Ephs Lacrosse Sweeps Their California Trip With an Impressive 13-6 Victory Over #12 Pomona-Pitzer

Claremont, CA - The Williams College Ephs (6-1) finished their west coast trip with a top 20 match-up against the undefeated #12 Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens (9-1). In this high-energy match-up, the difference makers would be the Ephs defense constantly preventing the Sagehens runs alongside a varied showcase of successful offensive possessions. The Ephs came out of this one with a 13-6 victory.
 
The Sagehens came out strong, with a defensive stop leading to a give-and-go and a score to earn them the game's first goal. A few minutes later Cece Tauber slipped around the back and scored the Ephs' first goal in the top right of the net to tie the game at 1-1. Franny Donohue scored the second goal for the Ephs off a gorgeous spin move into a bouncing shot and goal for a2-1 Eph lead. Seven minutes in Pomona-Pitzer had a back cut met with an assisting pass to tie the game back up again. This back and forth continued until Claudia Russell converted on a free position shot into the bottom left pocket for the 3-2 lead. Shortly after, she scored another off a drive with a high shot and to build a 2-point lead. The rest of the quarter was followed by strong defensive possessions from both rosters. Towards the end of the quarter, another free-position shot for the Ephs converted by Reece Willison gave them a 5-2 lead.
 
Continuing the story of the previous quarter, the Ephs garnered a free-position shot however they were unable to slip it in. Coming downfield, the Sagehens with their crisp passing worked the ball into a spin-move and goal from inside the crease. The Ephs got a break on the next play with the Sagehens' shot bouncing off the post into an Eph recovery.

Charging downfield the Ephs got another free possession shot which Abby Godwin converted for the 6-3 lead. Their run would not come to an end here. The Ephs grabbed a 4-goal lead with Elsa Dean-Muncie scoring off a quick assist from Claudia Russell. Subsequently, the Sagehens found a spark with their rapid passing around the crease toa cutter and a score. The Ephs responded after forcing a shot clock violation on the Sagehens. Grace Collier scored on a fast break while simultaneously being pushed in the back for the "and-one," 8-4, Ephs. For the next few minutes, the Ephs continued their strong defense with special credit to Zoe Getzin who had 3 caused turnovers in the match. Although near the end of the quarter half, the Sagehens ended their drought with a nifty goal to cut the lead to 3. Williams led at the half 8-5.
 
Entering the 2nd half, both teams came out of their huddles with a rejuvenated focus on defense. Molly Hellman snatched a ground ball and went by herself for a fast break to score with a cannon of a shot. The next Sagehens possession saw a stick check and scoop up for the caused turnover by Claudia Russell who swung the ball over to Franny Donohue for a goal. With these two Eph goals, the score was brought to a much more commanding 10-5 lead. The Sagehens earneda free position shot only for it to be saved by the Co-Defensive player of the week Anj Raman. The rest of the quarter would showcase smothering defense from both teams.
 
Being haunted by costly turnovers and barely missing good shot attempts, the comeback window was quickly shrinking for the Sagehens. Nonetheless, the light was not shut off yet with them scoring a goal 4 minutes in to bring the score to 10-6. Their next shot on goal was saved by Eph goalie Caroline Pratt and the Ephs were able to secure the shot clock violation and bring the ball downfield. What followed next was a flurry of strong Eph offense to guarantee their victory. First, with a man-up, Grace Collier tallied on a free-position shot into the bottom right of the goal. Then, Franny Donohue scored off a skip-pass for her 3rd goal of the evening. Finally, a beautiful bounce shot from Reece Willison to the bottom left of the goal would give us our final score of 13-6.
 
When asked about her takeaways regarding the success in the past two games, Eph head coach Alice Lee said, "So proud of our whole team. All 29 have been critical in how we prepared and competed this week against two strong teams in California. It's been fun seeing different people stepping up in key moments throughout the week and the season."

After winning both games on their California road trip the Ephs return to the northeast to visit the Connecticut College Camels on Saturday March 30th at 1pm in a NESCAC encounter.