Ephs Fall in Battle Against R.P.I. in First Round of NCAA Tournament

MIDDLETOWN, CONN -- The Williams College Ephs were unfortunately eliminated from the NCAA Tournament today as they fell to the R.P.I. Engineers. Despite a strong start the game, and a huge third quarter that brought them back from a large deficit, the Ephs fell 14-10.

The first quarter saw some amazing back and forth action. RPI started out the scoring early, but Williams was quick to respond. A great faceoff win from Ian Kim and a grounder found by Jesse Shapiro got the ball in the hands of the offense. Jack Sartorious was able to find Harrison Cross for the first Williams goal of the day. It was then back to back goals for the Ephs, their second coming off a great individual effort from Ryan Johnson to give Williams the lead. RPI was able to respond, but Ryan Johnson and Jack Sartorius connected to regain the lead. Next up, the defense started to shine. Matt Wetmore came up with a pair of unreal saves, which Eddie Loyd was a big component of for collecting the rebounds. The Engineers finished off the quarter in strong form, carrying a lead of 5-3. into the second quarter. 

It was a relatively quiet second quarter. Seamus Regan had a great shot early on that had eyes the whole way but was stopped by the RPI goaltender. AJ Zuleta was also battling hard the whole day, creating some really impressive turnovers for the Ephs. Despite some more saves from Matt Wetmore, the Ephs dropped to a 7-3 deficit at the end of the first half. 

Williams came roaring into the third quarter with a passion. An early save from Wetmore got the Ephs in transition quickly and on the attack. Ryan Johnson had connected on an amazing pass to Jesse Shapiro to give the Ephs their first goal of the quarter. With RPI on the attack, the men in purple needed a big momentum shift. Ethan Filler got the ball moving in the right direction off a face-off violation from RPI, and Matthew Johnson and Jesse Shapiro connected again to start a huge run for the Ephs. Ryan Johnson was next, this time with a pass from sophomore Seamus Regan. The FOGO's were showing out for the Ephs. Ian Kim won a faceoff and put Williams in a great spot to attack again. Once again, Regan was able to dish a great ball to Shapiro who wasted no time sending the Ephs' 7th goal home. Another battle in the center of field off the draw and Ian Kim came up with the ball once again and into the hands of Jack Sartorius whose shot barely missed the net. Ryan Johnson got the ball on recovery and found Shaprio again to crack this lead down to 2. In between the next goal, Wetmore found yet another ball sent his way to keep out of the net and keep the Williams in the game. The defense came up with a huge clear that lead to yet another goal from Shapiro that saw Williams bring this game to within 1 goal at 11-10. 

Unfortunately, the Engineers locked down their d-zone and didn't give Williams many opportunities to capitalize on their chances. RPI however managed to score 4 goals in the final 15 minutes to claim a 14-10 victory. 

Eph head coach George McCormack had this to say after the game, "I'm very proud of our team and the way they responded after halftime. We aren't happy with the result but we're content in knowing that we emptied our tanks and left it all on the field."