Women's Soccer NCAA 2nd Round- Williams defeats Husson, 3-0
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| Williams defeats Husson, 3-0 |
Williams, fresh off back-to-back conference championships, was awarded a first-round bye while Husson, the champion of the North Atlantic Conference, advanced to the second round upon defeating Norwich this past Wednesday, 2- 0.
The Ephs struggled to find offensive fluidity early in the first half, but began to piece together smart offensive sequences as the game progressed. Williams’ aggressive attack finally paid dividends with 2:55 to play in the first period. Sarah Walmsley and Bret Eisenhart teamed up for the first score. Walmsley crossed a long ball to the far left post, where Eisenhart collected, and easily laced the ball into the net for the lead.
“Husson is a great team, and is very organized,” said Michelyne Pinard, in regards the Ephs’ sloppy start. “But we had a hard time getting any rhythm and the wind played a factor as well. We were glad to get on the board when we did.”
The Braves’ best opportunity to score came early in the second half, when Shelby Bradford unleashed a shot on goal from well outside the penalty box. An experienced Ephs keeper, Lauren Sinnenberg, timed the ball well and leaped for the save.
Fatigue, and well-placed pressure by Williams, began to set it on for Husson.
“Williams is tactically and technically a better team on the field than we are,” said Husson head coach Keith Bosley. “We have to commit more energy, which is hard to sustain and the early goal deflated us a bit.”
Williams continued to build their lead on two unassisted goals that displayed the power and shooting ability of their squad. Brianna Wolfson notched goal number two at 63:16 with a hard shot to the back left corner that the keeper could not save. Ten minutes later, at 73:21, Sara Wild capitalized off a whistled foul and used a free kick to rip an untouched ball into net for the 3-0 margin of victory.
Williams bid for an NCAA Championship fell short in the round of 16 last season, and the Ephs will look to erase those bitter memories this weekend against the College of New Jersey.
