It’s a huge weekend for the Amherst College soccer programs.

Both the men’s and women’s programs will play NCAA Division 3 Sweet 16 games on Saturday, two wins away from potential trips to the Final Four.

On the men’s side, the Mammoths are seeking another deep NCAA Tournament run after reaching the national championship game a year ago. Amherst, which lost to fellow NESCAC member Connecticut College in last year’s title game, must win two games at Hitchcock Field to get back to the Final Four.

The Mammoths (14-1-5), which won the 2015 national championship, already avenged last year’s loss to Connecticut College with a win in the NESCAC championship game, and they’ve looked good in their first two NCAA tourney contests with wins over Husson (2-0) and St. Lawrence (4-2) in earning a Sweet 16 spot.

Amherst will host the University of Mary Washington (Va.) on Saturday at 11 a.m., while Bowdoin and SUNY-Oneonta will follow at 1:30 p.m. The winners will meet in the Elite 8 on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Mary Washington (12-4-3) reached the Sweet 16 thanks to wins over Marymount (1-0) and Ohio Wesleyan (1-0).

Amherst sophomore Fynn Hayton-Ruffner leads the club with 9 goals and 9 assists on the season, while goalie Bernie White has allowed just 16 goals in 19 games between the pipes.

The Amherst women’s team will have to win on the road in order to punch a Final Four ticket. The Mammoths will meet William Smith College on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in a Sweet 16 game to be played at DiSanto Field in Cleveland, Ohio.

Host Case Western will play Loras College (Iowa) right before at 11 a.m., and the winners will tangle in the Elite 8 on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Amherst (18-2), which has reached two Final Fours (1996, 2001) in its history, has dominated on the defensive end this season. The Mammoths have pitched shutouts in eight of their last nine games, and they’ve won 12 straight dating back to an Oct. 1 loss to Williams College.

Since winning the NESCAC title with a 2-0 victory over Wesleyan, Amherst took down Westminster College (Penn.), 3-0, and regional host RIT, 1-0, in the NCAA Tournament to earn a spot in the Sweet 16.

The club will meet a perennial power in William Smith (13-1-6), which eliminated Amherst the last time it made the Sweet 16 back in 2018. The Herons have won two national titles (1988, 2013) and last reached the title game in 2019 when they lost to Messiah. This season, they’ve allowed just six goals in 20 games, and hammered SUNY-Delhi, 12-0, in the NCAA opening round before getting past Tufts, 1-0, in the Round of 32.

 Amherst is led offensively by Abby Schwartz, who has 12 goals and 8 assists on the year. Goalie Mika Fisher has allowed 11 goals in 20 starts.