Box Score HARTFORD, CT – The Williams women's soccer team had an incredible comeback victory today over the Trinity Bantams (1-2-0, 0-2-0 NESCAC) when the Ephs scored two goals in the final 7:20 to win 2-1. The Ephs (2-2-0, 2-0-0 NESCAC) got a goal apiece from Alison Magruder and Chloe Kuh within four minutes of each other to pull off the come-from-behind win.
Williams was aggressive from the start of the game. After Trinity had a couple shots that fell wide, the Ephs saw their first good opportunity just over eight minutes in when Samantha Vilaboa had a nice look at the net that landed wide. Mai Mitsuyama then had a shot on goal just under a minute later but Monica DiFloro was able to come up with the save. The Ephs continued to look for a goal, however, and Kuh got another look at the net in the following minute. Her shot fell wide as well.
Despite the Ephs' strong attack, Trinity got on the board in just the 18th minute when Abbey Lake received a pass from Elisa Dolan and put the ball past Eph goalie Laura Wann. The goal gave the Bantams a 1-0 lead that they were able to hold for the rest of the half and much of the game.
The Ephs continued to fight, but it looked like it might be too little too late. Finally, with 82:40 on the clock, they were able to find the back of the net. Midfield controller Caitlyn Clark passed the ball to Magruder, who finished for her second goal of the year.
With the game looking as if it may end in overtime, senior Kuh sealed it for the Ephs with a goal in the 87th minute. Her goal was unassisted and her first of the season and the first of her career at Williams.
Despite the Ephs not finding the back of the net until the end of the game, they outshot the Bantams by a total of 17 to 9. DiFloro posted six saves for Trinity while Hannah Van Wetter had two for the Ephs in the second half; Wann did not have a save in the opening frame.
Said Coach Michelyne Pinard after the game about her team's fight, "I think we got better and better each minute throughout the game. I think we just started at the end of the first half to attack more quickly. I encouraged them to keep doing that, and I knew [a goal] would come. We had a goal called back. We had some unlucky stuff today. I think at the end they persevered, and that perseverance paid off."
She went on to talk about the importance of the NECAC win: "The win itself is huge, and the fact that we saw that we can score goals against a team that is really tight defensively is really great for us. Certainly, we know that we can keep getting better, but we know we're mentally getting tougher day-by-day and week-by-week, and that will pay off down the road."
The Ephs return to the field next Saturday against Wesleyan at 1:30 PM in the first of a double-header weekend. They will then take on Connecticut College on Sunday.
Said Pinard looking ahead, "I think we certainly need to work on our restarts offensively and defensively. I think we'll hone in on those [this week]. We'll make sure we just keep fine tuning all the things we've been improving upon and make sure we're fresh going into a double header weekend."
