WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – The third-seeded Williams College Ephs defeated the sixth-seeded Hamilton Continentals today in a penalty kick shootout in the NESCAC quarterfinals.  Regulation ended in a 1-1 tie after Halle Becker scored for Hamilton in the first half, and Lilly Wellenbach had the Ephs’ only goal of the game in the second.

The Ephs (11-3-1, 7-2-1 NESCAC) and Continentals (6-8-1, 4-5-1 NESCAC) met earlier this year in the regular season.  The Ephs won their previous meeting 4-0.

The Continentals were the first on the board just under ten minutes into the game.  After they carried up field in front of the Ephs’ second line of defenders, Emi Birch received the ball towards the center of the field.  She crossed it to Becker on the right side, who struck the ball from just inside 25 yards over keeper Laura Wann’s head to give Hamilton the early 1-0 lead.

After Hamilton controlled the beginning of play, the Ephs saw some good opportunities in the latter part of the half. With ten minutes to play, Sachi Siegelman beat her defender and served the ball ahead to Brett Eisenhart, who beat hers as well. Goalie Liza Gergenti was there to make the save.  With time winding down, Siegelman struck another ball into the box, where Wellenbach got a header on the ball. Gergenti was able to make that save as well to keep her team up 1-0 going into the break. 

 Gergenti had a stellar performance for the Continentals today.  From diving saves to aggressive play off the line, she kept her team in the game for the full 110 minutes.

After the teams held the ball pretty evenly on offense in the first half, the second half was a different story. The Ephs came out aggressive and looking for a goal.  They finally found one just under 20 minutes in when Hayley Cook passed ahead to Wellenbach.  Dribbling the ball up the right side of the field, Wellenbach beat several defenders and carried in close.  She made a quick move to fake Gergenti and scored in the bottom left corner.  Just three minutes later, it looked like she might put the Ephs up one when she fired alone in the box, but the shot fell wide.

Said Coach Michelyne Pinard about Wellenbach’s ability to step up, “Lilly’s such a dynamic, competitive athlete that you put her in any competitive situation, she’s going to thrive.  I think she did that today.” 

The Continentals saw their best opportunity come off of a free kick with ten minutes to play.  Lauren Brady struck the ball perfectly into the box, but Wann was able to beat the Continental attackers to the ball.

With a score of 1-1, the Ephs and Continentals found themselves going into two ten-minute overtime periods.  The first overtime did not see any great opportunities for either team.  In the second, it looked like the Ephs might put the game away twice: once when Wellenbach dribbled past her defender and fired the ball just over the net with five to play, and the other when Brett Eisenhart had a low shot with a minute left that Gergenti was just barely able to save.

With no one netting a goal in either extra time period, the two teams lined up for penalty kicks. The first shots are a best-of-five system.  After five, the two teams were tied at 4-4, so the shootout continued in a sudden-death fashion. Williams shot first.  Below is a description of the shots in order (A W indicates a Williams kick, an H indicates a Hamilton kick):

W Wellenbach made it in the top right corner of the net.

H Erica Skinner scored top right corner as well.

W Nicole Stenquist finished in the bottom left corner.

H Sarah Lasker finished in the bottom left corner as well.

W Sachi Siegelman netted it in the top left corner.

H Becker finished with the ball low and in the center of the net.

W Alex McInturf shot towards the left side of the net; Gergenti made the save.

H Emily Grund shot towards the left side as well; Wann made the diving save.

W Cook scored in the center of the goal.

H Alexandra Rimmer hit the top left corner. 

In the sudden-death penalty kicks, Carla Nicasio scored for the Ephs in the middle of the net.  Although Gergenti was able to get a hand on the shot, the ball went in.  Alyssa DiCosmo then stepped up for the Continentals.  She shot the ball towards the right side of the net, where Wann was able to make the diving save.

Said Coach Pinard about her keeper’s performance today, “[Laura]’s such a steady presence for us.  It wasn’t a surprise to me that she came up with two saves in the shootout. She is everything any coach could want from a goalkeeper.  She is strong. She is solid.  She’s a leader.  I just couldn’t be prouder of her.”

Looking ahead to next weekend, Pinard added, “I don’t think we actually care who we play from here on out.  We just know we need to bring our grittiest, our toughest, most competitive play for 90 minutes.  I think if we do that, we can beat anyone in the country.”

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