Courtesy Williams Sports Information

Box Score

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Junior Sarah Walmsley placed a shot off the outstretched hands of Amherst goalkeeper Allie Horwitz just 2:38 into overtime Sunday, lifting top-seeded Williams to the 2008 NESCAC Women's Soccer Championship.

Walmsley’s goal gave the Ephs their second-straight NESCAC title, and Williams became the first team in tournament history to win back-to-back championships. Williams improved to 16-0-1 on the season, while the Lord Jeffs fell to 11-2-3.

Amherst absorbed a tremendous opening 20 minutes from Williams to score twice within a 8:30 span and take a 2-1 lead into halftime. Much like the two teams first meeting on Oct. 25 — it ended in a 1-1 tie — the Ephs spent most of the second half working to knot the game at two.

That moment did not come until 4:01 remained. Williams senior Gabrielle Woodson found herself with the ball in the box off a scramble in front of the net and tapped a shot into the lower left-corner that just eluded Horwitz and two Lord Jeff defenders. It was Woodson’s team-leading 12th goal of the season.

The overtime lasted just over two minutes. Woodson played a ball from the top of the box toward Walmsley. The ball glanced off Amherst defender Jill Kochanek and landed at the feet of the Eph junior, who turned and fired a shot to the lower right-corner. A diving Horwitz was able to get a hand on the ball, but not enough to deflect it out of the goal.

Williams held a 26-16 shot advantage in the contest, while Amherst took four corner kicks to the Ephs’ three. Horwitz finished with eight saves for the Lord Jeffs, while Eph keeper Lauren Sinnenberg stopped seven shots.

Williams came out strong and scored just 17:29 into the contest on junior Brianna Wolfson’s fifth goal of the tournament.

However, Amherst countered just over five minutes later on a rebound strike from junior Meg Murphy. Sophomore Kyla Woodhouse played a ball in from the right wing and Murphy was there to pounce on the opportunity, volleying a hard shot past Sinnenberg for her 11th goal of the season.

The equalizer energized an Amherst team that had faced constant pressure up to that point, and swung momentum in the Jeffs favor. It was just over eight minutes later before that momentum capped with another Amherst score. Murphy found sophomore Jackie Hirsch this time for a composed shot to the lower left corner from just eight yards out.

The NESCAC championship was the third for Williams. The Ephs also won in 2004 and 2007.

2008 NESCAC WOMEN’S SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP
Quarterfinals - Sunday, November 2 at Higher Seeds
at No. 1 Williams 4, No. 8 Colby 0
at No. 2 Amherst 1, No. 7 Wesleyan 0
at No. 3 Middlebury 2, No. 6 Trinity 0
No. 5 Bowdoin 0, at No. 4 Tufts 0 - 2OT
Bowdoin advances on Penalty Kicks, 4-2

Semifinals - Saturday, November 8 at Williams
at No. 1 Williams 6, No. 5 Bowdoin 0
No. 2 Amherst 1, No. 3 Middlebury 0

Championship - Sunday, November 9 at Williams
at No. 1 Williams 3, No. 2 Amherst 2 - OT