WILLIAMSTOWN, MA - Williams men's soccer recovered from its first loss of the season to defeat Bowdoin today 1-0 on Cole Field. Daniel Morrisroe '12 won the game for the Ephs off of a through ball from co-captain Nick Pugliese '12 in the 84th minute.
Williams climbed to 3-1-1 on the season with the victory, while Bowdoin fell to 3-2-1.
The Ephs came out of the game with a brand new starting line up, as seven of the players made their first start of the season and Peter Morrell '14 stepped into goal for Than Finan '13. Pugliese, Andres Burbank-Crump '15, and Phil Vestergaard '12 were the only three holdovers from the previous day's loss to Wesleyan. Centerbacks Doug Weinrib '13 and co-captain Matt Ratajczak '13 were unavailable, as Weinrib was suffering from extreme dehydration and Ratajczak picked up a concussion the previous day, so Burbank-Crump and Vestergaard shifted from their outside back positions into the middle.
"We were nervous without Matt [Ratajczak] and Doug [Weinbrib] today, but everyone stepped up and showed they wanted it," Williams Head Coach Mike Russo said. "Yesterday was very disappointing. The fact that they came back today and really got stuck in and played extremely well shows how good we can be."
The Polar Bears started out the game in control of possession, but the Ephs came up with the first real opportunity in the 8th minute. Matt Kastner '14 and Matt Muralles '15 ran a give and go in the midfield, leading Kastner into the right corner. Kastner served the ball in to the center of the box, where Dan Lima '14 received the ball. Lima took a touch before volleying the ball at Bowdoin keeper Will Wise made himself big on the six, keeping Lima's shot out of the net with an excellent save.
Murralles continued to be a central player for the Ephs over the next 20 minutes, continually connecting with Kastner and making problems for the Polar Bears with his quick footwork.
The best opportunity in the half for either team occurred in the 16th minute on a miscommunication between Wise and his centerback, Ben Brewster, off a long ball from Vestergaard. The ball bounced behind the Brewster with Zach Grady '15 pressuring. Brewster attempted to head the ball back to Wise, who was off his line, but ball made it past the keeper, and Grady flew by Brewster to pick up the left side of the net. He was unable to get his shot on the empty net, however, and the Polar Bears escaped unscathed.
The Ephs continued to generate opportunities throughout the rest of the half, as the team pulled Wise off his line to make several plays on crosses over the next 30 minutes, and Pugliese was able to clip the top left of the crossbar in the 33rd minute on a long distance shot. Williams got lucky in the 45th minute on a Bowdoin corner kick which dropped in the box, but the Polar Bears could not finish and were otherwise unable to threaten Morrell's goal through the rest of the half. The teams entered the break tied 0-0.
The second half saw back-and-forth play between the two teams. Bowdoin in particular took advantage of several restarts to threaten the Williams net, while the Ephs challenged the Polar Bears with an array of through balls and balls played over the top. However, neither team was able to create a substantial chance until the 81st minute. Morrell played a long ball on a backpass that deflected to the left side of the box, where Kastner picked up the ball and took touch into the 18. He then played the ball to Pugliese, who ripped a shot at the top right of the net. Wise was up the challenge, though, and made the save to keep the score knotted.
Less than three minutes later, the Ephs broke the deadlock. Pugliese picked a loose ball 35 yards out in the middle of the field. As the Bowdoin defender stepped, the co-captain played a perfect ball to Morrisroe, who stood open in the middle of the field. Morrisroe took a touch, and when Wise came out to meet him, the Morrisroe popped the ball over him and into the back of the net to give the Ephs a 1-0 lead.
"It was good to see Danny Morrisroe finish," said Russo. "He's been involved throughout the year, and it was really good to see him finally get there."
Bowdoin threw everything they had at Williams for the remainder of the game, but the Eph defense held up, and the Ephs walked away with the victory.
"I was delighted," said Russo. "We were missing two very very good central defenders [in Rataczak and Weinrib], and quite honestly we have played Phil [Verstergaard] in there a little, but we haven't used Andres [Burbank-Crump] in there, and we haven't played [right-back] Josh Miller-Lewis and [left-back] Ralston Louie at all. Bowdoin plays very direct in a skilful way, and the new back four did a great job containing them."
"Overall, I am very pleased with the young midfield that started," he added. "Matt Murralles and [center-midfielder] Michael Madding showed bite skill and tactical awareness. We showed we had a lot of depth today."
The Ephs do not play again until next Saturday, when they will take on MIT on the road at 1 p.m.
