Box Score WILLIAMSTOWN, MA — Goals from four different players saw Williams College (12-6) sweep aside Elms College (11-9) by the score of 4-0 in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Cole field on the campus of Williams College.
The Ephs looked threatening from the very outset, forcing a save out of sophomore keeper Christian Kostka in just the 6th minute. Sophomore Jonathan Westling played a nice through ball to fellow sophomore Mohammed Rashid on the left side of the penalty area, where Rashid took a touch to control the ball and then fired his shot on target, forcing a nice save out of Kostka.
Four minutes later the Ephs had another great look at goal off a corner. Junior Chris Conder took the corner on the right side and placed it beautifully on the back post, right on the head of junior defender Luke Pierce, who smashed his header on target, but Kostka was once again able to keep the game scoreless with good save.
However, in the 21st minute, the Ephs were able to break the deadlock off a nearly identical corner. Conder once again sent the ball in from the right side off a corner onto the back post where Pierce was waiting, but this time, Pierce flicked the ball back across the face of the goal right onto the head of senior Matt Kastner, who had no trouble nodding the ball past the outstretched arms of the diving Kostka.
The Blazers did well to prevent the floodgates from opening, as they managed to keep the deficit at just one goal going into halftime.
The Ephs' best chance to double their lead before the break came with just over three minutes left after a foul by sophomore Blazer defender Connor O'Grady on the left side of the Ephs' attack. Conder took the ensuing free kick and switched the field of play to the right side to junior Zach Grady. Grady showed some nice dribbling skill to fake out his defender and send a nice cross into the heart of the penalty area, where senior User Kushaina was waiting. Kushaina chested the ball down and fired his shot on target, but once again Kostka was able to keep the ball out of the back of the net and the game within reach for the Blazers.
The Ephs went into halftime with the 1-0 lead but came out of halftime looking hungry for more goals.
In the 52nd minute, Kastner, just as he has all season, showed off his incredible work rate as he forced O'Grady to foul him just outside the box on the right side, as Kastner tried to run down a loose ball in the corner. Conder once again took the free kick and placed it perfectly on the top of the six-yard box, where Westling was able to connect his head to the ball and send it into the back of the net.
From there, the Ephs' attack began to flow more freely, since the Blazers were forced to throw more attackers up the field to stay in the game.
Just nine minutes after the Ephs' second goal, they found a third through an incredible individual effort by freshman winger Malcolm Moutenot. Moutenot won a fifty-fifty ball on the right side of the midfield and was off to the races, streaking down the right side of the field all by himself. He cut into the box and had the option to pass to Rashid on the left side but instead took it himself, slotting his shot perfectly under the right arm of Kostka.
Just for insurance, the Ephs found their fourth and final goal through senior Dan Lima around ten minutes later, sealing the Ephs' spots in the second round. Lima pressured a Blazer throw-in and managed to intercept the pass. He then drove into the Blazer box, sidestepping a pair of defenders, and rocketed his shot into the left panel of the goal, leaving absolutely no chance for Kostka to keep the deficit at three.
The Ephs high-powered attack continued to create chances in the last twenty minutes, as it looked like Lima might nab a second goal just five minutes after his first, as freshman JC Bahr-de Stefano put in a great performance in the last twenty minutes of the game. Bahr-de Stefano sent a free kick from the left side of the midfield up to the right side of the Ephs' attack, where fellow freshman Kevin Mercadante collected the long pass and laid the ball off to Grady who streaked behind the defense and tapped a pass to the right side of the penalty area where Lima hit the ball first time but only just over the crossbar.
Three minutes later, Bahr-de Stefano almost got on the scoresheet himself, after freshman Patrick Gordon showed some great strength to fight off two defenders on the left side of the box. He then sent in a cross that Bahr-de Stefano volleyed first time, but he looped his volley just over the crossbar.
The Blazers had an opportunity to get a consolation goal with just over two minutes left in the game, after the Ephs conceded a free kick on the right side of the defense, only about 28 yards from goal. Junior Joelle Reyes took the free kick, but his shot could not avoid the hulking defensive wall. The deflection fell to the feet of senior captain Alex Rodriguez, but his shot also was blocked by an Eph defender, ending the game at 4-0.
After the game, Eph head coach Mike Russo commented on his team's outstanding performance: "I think we did a very good job on defense, but I was a little disappointed at halftime having 16 shots with only the one goal. I told our boys that this is the kind of game where we need a two- or three-goal lead in order to avoid a huge momentum shift, and we came out in the second half and did just that. We just had a great team defensive effort today: the back line obviously but the midfield and even the forwards too, getting back and pressuring the ball. And we will need all of that tomorrow too."
The Ephs outshot the Blazers by a margin of 28 to 5, with 15 shots on target to the Blazers' 0. The Ephs also had 9 corner kicks to the Blazers' 2, but they also totaled 18 fouls to just the 13 of the Blazers.
The Ephs return to the field tomorrow in the second round of the NCAA tournament, playing the Golden Bears of Western New England University at 1:30 PM.
