.
“We believe in one another,” McAfee said. “No matter who has the lead, we just focus on the next play and the next outcome. In the end, we believe in one another and that’s how you get the job done.”