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WILLIAMSTOWN, MA. - The best
teams know how to win games, period. No matter the place, no
matter the time, Williams women's soccer finds a way to come out on
top in the end. Despite not playing their best soccer,
Williams edged out Oneonta State in this afternoon's second
round NCAA Tournament game, 2-1, after Annelise Snyder's goal
in the 80th minute of play gave the Ephs the advantage
late in the game.
The second-ranked Ephs upped their record to
an astounding 19-0-0, and advance to the Sweet 16 for the third
consecutive year. The
Red Dragons of Oneonta State finish their season at
12-6-3.
Oneonta State controlled the first half, as
the Ephs struggled to maintain possession and find any offensive
rhythm on the field; Melissa VandenBergh nearly scored just four
minutes after the opening whistle, but an incredible diving save
from Ephs' goalkeep
er Lauren Sinnenberg kept the Red Dragons off the scoreboard, at
least for a little longer.
The visiting squad got on the board first at
17:46, forcing the Ephs to play behind for thirty minutes of the
first period.
VandenBergh got herself a second chance to contribute and took a
free kick close to the sideline about 25 yards from the end line.
Kayla Brantmeyer found the ball amidst a crowd in front of the net
and headed the ball in for the early advantage.
“It is always uncomfortable to be
playing from behind,” said Williams' head coach
Michelyne Pinard.
“I am always impressed with our
resilience. We knew that we were not playing our
best soccer. We kept
it simple, and once we did that we had more attacking
opportunities.”
It looked as though Williams might head out of
the first half losing fo
r the first time all season long, until Sarah Walmsley was fouled
hard just outside the 18-yard box. Just six
inches closer to goal, and Williams would have had a penalty
kick. Nevertheless, Sara Wild took the free kick
and scored with ease, nailing a hard shot to the back of the net
for the equalizer.
In the second half, both teams began to find
more look
s at net, as Williams had ten shots and Oneonta State had eight
shots
. In the final
twenty minutes of the game, the Ephs picked up their intensity and
it seemed to be a matter of time before they would
convert. Finally, at 80:53, Snyder was able to
dribble around a cluster of Red Dragon defenders to get off a great
shot to the far left corner to give the Ephs the lead, 2-1.
“We were knocking on the door quite a
bit,” said Pinard. “We did not have
too many quality scoring opportunities, but any of those three up
front are going to find a way to finish and
score.”
Oneonta keeper Jamie Chyat recorded seven
saves in the loss, while Lauren Sinnenberg recorded two saves with
the win.
Williams will play The College of New Jersey
(18-2-1) next weekend. The other two teams in
the Sectional are Rochester (17-2-1) and Ithaca (15-4-2) The time
and location have yet to be announced.
