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WILLIAMSTOWN, MA. - The last
regular season loss for the Williams women's soccer team was on
October 21, 2006 at Tufts. Playing under a sheet
of heavy rain for most of today's contest, the Jumbos (7-5-1,
4-3-1) and the #1 Ephs (13-0-0, 8-0-0) played in a scoreless
contest for nearly eighty-six minutes before senior captain Brianna
Wolfson tapped in a late-minute goal to stave off a repeat of
history.
Since that last 1-0 loss to Tufts in 2006, the
Ephs have put together a 41-0-1 regular season
record. With a t
ie or win against Middlebury on Friday, the Ephs will have played
three straight seasons of
undefeated soccer in the regular season.
“Rain and wind is often the great
equalizer in soccer,” said Williams' head coach
Michelyne Pinard. “Our style of play
involves us moving the ball, and that becomes hard with this kind
of weather. We
did a good job of
creating opportunities that weren't always pretty but were
effective in the end.”
Williams played one of their most defensive
halves of the season, and o
nly out shot the Jumbos, 10-6. The wet,
slippery conditions on the field made it difficult to hold onto the
ball, which allowed Tufts to have more offensive opportunities than
the Ephs might usually allow of their opponents.
The Ephs came out stronger in the second half,
out shooting Tufts 17-4 in the second period.
Despite the increased offensive attack, the Ephs had trouble
converting. At the 37:36 mark, freshman Sam
Vilboa took advantage of her own deflected shot right in front of
net, but her shot was blocked again by a Jumbos
defender. Bret Eisenhart layed her head on the
ball for some good looks at goal, while Annelise Snyder ripped a
shot that nicked the left post with twelve minutes to
play.
Finally, at the 85:58 mark, the Ephs found the
back of the net. Fellow senior captain Sarah
Walmsley played a cross from the right side that was deflected by
the Jumbos keeper at the right post. The ball
sailed behind her, allowing Wolfson to capitalize on an empty net
and tap the ball in for the 1-0 lead.
“In the first half, we were worried
about the skip of the ball,” continued
Pinard. “We gained confidence in the
second half and that showed in the number of opportunities we had
later on.”
The Ephs will travel to Middlebury this Friday
to close out the regular season. Game time is
set for 2:00 p.m.
