Box Score LEWISTON, ME—Both the Williams and Bates men's soccer teams took to Russell Street Field with a chance to improve their NESCAC playoff scenarios, with the Ephs contending for a home game next Saturday at Cole Field and the Bobcats fighting to stay in the hunt.
But an early exchange of goals led to naught as the sides battled to a 1-1 draw on Saturday afternoon, snapping Williams' 18-game winning streak over the Bobcats and leaving the postseason picture for each team cloudy as ever in advance of their respective regular season finales on Wednesday.
The result was a disappointing one for the Ephs (7-5-2, 5-3-1 NESCACbah), especially given their early advantage. After Matt Muralles made several nifty moves in the offensive end for Williams, Malcolm Moutenot sent a cross into the box that Chris Conder poked home his second goal of the season after just 39 seconds of play. The tally was the Ephs' fastest of 2014, a year in which they have found goals hard to come by.
Bates (4-8-2, 2-6-1 NESCAC) responded quickly, though, capitalizing on an Eph miscue. An Eph foul at midfield gave the Bobcats a chance to pack numbers into the box, and though the initial free kick sailed well off to the right goal, Noah Grumman's clearing header of a follow-up cross fell squarely to Bates' Nate Merchant. The unmarked freshman sent a well-struck volley just past the arms of outstretched Eph goalie Christian Alcorn to re-knot the match.
Afterwards, Russo suggested that his team's lightning strike to open the match might have allowed a sense of complacency to set in, especially given his side's history of success against the Bobcats. "Sometimes when you score so early it isn't a good thing," allowed Russo.
Nevertheless, the Ephs had plenty of chances to break the draw, most notably during a sequence of four corner kicks half an hour into the match. On the first of those corners, Bates netminder Steve Polito came off his line but could only deflect Zach Grady's cross straight to Luke Pierce. The Eph co-captain's shot was hard and on-target, but Polito recovered just in time to make an impressive save. Moments later, the Bates goalie again rose to the occasion by snagging a header from JC Bahr-de Stefano out of the air to quell the Williams attack. "We just weren't lucky," said Russo of the missed chances.
In the second half, the Bobcats came out strong and at times outplayed the Ephs, as forward Peter Knoth left the Williams back line with its hands full. Knoth's most dangerous chance came in the 78th minute, when the sophomore weaved his way around three Williams players before firing a shot that Alcorn parried high into the air, with Knoth's potential follow-up snuffed out by a foul call on Bates.
After Tom Young sent an open look wide with under two minutes to go in regulation, the Ephs had a spate of chances in the first overtime. But Polito smothered Matt Muralles' curling shot from outside the 18, then stopped Bahr-de Stefano, who had blasted a shot high just moments earlier, on a header just moments later. "We just weren't lucky," said Russo of his side's missed opportunities.
As the clock wound towards zero for the final time of the afternoon, the pace of the game slowed visibly, as the drained sides traded fruitless attacks before the final whistle. The ending contrasted sharply with those of the Ephs' previous two overtime contests, played at home against Middlebury and Endicott, in which late goals from Grady propelled them to victory. "For some reason, we don't have quite the energy we have at home that we have on the road," noted Russo, whose side came into the day riding a four-game road losing streak.
While that streak has ended, the Ephs still must solve their scoring problems on the road if they are to secure a home playoff game. Currently, they sit alone in fourth place and can claim third outright by defeating Hamilton in Clinton, NY on Wednesday; a loss or a draw from Williams would give Little Three rival Wesleyan a chance to steal the coveted 4th slot and host the Ephs on November 1. If they win, the identity of the Ephs' first opponent is uncertain: Wesleyan, Bowdoin and Connecticut College are all possibilities.
For their part, the Bobcats, currently in 10th place with seven points, must defeat intra-state rival Colby to stay alive, then hope for an Amherst defeat of Trinity or a Wesleyan win over Connecticut. Bates would then face either Tufts or Amherst in the quarterfinals.
It's enough to make your head swim, but for Russo and the Ephs, the objective remains straightforward: win, and get another game at Cole Field. "We have no preference as to who we play," said Russo. "We're in it. Now we just want to be home for one game."
