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WILLIAMSTOWN, MA.
– The last time the Williams women's soccer team faced
off against the Tufts Jumbos on October 24, 2009, the two squads
played eighty-six minutes of scoreless soccer under heavy rain
before Ephs forward Brianna Wolfson scored a controversial late
goal to preserve the top-ranked team's undefeated
season.
Today, playing in unseasonably sunny and
relatively warm conditions for November soccer on Cole Field,
Williams mounted a 3-0 lead in the first twenty-five minutes of
play to advance to the NESCAC finals for the third consecutive
season with a 4-2 defeat of Tufts.
Tufts finishes its season with an 8-7-1
overall record, and a 4-4-1 conference mark. Williams ups
their overall record to 16-0-0, and 9-0-0 in the NESCAC.
“We were excited to play Tufts
again,” said Williams' head coach Michelyne
Pinard. “The result of our last game felt
like a tie more than a win, and so we were glad to have a second
shot at them.”
Williams midfielder Sara Wild scored two of
the Ephs first three goals, tallying her first score at the 10:55
mark. Wild adeptly dribbled around her defender
outside the 18-yard box to find space to let off a
shot. She nailed a shot right to Tufts keeper,
Kate Minnehan. Minnehan got a touch on the ball,
but bobbled the save and allowed the ball to get past her into the
net for the early Williams lead.
Ephs defender Kara Duggan scored the
second goal of the game in her signature goal-scoring
style. Tyler Rainer assisted on the play after
collecting a corner kick from the far post, and playing a cross
towards net. Duggan headed the ball for the
two-goal advantage. Wild rounded out the Ephs
early scoring at the 22:19 mark, capitalizing on a foul in front of
net. She laced a ball to the bottom left corner
for the 3-0 lead.
Tufts would not go down without a fight, and
narrowed the lead just one minute later. With
the Ephs defenders preventing the Jumbos from getting any shots off
close to net, Alix Michael took a shot from far out that was
perfectly placed above a leaping Ephs keeper for the visiting
team's first goal of the game.
Tufts got within one goal of the Ephs after
scoring early in the second half. Sara Nolet
used her 6-foot frame to head a cross into the back left corner to
bring the score to 3-2. The two goals by Tufts
were the most goals allowed on Cole Field in the 2009
season.
“It is pretty unusual to score three
goals against Tufts in the first twenty-five minutes,”
continued Pinard. “We felt we had a
comfortable lead, but Tufts is too good of a team for us to take
our foot off the gas.”
Less than five minutes later, at 52:29, Tyler
Rainer scored the Ephs fourth goal for a more comfortable
lead. Off a pass from Brett Eisenhart, Rainer
quickly dribbled outside and away from her defender and placed a
ball that curved perfectly to the top left corner for the 4-2 lead.
Lauren Sinnenberg recorded 6 saves in the win,
while Minnehan tallied 7 saves in the Jumbos'
loss.
Williams will face off against Middlebury
tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. This is the fourth time in tournament
history that the Ephs have appeared in the finals, having played in
2004, 2007, and 2008. They have won the championship in their
previous three appearances.
“I feel like the four teams in the
NESCAC semifinals are four of the best teams in the country,”
said Pinard. “We are looking forward to
playing Middlebury tomorrow, and with the talent level of both
teams, it should be an unbelievable game.”
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