Box Score NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University men's soccer team fought tooth and nail for a full 90 minutes against defending NCAA Division III national runner-up Amherst College on Tuesday night, but ultimately fell 2-1 to the Mammoths on Sabine Field at Haynes Family Stadium.
Norwich (1-1, 0-0 GNAC) put a shock into the No. 2-ranked team in the country in the United Soccer Coaches Top-25 Preseason National Rankings scoring first in the 29th minute.
Senior forward Amerle Nemeye (Burlington, Vt.) ripped a left-footed free kick shot from just outside the 18-yard box that curled around a wall of Amherst defenders and deflected off the hands of Mammoth goalie Bernie White and into the back of the net to give the Cadets a 1-0 lead. Nemeye's second goal of the season set off a thunderous applause from a raucous home crowd pining for the upset bid.
However, Amherst (1-0, 0-0 NESCAC) equalized in the 44th minute with reigning Division III National Player of the Year German Giammattei scoring his first goal of the season.
Giammattei got behind the Norwich defense off a service from Alex Shahmirzadi from the right side. Giammattei possessed the ball with Norwich junior goalkeeper Robert Wagenseller (Poway, Calif.) coming off his line to challenge. Wagenseller got a piece of the ball on Giammattei's initial touch, but Giammattei was able to flip the ball past Wagenseller and regain possession before firing it into the back of the net.
The Norwich back line was looking for an offside call, but it was to avail and Amherst leveled the score in the waning moments of the first half.
Amherst continued to control play in the second half, peppering the Norwich goal and defensive third, but the Cadets continued to withstand the pressure. Wagenseller was brilliant in the second half, controlling the air around the goal and punching balls away as Amherst continued to throw everything at the net.
Wagenseller's best save of the game came in the 66th minute when he robbed Giammattei with a diving save to his right after the Amherst striker blistered a shot destined for the left corner of the net. Wagenseller used every inch of 6-foot-4 frame to push the ball away and keep the game tied.
However, Amherst finally was able to break through the Norwich lines again with an impressive tic-tac-toe goal off a throw in from the far sideline. Bryce Johnson threw the ball in with one of his patented flip throw-ins that he attempted throughout the game. But, instead of getting air under it as he did throughout a majority of the game, he changed things up, throwing it on a line. Wyatt McCarthy was the first to get a head on the ball and he flicked it back towards the right post and then Ben Clark-Eden did the rest, crashing from the right and heading the ball into the right corner of the net for his first collegiate goal.
Norwich was unable to find the equalizer in the final 15 minutes. The Cadets did bring pressure up the field and had what looked to be a free kick opportunity in the 87th minute, but instead a free-kick was awarded to Amherst after Joseph Thongsythavong (Salem, Mass.) was contacted in the head. Thongsythavong also was able to get the ball on his feet on a run in the final 20 seconds of the game, but a tremendous play by an Amherst defender dispossessed the ball from Norwich's top striker right before the final 10 second countdown to end the game.
Amherst had 24 shots to Norwich's four. The Mammoths also had eight corner kicks to the Cadets' two. Wagenseller finished with nine saves in one of his best performances in a Maroon & Gold uniform.
White picked up the victory for Amherst in goal without making a save. Wagenseller fell to 1-1 on the season.
Norwich will travel to Lasell College on Saturday to open Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play at 1 p.m. in Newton, Mass.
