Ephs Back on Track With a Big Home Win Vs. Clark

Williamstown, Massachusetts - Looking to bounce back from yesterday's loss, the Ephs welcomed Clark University to Cole Field. In what was a perfect response Williams put in a dominant performance to win 5-0.
 
Clark's high line meant that most of the play in the first ten minutes of the game involved Williams trying to get in behind. After a couple of offside calls Williams adjusted, with the first shot of the game coming from Isabel Konijnenberg after running beyond the Clark defense. 
 
In the 15th minute the Ephs showed what they are made of. A Bria Abbiati ball across the face of the goal found Tori Huang, who laid it back to Meredith Tutun. Clark's goalkeeper made the save, but with the Clark defense rattled and the Ephs fired up the opener was moments away.
 
The Ephs found the game's first goal in the 16th minute. Sam Phan played Brianna Wright in behind and the forward made no mistake, sliding the ball under Clark's keeper and into the back of the net. 
 
It was as if the floodgates were opened., The Ephs found their second goal of the match just three minutes later. Wright spread the ball wide to Meredith Tutun, whose vicious strike looked sure to go in, but clattered off the crossbar. Blakeley Buckingham collected the ball and played a short pass to Abbiati, who stroked it into the left corner of the goal from close range.
 
It wasn't all attack though, as the center back partnership of Ava Simunovic and Leila Alvarez did an excellent job keeping Clark quiet. Midway through the half, Simunovic produced an excellent slide tackle to stop a promising Clark attack. Alvarez was imperious, getting her head on seemingly every ball that came towards the Williams back line.
 
Abbiati nearly scored again in the 30th minute, receiving the ball in the box and hijinking her defender with a clever touch. Her effort blasted just over the bar. She wouldn't lament that try for long though, as she scored her second of the game and the Ephs' third two minutes later.
 
A Tutun long ball down the line for Parker Harnett was excellent. Harnett ran to the end line before rolling a perfect cut back towards the penalty spot. Abbiati timed her run perfectly and slotted the ball into the bottom right corner of the net for 3-0 Eph lead.
 
In the 36th minute a shot came in from an unlikely source in Reece Willison, who hit the outside of the side netting after a Ansley Burns free kick.
 underway, the Ephs raced down the field hoping to send the game into halftime 4-0. They did indeed and again it came down the right wing. In almost a carbon copy of the third goal, Greta Pew was played down the wing. She played an inch perfect cross in for Emmy Chung, who poked in from close range as the announcer called 3…2…1. The game clock read 00:01 at the restart and thus ended an exciting first half for Williams.
 
Tori Huang came close to scoring five minutes into the second half, heading just wide from a corner kick.
 
Kianna Porter played a strong game, being a destructive presence at the base of the Williams midfield. One especially good defensive play came in the 52nd minute, where she chased down a Clark forward who looked to be in on goal alone.
 
Parker Harnett was on the receiving end of a pretty cynical foul in the 67th minute, as Clark turned to physicality to compensate for the scoreline. It didn't bother Williams, though, who kept their shape and played the way they wanted. No matter what Clark threw at them, the Ephs kept marching on.
 
The Ephs had a good chance in the 71st minute, with a Lily Mark cross rolling just in front of Abbiati. 
 
The fifth goal came in the 73rd minute, with Chung getting her second of the match with a wonderful finish. Abbiati got the ball on the top of the box and passed it horizontally to Chung, who hit a beautiful shot that ricocheted of the post and in to the goal. 
 
Wright won a free kick near the end line in the 79th minute. A Buckinham cross found Long at the back post, whose volley skewed just wide. A couple of minutes later, Sam Phan got a shot off in the box despite her arm being pulled back by a Clark defender. 
 
A good short corner routine in the 83rd minute ended with a Piper Dupies and again Long was in the right place, getting her head on the ball. She was unlucky to see her powerful header fly over the crossbar.
 
Annalea Pearson had an assured performance at center back, showing the physicality to hold off a big forward and the technical ability to play the ball out of the back well once she had possession. Noelle Haskell got her first minutes for the team after an injury-hit first year and although she had no saves to make, her distribution was perfect. Those were two of many good performances today as the whole team looked amazing.
 
Speaking on the result and excellent performance, Eph head coach Raymond said: "Couldn't be happier. We knew that we had let a few results go over the first two weeks and we felt like we could have had results in all of those games. We turned that frustration into a good performance. We pressed hard from the get-go and had the determination to put something [editorial note: four somethings] in the net in the first half. We had people who played their first real minutes this season today in Lea [Pearson] and Noelle [Haskell]. It was a total team effort, everyone on the team helped us. Nice to see Bria [Abbiati] back in and getting goals. Riley [Borenstein] played great. It was nice to play some intelligent soccer. In the space of a week we grew so much."
 
Next up for the Ephs is a NESCAC road encounter in Harftord, Conn. on Saturday where they take on the Trinity College Bantams in a contest slated for a noon start.