The Amherst College women’s soccer season came to an end Saturday in a loss to No. 1 William Smith College in the third round of the NCAA Tournament 4-2.

The undefeated Herons (21-0) entered the game boasting a 14-game shutout streak and a .200 goals-against average. Despite a strong first half, pressuring the defense and scoring two goals, Amherst (17-3-1) could not sustain its attack in the second half.

“I thought, particularly in the first half, it was a pretty even game. In fact, I thought we might have had a little bit better of a first half,” coach Jen Hughes said.

The first goal of the game came in the 25th minute off an Erin McClave free kick into the box that deflected off a William Smith defender and into the back of the net.

Amherst quickly gave the goal back five minutes later with an own goal off a cross into the middle by William Smith’s Shay Callahan.

Less than a minute later, Amherst retook the lead when senior Ashlyn Heller crossed the ball into the box and found Hannah Guzzi, who volleyed the ball into the goal.

The Heron’s scored off a corner-kick in the 38th minute, and the teams headed into halftime tied at 2.

“We went out and we attacked and we made them defend us and that was something we needed to keep doing in order to compete,” Hughes said. “I was really excited for the second half because I thought we played a really good first half.”

The second half began with each team trading shots and saves until William Smith broke the tie in the 58th minute. Brie Ruane capitalized on a pass from Kara Shue, shooting it past Amherst goalkeeper Chelsea Cutler to give her team a 3-2 lead. Exactly a minute later, an odd-man situation led to another Heron goal by Evie Manning handing Amherst its first two-goal deficit of the season. The Amherst offense couldn’t capitalize on any further chances as William Smith held them to just three shots on goal in the second half.

“I think we had a couple of opportunities we didn’t capitalize on and they did capitalize on their opportunities,” Hughes said. “They got a little bit of momentum and once the No. 1 team in the country gets a little bit of momentum, it’s difficult to stop it.”

Saturday’s elimination was Amherst’s first loss since Sept. 17 against Middlebury, a 15-0-1 span that included and capturing the NESCAC Championship.

“Our players fought really hard,” Hughes said. “I’m sad for the team because it was a special group, but at the same time I’m so proud of them and what they accomplished.”

In 2017, Amherst will be without six seniors whose leadership propelled the team to success. Hughes said if Amherst wants to make a deep run into the tournament next year, the current underclassman have to take a deeper leadership role.

“The senior class was a tremendous leadership group, and that’s going to be hard to replace, so I’m hoping that the juniors and sophomores and freshman can carry on the legacy of the seniors in terms of leadership,” Hughes said. “If they can do that, then I think our goal should be another NESCAC championship and hopefully break through to the final four.”