Clinton, NY – The Williams College Ephs (4-7,2-5) were on the road today to play the Hamilton College Continentals (5-6,3-5) to try and maintain their momentum after a big win over Amherst this past weekend. The Ephs started out strong in the first quarter taking a lead, but after a difficult second quarter the Ephs struggled to regain the ground they lost and ended up dropping this game 14-10 to the Continentals.
The first quarter started with great offensive pressure from the Ephs.
Ian Kim got the ball in Williams' hands and the offense went to work. There were great initial looks from Ryan Johson and
Jack Sartorius, but the first goal would go to Ryan Nagel who captured his 10
th of the season and put the Ephs on the board. Only a minute later
Ryan Johnson took advantage of a great pass from
Harrison Cross to give the Ephs a two-goal lead. That wasn't it, however, as
Jesse Shapiro made is 3-0 Williams off a great feed from Aiden Housenbold the Continentals had a moment of push back, but
Ethan Filler, off a faceoff win, got the ball back in the offensive-zone and
Ryan Johnson found
Harrison Cross to regain the momentum. Ryan Nagel found his second of the evening to put the Ephs up by four, but Hamilton would begin to build momentum of their own that saw them bring this game closer with a score of 5-3 at the end of the quarter.
The second quarter saw a battle for the Ephs. Despite hitting numerous posts and defending hard, the momentum was firmly in Hamilton's hands. The Continentals managed to score 5 straight, unanswered, goals in the second quarter, which saw the Ephs trailing 8-5 going into the second half.
There were only two goals scored in the third quarter, one for each team. Despite that, it was a battle through all three zones.
Harrison Cross got things going for the Ephs on the scoreboard, but Hamilton was able to respond quickly to leave this game still 3 goals away for the Ephs. The Ephs defense stepped up big in the third quarter,
Eddie Loyd and
Drew Nicholson both had great plays that saw the ball getting up the field and generating offense.
Matt Wetmore also came up with some huge saves in the final minutes that kept Williams in the game, along with yet more defense displays of skill from
Jared Stiller. This game was far from over, the score being 9-6 going into the final 15-minutes.
The fourth quarter was a barn burner, with goals being scored left and right. Once again, a face off win from
Ian Kim, Williams was able to capitalize on their initial chances and find the back of Hamilton's net.
Jesse Shapiro, rolling off a great pass from
Harrison Cross, gave Williams the initial momentum and brought this game within 2. Hamilton was quick to respond with 2 goals of their own, but
Wyatt Cotton, with his first goal of the season, ripped a shot on net to make this game 11-8. The Ephs constant battle and pressure led to a Hamilton penalty, which
Harrison Cross was quick to take advantage of. Cross gave Williams their 9
th goal and brought this game back within two. Despite great offensive pressure, defensive structure, and saves from
Matt Wetmore, there was only so much Williams could do with the time they had left. A late goal by
Will Doran saw Williams trailing by 3, and with only two minutes left the game was sealed. The final score was 14-10 Hamilton, but the Ephs will look to bounce back when they return the Williamstown this Saturday to play the Bowdoin College Polar Bears.
Coach
George McCormack had this to say after the game, "We had a strong start to the game but were unable to maintain that high level of play throughout the game. Hamilton took advantage of some miscues on our part and that led to a tough road loss. We are looking to bouncing back this weekend when play Bowdoin at home."
