Box Score
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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - The Williams College men's soccer team
scored three first half goals and cruised to a 4-2 victory over
visiting Babson College Sunday. The win comes just a day after the
Ephs dropped a heartbreaker to NESCAC rival Trinity and improves
their record to 6-2 (3-1 NESCAC). The loss marks the second
consecutive defeat for the Beavers, who now fall to 7-4-1.
"Its great to bounce back from a tough loss with a big win,"
remarked Eph Coach Mike Russo. "We controlled play and created a
lot of chances that we just weren't able to do yesterday. I'm very
pleased with the resiliency the guys showed today."
The Ephs offense was led by committee, with Joe Vella, Daniel
Curbelo-Zeidman, and Sam Denton-Schneider each recording scores and
Sam Empson distributing the ball from the midfield en route to
amassing 27 shots and 5 corners. Defensively, the Ephs were
spearheaded by Brian Dolezal and Chris Gocksch, whose aggressive
play made life difficult for the Beaver attack, and helped limit
them to 12 shots.
The Ephs took it to the Beavers from the opening minutes as they
consistently won loose balls and drove play towards the Babson net.
This increased Williams intensity and pressure didn't take long to
produce the first score.
Sam Empson launched an indirect kick in the 13th
minute from just outside the Babson corner which pinballed around
the box before ultimately being knocked in by a Beaver defender,
giving the Ephs the own goal and a 1-0 lead.
The Ephs would score again just five minutes later when Vella
would notch a header goal off of an Empson cross, but the Beavers
responded only 57 seconds later when Billy Nickerson redirected a
Tim Winn pass and bent it past Eph keeper Andrew Graham (1 save) to
cut the lead to 2-1. However, the Ephs would add the exclamation
point on the quick goal exchange 1:15 later, when Curbelo-Zeidman
converted a Gaston Kelly cross and restored the advantage to two
goals.
The Ephs would stay hot in the second half, and added an
additional insurance goal early just 3:48 in when a long
Curbelo-Zeidman run culminated in a dump off to Denton-Schneider
who promptly punched it in, giving the Ephs a 4-1 lead.
The Beavers did record a goal with just under six minutes
remaining but the score was largely symbolic as the effort proved
to be too little too late.
The Ephs next face NESCAC rival Wesleyan in Williamstown. The
game is scheduled for 1:30 PM next Saturday, October
11th.
