Coach Michelyne Pinard's postgame
comments
WILLIAMSTOWN, MA -- Following a first half 2-1
lead, women's soccer beat Bowdoin (5-4-2, 2-4-1 NESCAC) 4-2 this
afternoon. The Ephs (8-3-1, 4-2-1 NESCAC) were the first on
the board and never looked back. In the 13th minute, Caitlyn Clark
served a long ball into the box from just over midfield. Tyler Rainer
had a one-touch finish from about five yards out to give the Ephs
the early first half lead.
The Ephs' second goal came just over fifteen minutes later when
freshman Hayley Cook
crossed the ball to Sara Wild
from near the right sideline. Wild fired a ball at the net,
but the shot was saved by goalie Kat Flaherty, who recorded six
saves on the day. Off of the save, Annelise Snyder
stepped into the ball and rocketed it into the net to put the Ephs
up 2-0.
Bowdoin answered with a goal of its own with 6:13 to go in the
half. Forward Lauren Skerritt booted a ball from about 35
yards out. The shot snuck into the net over keeper Laura
Wann's head. Wann entered the game about seven minutes in
after starter Julia Schreiber
went down following a collision in the box. Wann recorded one
save on the day.
Going into halftime, Williams had 12 shots to Bowdoin's
five.
The second half started relatively uneventfully. Williams
continued to be aggressive on the offensive end, but not until the
clock read 15:35 to play did the Ephs finish one of their 11 shots
of the half. Cook and Wild connected again, but this time the
outcome was different. From just inside the box, Cook crossed the
ball to Wild, who stepped in and finished with a goal for the first
score of the half.
Down 3-1 with little time left, Bowdoin did not give up. In the
87th minute, Williams had a handball in the box.
Junior forward Ellery Gould stepped up to take the penalty
kick. She netted the ball in the left corner of the
goal. The penalty kick was Bowdoin's only shot of the second
half.
Williams responded to Bowdoin's late goal with one of their
own. With just over two minutes to play, Kristine Nakada
crossed the ball to Clark, who added a goal to her assist by
finishing in the bottom right corner of the net. Coach Michelyne
Pinard talked about the importance of the late goal and Clark's
performance after the game. "We've depended on Caitlyn Clark all
year to be steady and make good decisions," she said. "Today was
the epitome of that. She could have panicked, but she finished with
composure. She is such a complete soccer player, and it showed
today with her ability to be effective on both sides of the
ball." Following Clark's goal, the final two minutes passed
without any real opportunities for either team, and Williams left
the field with the 4-2 victory.
Coach Pinard commented on the Ephs ability to finish
today. "We're working in a slightly new shape. At
Trinity, we saw a lot of options but didn't execute. Today we
executed with timing of runs and balls and the final ball."
The Ephs will have to continue with the finishing when they play at
Tufts on Saturday. Entering today, Tufts was third (they have
played one fewer games than the Ephs), and the Ephs were fourth in
league standings. The game will be important for dictating
post-season play. Looking towards Saturday, Coach Pinard
said, "Tufts is a great team; they are always very organized. We
will keep working on pulling them out of their shape and using our
flanks… We need to finish like we did today." The game
will take place at 12:30.
