Williamstown, MA – First game of the season for the Williams College Ephs (1-0) who were taking on the visiting Skidmore College (0-3). Thanks to two early goals from both
Franny Donohue and
Elsa Dean-Muncie, Williams came out strong with a 7-1 first quarter and rode that lead to a commanding 11-4 victory.
No early-season nerves here for the Ephs at Farley-Lamb Field. Four minutes in,
Franny Donohue drove in for the first goal of the season setting the tone for the game. The Ephs soon scored three goals from
Sasha Landau,
Cece Tauber, and
Anna Miller in under two minutes, making it a 5-0 lead 7 minutes into the 1st quarter.
Franny Donohue scored the second of her two goals in the game with a slick move to the left of the goal off an assist from
Claudia Russell.
Elsa Dean-Muncie scored the first of her three goals in the game with a free position shot and would close out the 1st quarter with her second goal thanks to some quick passing plays. For Skidmore's first goal, Gabriella Modesti had a strong cut through the middle of the Ephs' defense, slipping in a shot and goal. 7-1
Franny Donohue had this to say on the strong first-quarter performance, "It was important to have that leeway for the rest of the game and to kick start the adrenaline."
The second quarter showcased much of what would be the story for the rest of the game – gritty defense and hustle plays. The majority of this quarter saw the Ephs in possession keeping the ball near Skidmore's goal. Nonetheless, Skidmore's goalie Isabella Iannone had three saves in this quarter with nine total saves in the game to prevent much of the Ephs' eight shot attempts in the 2nd. Towards the end of the quarter, the Thoroughbreds showed some life with a man-up, Gabriella Modesti had her second goal of the game, shrinking the Ephs' lead to 5. However, it didn't take much time for
Elsa Dean-Muncie to slice into the middle of Skidmore's defense for a shot and goal from around 5 meters away. This would be her third goal of the game, closing out the first half with a score of 8-2.
The second half for Williams exhibited many promising signs for the season, with multiple forced turnovers and possessions gained with draw controls. The quarter began comparatively quietly with not much offense coming through for either team. Notably, Ephs' goalie
Caroline Pratt with a gorgeous defensive play around the 6-minute mark, throwing off one shot and then saving a point-blank attempt from Skidmore. The final five minutes of the quarter quelled most chances for a Skidmore comeback with a free position shot from the Thoroughbreds going wide. Afterward,
Claudia Russell drove through traffic for a clean shot to bring the game to 9-2. Accidental fouling gave Williams and Skidmore each a free position shot with two minutes left in the quarter. The first shot from Skidmore slipped by the left of the goalie for a point. The second from Williams was saved by Skidmore and soon cleared away from the goal. At the end of the 3rd, the score was 9-3 Ephs.
The Ephs entered the final quarter of the game with a comfortable lead that would only grow before the finish. Less than a minute in, senior co-captain
Abby Godwin assisted
Claudia Russell's second goal with a slick pass in front of the goal for the shot, 10-3. Around the eight-minute mark,
Lauren Morganlander earned her first goal of the season with a drive and shot which would be the Ephs' last goal for a total of 11 in the match. Soon after Skidmore's Lily Schwartzman had an impressive shot, scoring while falling down off catching the assisting pass. This would mark the last goal of the afternoon and an Eph 11-4 win.
Eph head coach
Alice Lee had this to say about the decisive opening victory, "Lots of positives today. We competed hard against a gritty team. It was good to see our teamwork which was a focus for us coming in today. It was a great day and a great first game of the season."
Following this win there is not much rest for the Ephs as tomorrow they travel to Northampton to play Smith College at 2 pm.
