Ephs Suffer Unlucky Defeat Against Amherst

Williamstown, Massachusetts - There is always a exciting feel to games against Amherst, but today at Cole field on alumni day it was different. The raucous atmosphere kicked the game into overdrive immediately.
 
The fourth minute saw the first chance of the game and for Williams. A Blakeley Buckingham corner found Elle Long, whose header fizzed over the crossbar.
 
Amherst's first chance was also a cross but Reece Willison, ever present as always, was able to get the block in. Willison and Ava Simunovic kept it tight at the back, soaking up waves of pressure Amherst sent their way.
 
21 minutes in, Amherst's Fiona Bernet took the ball down inside the Williams box and shot from close range, forcing goalkeeper Margaret Huelin into a good reaction save. The next play, an Amherst corner, caused another scare, pinballing around the box for a second before it was cleared.
 
In the 25th minute, Lily Mark laid the ball back to Piper Dupies, who put in a looping cross for Brianna Wright. Wright got higher than her Amherst counterpart to get the header off, but it was saved by Amherst's goalkeeper Mika Fisher.


 
In the 36th minute Wright surged into the Amherst box, physically battling four players and managing to get a shot off that went wide right.
 
With five minutes left in the half, Kianna Porter unleashed an incredible shot from outside the box. Fisher produced a frankly spectacular save to deny Williams the opener: leaping high and pushing the ball over the crossbar with an outstretched hand. She was able to collect Tori Huang's header from the ensuing corner as well despite pressure from Parker Harnett.
 
The second half got started with both teams desperate to take the win. The first chance of the half was around three minutes in, with Amherst's Sierra Rosado shooting just over Ana Bozzi-Mackay's goal from way out.
 
In the 6th minute, it appeared that Abby Schwartz was in for Amherst, but a combination of a great play by Bozzi-Mackay to slow the ball down and a final clearance by Meredith Tutun kept the game at 0-0.
 
Bozzi-Mackay was involved again three minutes later, getting down well to save a shot from Amherst's Precious Novidzro.
 
In the 62nd minute, it was Amherst's keeper busy as Sam Phan shot towards the top of the goal. Fisher caught the ball and the game remained in deadlock.
 
Ansley Burns stepped up for a free kick in the 70th minute and with graduated free kick specialist Jacquelin Nordhoff watching on from the sideline unleashed a vicious strike. It went over, but the power of it was a statement of intent as Williams grabbed control of the game.
 
Simunovic and Novidzro had a very competitive battle throughout the game. With each player's  power and technique on display it made for very entertaining viewing. An 81st minute long ball from Simunovic found Harnett, who rounded her defended and played it inside for Huang. Huang's shot rolled wide left.
 
In the 84th minute Amherst unfortunately found the breakthrough. Star forward Jessica Lomo raced through on goal off of a through ball. She sprinted into the box and hit a lofted effort into the top left corner. It was a bad beat for Williams as it seemed that they had done enough to merit at least a point. 
 
Williams pushed hard for an equalizer (shout out to first year Greta Pew who had a promising cameo at forward), but Amherst were able to keep the ball in the corner to retain their lead.
 
It was an unfortunate end to an exciting game as Amherst will walk away with the points.
 
Speaking about the game, Eph head coach Sarah Raymond said: "The result is tough and we're disappointed right now. I was really happy for our defensive performance. I think we showed that we could be dangerous if we executed our chances cleaner in the final third. We built up chances that didn't eventuate in goals but it's coming. There's a lot to like about the performance against the defending NESCAC champions. We matched them pretty well but the next step is being more ruthless around the goal."
 
The Ephs will look to bounce back tomorrow as they face Clark University at Cole Field.