HARTFORD, CT -- Thanks to corresponding breaks
in the academic calendar the Williams and Trinity women's soccer
teams were able to hold their annual NESCAC match under picture
perfect conditions in the early afternoon at Trinity today.
The first half was scoreless though Williams (7-3-1/3-2-1
NESCAC) generated a couple of testing shots, one by Sara Wild
and one by Nicole
Stenquist, that were handled by the Bantams' (4-1-3/3-1-2
NESCAC) keeper Lily Pepper.
The Ephs took a 1-0 lead off a booming 40-yard direct kick off
the right foot of senior midfielder Sara Wild at 51:59. Wild's
net-stretcher was a low laser through the wall about two feet off
the ground snuck inside the near post. The goal by Wild was her
third of the season.
In the 79th minute Trinity's Caroline Washburne got
loose in the Eph box, but her shot sailed over the crossbar. The
Bantams' attack gained intensity from the Washburne attempt and
Trinity's efforts were eventually rewarded at 88:59 after a free
kick from the top of the box by Stefanie Griglak was denied by the
Eph keeper, Julia Schreiber,
but the resulting rebound was touched in by Jenny Lee, knotting the
contest at one.
The late Trinity surge in intensity was met by an Eph response
that was equal to the task and impressed head coach Michelyne
Pinard. "At the end of the game we played some of our best soccer
of the year," noted Pinard.
Junior Eph forward Brett Eisenhart
settled the matter in the first overtime session when she tallied
her 8th goal of the year and her fifth game-winner at
93:11. The Eisenhart game-winner came off a pass from senior back
Kara Duggan
to midfielder Nicole Stenquist
who slotted the ball through the defense to a streaking Eisenhart
who beat Pepper. "Brett timed her run exquisitely," said Pinard.
"When she received the ball she was behind their backline and alone
on goal."
Pinard made a special point to single out the contributions of
senior forward Annelise ("Iggy" Snyder and junior midfielder Nicole
Stenquist. "They don't always show up in the stats, but Iggy gave
Trinity a lot of problems on their backline today and opened up
some opportunities for us and Nicole just worked hard the whole
game and was effective creating plays through the middle of the
field."
"Overall I thought it was a great game and both teams played
very well," concluded Pinard.
On the day the Ephs registered 17 shots, while Trinity fired off
9. The Ephs Julia Schreiber turned aside 4 Bantam attempts and
allowed one goal in 93:11. Trinity's Lily Pepper stopped all three
Eph shots she faced in the first half, while the Bantams' Emily
Weedon was credited with three saves and allowed two goals 48:11:11
in playing the second half and the overtime session.
The Ephs will next see action when they face Bowdoin at home on
Cole Field on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in a contest that will be available via webcast.
