Men's Lacrosse Wins 16-13 at Wesleyan to Improve to 3-0

MIDDLETOWN, CONN. - The game balanced on a knife's edge for the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter as Williams and Wesleyan were separated by just a goal; strong defensive play forced turnover after turnover and both goalies prevented either team from breaking away. With half the quarter gone and the game not won, two Williams freshmen, Cal Ewanich and Pearse Glavin, took matters into their own hands scoring two goals each to secure Williams' third straight win and preserve their undefeated season.
 
The Williams College Ephs (3-0 / 2-0 NESCAC) defeated the Wesleyan Cardinals (1-2 / 1-1 NESCAC) 16 - 13 during today's game at Wesleyan.
 
Wesleyan's Ronan Jacoby broke through to score the first goal at 13:41 in the first quarter before Brian Greenstein responded with one for Williams. The Ephs gained possession and were on offense, but Jared Strauss had back to back shots blocked by Max Powers. Ronan Jacoby got the lead for Wesleyan at 9:14 to make the score 2 - 1. Kevin Moriarty then fed lefty Shayne Gallagher to pick up another one for Wesleyan, but Williams' Cory Lund, assisted by Cal Ewanich, quickly pulled one back thirty seconds later to keep the Ephs within striking distance. Ronan Jacoby then finished his hat trick to bring the Wesleyan lead back to two goals. 
 
Williams relentlessly attacked the Wesleyan goal on their next offensive possession, but the Cardinals defense proved to be too strong for the Ephs. After possession was traded back and forth, Tim Saffold connected with Cory Lund to help Lund get his second of the game with just sixteen seconds left in the first quarter. Wesleyan was on top at the end of the first quarter 4-3.
 
Cory Lund started off the second quarter by completing his hat trick; Tim Saffold then recorded his second assist of the afternoon to Alex Park who gave the Ephs their first lead of the game 5 - 4.
 
Wesleyan, not to be outdone, scored two goals over the next two minutes to get the lead back. Ronan Jacoby scored one and assisted another scored by Pat Grahling. Cal Ewanich scored his first of the game to tie up the game at six. Cory Lund kept scoring, nabbing his fourth of the game, off a feed from Jared Strauss.
 
After the Cardinals won the face-off to get possession, Harry Gahagan stopped Ronan Jacoby dead in his tracks to get possession back for Williams. The Ephs quickly converted that possession into a goal with Jared Strauss getting his first goal of the game. After a Wesleyan foul, Cory Lund finished a hat trick for the quarter with 5:33 remaining in the quarter.
 
Coming out of a Williams timeout, Wesleyan switched Jake McMahon into goal. Ronan Jacoby leveled with Cory Lund for his fifth goal of the day shortly thereafter. Matt Chase was assisted by Ronan Jacoby for another quick Wesleyan goal as the Williams lead was cut to one. 
 
Williams called a timeout with just under three minutes remaining in the half to stop the Wesleyan momentum and it paid instant dividends as Pearse Glavin and Tim Saffold combined for Saffold's first goal of the day. Jared Strauss was assisted by Cal Ewanich a minute later to restore the three-goal Williams lead. The last seconds of the first half were marked by ground ball pickups by both teams as possession was traded, but no more goals were scored. The Williams dominated quarter ended with the Ephs up 11-8.
 
In the third quarter the offenses of both teams looked different from the scoring show of the second quarter; there were four turnovers committed with no goals scored for the first three minutes. Pearse Glavin finally broke this deadlock with 11:21 remaining before Jake Sexton put an answer past Harry Gahagan a minute and a half later. Shayne Gallagher scored his second of the game as the Cardinals started to pick up momentum. Ronan Jacoby put in another for the Cardinals to bring them within a goal of the Ephs. Wesleyan then pulled level on a Pat Grahling score with 2:02 left in the quarter. Jake Sexton followed up with a man-up goal to give the Cardinals their first lead of the quarter. Wesleyan stormed back in the third quarter to change a three-goal deficit into a one goal lead: Wesleyan 13 - Williams 12.
 
The beginning of the fourth quarter was full of solid defense rather than the flurry of goals at the end of the previous quarter. After almost eight minutes of shots forced wide and turnovers, a pass from Jared Strauss found Pearse Glavin and Williams was able to tie the game at thirteen goals with 7:21 remaining. A faceoff win by Williams was initially fruitless as Brian Greenstein sent a shot wide, but after play restarted, Cal Ewanich returned the lead to Williams. Harry Gahagan rejected multiple Wesleyan attempts to level the game and the Ephs strong play forced Wesleyan to call a timeout with 3:57 left in the game.
 
The Cardinals came out of the timeout with a plan and got Pat Grahling a look in front of the net, but his shot ended up just wide of the goal. After regaining possession, Pearse Glavin wasted no time in doubling the Williams lead scoring an unassisted goal. Wesleyan tried to answer, but Harry Gahagan proved impossible to get past. Cal Ewanich finished his hat trick with 0:36 left in the game to seal the win for the Ephs, 16-13.
 
Williams was led by Cory Lund, who scored five goals, and a pair of freshmen Pearse Glavin, who scored three and assisted on four goals, and Cal Ewanich, who scored three goals and added three assists. Wesleyan's Ronan Jacoby scored a game-high six goals to go along with two assists.
 
Williams used just one goalie, Harry Gahagan, who faced 21 shots and saved 8 for a .381 save percentage. Wesleyan used two players in net: Jake McMahon saved 2 of the 9 shots he faced while Max Powers saved 7 of the 16 shots he faced.
 
The Ephs won the faceoff battle going 18-32 led by an 18-30 performance from Michael Armstrong. Wesleyan's Ben Shapiro went 14-29 for the Cardinals. Wesleyan edged Williams in the ground balls picking up 32 to Williams' 31. The Cardinals were led by Ben Shapiro, who picked up seven, while Michael Armstrong led all players with ten pickups for the Ephs.
 
Speaking about the resolve of the Williams team, despite multiple deficits, head coach George McCormack said, "We always try to remind our guys to trust their training and trust their teammates. They ultimately inspired each other and it allowed us to pull away." He also commented, "I'm truly impressed with the maturity of our freshmen and to have them step up like they did was fun to watch. In addition to them, Michael Armstrong was fantastic on faceoffs."
 
The Ephs return to action next Saturday when they will play their first home game of the season taking on the Trinity College Bantams at 3:00 PM on Farley-Lamb Field.