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AMHERST, MA - The Williams College men's soccer team battled
rough weather and a determined opponent before knocking off NESCAC
archrival Amherst 2-1 at Hitchcock field Saturday. The
7th ranked Ephs [6-0-1 (3-0-1 NESCAC)] used a pair of
first half scores to weather a late push by the Lord Jeffs and
remain unbeaten while stretching their win streak to six games.
Amherst [4-2-0 (2-2-0 NESCAC)] began the season with four straight
wins, but has lost two of their last three.
"It was just a fantastic total team effort against a very good
Amherst team," Ephs head coach Mike Russo said.
The Ephs controlled the rhythm and pace of the first half, but
Amherst threatened throughout the final stanza balancing out play.
The Ephs held a slight advantage in shots (Williams: 16, Amherst:
12), but the Lord Jeffs recording one more corner kick (Williams:
6, Amherst: 7) despite boosting the Ephs possession by committing
five more penalties (Williams: 11, Amherst: 16).
Over the first twenty minutes of play, Williams had a handful of
near chances, with their best opportunities coming off set pieces.
However, it was Amherst's Robert Gooden who nearly scored the
game's first goal on an against the play chance. After a cross from
teammate Ian Rothkopf, Gooden scrambled to a loose ball at the top
of the box and nearly deflected a clearance attempt by an Eph
defender in for a score.
The Ephs would respond from the near miss moments later when
Gaston Kelly picked up a loose ball 25 yards outside the Amherst
net and eluded a Lord Jeff defender, before letting fly a hard low
shot that beat Amherst goalie Lennard Kovacs (6 saves) to the left
lower corner and put the Ephs up 1-0 in the 11th
minute.
The score proved to be the only of the first half, as the Ephs
took that 1-0 lead into the intermission.
"I thought we controlled play throughout the first half and
Gaston's goal was a bullett tot he near side," Russo said.
Amherst came out of the break with a renewed fire, and placed
some pressure onto the Eph defense and the Jeffs put four early
shots on the Williams frame, and looked destined to find an
equalizer.
However, the Ephs would once again respond to the adversity.
This time in the 62nd minute, when Pierre Meloty-Kapella made a
darting run down the right side to the end line, before clipping a
pass back to the six yard box for Charles Romero to run onto.
Romero calmly deposited a one-time shot into the left side netting
for a 2-0 Williams lead.
"For the first 12-15 minutes of the second half we were back on
our heels as they really came at us, but we re-grouped," Russo
said. "Pierre got a ball out on the right wing and beat two
defenders. I was shouting for him to shoot, but he carried it to
the end line and then rolled it back to Charlie [Romero} who put it
in the far side."
Amherst would get onto the board in the 78th minute,
when Chris Linsmayer drew a foul in the Williams penalty box to
earn a penalty kick. Amherst co-captain Matt Lewis beat Williams
goal keeper Andrew Graham (3 saves) with a low shot to bring the
score to 2-1 with 12 minutes to play.
Amherst continued to push numbers forward for a tying goal, but
ran out of time, as the Williams defense held up.
"With about 12 minutes left we took down one of their players in
the box and they converted the PK," Russo said. "We knew they were
going to push numbers forward on us for the rest of the game. We
had two great opportunities off of their attacks, but we just
couldn't get a third goal.
"The whole team did a great job, but our back four is really
starting to jell and I thought Nicky [Pugliese} and Alex [Johnson]
were very strong today."
The Ephs will look to continue the hot streak next Saturday,
October 10th, when they host NESCAC rival Bates. That
game is scheduled for an 11:00 AM kickoff.
