Box Score WILLIAMSTOWN, MA — Senior Kara Sperry had a goal and assist Saturday and Margaret Draper made six stops in goal as the Williams College fied hockey team brushed past conference rival Connecticut College, 4-1, at Williamson Field.
Williams improved to 8-2 overall, 4-2 in the conference, while the Camels dropped to 1-8 overall and 1-6 in the NESCAC. Williams hosts Skidmore Tuesday night at 6 p.m.
The Ephs led 1-0 at half, but opened the second half by scoring three goals in the first 11 minutes and 37 seconds to build a four-goal advantage they would not relinqiush.
"At halftime, I just told them we need to step it up," Ephs' head coach Alix Barrale said. "We were out of sync and i needed us to be more aggressive in the circle and step up to the ball. Our passing was so much better in the second half, we really executed what we wanted to do out there."
Brigid Bruno got the second-half scoring underway when she received a pass from Annie VanWagenen in the circle and fired a shot past Camel keeper Ryley van der Velde just 6;36 into the second frame.
The Ephs kept the pressure up, scoring just 2:45 later when Sperry converted a pass from sophomore Alex Bennett for a 3-0 lead. Sperry wasn't done yet as only 2:16 later, she received a pass from Hannah Goodrick off a penalty corner, dealt it back to Goodrick, who fired a shot from the left side of the goal past the Camels' second keeper, Lauren Pianucci, for a 4-0 lead.
"I think in the second half we did come out more agressive and just wore their defense down," Barrale said.
Katlyn Paiva was able to put the Camels in the scoring column just a minute after Goodrick's goal to account for the 4-1 final.
It was Conn. College which had come out and set the pace early in the game, forcing the Ephs Draper to make the majority of her saves in the opening stanza. Conn's Colby Vaillancourt had two great chances to score in the contest's first seven minutes, but each time Draper came up big. The second shot was off a penalty corner, but Draper was able to kick it out of harms way and to the left.
"Draper kept us in the game in the first half, no question," Barrale said. Conn. College has some very dangerous forwards, but Draper was really stepping it up and making some plays on her own."
Barrale also commented on how she believed Emma Grauberger and Katie Gallop gave the Ephs a solid defensive effort, and that both Kate Pattison and Julie Cochrane gave Williams a lift in the first half when they entered the game.
It ws Pattison who would give Williams a 1-0 lead when she batted a high pass from Kit Rosen out of the air and into the goal with 6:23 left before halftime.
The Camels actually finished the game with an 11-6 edge in shots and a 6-4 advantage in penalty corners.
