Women's soccer kowtows to Williams

Author: Dan Stevens

On a frigid day at Cole Field in Williamstown, Mass., the Middlebury women's soccer team fell to Williams 4-1, bringing the 2007 season to a close. The Nov. 3 face-off, a NESCAC semifinal game, was the second meeting for the Ephs and Panthers this year. Williams won the regular season contest against Middlebury with a 4-0 shutout at Middlebury's Dragone Field. In contrast to the balanced play in October, Williams controlled Saturday's semi-final rematch from the beginning.

The box score sums up the game pretty clearly. Williams had 16 corner kicks compared to one for the Panthers, and the Panthers' lone attempt came late in the second half. The shot differential, though not as dominating, also ended in Williams' favor, 14-8.

Coming into the game, the Panthers knew they faced a tremendous team. The Ephs were an undefeated 14-0 on the year and led the NESCAC in just about every major statistic. Most remarkably, they had allowed only three goals over the course of the entire season and Lauren Sinnenberg, the Williams goalie, had an unfathomable 0.21 goals-against-average.

Middlebury seemed ready to pounce after their upset of third-seeded Amherst in the NESCAC quarterfinal. Middlebury was the only lower seeded team to pull off an upset in the first round of the tournament.

"We were confident going into the match," said Middlebury coach Peter Kim. "Although [Williams] beat us by a substantial margin last month, we felt the result was more our doing than theirs. We were determined to come out and play them, and felt we were the most likely team to beat Williams this year."

"[Williams is] a great team, with skill especially in their attacking players," said Caitlin Parker '09, who scored Middlebury's only goal on the day. "Williams is a fun team for us to play, and the game is usually very competitive." Competitive and physical summed up the game perfectly - the two teams racked up 20 fouls in the contest, continuing the rough play usually expected of a Williams-Middlebury contest.

From the initial kick-off, Williams controlled the tempo of the game. The first goal came in the sixth minute on a quick drive by the Ephs. Middlebury goal keeper Lauryn Torch '11 came out of the net to try and stop Williams attacker Brianna Wolfson, but Wolfson flipped the ball over Torch's head. Williams continued to pressure the Panthers, and Wilson netted another goal in the 24th minute. The Panthers defense held strong through the rest of the first half, preventing further damage.

Coming out after half, the Panthers hit the ground running, but the Williams defense continued its dominance. The Ephs netted another goal just four minutes into the second half, all but assuring a Williams victory. Despite the likely defeat, the Panthers never stopped looking for chances and continued pushing the ball.

As the online commentators descended into a preview of the Middlebury-Hamilton football game, Williams scored for the fourth time on the day. Looking ahead to its Sunday championship game, Williams managed to give all 23 players playing time and rest the starters. Amid this landscape the Panthers never said die. Even after the fourth goal, Middlebury continued to work the ball and Parker finally netted a goal in the 86th minute.

"Williams is a good solid team with fast strikers up top and a solid goalkeeper to back them up," said captain Elise Tarbi '08, playing in her last game in a Middlebury uniform. "We lost this weekend, but we definitely didn't go down without a fight."

The Ephs went on to win the NESCAC championship on Sunday and automatically qualified for the NCAA tournament. The Panthers finished the season 9-5-2.

"Everyone's very disappointed to have lost, especially to Williams, but we will be better for the experience and will return even stronger next year," said Kim.