WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - The Williams College men's lacrosse team used a five-goal run at the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth to put a midweek matchup away in a 15-9 victory over Vassar College on Tuesday afternoon at Farley-Lamb Field.
The Ephs had jumped out to an early lead, but Vassar battled back to cut the lead to just one, with Williams leading 9-8 midway through the third. But Joe Ladocsi scored off an assist from Davis Miller with 3:18 left, and Andrew Johnson scored with 1:01 left to give the Ephs an 11-8 lead going into the fourth. Three more goals in quick succession in less than two minutes in the fourth quarter from Jack Sartorius, Nick Reich, and Will Doran gave Williams a comfortable lead that they maintained into the end of the contest.
Sartorius and Doran each had four goals in the contest, leading all scorers, while Reich had two goals and two assists. Aidan Housenbold had three assists, including an important helper with nine seconds left in the first half to give the Ephs a 9-6 lead going into halftime. Charlie Medd played another solid game in net, making 14 saves, and had an assist of his own, playing a long pass up to Doran for the Ephs' 15th and final goal of the game.
Williams established a lead early in the game, with Doran scoring just 42 seconds in, taking a pass from Cade Schuckman to put the team on the board early. Within six minutes of game time, the Ephs were up 4-0, with Sartorius getting a pair and Miller adding one. Vassar pulled a goal back but the first quarter ended with Williams up 4-1.
The first five minutes of the second quarter went scoreless, but then Williams used a blinding run of three goals in 18 seconds of game time to extend the lead up to 7-1. After Reich scored off an assist from Ladocsi, Ian Kim won a faceoff and took the ball straight to goal, scoring seven seconds later. Kim then won another faceoff and some quick passing from Reich to Doran, who scored to put the Ephs up by six.
Vassar scored five of the next six goals, and after Sartorius scored just before the half, the Brewers regained momentum starting the second half. But Williams regained control, ending the third with an 11-8 lead, and then outscored the visitors 4-1 in the fourth quarter to earn a comfortable win.
Williams will hit the road to Maine this weekend as the team visits Bowdoin College with a noon start on Saturday as the Ephs will look to earn a fourth straight win in the team's third NESCAC game of the season.
