SALEM, Va. - Williams men’s lacrosse suffered its first defeat of the season tonight, falling to No. 7 Roanoke on the road 9-5. The Ephs stand at 3-1 after the loss, which marked the team’s third straight road game, while the Maroons moved to 8-1.
The Ephs played the Maroons far more evenly than the score line would suggest: Williams had 41 shots to Roanoke’s 43, 37 ground balls to Roanoke’s 39, and won 11 faceoffs to Roanoke’s 7 on the day. Corey Jacobs won all 11 faceoffs for the Ephs. Mike Ryan was Williams’ leading scorer for the second straight game with 2 goals, while three Ephs tied for an assist each. Roanoke’s Pat March led all scorers in the game with three goals. Eph netminder Stephen Vrla stopped 15 shots on the day.
“Two things that stood out were faceoffs, which we dominated… and I thought we got stellar play out of our goalie,” said George McCormack, head coach of the Ephs. “It was a defensive battle most of the day.”
The first 10 minutes of the game saw neither team able to penetrate the other’s defense. Roanoke then found the net twice within a matter of minutes, first with 4:18 to play in the first quarter, then :49 seconds into the second. Ryan was able to pull one back for the Ephs man-up with 6:41 to play in the first, and the teams entered the break with Roanoke leading 2-1.
“In terms of the first half, we possessed the ball the majority of the time,” said McCormack. “We had three or four opportunities to score where we hit the post – I think if they would have gone in it would have been a different game.”
Coming out of the break, the Maroons scored three consecutive goals to take control of the game, with the first coming 4:54 into the third and the last coming exactly 7 minutes in. Tommy Murray was able to stop the Maroons’ momentum with 5:45 to play in the third with an unassisted goal, making the score 5-2 in favor of Roanoke. The Ephs looked to make a come back in the fourth, but it was not in the cards, as Roanoke scored two quick goals within 3:30 of the start of the quarter to put the game out of reach. The Ephs outscored the Maroons 3-2 the rest of the way, but it was not enough, and the game ended in Roanoke’s 9-5 victory.
Though he would have liked a different result, McCormack was ultimately encouraged by the team’s performance. “In the end, I think we might have run out of gas a little bit in the second half,” he said. “We didn’t posses the ball as much in the second, and I think the extra possessions gave them extra opportunities that they took advantage of… Last year we were down 8-0 after the first, so I think this was a much better experience than last time we played.”
The Ephs will now travel back to New England to take on NESCAC foe Tufts on Saturday at 1 p.m.
