| TOP STORIES AROUND THE COUNTY |
Ephs bounce back, defeat Springfield 5-0Williams Sports Info
08:59AM / Thursday, October 15, 2009
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass – The Williams College men’s soccer team used a relentless attack to get past Springfield 5-0 Wednesday at Cole Field. The win improves the Ephs, who came in ranked #3 in New England by NSCAA, to 9-1-1 (4-1-1 NESCAC) and gives them a 5-0 mark in nonconference games on the season. With the loss Springfield falls to 4-8-1.
In many ways the Ephs play against Springfield mirrored their play against Trinity on Saturday, albeit with one crucial difference: Williams finished. Where open nets were missed in Saturday’s disappointing goal-less defeat to the Bantams, today the Ephs found their stroke and put the ball into the net early and often.
“We have been working on keeping our composure in goal scoring opportunities, and while we weren’t perfect today we were certainly much better.” remarked Eph Coach Mike Russo, “It was an excellent way to bounce back, and we will definitely take it.”
The Ephs bombarded the net throughout, recording a 36 to 6 advantage in shots while earning a solid 7 to 2 edge in corner kicks. The lopsided decision could have been far worse if it weren’t for the outstanding play of Pride netminder Chris Walton, who routinely snuffed out what looked like sure Williams scores – including a late Eph penalty kick – en route to amassing an impressive 17 saves in the loss.
Colin Smith would lead the way for the Ephs with a pair of scores to open the game, and Pierre Meloty-Kapella would add a goal and assist to pace the offense.
It took the Ephs just 3:30 to erase the memories of Saturday’s scoreless performance, when Smith knocked home his first score off of a perfect cross from Meloty-Kapella to give the Ephs a 1-0 lead. Smith would strike again just under ten minutes later when the senior defender found himself at the right place at the right time following a Williams corner kick and only had to tap the ball in from two feet out.
The first half completely belonged to Williams as the only thing that appeared to be able to slow the Eph offense down was the refs whistle and the offside call. The Ephs recorded a season high 11 offside penalties in the match, including 7 in the first half alone, to limit their potential productivity.
However, the Ephs would make it 3-0 before the intermission; this time when Meloty-Kapella was able to get behind the defense only to be tackled in the box by the Springfield goal keeper thus earning the first of two Williams penalty kicks. Meloty-Kapella’s low skipping shot to the left corner finalized the first half scoring in the 31st minute.
Springfield showed some spirited play in the 2nd half, but the size, speed, and strength advantage of the Ephs was apparent throughout.
In the 53rd minute the Ephs broke through once again, this time when Charles Romero escorted the ball through a pair of Springfield defenders down to the Pride endline before dumping it to the foot of a waiting Gaston Kelly who promptly punched it in, giving the Ephs the 4-0 lead.
Even after Coach Russo sent in relief players the Ephs were still able to keep the pressure on Springfield until eventually Daniel Morrisroe salvaged the ball out of a scrum in the Pride box and knocked it home to finish the scoring at 5-0.
The Ephs only have 3 more games left in the regular season, all of which are NESCAC league games. The first comes Saturday, October 17th, when Williams travels to Bowdoin. That game is scheduled for a 12:00 PM kickoff. |
Your Comments
iBerkshires.com welcomes critical, respectful dialogue. Name-calling, personal attacks, libel, slander or foul language is not allowed. All comments are reviewed before posting and will be deleted or edited as necessary. Comments are closed for this article. If you would like to contribute information on this article, e-mail us at info@iBerkshires.com |
|
Advertise on iBerkshires.com
|
