WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - After scoring twice in the final one minute, 18 seconds of action during an 8-7 win at No. 15-ranked Middlebury Wednesday afternoon, the Williams College men's lacrosse team secured the eighth seed in the NESCAC Tournament and will travel to top-seeded and No. 2 Bowdoin Saturday for a 1 p.m. quarterfinal-round showdown on Whitter Field in Brunswick, Maine.
"We are excited for the NESCAC playoffs," said head coach
George McCormack. "Our team has prepared all season for this opportunity."
During the win over the Panthers Wednesday, senior captain and attack
Will Doran finished with four goals and one assist, as the Ephs (7-8, 3-7 NESCAC) outscored Middlebury (8-6, 5-5 NESCAC), 4-1, during the fourth quarter. Doran tied the game at 7-7 with 1:18 left, and then senior captain and midfielder
Ryan Johnson buried the game-winning tally with five seconds on the scoreboard.
Williams picked up an impressive road win against then-No. 5 Salisbury, 14-10, on March 24 at Sea Gull Stadium. The Ephs have been led this season offensively by Doran (41 goals, 17 assists, 58 points), Johnson (23-8-31), sophomore
Jack Sartorius (24-4-28), senior
Cade Schuckman (13-11-24), junior
Ryan Nagle (18-5-23) and first-year
Nick Reich (8-12-20). Doran ranks fifth in total goals and sixth in goals per game (2.73) in the NESCAC, while also being fifth in total points and points per game (3.87).
On defense, senior captain
Aidan Housenbold has been outstanding, compiling a team-high 29 caused turnovers, to go along with the second-most ground balls (61). Housenbold has compiled the second-most caused turnovers in the NESCAC, while ranking third in caused turnovers per game (1.93). Senior
Ian Kim has gone 151 for 288 on faceoffs for a .524 winning percentage, while leading the squad and collecting the fifth most ground balls (73) in the NESCAC. He averaged 4.87 ground balls per game, the fifth best in the conference.
The Polar Bears (14-0, 10-0 NESCAC) completed their second-ever perfect regular season and snapped Tufts' 42-game winning streak Wednesday evening during a 14-12 win over the No. 1 Jumbos in Medford, Massachusetts.
Chris Berry ranks first in the conference in assists (34) and assists per game (2.43), second in goals per game (3.21), points (79) and points per game (5.64) and third in goals (45). Casey Ryan checks in at first in the NESCAC in points (82), points per game (5.86), goals (49) and goals per game (3.50) and second in assists (33) and assists per game (2.36). Bowdoin goalie Alec Delgado leads the NESCAC in goals-against average (8.39).
