Ephs fall to rival Amherst 3-0
October 8, 2011
WILLIAMSTOWN, MA -- Rival Amherst beat the Williams College Ephs 3-0 today behind goals from Chloe McKenzie, Jill Kochanek and Sarah Duffy. Despite outshooting Amherst 24 to 16, the Ephs were unable to find the back of the net in today's contest. The win moves the 16th-ranked, NESCAC-leading Lord Jeffs to 8-0-0 (6-0-0 NESCAC) on the year while the 10th-ranked Ephs fall to fifth in the NESCAC with an overall record of 6-2-1 (3-1-1 NESCAC). The game was the Ephs' first game at Cole Field this year.
Amherst was first on the board when, in the 10th minute, Mel Stier passed the ball through to McKenzie. McKenzie beat her defender to the ball and lobbed it over Eph goalie Hannah Van Wetter's head to give the Lord Jeffs a 1-0 lead.
Just under three minutes later, it looked like the Ephs might get the goal back when Brett Eisenhart had a nice look at the net. Eisenhart beat a defender and had a low shot, but Lord Jeff goalie Allie Horwitz came up with the save, one of her seven of the half.
With 21:44 on the clock, Amherst added some insurance. Ariana Twomey lined up to take a corner from the right side. The strike was perfect into the center of the box, and Kochanek got a foot on the ball. Van Wetter came up with the initial save though, and with the ball in the middle of the box, McKenzie had her second look at the net of the game. Van Wetter stopped that shot as well, but the third time was the charm for the Lord Jeffs. Kochanek was able to put the ball over Van Wetter's head. McKenzie was credited with the assist.
With 9:40 left to play, Nicole Stenquist had a nice move to beat her defender and fired the ball high and wide. Despite the fact that the Ephs had twice the number of shots in the first half, the Lord Jeffs had the lead going into the break.
Coming out of the half, the Ephs were fiery on the offensive end. With 28:46 on the clock, it looked like the Ephs might steal back a goal. Eisenhart had a great cross from the left sideline to Hana Tomozawa by herself inside the box. Tomozawa was able to get a foot on the ball, but it flew high over the crossbar. The Ephs found another great opportunity 12 minutes later when Alison Magruder crossed the ball inside to Eisenhart. Although Eisenhart's shot found the back of the net, it was called back after an offsides call.
The Ephs' final real opportunity came with seven minutes left in the game. Eisenhart passed the ball in from out wide to Magruder. Magruder's shot hit an Amherst defender's hand in the box, and Williams was awarded a penalty kick. Stenquist lined up for the kick, but her shot hit off the top of the post. The Lord Jeffs got the rebound and immediately pushed the ball upfield where Amanda Brisco had a great look at the net. Her shot hit off the crossbar.
With 3:51 to play, Brisco would not miss another opportunity to help her team. She took a shot from the left side of the goal and Van Wetter made the save but was unable to hold on to the ball. Duffy ran in to finish for the Lord Jeffs and give them the final score of 3-0.
Said Coach Michelyne Pinard after the game about the added pressure of playing Amherst, "I think there was extra excitement, but I [have] to say, I don't think [the nine first-years] were fazed by the Amherst thing. I think Amherst was the best team we've played other than Messiah, and I think they're really, really potent offensively, and I just don't think we handled that as well as we could've, and certainly, we didn't finish chances that we did have."
Commenting on the Ephs' control of the match, she added, "It's the game of soccer. You can dominate the game and have more time on the ball but not win. We've certainly been on the other side of that and we'll take it, we'll learn from it and we'll get better."
The Ephs look to bounce back tomorrow against NESCAC foe Trinity. The game will be played at Cole 1:30.
About getting ready for the Bantams, Pinard said, "We're as fit as we can be, [and] I think we're going to be fired up and ready to go. There's no doubt in my mind that the senior class is going to lead the way and make sure we're ready. It's a huge back-to-back NESCAC weekend. This is what you dream of: beautiful weather [and] NESCAC opponents. I have faith that we can rebound and be even better tomorrow."
