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WILLIAMSTOWN, MA — Composure.
It is what ultimately decided the 2008 NESCAC women's soccer
championship match between top-seeded Williams and second-seeded
Amherst Sunday on Cole Field.
Down a goal with under five minutes left and somewhat frustrated
by a half which saw chance after chance go by the wayside, members
of Williams College held together and produced a game-tying
goal.
Then, just 2 minutes and 38 seconds into overtime, junior Sarah
Walmsley placed a shot off the outstretched hand of Amherst keeper
Allie Horwitz, lifting the Ephs to a 3-2 victory and the 2008
NESCAC Tournament Championship.
“I think winning back-to-back NESCAC titles is pretty
phenomenal,” Williams head coach Michelyne Pinard said.
“To do it against Amherst makes it more phenomenal. To do it
the way we did it — we just never gave up, never stopped
working — just goes to show how much character this team
has.”
Walmsley's goal gave the top-seeded Ephs their second
straight NESCAC title, and Williams became the first team in NESCAC
Tournament history to win back-to-back championships.
Williams improved to 16-0-1 on the season, while the Lord Jeffs
fell to 11-2-3.
“We knew we had unfinished business with Amherst after the
last game (a 1-1 tie Oct. 25),” Eph senior back Caitlin
Colesanti said. “This was all we could have asked for and
more.”
Amherst absorbed a tremendous opening 20 minutes from Williams to
score twice within a 8:30 span and take a 2-1 lead into halftime.
Much like the two teams first meeting on Oct. 25 — it ended
in a 1-1 tie — the Ephs spent most of the second half working
to knot the game at two.
That moment did not come until 4:01 remained. Williams senior
Gabrielle Woodson found herself with the ball in the box off a
scramble in front of the net and tapped a shot into the lower
left-corner that just eluded Horwitz and two Lord Jeff defenders.
It was Woodson's team-leading 12th goal of the season.
Before the extra session began, Pinard had a quick message for her
team.
“I just told them to stay composed, that we're going
to be able to create some chances,” Pinard said.
“I'm just so proud of the way they kept
battling.”
The overtime lasted just over two minutes. Woodson played a ball
from the top of the box toward Walmsley. The ball glanced off
Amherst defender Jill Kochanek and landed at the feet of the Eph
junior, who turned and fired a shot to the lower right-corner. A
diving Horwitz was able to get a hand on the ball, but not enough
to deflect it out of the goal.
“It's still pretty surreal to me,” Walmsley
said. “It's all just a blur. I know Gabby passed it to
me. Then I heard her screaming, “Just place it Walms, just
place it.' I just tried to stay composed. This was a complete
team effort, and it feels amazing.”
Williams held a 26-16 shot advantage in the contest, while Amherst
took four corner kicks to the Ephs' three. Horwitz finished
with eight saves for the Lord Jeffs, while Eph keeper Lauren
Sinnenberg stopped seven shots.
Williams came out strong and scored just 17:29 into the contest on
junior Brianna Wolfson's fifth goal of the tournament.
However, Amherst countered just over five minutes later on a
rebound strike from junior Meg Murphy. Sophomore Kyla Woodhouse
played a ball in from the right wing and Murphy was there to pounce
on the opportunity, volleying a hard shot past Sinnenberg for her
11th goal of the season.
The equalizer energized an Amherst team that had faced constant
pressure up to that point, and swung momentum in the Jeffs favor.
It was just over eight minutes later before that momentum capped
with another Amherst score. Murphy found sophomore Jackie Hirsch
this time for a composed shot to the lower left corner from just
eight yards out.
The NESCAC championship was the third for Williams. The Ephs also
won in 2004 and 2007.
