WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS. - The Williams College Ephs (6-3) put on a stellar performance to shutout the Skidmore College Thoroughbreds (7-4), 6-0 on home soil. The Ephs are ranked #11 for Week 4 on the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division III National Coaches Poll.
The Ephs applied high pressure the moment the starting whistle blew as it did not take long for the Ephs to get on the scoreboard. 2:16 into the first quarter, first year (and birthday girl) Pilar Torres managed to lose her defenders and drilled a clear shot to the bottom right corner to put the Ephs on the board. Less than two minutes later, senior Faith Stineman found senior Emily Batchelor, who got a clear look on goal and placed it in the bottom left corner to give the Ephs a 2-0 lead. With 2:37 remaining in the quarter, junior Molly Hellman put a cross in the area, where senior Kelly McCarthy picked it up and gave the Ephs a 3-0 lead going into the second quarter.
Williams continued the high pressure in the second quarter. Batchelor's initial shot was blocked by Skidmore goalkeeper, Juliana Yglesias, but senior Catherine Torres was there to pick up the rebound and drill a powerful shot past the goalkeeper. The Ephs went into halftime with a 4-0 lead.
At the 37:30 mark, Batchelor found the back of the net for the 12th time this season. She took the ball towards the left hand side of the shooting area and placed the ball beautifully into the bottom right corner. The last goal of the night came at the 38:52 mark. First year Grace Rebak set up first year Anna Miller for her first goal of her collegiate career. Skidmore goalkeeper, Victoria Bodnar, managed to get a foot on the shot, but the shot proved to be too powerful and the Ephs ended with a 6-0 victory over the Skidmore Thoroughbreds.
The defense for the Ephs was stellar tonight, along with goalkeepers, Carson Stephenson and Gates Tenerowicz, coming away with a clean sheet. Williams outshot Skidmore 27-3, with 16 of those shots on target for the Ephs and 2 on target for the Thoroughbreds.
"We couldn't have played much better than what we just did. We put together 60 minutes of excellent field hockey," stated Head Coach Alix Barrale after the win. "I felt that we really executed our game plan with high pressure, quick passing, and taking advantage of getting more shots in the circle. I thought we played excellent defense stepping to the ball. A lot of confidence and good things to build on. We're finally off the schneid in terms of home games. I think that's a good game to have under our belt against a very good team and I feel like we really controlled the game so that is a big positive. We get to go again against a good team in Conn College, trying to get another conference win."
The Ephs will look to capitalize on tonight's performance when they host Connecticut College on Saturday, October 8th, at 1:00 PM on Williamson Field.
