First-year coach has Amherst atop NESCAC standings

With its 2-0 win over Tufts Saturday, the Amherst men's soccer team continued its dominating start to the season, improving to 3-0 in the NESCAC. The victory gave the Jeffs, nationally ranked at No. 11, their third-straight shutout and their fifth victory of the season. In five games this year, Amherst has outscored its opponents 14-2. "Amherst is very solid in the back," said Bear Duker, a Tufts sophomore midfielder whose brother Jake plays for Amherst. "And actually, they're solid all over the field. I know some of those guys, and they're big, strong and smart." The Jeffs' success has come under the stewardship of first-year coach Justin Serpone, who came to Amherst last spring after a season as an assistant coach at Duke in which the Blue Devils won the 2006 ACC championship. Serpone had big shoes to fill, replacing the father-son combination of Peter and Milton Gooding, who had coached the team together from 1997 to 2006. Together, the duo racked up 106 wins and led the program to the Final Four. Peter, the elder of the pair, retired after a 32-year career that saw 231 wins, while Milton left Amherst to accept the head coaching job at MIT. One thing that the Gooding duo never managed to accomplish, however, was a NESCAC championship. Last season, after surviving a scare from the seventh-seeded Jumbos in the first round, second-ranked Amherst fell in round two to No. 5 Middlebury. In the seven-year history of the NESCAC Tournament, the Jeffs have reached the championship game twice, falling both times. Under Serpone, the team has established itself as a serious contender for a conference title this year, thanks in large part to an experienced lineup that returned eight starters in 2007. The most notable returnee is Jake Duker, who led the team in scoring in 2006. Duker notched his team-best third goal in the second half of Saturday's game, giving the Jeffs a 1-0 lead they did not relinquish. Amherst's defense has also been strong, limiting Tufts to one shot on goal in the second half on Saturday. "Our defense has been so solid," Serpone said. "We really emphasize that if we're organized and we compete, it's difficult to score goals. We haven't let up a goal in 300 minutes." The Jeffs will take their perfect record to Springfield College on Wednesday, where they will play a Pride team that has won two games in a row.