WILLIAMSTOWN, MA–After a glorious, gray day in Williamstown, where the reds and oranges of the Fall foliage set fire to the Berkshire hillsides, and rumbling rain clouds enveloped us wetly in a starless, moonless night, sending us away from the lush green pastures of Cole Field to the bright lights of Weston, it was the Purple Cows who triumphed, in their emanant, alabaster home kits, over the blue and gold Trinity College Bantams.
The Williams College Ephs (8-4-2, 3-4-2 NESCAC) scored two and shutout Trinity (5-7-2, 1-6-2 NESCAC) to secure an important home victory, 2-0, and take major strides towards the postseason.
It was a fast-paced, very attacking contest, where the ball skidded across the surface, facilitating fast passing and rapid, successive counter attacks.
In adverse conditions, with a slippery ball and slick field of play, the Ephs were able to find their groove right out of the gate. They started the game on the front foot, with Sam Gibson finding space for three shots–two on target–within the first ten minutes, and never let off the gas. There was near constant pressure for the Bantam backline, but they dealt with it well, finding their groove in their own right and not conceding despite the Ephs opening onslaught.
Trinity's offense looked threatening, too, winning three corners and generating eight shots in the first half, although only one was on target, but it was always the Ephs who looked more likely to score.
Williams got their breakthrough in the 31'. From a goal kick, Ben Diffley sent the ball past midfield, where it was knocked on by Jeff Stauffer and eventually won by Andrew Coelho, who muscled his man down the left side of the 18 before finding room to slip a ball towards the penalty spot, which took a slight deflection on its way to fellow first-year Kellan Grace, who made no mistake, firing low and with precision, burying the ball in the back of the net.
Both sides found more chances in the first period, but the Ephs were able to head into halftime with their lead intact.
The Ephs opened the second half looking to double their advantage, and continued to threaten. Trinity, although not creating any clear-cut chances on goal, did a better job holding the ball in the midfield, and moved their center backs way up towards the halfway line. This left a lot of space between the back line and the goal, and the Ephs came close to exploiting it more than a few times early on in the second period.
In the 51' minutes, on one of many quality through balls, the Ephs were only denied a second goal by a heroic, sweeper-keeper effort from Trinity's shot stopper, who rushed out to the 30 yard line and slid to clear the ball away. Later on, in the 75', the Ephs did manage to find the back of the net, but were called back for offsides.
The search for a second continued. In the 82' Keel Brissett stole the ball off a Bantam fullback and started a very dangerous-looking counter attack. He played a scintillating, curving through ball across the face of the field with the outside of his boot, but his target, Mohamed Keussom, was unable to get free of his man and the ball ended up cleared out of bounds, still in the Ephs' possession.
At long last, in stylish fashion, it was Jeff Stauffer who doubled Williams' lead. He latched onto one of those very dangerous through balls, danced around the goalie with a smooth first touch, and calmly rolled the ball between the posts. He celebrated at the far corner with an equally classy corkscrew-cartwheel-flip hybrid, as on the opposite sideline the Ephs faithful lost their minds.
The Ephs saw out the clock, taking it to the corner a couple times, and held on to the shutout victory in what was a very impressive showing for the whole team, and a strong step towards the NESCAC postseason tournament.
After the game, Coach Siebert acknowledged the stakes, saying, "Great performance by the team in a high pressure situation for both teams. Now looking forward to our last regular season game against Middlebury on Cole on Tuesday."
As coach said, The Ephs play their final game of the regular season on Tuesday, against Middlebury, who they will host back on Cole Field, weather permitting.
