NEW LONDON, Conn. – An unrelenting and persistent comeback attempt in the second half came up just short as the nationally-ranked Connecticut College women's soccer team fell to Amherst by a 1-0 score in a NESCAC quarterfinal match on Saturday afternoon at Freeman Field.

Amherst (9-6-1) scored the only goal of the match just before halftime in the 43rd minute of action. Hayley Roy sent a short pass from the left sideline to Rubii Tamen, and the Mammoth junior lifted a shot from outside the 18-yard box that made it over the outstretched hands of senior goalkeeper Bryanna Montalvo (Rocky Hill, Conn.) and landed in the right corner of the net.

The Camels, however, fought hard during a physical second half by sending a barrage of shots at netminder Chelsea Cutler and creating additional scoring opportunities over the last 45 minutes of play. After senior Alex Bukovac (Winnetka, Ill.) fired wide right of the goal, sophomore Kelly Brigham (Norwich, Vt.) raced to track down a through ball and rifled a shot off the side of the net in the 73rd minute. Shortly after Brigham's near miss, sophomore Jessica Foley (Lexington, Mass.) then put a shot on target which was stopped by Cutler just 40 seconds later.

The onslaught continued when two more corner kicks were sent in by sophomores Sara Kogelmann (Slingerlands, N.Y.) and Emily Angeli (Wakefield, R.I.) within 26 seconds of each other in the 79th minute, and another three dangerous corners came off the foot of Kogelmann in the last seven minutes to provide more chances for the Camels. Cutler, however, either got a hand on them or her defense successfully cleared the ball away. Freshman Maxie Johnson (Redding, Conn.) also unleashed a pair of shots in desperation to knot the score down the stretch, but one of her attempts went wide and the other was blocked by a Mammoth defender.

Even though Connecticut College outshot its opponent by a 7-3 margin and had a 6-3 advantage in corner kicks during the second half, the Mammoths were able to keep the hosts off the scoreboard to survive and advance to the semifinal round of the conference tournament next weekend.

Cutler picked up the shutout victory between the pipes for Amherst by making five saves, while Montalvo stopped three shots in the setback for the Camels.

Connecticut College (12-3-1), which was ranked third in the latest NCAA Division III New England Region rankings, will now wait to see if its resume is strong enough to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four years. The selections for the 64-team event will be announced on Monday, Nov. 6 at 1:00 p.m.