Box
Score
Photo
Gallery
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass - The Williams College men's lacrosse team
built an early five goal lead and then held off NESCAC rival
Bowdoin with a shutout fourth quarter to preserve the 10-7 win
Saturday at Renzie Lamb Field.
The victory makes it four straight for the Ephs and raises them
to .500 with a 5-5 overall and 4-3 NESCAC record, while the Polar
Bears (7-4 overall, 4-2 NESCAC) have now lost three straight after
starting the season with just one loss in their first eight games.
"I talked to the guys a lot about getting a good start for
today's game, and we really did that today -- which really helped
us get past their mad dash at the end." Remarked Eph coach George
McCormack. "But, it was a great win and I think it locked us in for
the postseason."
The two teams were neck and neck in shots (Williams: 34;
Bowdoin: 36) and clears (Williams: 14; Bowdoin: 16), but the Ephs'
Corey Jacobs gave Williams the sizable edge in face-offs, winning
13 of the games 20.
The Eph offense worked by committee as they got a pair of goals
from Sam Hargrove, Matt Cranshaw, David Hawley, and Michael Aclerno
respectively. The defense was lead by Michael Gerbush, who amassed
seven saves while limiting Bowdoin to just two scores on 17 shots
in the first half before finishing with 11 saves.
Harry Ashforth and Cullen Winkler each notched a pair of scores
for the Polar Bears, while Jake McCampbell recorded nine saves in
the net.
The Ephs built a two goal lead after one period, off of goals
from Matt Cranshaw and Michael Aclerno, and added three more in the
first part of the second. First, when David Hawley rocketed it home
just three minutes in, then again in the middle of the period off
of the stick of Brian Wrapp at the 7:53 mark, and then a little
over a minute later when Tommy Murray made good on a man-up
opportunity to bring the score to 5-0.
David Hawley would record his second goal before the period was
through, but the Polar Bears began to push back and brought the
score to 6-2 at intermission.
Bowdoin carried their late momentum into the third quarter and
slashed the deficit to 6-3 just 14 seconds in the stanza. Sam
Hargrove responded for Williams with a pair of goals just eight
seconds apart to restore the Ephs largest advantage at 8-3.
However, Bowdoin kept on pushing and closed out the quarter with
four straight scores to shrink the Eph lead to just one goal, at
8-7, for the start of the fourth period.
The two teams played an extremely physical and largely
stalemated fourth period. However, the Ephs finally exposed the
increasingly chancy Polar Bears in the final minutes, with goals
from Michael Aclerno and Matt Cranshaw, to secure the victory at
10-7.
The Ephs will defend their four-game win streak Tuesday, April
14th, when they play host to Union. That game is
scheduled for a 6:00 PM start.
