WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - The Williams College men's lacrosse team earned a 10-8 victory on Wednesday evening on Farley-Lamb Field, using a huge third quarter en route to the home-opening win over Union College. Cade Schuckman and Ryan Nagle each scored three goals, and Charlie Medd had a big game in goal, making 11 saves.
The Ephs (1-1) were down 6-1 at the half, but started the third quarter on fire, turning a 6-1 deficit into a 7-6 lead in just 7:14 of game time. Schuckman got the first two of Williams' run, the senior's first goals of the season, with assists to Nick Reich on the first and Will Doran on the second. The Ephs took advantage of a Union (0-5) penalty to pull another goal back, with Ryan Johnson scoring unassisted, and then Jack Sartorius added the team's fifth, assisted by Tucker Graham.
Williams tied the game at six and took the lead in just 28 seconds of game time, with Nagle scoring a pair of unassisted goals, first with 6:52 left in the third, then with 6:24 left. Union was forced to call a timeout to stop the momentum, and then tied the game 7-7, but Sartorius and Nagle each scored again to give the Ephs the 9-7 lead at the end of the third quarter.
The fourth quarter was relatively quiet, with each team scoring a goal, and the Ephs keeping Union off the scoreboard for the final 9:55 of the game to secure the victory. Schuckman scored his last of three goals with 4:01 left in the contest to restore a two-goal lead, and goalie Charlie Medd, a standout throughout the game, made the last of his 11 saves with 21 seconds left to keep the game from a nervous finish.Â
On the cold and clear evening in Williamstown, the game had started slowly, with no goals for more than eight minutes before the Garnet Chargers got on the board with 6:17 left in the first half. Union extended its lead with 1:49 remaining, and at the first break the score was 2-0 in favor of the visitors.
Union extended its lead to 4-0 before the Ephs got on the board with 3:29 remaining in the second quarter, with Aidan Housenbold scoring his first of the season. The Garnet Chargers got a goal right back, and then added a sixth goal with 11 seconds left in the half, and went into the break with a 6-1 advantage.
The halftime talk did the Ephs a world of good, as Williams scored eight goals, enough to give the team a lead it never gave up.
Williams will continue its league schedule this weekend, facing Colby College on Saturday at Farley-Lamb, with a noon start time for the first home NESCAC game of the season.
