Box Score WATERVILLE, MA – The Williams field hockey team (0-1-0, 0-1-0 NESCAC) fell to NESCAC rival, Colby College (1-0-0, 1-0-0 NESCAC) by a score of 3-0 in their season opener.
Colby came out swinging, finding the back of the net only 1:16 into the first half. Colby's Hanna Hearn put the ball past Williams goalie, Ariana Spiliotes off of an assist by Caitlin Murray after a beautiful down field transition. Despite Colby's early offensive success, Williams battled back, keeping the skilled and quick Mules at bay while creating some offensive opportunities of their own. In the first half, the Ephs took 5 shots to the Mules' 9, and drew 3 penalty corners to the Mules' 2.
Despite solid individual play from the Ephs, the Mules were able to capitalize on quick transitions yet again in the second half. "Individually, a lot of people did great things today," said head coach Alix Barrale. "We just didn't put that all together. At times we lacked the team cohesion that is key to this game."
The second goal by the Mules came off of a crossing pass from Megan Fortier just 1:39 into the second half as Charlotte Deavers tipped the well-placed pass into the net. With the score at 0-2 in Colby's favor, Williams saw their opponents benefit from this lead. "They grew more and more confident as the game went on," said Barrale. "We tend to hesitate and it has a sort of domino effect."
However, the Ephs, "never gave up", according to coach Barrale and continued to fight to recover in the second half. Williams would take 7 shots in the half, putting more pressure on the Colby defense. Jaclyn Porfilio and Annie Rojas remained poised on offense, creating opportunities to turn the momentum in the Ephs' favor. Williams utilized their depth, and benefited from strong showings by freshmen Kit Rosen and Brigid Bruno. However, when Colby scored their third and final goal, Williams would not have enough time on the clock to make their comeback.
Eph goalie, Spiliotes, had 7 saves on the day, making a few clutch saves late in the game. Forward Caitlin Conlon took 6 of the Ephs' 12 shots.
Colby's Sarah Evans turned aside all five Eph shots to record the shutout.
The Ephs will next see action on September 10th when they travel to Keene State for a 6:00 PM contest.
