Medford, MA – The Williams College Ephs (7-8) saw their NESCAC season come to an end today against the undefeated #1 Tufts University Jumbos (15-0). It was it a close first half, Williams only trailing by 4 at the end of the second quarter, but the third quarter was a challenge, and the deficit was a bit too much for the boys in purple today. Despite that, the Ephs had the audience in suspense as they started to look like they were going to finish the comeback, but the final score ended up being 20-11.
The Ephs knew what they were facing after a previous matchup between the two teams about a month ago. There was clear determination up and down the lineup today as the first quarter started. It was
Matt Wetmore, the goaltender, who started strong for Williams. The senior stood on his head today, despite the score, and really demonstrated what it means to be a leader on this team. The senior came up with a huge early save.
Drew Nicholson and
Brody Page were also showing strong signs of effort on the back end, the two combining for multiple turnovers in favor of Williams that saw the offense starting to battle against the Tufts defense. Despite some offensive struggles, the defense was looking confident and even helping in the offensive zone.
Brendan Cooleen being one of those who was making decisive defensive plays and getting the ball up the field and into the hands of the offense. Tufts went on to score 3 unanswered goals in the first quarter, but Williams had a strong end to the quarter that tilted the momentum in their favor.
The second quarter saw the Ephs come as close as they came all day to obtaining the lead in the game. It was Tufts that started off the scoring, making the score 4-0, but off a faceoff win by
Ethan Filler and a great ground ball picked up by
Drew Nicholson, Nicholson threw a great passl to
Jesse Shapiro. Shapiro earned his 40
th goal of the season and put Williiams on the board. The ensuing minutes were full of action. Tufts started to feel the pressure and took a penalty, and
Matt Wetmore came up with another huge save that lead to the Ephs' next goal. Ryan Johson found
Harrison Cross with a great pass that led to Cross scoring his first of the day and bringing the score to 4-2. It was then time for the defense to show what they were made of. Wetmore and Cooleen both looking solid for the Ephs and coming up with huge plays. Their efforts were rewarded when
Brendan Cooleen and
Jesse Shapiro connected to find Williams' 3
rd goal and bring this game within 1.
It was then that Tufts orchestrated a paralyzing string of13 goals. The Jumbos took advantage of their chances and made the most of them. It wasn't until
Will Doran found the response that the Ephs desperately needed. Unfortunately, this wasn't until the 8-minute mark in the 3
rd quarter. This saw Williams down by a score of 17-4. This is where the Ephs really put their heads down.
Seamus Regan, with a great play to battle through pressure, found
Harrison Cross who scored Williams' 5
th of the day. Wetmore was back standing tall for the boys, helping
Brody Page lock down the defensive zone and give
Jesse Shapiro and
Harrison Cross the opportunity to connect on goal number 6. The Ephs weren't done there for the 3
rd quarter yet,
Matthew Johnson buried the final goal of the quarter leaving the score at 19-7. Though down 12 goals the Ephs did not quit.
The fourth quarter started with the Ephs stepping on the gas. With a face-off win from
Ian Kim,
Will Doran wasted no time finding
Seamus Regan in the slot and getting the Ephs on the board early. Off another face-off win from Kim, the Ephs were right back on the attack.
Aidan Housenbold was the next goal scorer for Williams, the Jumbo's lead falling one by one. The offense was looking strong, Johnson, Doran, Cross, and Shapiro all finding lanes to the net and getting shots down range.
Jesse Shapiro was the next goal scorer,
Harrison Cross finding the leading goal scorer with a great ball. Unfortunately, that was it for the Ephs today.
Eph head coach
George McCormack had this to say after the game, "Very proud of our team and the effort they gave today. Overall, we have had some amazing wins this season and our returning players can build on that going forward. To our seniors I have nothing but appreciation and admiration for the way they have invested their time and energy to make our program better than the way they found it."
