Box Score
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WILLIAMSTOWN, MA.
– Annie Neil laced a curving ball to the far right post,
where Sarah Walmsley rushed in on goal, seemingly out of nowhere,
to head the ball into the net for the game-winning
score.
Breaking a 2-2
tie in the 71st minute of play, Walmsley's goal
swung much-needed momentum back towards Williams (7-0, 4-0) and
away from a physical Trinity (4-3, 0-3) squad that had challenged
the Ephs more so than any other opponent this season.
“Sarah is a goal scorer,” said
Williams' head coach Michelyne Pinard.
“She is a dynamic, fun player, and she exemplified that
today. We had been asking her to play more
defensively this season, and today we moved her up top to where
she's more comfortable. That comfort
showed in this goal, and it was a great one.”
The final margin of 4-2 can be quite
deceptive, as Williams and Trinity were engaged in a tight battle
for ninety minutes.
Although the Ephs led by a two-goal margin with nine minutes left
on the clock, the Bantams proved they could come back from a
deficit quickly.
Trinity stunned the Ephs with an early
goal. At just shy of
the seven minute-mark, Jenny Ley capitalized on an empty net to put
her team up, 1-0.
Williams goalkeeper Lauren Sinnenberg came out of goal in a foot
race with Ley to retrieve the ball. While
Sinnenberg got their first, the ball deflected off her hands and
Ley collected for the score.
With ample time to play, Williams remained
calm and continued to fight on the field.
Brianna Wolfson displayed her ball-handling talent, flicking the
ball over her head and collecting her own pass.
Just outside the goal box, Wolfson took a soft-liner towards goal
but Bantam keeper Emily Weedon deflected it.
Gabrielle Woodson capitalized off the deflection and tapped the
ball in goal to knot the score.
The Ephs reclaimed the lead just seven minutes
later. After Pinard
subbed in five new players, fresh legs provided a renewed offensive
energy for the Ephs.
Annelise Snyder continually let loose well-placed shots in
today's contest, and converted at the 28:24 mark off a feed
from Tyler Rainer.
Rainer crossed the ball to Snyder on the far right
post. Snyder laced an arched shot that curved
just above the fingertips of a leaping Weedon and landed into the
upper left corner.
Heading into halftime, the Ephs led 2-1 but it
was by no means a comfortable margin. With a
combined 24 called fouls, and probably more that could have been
whistled, Trinity and Williams played a physical
battle. Hit after hit tested each team's
ability to bounce back.
“Trinity is an athletic, physical
team,” continued Pinard. “They
brought that today, and we had to handle that.
They have phenomenal young ta
lent that played like upperclassman today. They
were so composed on the ball, which gave us difficulty.”
Coming out of the half, the Bantams did not
look at all discouraged and were determined to come from
behind. Ley was
involved in the mix once again, as she crossed the ball to teammate
Leigh Howard. Howard
charging in from midfield, hit a hard ball on the ground to the far
right post to tie the game 2-2 at the 57:53
mark. Trinity's two goals were the most
relinquished by a Williams team in a regular season game since
October 11, 2006.
Williams, in an unfamiliar position, embraced
the challeng
e as only the number one-ranked team in the country would
do. In the latest polls, the Ephs sit atop
the
national rankings, having moved up two spots since last
week. Walmsley proceeded to score the
game-winner, while Sara Wild capped off the four-goal game with an
insurance tally at 81:05.
Williams will
host Union in a non-conference match up tomorrow at 12:00 on Cole
Field.
