AMHERST — The Amherst College men’s soccer team returns home on Saturday to face NESCAC opponent Colby with just three games remaining in the regular season.
Amherst (10-1-1, 5-1-1 NESCAC), the defending national champion, is ranked 11th in the country and first in the conference. Colby (4-6-2, 1-4-2) is 10th in the NESCAC.
Amherst has three conference games left.
“What we’re really focused on is figuring out what we’re good at, making sure we’re good at what we’re good at and we minimize what we’re not good at,” Amherst coach Justin Serpone said. “We’re figuring that out now, we’ve been together for six weeks and this is the time of year that starts to matter.”
Amherst has won four straight since its only loss of the season on Oct. 1 against Tufts.
In its most recent win, a 3-1 victory over Connecticut College on Tuesday, senior Bryce Ciambella scored two goals and midfielder Fikayo Ajayi scored in the 82nd minute.
“I’ve been pleased at how we bounced back from losing to Tufts,” said Serpone. “I don’t necessarily think it’s about the result or the score, I think it’s about we need to start our best now that we’re heading into the end of October.”
With the postseason looming, Serpone is only focusing on the immediate future.
“We’re just focused on Colby and we’ve had trouble with Colby in the past,” Serpone said. “I think we’ll make the NESCAC tournament, but right now its just (about) trying to win on Saturday.”
Amherst will play at 2:30 p.m. at Hitchcock Field in Amherst.
Jacqui Collins is a UMass journalism student and can be reached at jacquicollins913@gmail.com