The Amherst soccer team fought long and hard in an attempt to win their first playoff match against the opposing St. Lawrence Seminary.

“I thought we played well yesterday,” said assistant coach Ryan Pikka. “St. Lawrence Seminary is a really good team, really well coached and well organized defensively. Tough to break down but it says a lot about our guys and our program to keep fighting, keep grinding to get a goal.”

Head Coach Erik Linde agrees. “We played well, we played smart and we wore them out,” Coach Linde added.

According to team captain and junior Milo Graham, “The team showed heart and skill on the field, proving our hard work is paying off [with] a well-deserved win.”

Graham was the star of the game, scoring the game-winning goal which lead the team to win 1-0.

Shayden Abbott-Beversdorf, the captain of the defense stated, “I feel like it was a good win for Amherst. It wasn’t the goal difference we would’ve liked, but St. Lawrence was much better than their record and their seeding showed. We played extremely well and dominated most of the game, but sometimes we just got unlucky with our shots.”

The heartfelt words of two of our captains give the team more motivation on the upcoming Regional Final game against Gibraltar/Sevastapol United.

Personally, I felt we played well in a long, tough game. It was mentally and physically challenging for all of us. From the game’s start to the final whistle, the team fought together and made up for each other’s mistakes.

This isn’t just a team full of Amherst soccer players — this team is a family with how they treat each other. The team is so close with each other that we all fight for each other and not just ourselves. Last night was a show of how motivated and how dedicated our team is to win a regional final and how dedicated we are to the Amherst name.

Coming Up

Amherst advanced to face Gibraltar/Sevastopol in the Regional Finals at home.

“Gibraltar/Sevastopol will be a similar game,” Coach Pikka said. “Another team that is well-coached and talented on the ball.

“This entire sectional is made of quality teams. Records and seeds don’t really mean anything when you’re playing good teams. We’ve just got to show up and play our game.”

Gibraltar/Sevastopol defeated Amherst on penalty kicks.