Ephs fall 3-1 to Tufts; first loss to Jumbos since 1994
Nathan Elwood '08
SOMERVILLE, Mass - The Williams College men's soccer team surrendered two first-half scores before falling 3-1 in a conference matchup with Tufts University Friday. The win snaps the Jumbos (overall: 6-4-1, NESCAC: 2-4-0) thirteen game winless streak against the Ephs, who drop to 7-3-1 overall and 4-2-0 NESCAC.
The Ephs had the advantage in shots (Williams: 19, Tufts: 9), corner kicks (Williams: 11, Tufts: 4), and fouls (Williams: 7, Tufts: 13) but Tufts keeper David McKeon's nine saves and rare assist helped insure the Tufts victory.
"I was very disappointed in our performance today. We came out flat and it showed in the result." Remarked Eph coach Mike Russo. "Tufts played us tough and they are an excellent team - we just needed a much better team-effort to beat them."
The Jumbos jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 10:17 into the game, when a Peter DeGregorio through pass found a streaking Dan Schoening who bested Eph keeper Andrew Graham (3 saves) one-on-one.
Despite controlling possession and outshooting the Jumbos in the first half, the Ephs were unable to knock in a goal, while Tufts managed to build on their advantage. This time with under five minutes remaining in the half, when a defensive miscue by the Ephs allowed Jumbo forward Ron Colman an unimpeded path to the goal and he gave Tufts a 2-0 lead.
However, the Ephs could muster little more for the large majority of the second half. It was a final Tufts score in the 87th minute, which ballooned their advantage to 3-0, that finally galvanized the Eph offense - which promptly responded forty seven seconds later with a Colin Ainsworth score to cut the deficit to where it would remain at 3-1.
The Ephs have now gone winless in their last two contests, going 0-1-1 in that time.
The Ephs will try to curb the trend, but will have to bounce back quick. Their next game is Sunday, October 18th, where they will travel to Maine to faceoff against their conference rival Colby Mules. That game is scheduled for 1:30 PM.
