SALEM, VA -- The men's lacrosse team was just two minutes and fifty-five seconds away from handing the Roanoke Maroons, the #3 Div. III team in the nation, their first loss of the season. But a late score by junior attacker Pat March forced an overtime period, and a follow-up strike in the sudden-death frame by junior midfielder Brian Foley won the game for the Maroons by a tally of 17-16. The Ephs are now 1-4 overall, while Roanoke remains unscathed at 10-0.
Williams, who stand as the reigning NESCAC champions, are off to a rocky start this year, although they put forth what was undoubtedly their most gutsy, most resilient performance of the season in this contest. Conversely, Roanoke is off to their best start in school history, and is now 70-20 against first-time opponents. The Maroons held the overall edge in shots and ground balls by large margins, although the Ephs had a slight advantage in the face-off battle.
The first quarter was all Maroons, as they outshot Williams 21-7 (landing 11 shots on net) and earned a commanding 17-5 lead in ground balls. The barrage was headed by junior attacker Matt Quinton, who juked and weaved his way to four first period goals including the first two strikes of the game. Freshman attacker Jeff Keating also drilled home a pair, and after fifteen minutes the Maroons were ahead 8-3.
The Ephs fared better in the next frame, winning shots on goal 10-8 to cut the deficit to three goals. Sophomore attacker Tommy Murray, who led Williams in scoring on the day with 4 goals and 2 assists, banked in a pair of goals in the second quarter. With just three seconds remaining in the half, junior attacker Richard Reuter found senior co-captain Brian Morrissey in space and his winner just beat the horn to make the score 11-8 at the half.
The two sides traded goals in the third quarter between their most formidable offensive weapons. Ephs leading scorer David Hawley came alive in the period, rifling two shots past Roanoke's junior goal keeper Jake Dorsey. Pat March also registered a pair of goals for Roanoke, and he opened the scoring in the fourth quarter with his fourth (but not final) strike of the match. With 11:32 remaining in regulation, the Maroons stood in front by a score of 15-11.
Despite grim prospects, Williams refused to go quietly, as Murray, senior midfielder Ryan Powell, Hawley, and sophomore midfielder Matt Cranshaw strung together four unanswered goals in five minutes to tie the game at 15 with 5:08 on the clock. Then with 2:55 to go, Cranshaw connected with senior attacker and Co-captain Kevin Connolly to give Williams their first lead of the game. But the celebration was short-lived, for a face-off win on the subsequent whistle led to a Roanoke fast break that ended in March's fifth and final game-tying score, a mere thirteen seconds after Williams had taken the lead.
Both Dorsey and Eph senior goaltender and co-captain Michael Gerbush made critical saves with regulation winding down to keep the score knotted at 16. Gerbush had a difficult first quarter, allowing 8 goals on 21 Maroon shots, but the veteran star remained focused and allowed just 8 more over the next three quarters. He finished with 14 saves to Dorsey's 10.
The Ephs maintained possession for the first half of the OT period, sending two shots behind the goal-line and one shot on target. Dorsey denied a strong and accurate try by Hawley and sent the action the other way. After an offsides was called on Williams, senior midfielder Chas Carlson delivered a pass to Foley, who fired in the first game-winning goal of his career.
In a game that looked like it might be a runaway from the start, Williams persevered and nearly came away with a win over one of the nation's most formidable squads. They look to carry this momentum into this Saturday's road matchup against conference rival Trinity. The action will begin at 1:00pm on the Jessee/Miller Field.
-- Daniel Pesquera, Staff Assistant and Contributor
