Comfortable Midweek Win in Home Opener as Ephs Beat Springfield 3-0

WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS. - - In an entertaining game full of chances and sweet goals, Williams managed to dispatch Springfield to record a win in their first home game of the new season.
 
The Ephs started somewhat slowly with only one chance in the first 18 minutes of the match. It was in the 5th minute after a through ball found Brianna Wright's run into the box, before her subsequent cross to Blakeley Buckingham was blocked by the Springfield defender.
 
In the 18th minute, Shae Rashoff won a free kick around 25 yards out, and captain Jaquelin Nordhoff stepped up to take. Her curling effort glanced off the top side of the crossbar, going out for a Springfield goal kick. Eight minutes later, Bria Abbiati fired a shot towards goal that was caught by Springfield goalkeeper Taryn Ryan.
 
Over the next ten minutes Springfield had a few chances that were well stopped by the Ephs. Their attacking spell was silenced in the 35th minute, when Williams went 1-0 up.
 
Sophomore Ansley Burns dribbled the ball down the left flank, crossing the ball when she reached the end line. The ball was low enough to tempt Ryan to come out for it, but high enough to barely evade her, perfectly finding the back post run of Isabel Konijnenberg, who took the ball down and fired her shot into bottom left corner.


 
Springfield pressed hard at the start of the second half, seemingly with instructions to break up the play before the ball could make it to Williams' midfield. That pressure was brief, however, as the Ephs came out flying. 
 
In the 49th minute, first year Piper Dupies delivered an inswinging corner from the right side, and Tori Huang, in what is proving to be a recurring event, ran into space on the back post, getting her shot off. Ryan got down low, however, keeping the Ephs' lead at one goal. 
 
It is important to mention the contribution of the Williams defense, who made sure both starting 'keeper Margaret Huelin and halftime replacement Ana Bozzi-Mackay had very little to worry about throughout the match. An example came in the 59th minute, when good work from Ava Simunovic and Reece Willison stopped a Springfield counterattack. Skipping forward, another counter was stopped by Sam Brown and Paige Nelson in the 68th minute.
 
Back to the sacred timeline, in the 64th minute, good passing on the top of the box led to a cross from Mirabai Dyson, which Huang, again at the back post headed down, forcing an excellent save from Ryan. 
 
In a span of two minutes between the 65th and 67th minutes, Buckingham saw a pair of first time volleys go wide after crosses from Rashoff and Wright.
 
With 15 minutes left to go, Konijnenberg made her second hugely important contribution to the game, receiving a pass on the half-turn and slipping free. She was fouled before her shot, giving Nordhoff another free kick at the top of the box. Spurred on by the cheers of the men's varsity and club soccer teams on the sidelines, the captain stepped up and thundered her shot into the top right corner of the Springfield goal. 
 
Even with their two goal cushion, the Ephs did not relent. In the 82nd minute, Wright found a pocket of space in the box, hitting the crossbar. On the rebound, Rashoff fired over. A minute later, midfielder Riley Borenstein found Rashoff in space, whose shot again flew over the bar. 
 
In a game defined by things happening twice, the Ephs scored their third goal in a truly surreal moment of deja vu. In the 89th minute, Dyson again sent a nice cross to the back post, where Huang appeared, this time sending her header into the roof of the net.

Interviewed after the game, Eph head coach Sarah Raymond said: "We did not turn up ready to compete and play and were lackluster at the start of the first half. The second group that came in certainly picked up the energy, helped score a goal, settled the team a little. Then we talked about it at halftime and responded really well in the second half. Then we went after it and  we created so many goal scoring opportunities. It was nice to see some really pretty goals go in, clearly we could have scored more, but the big thing is that we're creating so many really good looks at goal. Midweek games have the danger of [starting slowly] but we were able to turn it on in the second half and put them away and have every player who's healthy right now be a part of that win."

Today's win puts the Ephs' record at 3-0-1 on the season. Up next, they travel to Bates on Saturday for their second NESCAC match of the season, kicking off at 11 a.m.