Box Score POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – Williams men's lacrosse won 17-11 against Vassar to advance to 8-4 on the season and end a four game losing streak.
These two teams were unfamiliar with each other as they had only played once before and that was April 16th of last year. Williams won that game as well so the Ephs are now 2-0 in the all time series.
When asked about the impact that ended the losing streak had, Williams head coach George McCormack said, "Any time you're in a slump you want to get back on the right track. We played pretty well these past two games but they didn't go our way, it was good to come out and get a win today."
In the first quarter both teams came out hot. Khary Dennis scored the first goal of the game for Williams at 13:21; it was his first goal of the season. Vassar won the face off and Liam Moriarty was able to score for them on that possession. Vassar also won the next face off and scored off of a goal from Chris Billups. Williams won the following face off and Bryson Gilbert-Bono scored for the Ephs on that possession at 10:40. After that scoring slowed for a while until Sean Brazer fired in a shot from the top of the box to score for Vassar at 8:29. Eric Kelley matched that goal for Williams at 6:33 with a drive to the right from the top of the box. Though both teams had a lot of opportunities, neither team was able to find the inside of the net again for the remainder of the quarter.
Long stick midfielder Riley Hoffman scored the first goal of the second quarter for Williams at 13:08 as he drove right with a defender on him and just rifled in a shot over him. Vassar matched that goal at 11:59 when Alex Georgalas brought the ball down on a fast break and shot it himself to score. Vassar scored the next two goals, with one from Sean Brazier, and one from Noah Parson. Williams won the faceoff following the second goal and called a timeout to run a set play. They spread the field very wide and then got the ball to Tanner MacIver on the left wing so he could drive and score at 0:51.
Williams started the second half trailing 5-4 but they went on a run to take a lead which they maintained through the game. By the nine minute mark Williams had gone up 9-4. On the first play of the half Brian Bissell won the faceoff for Williams and ended up scoring on the play at 14:45. Riley Hoffman scored the next goal for the Ephs when he was pressured and he spun away from his defender and unleashed a shot into the net. Next Michael Fahey drove from behind the net, drew a second defender and passed to Duncan Cummings on the crease for a score. On the next goal Hoffman brought the ball up on a fast break, drew a defender, and passed to Andy Grabowski for a score. The final goal of the run was on another fast break when Hoffman brought the ball up the field and made a pass, got the ball back immediately after and shot for a score at 9:40. After that Brandon Destasio ended the run for Vassar off a isolation from behind the net at 8:37. However Williams did not let them keep the momentum for too long. At 5:03 Greg Plumb found Khary Dennis trailing on a fast break for another goal to bring the score up to 11-7. Vassar scored the next two with goals from Liam Moriarty and Sam Houston-Read, to reduce the lead to two goals going into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter Andy Grabowski played really well to put the game away for Williams. The first goal of the quarter came at 10:39 when he cut made a strong cut across the crease to get open and received a pass and scored. Williams won the next faceoff and Michael Fahey scored on the play at 10:22. Vassar scored the games next goal by intercepting a pass on a clear attempt and making a run at the net before Williams was able to reset. Just two minutes later, Fahey passed to Grabowski who had cut from the top of the box to completely lose his man and received the ball unguarded in the middle of the box and scored. Grabowski then scored again off an isolation play from behind the net at 4:20. Noah Parson then scored for Vassar at 1:51 but the game was out of reach at that point. Still, Fahey and Grabowski netted a pair of goals to ensure the Victory for Williams.
When asked how the team was able to improve McCormack said, "Well, it was a midweek road game; we came out a little sluggish, and it took us a little time to fully get going. In the second half we were really sharing the ball well, talking well on defense, and the execution was good all around."
Andy Grabowski, who had five goals and one assist, led Williams. Riley Hoffman, long-stick midfielder also played very well for Williams. He had three goals and one assist.
Those three goals put Hoffman up to eleven goals on the season. In contrast, Williams has been scored on just once by a long-stick midfielder all season. When asked how the Ephs get Hoffman so involved in the offense McCormack said, "He stays on the field when we're clearing the ball and he gets opportunities there. He's super talented, and super athletic and he's got a great shot so we look to use that." That transition attack was certainly effective today as Williams scored five fast break goals today.
Williams' goalie Dan Whittam played 60:00 and allowed eleven goals and had eight saves.
The next game for the Ephs is April 18th when they will travel to play Colby.
