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SAN ANTONIO, TX -- The Williams men's soccer came out of the
gates and went right after defending champion Messiah in the first
of two National Semifinal contests being played this evening, but
it was Messiah that took a 1-0 lead into intermission.
Despite outshooting Messiah 10-5 in the first 45 minutes and
gene rating a couple of outstanding scoring opportunities it was
the Falcons and the Ephs who drew first blood.
"Our plan was to come out and attack and put them back o their
heels," said Eph head coach Mike Russo. "I thought that we were
athletic enough to cause them some problems, but we couldn't get
one in before halftime."
Messiah goalie Jared Clugston showed remarkable quickness and
athleticism when he dove to his left at 21:23 and just got his
finger tips on a shot from inside the box to his right by the Ephs
Gaston Kelly.
Moments later Kelly had another opportunity at the top of the
box on the left side that was just wide and you could see the Ephs
confidence growing minute by minute.The Ephs carried the play for a
significant amount of time in the first half, but they were denied
by Clugston and victimized by being just off target on some
others.
With 32:46 gone in the first half the Falcons took the lead, a
lead they would not relinquish, when
Sam Woodworth slipped a pass into the box to a streaking Trevor
Lee who was able to touch the ball around Eph keeper Andrew Graham
and bury the ball in the back of the net.
"I thought there goal was against the run of play," noted Eph
junior striker Charlie Romero and yes it was frustrating to carry
the play in the half and not get a goal."
Another long ball off a restart was headed over the goal by
Conor Smith as the Ephs kept bringing the ball forward.
At the break the Ephs held a 10-5 advantage in shots, but Messiah
netted one and the Ephs came up empty. Williams also held a slight
edge in corners , 5-3.
"I thought Messiah did a good job of taking care of our two
strikers up front [Pierre Meloty-Kappella and Charlie Romero] who
are very quick and dangerous and then they made some adjustments at
halftime that seemed to give them a lift in the opening 15 minutes
of the second half."
The Ephs registered the first scoring opportunity in the second
half when Gaston Kelly lofted a high ball into the box that forced
Clugston to punch it out of danger.
Messiah's next trip down the field forced the Ephs Andrew Graham
to make a diving save to his right off a shot by Geoff Pezon to
keep the deficit at one. soon Messiah came a knockin' again and
Derek Black ripped left footer from30 yards out that went over the
bar.
Messiah now began to exert its offense and only a sliding tackle
in the box by Joe Vella kept the score 1-0 at 57:13. Less than a
minute later Vella was there again to prevent a Messiah score when
Geoff Pezon squirmed out of a double team in the left corner and
came across the endline and hit Josh wood at the top of the box who
ripped a shot on goal that never made it to the netting because
Vella's body rejected it.
Hard luck then rose up and bit the Ephs when Patrick Ebobisse
raced down the left flank and ripped a laser to the far post. The
shot beat Clugston to the far post, but much to the chagrin of the
Eph faithful the ball bounced back across the goal line toward the
near post and Clugston reacing quickly dove on it to preserve the
lead.
Graham again was test at 61 minutes when he dove to the right to
snatch a header by JP Fulton that had goal written all over it.
Ebobisse then caused some concern for Messiah when he eluded and
smoked the right midfielder and carried the ball to towards the
endline and centered a ball about three yeards out from goal that
Clugston either did not see or was not able to collect. The ball
went all the way across the field and out of bounds.
At 88:43 Messiah netted what would prove to be the game-winner
when Danny Thompson crossed ball from the right side to the left
side of the box to Derek Black who ripped a shot about knee high
two yards inside the far post.
With less than nine minutes left Gaston Kelly was again denied by
Clugston but the Ephs kept coming. Moving center back Conor Smith
up the Ephs got the ball in the box and out of a scramble first
year defender Matt Ratacjzak poked one past Clugston to make it 2-1
Messiah.
The Ephs last chance to score came off another high serve into
the box that was punched away by Clugston, but it ended up at the
feet of Angus Kennedy who hurriedly ripped a shot on the goal but
it sailed high to the right.
On the night the Ephs fired off 18 shots with 5 being on goal,
while Messiah's 2 goals came from 19 shots, of which 9 were on
goal. The Ephs' Andrew Graham made 5 saves and his teammates
recorded two. Jared Clugston turned aside 4 Eph attempts.
"I told the boys it's always tough to lose when you play well,"
said Russo. "I asked them to appreciate all that they've achieved
this season [16-3-3 vs. 8-6-2 in 2008] and to know that the coaches
were extremely proud of their efforts all season long."
NOTES: Being game day the Ephs were dressed
in shirts and ties, even for breakfast…Coach Russo and
assistant Coach Tom Demeo reviewed the game plan for the game in
the lobby of The Menger Hotel and the Ephs decided to go 4 v. 4 in
the back and matchup with Messiah, just as they have all
season…Russo is a strong believer in imprinting the Williams
style of play on the game and not let the opponents dictate
play…Russo noted that, “the teams that have dropped
players back against Messiah have been trapped in a shell and
cannot attack,” and the Ephs always play an attacking
style…Eric Watson '97, a goalie on the 1995 Eph NCAA
Champs was in attendance; Watson is currently the head coach at
SUNY New Paltz... also seen at the game were former Ephs Alex
Blake, Khari Stephenson, Ryan Spicer, Jeff Lipp, Nick Cortese and
Dorian Baker... the Ephs received strong vocal support from 266
students from Alan B. Shepard Middle School who were the loudest
fans at the game... Gary Thomson an '02 graduate of Plymouth
State emailed coach Russo to wish the Ephs well and Thompson
mentioned his respect for coach Russo and the Ephs he competed
against, summing up his remarks by describing Williams soccer
players as “warriors on the field and gentlemen off the
field.'' Thompson encouraged the Ephs to bring the
title back to New England… at 8:00 AM CST the temperature in
San Antonio was the same as in Williamstown – 39 degrees.
