Box
Score
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. - The Williams College men's soccer team used
an efficient attack to best Bowdoin 2-0 in the NESCAC semifinals
Saturday. The victory ends a three year drought for the
second-seeded Ephs in the NESCAC championship game, with their last
appearance being a 1-0 OT victory over Middlebury in 2006.
Williams improves to 13-2-1, while the fourth-seeded Polar Bears
(11-4-1) saw their four-match win streak snapped.
The two teams played a largely even match but Williams finished
and Bowdoin didn't and that was the difference for the Ephs. The
Polar Bears took the edge in shots (Williams: 10, Bowdoin: 12) but
Eph goalkeeper Andrew Graham's four saves and a pair of well placed
shots from Pierre Meloty-Kapella and Gaston Kelly dashed Bowdoin's
hopes for a shot at the NESCAC championship.
Neither team could pierce the other's defense in the games first
twenty minutes, but Williams senior forward Pierre Meloty-Kapella
was there to punish Bowdoin on their first defensive miscue. After
finding himself with the ball unabated to the net, Meloty Kapella
exploited the gap in the Polar Bear defenders to notch a goal from
18 yards out and put Williams ahead on the game's first shot, 20:04
into the first half.
Bowdoin did not muster its first shot of the match until the
25th minute, as sophomore midfielder Nick Powell sent the ball from
the top of the box on net for Graham's first save of the game. The
Williams defense largely was able to keep the Polar Bears from
mounting a serious offensive threat in the first half.
The defenses of both sides began to loosen in the early goings
of the second half and again Williams was there to exploit it. This
time in the 68th minute when junior forward Gaston
Kelly headed senior midfielder Will Whiston's corner kick through
traffic and into the net, giving Williams the 2-0 lead with little
over 30 minutes to play.
Bowdoin had a pair of golden opportunities in the second half
but was denied both times. Ten minutes into the period, with the
score still 1-0, sophomore forward Eddie Jones took a shot from the
top of the box, which was saved by Graham. The rebound went to
Powell along the left side of the box with Graham out of position,
but Powell's shot at the open net sailed high. Bowdoin had a chance
to halve Williams' margin with just under seven minutes remaining,
but junior midfielder Ben Denton-Schneider's shot from 20 yards out
hit the left post.
In the ten years of NESCAC championship existence Williams has
now appeared in seven championship games, winning five of
those games with a chance to make it six in their match up with
Middlebury tomorrow afternoon in Middletown. This game will also
mark the fifth time the Ephs will have faced-off against Middlebury
in the title game -- with Williams holding a 3-1 edge in victories.
However, Middlebury won this year's regular season contest, a
1-0 decision at Middlebury in the just eight days ago.
Middlebury has now swept every member of the Little Three over
their last three games, knocking off Williams; defeating Amherst
2-1 in its NESCAC tournament opener; and adding a 2-0 win over
top-seeded Wesleyan -- a team that came in riding a school-high
fifteen game unbeaten streak.
The NESCAC Championship game will be played at 12:00 PM Sunday
and cab seen on the Internet by going to the Wesleyan Athletics
homepage -- www.wesleyan.edu/athletics -- and clicking on the link
under Webcasts.
