Newport News, VA – A long road trip down to Virginia had the Williams College Ephs (4-3) pitted against a formidable #1 Christopher Newport University Captains (11-0). Down one going into the fourth quarter, the Ephs were not able to fend off a seven-goal surge from CNU as they fell 14-8.
After CNU jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, Williams shed their sea legs and answered the Captains with two goals of their own.
Eddie Loyd and
Zachary Romrell would tally goals thirty seconds apart to cut the lead to 3-2.
Matthew Freitas did well to keep the Ephs close, making three key saves on 11 shots in the opening quarter.
Despite a CNU goal just a minute into the second quarter, Williams would stay hungry and did not let the game slip away. Freitas would another five saves in the quarter to limit the CNU damage while
Finlay MacKnight would provide the offensive spark. He would set up
Calvin Caputo for his 18
th goal of the year. Minutes later, with a man advantage, he would find
Pearse Glavin open in the slot who would fire it home to tie the game at four apiece. The Captains would score a man-up goal of their own before the end of the half to reestablish their lead at 5-4.
As the second half began, MacKnight would respond again, this time finding the back of the net himself off a feed from
Ryan Johnson. After CNU once again regained the lead at 6-5,
Ryan Johnson would rip home his 5
th goal of the year to level the game at 6's. The back-and-forth action continued as each defense remained determined to not concede. Eventually, CNU would break the deadlock after a powerful shot from mid-range beat Freitas. The Ephs would enter the fourth quarter trailing 7-6.
Unfortunately for the Ephs, CNU would fire early with three goals in two minutes to extend their lead to 10-6. With Williams on the back foot, their offense needed a pickup.
Spencer Goodbar would find
Ryan Johnson open and his goal would bring the Ephs back to 10-7. The potent CNU offense would not stay quiet, however, as Brett Jackson would score his 39
th and 40
th goals of the year to put the Captains up 12-7. Their surge did not end there as they would tack on two more to make the lead seven goals.
Zachary Romrell would add a late Ephs goal as the game finished 14-8.
After the loss, Coach McCormack said, "We took some positive steps forward today as a program. We are looking to gather some momentum from this game and carry it into the remainder of our season".
The Ephs will look to be back in the win column as the face Bates College on Saturday.
