GENEVA, NY -- Williams women's soccer suffered
its first loss of the season today when it traveled to William
Smith. After 90 minutes of play, the #4 ranked Herons (6-1) came
out on top 3-1 against the #7 ranked Ephs (2-1-1).
William Smith was the first to put the ball in the net. With
7:12 gone on the clock, Katie Redmond receieved a pass from the top
of the box from Renee Jensen and put the ball past Julia Schreiber.
Williams' Chelsea Davies
responded with her first goal of the season at 34:26 to tie
it at one all. Hayley Cook
assisted the goal with a pass down the left side.
With just under five minutes to play in the half, William
Smith's Morgan Gibeault carried the ball down the side of the field
and found the back of the net. Although Williams had ten
shots on goal in the first half and William Smith had only four,
William Smith was up 2-1.
It did not take long for William Smith to put another goal on
the scoreboard. Just over five minutes into the second half,
Brelynn Nasypany beat two defenders to score her eighth goal of the
season. Williams had four shots in the half but was unable to
respond.
Coach Michelyne Pinard said after the game, "They caused a lot
of trouble with their speed up top in transition. We just didn't
quite finish our opportunities. Overall, it was a battle, and I
think we learned a lot, and hopefully we'll move forward, getting
better tomorrow."
Today's game had special meaning to Coach Pinard as her team
took the field against her own former coach's. William Smith
coach Aliceann Wilber coached Coach Pinard for two years –
when she was 12 and 13 – on the New York State West Team, an
ODP team made up of players from all over upstate New York.
Coming from a small town, Pinard said that "she was[n't] as good
technically" as some of the players from bigger cities, but Coach
Wilber "took [her] on the roster simply because [she] work[ed] hard
and [she] was hyper competitive." Coach Pinard said that she thinks
that both coaches "value those two characteristics in
coaching [their] college teams." Before the game, Coach
Pinard said that coaching against her former coach would be
fun. She went on to say, "I have so much respect for her in
so many realms. She is such a great educator, mentor and now
friend. Her soccer knowledge and ability to communicate
to her players is outstanding."
The loss snapped 45-game (43-0-2) regular-season unbeaten streak
for the Ephs dating back to October 21, 2006, at Tufts (a 1-0
defeat).
The Ephs look to rebound tomorrow at Oneonta State. The
game will begin at 1:30.
