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WILLIAMSTOWN, MA.
– Top-seeded Williams defeated third-seeded Middlebury, 3-2,
in a highly-contested NESCAC Championship at Cole Field in
Williamstown this afternoon. The win marks the
Ephs' third consecutive conference championship, as the
Williams women's soccer program remains the only team in
conference history to have won consecutive titles.
Middlebury falls to 11-3-2, while Williams
continues their undefeated season at 17-0-0. The
Ephs, currently ranked second in the latest NSCAA
rankings, receive an automatic berth to the NCAA
Tournament with this afternoon's victory.
“It's hard not to be overwhelmed
with emotion right now in seeing all their
hard work come to fruition,” said Williams' head coach
Michelyne Pinard.
“The senior class was spectacular with their energy and poise
both on and off the field, and how they keep us together as a
team. To see them
walk off the field as NESCAC champs means the world to
me.”
The two squads faced off in the final game of
their regular season on October 30, 2009 with Williams taking the
contest by a 1-0 margin. Ephs senior Sarah
Walmsley tallied a late-goal in the 87th- minute to win
a game that the Panthers largely dominated.
In today's championship
game, Williams and Middlebury switched momentum often with the
Ephs controlling much of the first third and last third of the
game. The Panthers
would take the momentum in the middle of the game, when they scored
two goals to tie and take the lead for just over fifteen minutes in
the second half.
Statistically, Middlebury and Williams were on
par, taking 11 and 12 shots respectively. The
Panthers, ranked 19th in the latest NSCAA rankings, held
the Ephs to their lowest total of shots taken on the season.
Williams sophomore Bret Eisenhart
tallied two goals this afternoon, putting her squad up first in the
25th- minute of play. Eisenhart and
teammate Brianna Wolfson found themselves in a 2-on-1 match up
against a lone Middlebury defender. Wolfson drew
the defender in, and then flicked the ball to an open Eisenhart who
ripped a fast-paced shot to the middle of the net for the 1-0 lead.
Middlebury responded nine minutes later with
one of their first offensive opportunities of the
game. The Panther's Rachel Madding
corralled a corner kick, and attempted to head the ball to
net. Teammate Anne
Ford intercepted the ball with another header, and directed it
towards goal to knot the game, 1-1. The Panthers
proceeded to silence the home crowd by taking the lead at
55:09. Annie Rowell took advantage of a fallen
Ephs defender, and was able to lace a slow roller to the back left
corner for the 2-1 advantage.
“I knew going into this game that it was
going to be tough,” said Pinard.
“These are four of the best teams in the country and you
can't be perfect and you're going to give up
goals. We were resilient enough to move past it
today.”
Williams played from behind for fifteen
minutes before taking the control of the game once
again. At 71:24, Walmsley scored off a fast-break
sequence to even the game at two goals apiece.
Nicole Stenquist had just entered the game twenty seconds ago, and
had an instant impact. Collecting a pass from
Annelise Snyder near mid-field, Stenquist dribbled towards the
Panther's net and quickly spotted an undefended Walmsley on
her left. Stenquist played a solid pass to her
teammate, who proceeded to take an open shot for the goal.
“I was so happy for Nicole in that
moment,” commented Pinard. “I feel
as if her work on the field can go unnoticed in the statistics
category, but she creates opportunities. She
took one touch, and found Walmsley running, and of course Walmsley
is a great finisher.”
Upon chants from the Michelyne Men on the
sidelines cheering, “Not in our house!”, momentum began
to shift back towards the Ephs as they took control of Cole Field
as they have done so many times this season. The
home team regained the lead just eight minutes later off another
sequence between Eisenhart and Wolfson at the 79:03
mark.
Wolfson played a cross from the left side
towards a crowd of players in front of the net.
The ball began to trail past the far post, and Eisenhart read its
path and retreated towards the ball. She kicked
the ball back towards the left post for what would become the
game-winning goal.
“This game says a lot about how much
these ladies want to win,” continued
Pinard. “It happens from hard
work. We train hard against some of the best
players in the country every day at practice, and they love to put
it out there every single day.”
