Box Score
Mike
Ryan photos (password: ephlax)
MIDDLEBURY, VT. -- Sophomore Richard Reuter scored his third
goal of the contest with 1:52 left in overtime Saturday as
sixth-seeded Williams College upset top-seeded Middlebury, 11-10,
in the semifinals of the NESCAC Tournament.
The Ephs improved to 9-5 overall with their fifth consecutive
victory and advanced to the NESCAC Championship game for the first
time in program history. They will play Bowdoin Sunday at 12 p.m.
The Eph employed a balanced attack to bring down the perennial
conference power with Reuter's three scores being complimented by
David Hawley's two goals and assist, Michael Vrla's goal and two
assists, and Kevin Connolly's two scores. Michael Gerbush
continued his charmed run in the net, willing the Eph defense with
yet another stellar performance with 16 saves.
Middlebury (12-2, 8-2 NESCAC), winner of the last seven NESCAC
titles, dropped their first NESCAC tournament game ever snapping a
streak of fifteen straight conference tournament victories. The
Panthers were led by the combined efforts of Tom Petty and Matt
Ferrer who recorded three and two goals respectively.
The Ephs jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first 8:22 of
the game off of goals from Tim White and Vrla, and almost made it a
three score advantage but David Hawley's fifteen-footer was
narrowly turned away by Panther goalie Peter Britt (11 saves) less
than a minute later. Middlebury would cut the deficit in half by
the end of the first quarter, but the stanza belonged to the Ephs
who dominated possession and recorded an 8-5 shot advantage.
The two teams traded a pair of scores in the early goings of the
second quarter before Petty tied things up for Panthers with a
pointblank shot 9:24 into the period. However, the Ephs refused to
go into the half tied and Hawley made good with just seven seconds
remaining to give Williams a 5-4 lead at the intermission.
Reuter kicked off the scoring for the Ephs in the second half,
but the goal sparked a series of score and counter score with each
teams compiling three goals but making no progress, before sending
the rivals into the final period with the Ephs maintaining a
tenuous 8-7 advantage.
Middlebury once again tied things up three minutes into the
fourth, but the trend continued as Connolly briefly restored the
advantage only to have it erased again with 4:05 remaining. Locked
at 9-9 the two teams battled for each possession in the waning
minutes, but it was Williams who appeared ultimately poised to
finish on top when Connolly recorded his second goal of the period
with just fifty-four seconds remaining regulation.
But the defending champs were not flustered, and quickly
advanced into Williams's territory and pushed in a goal with just
twenty-five seconds left to force the overtime. Both teams had
chances to win the game in the final 24 seconds, but the opposing
defenses made big stops.
The overtime was extremely contested with both teams managing to
produce only one shot. Fortunately for the Ephs that proved to be
all they needed, as Reuter's clutch shot gave the Ephs the victory,
overthrew the Middlebury dynasty, and propelled them to their first
ever NESCAC final.
The Ephs managed to edge the Panthers in shots (Williams: 39,
Middlebury: 36) and clears (Williams: 28, Middlebury 26), but the
Panthers controlled ground balls with a whopping 49-27 advantage.
Making the Williams victory seem even more remarkable and lending
even more credence to their ability.
"We really came out and played from start to finish." remarked
Eph Coach George McCormack. "I couldn't be prouder of the kids, and
what they accomplished. Now we've just got to keep it going."
