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Williams College

Home of the Williams College EPHS
1920 Mo Keussom
Maya Singh
2
Winner Connecticut Col. CONN (9-2-6, 3-2-5)
1
Williams WILL (10-4-3, 5-3-2)
Winner
Connecticut Col. CONN
(9-2-6, 3-2-5)
2
Final
1
Williams WILL
(10-4-3, 5-3-2)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Connecticut Col. CONN 1 1 2
Williams WILL 0 1 1

Game Recap: Men's Soccer |

Williams Falls 2-0 to Connecticut College in NESCAC Semi-Finals

Middlebury VT.-- The NESCAC semi-final match tonight between the Williams College Ephs (5-3-2 NESCAC; 10-4-3) and the Connecticut College Camels (3-2-5 NESCAC; 9-2-6) was a story of two halves. The first half, despite some good moments for the Ephs, mostly saw the Camels control the match, but in the second 45, Williams came out firing on all cylinders. The Ephs generated a multitude of chances via combination play and set pieces, hitting the post twice and narrowly missing many times more. Even with their chance creation, Williams just couldn't seem to find the back of the net, and the Camels, with quite the opposite fortune, had found two goals, one in each half. Williams' fate would change in the 85th minute, though, when first year Alex Bethencourt stepped up to take a free kick and banged it against the crossbar. First year Lorcan Mitchell, occupying space in the box, rose, beat his marker, and nodded the rebounded ball home.  It was a more than deserved goal for the Ephs, but it wouldn't be enough, and they would fall 2-1 to Connecticut College. 

The Camels clashed with the Eph's defense early. In the 13th minute,  Connecticut college defender Sam Boehm hit a good cross into the box, but it was cleared via an acrobatic diving header courtesy of senior center back Felipe Gutierrez. The ball was only cleared so far, and it was played back into the box into the clever right channel run of Camel defender Dylan Hoke, who had space for a clean shot, but miss hit the ball, sailing it over the bar.

Connecticut College kept the pressure on, but the Ephs were up to the task. In the 25th minute, a good through ball found the running feet of Camel attacker Rye Jaran who moved the ball forward with pace bound for goal. He would have made it there if it wasn't for an excellent defensive recovery from first year Chase Caires who, upon catching up, utterly pickpocketed Jaran, stopping a dangerous Connecticut College attack. 

It would be quarter-final hero sophomore Andrew Coelho, who would kick things off for the Eph attack in the 33rd minute when, to his defender's surprise, he dared to take him on and found a step of space on his left. Wasting no time, Coelho ripped a far post shot that went just wide.  

In the 38th minute, Camel Caleb Huang found his way into the box on the ball and got tripped up by the legs of two Williams defenders. The referee called a penalty, and Connecticut College forward Elliot Spartz stepped up to the spot to take it.  Spartz hit the kick low and hard to the left, but senior goalkeeper Ben Diffley read him like a book, dove left, and saved the shot while maintaining possession of the ball. This was a big moment for the Ephs and a testament to just how important Diffley has been to them all year.  
  
Despite Diffley's heroics, Connecticut College would eventually find one. In the 43rd minute of play, Alessandro Horvath Diano hit a dime, full-field switch to attacker Jake Creus, who was lurking in the right side of the box. Creus took a pin-perfect touch to the left and curled a shot into side netting, giving the Camels a 1-0 lead, which is how the half ended. 

The Ephs came out flying in the second half. One of their best chances came in the 56th minute when sophomore Kellan Grace hit an in swinging corner kick that found the head of sophomore Atticus Ross, who was tracking away from his marker. Ross redirected the ball only slightly too high, and it pinged off the crossbar before being cleared out for a Williams cornekick. Ross couldn't believe it. 

The danger continued. Only a minute later, in the 57th minute of play,  Felipe Gutierrez won the ball in a good spot in around the midfield area and made a smart pass to Lorcan Mitchell.  Mitchell quickly dished the rock to Andrew Coelho, running into space on the left wing, and Coelho rocketed a powerful shot that barely went over the bar. 

In the 67th minute, Ben Diffley hit a ball from deep into the box, and it bounced to Atticus Ross, who half-volleyed the ball in motion but got just a little too much under it and sailed it just above the crossbar. 

In the 70th minute, Connecticut college midfielder Mario Perugini hit an excellent threw ball to get Camel forward Matt Scoffone in behind in the right side of the box. Scoffone was composed, picked out the far right corner of the net, and slotted the ball into the side-netting, putting the Camels up 2-0. 

Despite the goal from Connecticut College, the Ephs kept pushing.  In the 75th minute, Lorcan Mitchell and Felipe Gutierrez, who was everywhere in this match, engaged in some excellent combination play that found Mitchell with the ball, back to goal at the top of the box. Mitchell danced around the enclosing defenders and was able to turn and fire, but his shot went just too high and to the right. 

The Ephs' continued pressure would not go unrewarded, and in the 84th minute, they were finally able to break through off a free-kick opportunity.  It would only make sense for Alex Bethencourt, who scored a free kick in Williams's first game of the season against Wheaton, to step up to take the kick. Bethencourt bent the ball over the wall, and it hit the corner, where the post meets the crossbar, and pinged out into the middle of the box. Camel goalkeeper Peter Silvester dove, attempting to save the shot, and thus left the goal completely open. Lorcan Mitchell, who had been knocking on the door all game, rose, literally and figuratively,  to the occasion and headed the rebounded ball into the empty net, notching one back for the Ephs and bringing the score to 2-1. 

Williams was relentless, and had there been more time in the match, they may have found an equalizer, but with only 5 minutes left, Connecticut College was able to hold on and grind out the 2-1 win.   

Eph head Coach Steffen Siebert commented on the match and the chance at an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament: "Proud of the effort of the team not just today but all year. We now wait for the selection show on Monday if we get rewarded for the incredible season we had."
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