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Williams Men's Soccer Falls, Women Win in OT
06:02PM / Sunday, September 14, 2014
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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass —For 29 years, Mike Russo’s Williams College men's soccer team and Jon Anderson’s Babson team have clashed in an annual cross-state battle.
 
On Sunday, Anderson and his side prevailed one last time. In an upset, the unranked Beavers (6-1) got a 1-0 win against the No. 3 Ephs (3-1). With Russo set to retire at the end of the season, the two coaches will not face each other again, barring a meeting in the NCAA tournament later this year.
 
“There are mixed feelings, and it’s tough for me to see us beat him in the last game we’re going to face him” said Anderson. “But we play to win, and let’s face it, it’s a great win in Williamstown.”
 
The win was especially gratifying for Anderson’s Beavers in light of the last time the two teams met, when the Ephs scored twice in the game’s first 10 minutes and cruised to a 4-2 victory. “We remembered that one,” said Anderson.
 
Williams controlled the game’s opening quarter hour but generated few chances. Luke Pierce and JC de-Bahr Stefano each sent shots from inside the 18 comfortably wide, while Matt Muralles had multiple shots blocked by the Babson back line.
 
An apparently harmless play helped the Beavers turn the tide. A probing run into the offensive third and a dangerous cross from Tyler Carlos across the goal mouth forced Chris Conder into an awkward clearance that resulted in a corner kick. One corner soon turned into three in a row, and while the restarts collectively came to naught, the Beavers began wear away at the Eph defense.
 
In the 36th minute, as the Beavers scored off a broken set piece. Following a Williams foul, Carlos sent a low free kick from 40 yards out curling uncertainly into the box, where Andres Burbank-Crump was first to get a touch on the ball. He could not control it, though, and lost possession to Babson co-captain Justin Laurenzo, who took two diagonal touches towards the right corner flag before ripping a shot past Ephs keeper Christian Alcorn (two saves) to put the Beavers ahead.
 
As they did in the match’s first minutes, Williams spent much of the second half buzzing around the Babson goal but struggled mightily to complete passes around the penalty area.
 
“It was very frustrating,” said Russo. “Our final passes were off, and we would slow down [on offense] instead of speeding up play.”
 
Ironically, it was Babson keeper Tanner Click who provided the Ephs with their best chance to equalize. In the 83rd minute, the senior goalie was penalized for holding onto the ball too long, giving the Ephs an indirect free kick inside the 18. But Zach Grady’s shot off a token touch from Muralles was emphatically spat out by a Babson block, forcing the ever-more desperate Ephs to regroup.
 
Both teams face conference opponents this Saturday. Babson returns home to open its NEWMAC slate against Coast Guard, while the Ephs will head east to face Amherst at 2:30 p.m.
 
WOMEN'S SOCCER
 
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Audrey Thomas scored her second goal of the game in the second overtime to give the Williams women's soccer team a 3-2 win over MIT on Sunday afternoon.
 
Thomas converted an assist from May Mitsuyama in the 109th minute to give Williams its fourth win in four outings this season.
 
MIT (4-3) came back from 1-0 and 2-1 leads to force OT.
 
Katie Wardlaw scored the other Williams goal, and Kristi Kirshe had a pair of assists.
 
Hannah Van Wetter made three saves for Williams.
 
The Ephs host Amherst on Saturday at noon.
 
VOLLEYBALL
 
BOSTON — The Williams volleyball team (6-1) went undefeated on the second day of the UMass Boston Invitational, downing Whitman (3-5) in four sets and sweeping Western Connecticut State (11-3) in three sets.
 
After a tough day of playing eight sets on Friday, the Ephs jumped back onto the court Saturday afternoon for two more matches.
 
Tori Jasuta had 19 kills, and Amanda Schott had 30 digs against Whitman. Against Western Connecticut, three Ephs -- Katherine Lane, Raea Rasmussen and Catherine Egan -- had two blocks apiece.
 
Williams plays its first NESCAC match on Friday at Wesleyan.
 
CROSS COUNTRY
 
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- The Williams women’s cross country team finished second on Saturday at the RPI Invitational at Saratoga Spa State Park.
 
Williams finished with 43 points, two points behind 1st place St. Lawrence and well ahead of third place NYU with 87 points.
 
The Ephs placed  six runners in the top 15 finishers of the meet, led by sophomore Emma Zehner, who was fourth overall.
 
The Ephs will take a two-week break from racing and come back to race on their home course at Mount Greylock Regional School for the Purple Valley Classic on Sept. 27. 
 
WOMEN'S TENNIS
 
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- After two long days of competition, the annual Lindsay Morehouse Invitational has come to a close.
 
Throughout the weekend, teams from Bowdoin, Middlebury, Skidmore, Vassar and Williams squared off in three rounds of singles and doubles matches. No overall tournament winner is crowned at the end of the event. The tournament is meant to celebrate the kickoff of the fall tennis season.
 

The Ephs had a successful Sunday afternoon, going 9-1 in singles with three players going undefeated in singles play over the weekend. Rebecca Curran, Maria Pylypiv and Alex Stone each went unbeaten in singles play.

In doubles action, the Ephs had two teams going 3-0 on the weekend.

With only two weekends of competition under their belts, the Ephs shift their focus to the ITA Championships.

"This tournament is always a great kick-off to the year ahead," coach Alison Swain said. "We are looking forward to two weeks of practice before we host ITAs in order to hone in on the areas we identified that we need to focus on through all the match play this weekend."

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