WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS. -- Williams' fourth NESCAC game of the season got off to a frantic start. The first ten minutes of the match were dominated by largely transitional play from both teams. The Ephs' attack was through quick combinations along the flanks, while Bowdoin tried to beat the Williams defense with long balls.
The match settled into a more balanced state as both teams began to mount attacks. Williams had most of the momentum, but defenders
Reece Willison and
Ava Simunovic were called into action to block Bowdoin crosses. Good defensive shape from the Bowdoin backline forced Eph strikers
Bria Abbiati and
Isabel Konijnenberg to drop deep and wide to get the ball.
Until the first goal, the best chance of the first half came in the 30th minute, when Bowdoin goalie Mia Williams saved
Tori Huang's shot on the line after a corner kick sequence. While The Ephs' usual game plan was disrupted, it didn't prevent them from going 1-0 up.
In the 34th minute, the Ephs broke the deadlock, winning a penalty after a beautiful attacking play. First-year
Bria Abbiati collected the ball near the halfline, played it inside to
Tori Huang, who played a beautiful pass into the run of
Piper Dupies, who dribbled until she was knocked down from behind, winning the penalty.
Jaquelin Nordhoff stepped up and calmly shot the ball ipast the Bowdoin keeper to pu the Ephs on top 1-0.
The last eight minutes of the half saw an attacking surge from Bowdoin. In the 38th minute Samaya Bernardo forced Williams goalie
Margaret Huelin into a save with a low shot. Two minutes later, Grace Harvey took a good touch around Nordhoff and shot it, but Huelin was equal to it yet again. After another two minutes, Emilia Tutun (cousin the Ephs'
Meredith Tutun) shot over the net.
The Ephs flew off the blocks at the start of the first half. In the 48th minute, Nordhoff's freekick from deep (the first of three nearly identical kicks) was palmed out of bounds. Her corner kick, which was on target, was saved over the crossbar, giving her another opportunity. The second corner found Huang, who finished with aplomb.
The Bears had a excellent opportunity in the 50th minute, when a low ball found a great run by Bowdoin's Williams. Her shot was met with a great save by goalkeeper
Ana Bozzi-Mackay. The rebound fell to Bernardo, who shot wide. Bowdoin's attacking momentum continued three minutes later, with a free kick giving some trouble to Bozzi-Mackay before she was able to secure the ball.
The next minute,
Brianna Wright went close for Williams, doing a chop around her defender before unleashing a vicious shot that went inches over.
Bowdoin had their best chance of the game in the 68th minute. Bernardo pickpocketed Williams defender
Paige Nelson, who played an otherwise excellent game. Almost alone, Bernardo sent her shot over the bar, sparing the Ephs a late scare.
A light rain turned into a downpour with five minutes to go, but neither the slippery field or Bowdoin pressure could crack the Williams backline.
With the win the Ephs extended their unbeaten streak to seven games as they are now 6-0-1 overall and 3-0-1 in NESCAC.
Speaking after the game Eph head coach
Sarah Raymond applauded her team's efforts, saying: "Very proud of how hard we battled today. Bowdoin threw everything they had at us and are a good team who never give up. We knew that going in so knew we would have to be switched on for every minute. I thought we did that and played some tough defense. There were some tactical choices we made that could have been better to relieve sone pressure and also create more scoring opportunities but that is the next area of growth that we hope to achieve as a team. Overall so proud of our efforts this weekend and excited for what's next."
