Williams Earns Men's Soccer Title in Overtime, 2-1
Courtesy Wesleyan Sports Informaiton
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – A strong offensive thrust by
Williams forwards junior Gaston Kelly and senior Pierre
Meloty-Kapella resulted in an own-goal by Middlebury College 6:25
into overtime, giving second-seeded Williams its sixth NESCAC
Men’s Soccer title in the 10-year history of the championship
with a 2-1 victory over sixth-seeded Middlebury. It also locked up
a 15th appearance in the NCAA Tournament for the Ephs as they
secured the NESCAC’s automatic qualifier for the NCAAs which
begin Nov. 12.
A serve from the left side by Kelly to the front of the goal was volleyed by Meloty-Kapella during overtime. His shot caromed off the middle of the cross bar, bouncing high in the air in front of the Middlebury net. An attempt to clear the ball by a Middlebury defender went the wrong way off his head and into the top side of the net for the deciding goal. That thwarted the comeback effort of the Panthers, who trailed 1-0 for a majority of the game after Williams freshman defender Matt Ratajczak finished off a corner-kick situation in the 37th minute of the contest for the game’s opening tally. Senior forward Peter Houston took the corner for the Ephs and bent the ball in toward a maze of players on front of the cage. The first to touch the ball was Williams junior defender Joe Vella and his redirect hit a Middlebury defender and found Ratajczak in front for a tap into the goal. It was his first career goal for the Ephs.
Williams’ lead stood up for almost 50 minutes as Williams kept the Panther attack at bay until the 86th minute when sophomore middie Robbie Redmond fired a low drive from 25 yards out into the lower left side of the net. Williams senior goalie Andrew Graham had needed to make three saves to that point in holding the Panthers scoreless but had no chance to react to the cannon shot by Redmond, who netted his fourth goal of the season. Junior defender Jake Edwards made Redmond’s goal possible by fighting for possession of a high ball in the offensive end, which he controlled and sent to Redmond outside the box in the middle of the field.
The game then entered overtime, only the third time in NESCAC history that the championship has been decided in extra time. Middlebury won the first-ever NESCAC title with a four-overtime win over Williams in 2000 and the 2006 title went to Williams on penalty kicks, also against Middlebury.
Williams had several chances to pad its leads over a 15-minute stretch in the middle of the second half but several key stops by Middlebury sophomore goalie Tim Cahill, who collected four saves on the afternoon, kept it a one-goal margin.
Middlebury had defeated Williams, 1-0, Oct. 30 in Middlebury, Vt. during the regular-season meeting of the teams, which dropped Williams from the top seed, giving Wesleyan a chance to host the NESCAC semifinals and championship.
2009 NESCAC MEN’S
SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP
Quarterfinals - Sunday, November 1 at Higher Seeds
at
No. 1 Wesleyan 5, No. 8 Colby 0
at
No. 2 Williams 3, No. 7 Connecticut College 0
No. 6
Middlebury 2, at No. 3 Amherst 1
at
No. 4 Bowdoin 3, No. 5 Trinity 0
Semifinals - Saturday,
November 7 at Wesleyan
No. 6
Middlebury 2, at No. 1 Wesleyan 0
No. 2
Williams 2, vs. No. 4 Bowdoin 0
Championship - Sunday,
November 8
No. 2 Williams 2, vs. No. 6 Middlebury 1 - OT
