Box Score ONEONTA, NY – The Williams women's soccer team opened its season today with a 2-0 loss to the Oneonta State Red Dragons. The Red Dragons (1-1-1) scored one in each frame to give the Ephs a 0-1-0 start to the year.
Oneonta got on the board in just the 7th minute when Kayla Brantmeyer finished from the right. She put a tough angle shot past Hannah Van Wetter for her first goal of the season.
The Ephs looked to bounce back late in the first half when they had two nice looks at the net just over a minute apart in the 33rd and 34th minutes. Carla Nicasio's shot went high, though, and Hana Tomozawa's look fell wide. The Red Dragons entered the break with the 1-0 lead.
The Ephs opened the second half with a nice look at the net by senior Caitlyn Clark. Red Dragon goalie Rori Stark was able to come up with the save, though, to keep the Red Dragons' lead. Oneonta then capitalized on an opportunity just under eight minutes into the half when Lindsay Doxtader finished off of an assist from Elise Moinzadeh for the second and final goal of the game.
Despite a hard-fought effort from the Ephs for the rest of the half, they were unable to find the back of the net. The Red Dragons outshot the Ephs 14 to 9. Stark turned away three Eph shots on net while Van Wetter and Laura Wann turned away five of the Red Dragons' attempts. Oneonta also had a strong advantage in corners as they saw six corner kicks to the Ephs' one.
After the game, Coach Michelyne Pinard commented, "Overall I think it was pretty clear that it was our first game and their third. They had some of their early season kinks worked out, and we were still working through ours."
She went on to say, "I just think we have a lot of learning to do, but our kids are willing and wanting to work hard to get better… That's our focus… We did a good job of keeping the ball, but we didn't do a great job of transitioning to the attack, and I think that if we do that more quickly, we'll be ok. We just have to get on the board."
The Ephs return to the field on Saturday at 11:00. They will be looking to bounce back in their first NESCAC matchup against Bates College. The game will be played at Cole Field.
Said Coach Pinard looking ahead, "This is a good opportunity to see what we're made of, and we're excited to be able to play again in two days."
