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WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS - The Williams men's soccer
team used two goals in the first half, and an insurance goal in the
second to propel them to a 3-1 victory over conference foe Bates,
at Cole Field on Saturday.
The win keeps the Ephs (6-2-1) in second place, now tied with
Middlebury at 4-1 in the NESCAC, while Bates (2-6-1) remains
winless in conference play.
On a day where the score could have just as easily been 6-1, it
was all Ephs all day. Williams played fast and focused soccer,
incessantly pressuring the Bobcats and bombarding the goal.
The Ephs first goal was perhaps the games most sensational. Senior
Ryan Pelletier fielded classmate Mike Darling's pass in the middle
of the box and rocketed a wide open shot only to have it be
rejected by the crossbar. However, the ball took a fortuitous
bounce and landed directly at his feet where this time he punched
it in at the 19th minute mark.
The Ephs didn't let up, and netted the game's second goal
three minutes later when Darling was able to convert junior Dan
Curbelo-Zeldman's through ball.
The rest of the half saw multiple near-misses for the Ephs, who
had a scrum goal nullified by an offsides penalty, had a penalty
kick stopped, and had several open shots that failed to find net.
The second half saw more of the same, with the Ephs control only
momentarily in question when Bobcat midfielder Dustin DiGregorio
fired a line drive from 20 yards out that Eph Keeper Andrew Graham
was unable to stop, making it 2-1 with 38 minutes remaining.
However, the Ephs responded eight minutes later when
Curbelo-Zeldman took Pelletier's through ball in stride and flicked
it over the top of the charging Bobcat keeper. The insurance goal
proved to be all the Ephs would need as Bates was unable to mount
an effective comeback.
"I'm extremely pleased with our performance today. We had a lot of
firepower today, and were really able to dictate play." Remarked
Eph coach Mike Russo.
The Ephs don't have long to rest – they play tomorrow
at home against Colby at 1:30.
