Ephs drop tight result against Trinity in season opener

HARTFORD, Conn. - The Williams College men's lacrosse opened its season with a 13-11 defeat on the road against the Trinity Bantams on Saturday afternoon. The Ephs held a lead for much of the contest, but the Bantams used a strong fourth quarter to escape with a victory.

Ryan Johnson was a bright spot in the Ephs' loss, finishing with five goals, including four in the first half. 

After Trinity scored twice in the first five minutes of play to take a 2-0 lead, Will Doran opened the Ephs' 2026 scoring with a low finish to cut the deficit to 2-1 with 8:29 left. Just seconds later, Ian Kim won the mid-field face-off and raced upfield, passing to Davis Miller on the left wing, who fired home a goal to tie the game at 2-2 with 8:22 to play. 

The rest of the first period was all Williams – led by Johnson and the team's stout defense. Johnson finished an unassisted goal to give the Ephs a 3-2 lead with 7:29 left. Then, three minutes later, he collected a pass from Cade Schuckman, cut towards the middle, and deposited a goal from intermediate range into the top left corner to put Williams ahead 4-2.

Trinity broke their drought with a goal to begin the second period, but Johnson re-upped the Williams lead with 10:34 to play on a quick finish off of an assist from Doran. The goal marked a quick hat-trick for Johnson. 

With around six minutes left in the first half, Ephs' goaltender Charlie Medd gathered the ball and passed it to Tucker Graham. In a spectacular individual effort, Graham raced up the entirety of the right side of the field before finishing a contested, driving shot off of the post to put Williams on top, 6-4.

The Ephs added to the lead after a nice passing sequence found Johnson, and he slotted a low shot home for his fourth goal of the afternoon. Trinity would find the back of the net once more to cut the Williams lead to 7-5 entering the half. 

In the first start of his career, Medd played a strong first half, with nine saves compared to Trinity's three. His play, along with the shotmaking of Johnson, had the Ephs in a good spot at halftime.

In the third period, the Bantams put two goals home in quick succession to tie the game at 7-7 with 7:13 left, but with under five minutes left in the period, Aidan Housenbold forced a turnover and brought the ball upfield in transition, before passing to Ryan Nagle on the right side of the net. Nagle beat Trinity's goalkeeper on that right side with a quick finish, giving the Ephs the lead back with 4:40 to go. 

Trinity tied the game back up a minute later, and then Williams took advantage of a Trinity penalty and the ensuing man advantage to score, with Doran slotting home a leaping finish. The Ephs would go into the fourth period clinging to a 9-8 lead.

Williams opened the fourth period with a flourish. After winning the face-off, the Ephs passed around the perimeter before Ryan Johnson whipped a screaming shot into the top left corner from distance for his fifth goal of the day. Johnson's finish put the Ephs ahead 10-8 with 14:09 to play.

The Bantams would then go on a run, with four consecutive goals over the next seven minutes to take a 12-10 lead. Williams continued to put shots on goal, but struggled to finish past Trinity goaltender Diego Gomez, who had 13 saves in the second half.

With under two minutes left to play, Doran flipped in a no-look shot from close range to cut the Ephs' deficit to 12-11. After winning the ensuing face-off, the Ephs could not find a goal, and Trinity would score on an empty net to close out a back-and-forth 13-11 defeat for Williams.

Johnson led the team with his five goals in the loss, while Doran added three goals and two assists to tie for the team lead with five points. Schuckman led the team with three assists, and Medd finished with 14 saves.

The Ephs will look to rebound from the loss on Wednesday in the team's home opener, against Union College at 6:30 p.m.