WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's soccer team was upended by No. 11 Williams College as the Ephs held on to win 3-2 despite a late push from the Lyons on Saturday afternoon in Williamstown.
Wheaton suffered only their second loss in regulation as they fell to 6-2-4 on the year. Williams improved to 9-1-1 after their final non-conference win of the regular season.Â
The Lyons were led by seniors
Ben Kane (Pembroke, Mass.) and
Avery Dinham (Coral Springs, Fla.) as each scored in the final 10 minutes of the contest. Senior
Declan Rhatigan (Holderness, N.H.) picked up the assist on Kane's goal while juniors
Austin Hoadley (South Kent, Conn.) and
Noe Aguilar (Lawrence, Mass.) had the helpers on Dinham's score. Sophomore goalkeeper
Patrick Butler (Glastonbury, Conn.) made five saves across the 90 minutes.
Junior midfielder Luca Ruta (New York, N.Y.) started the scoring for Williams with his second goal of the season. Junior Lorcan Mitchell (West Springfield, Mass.) joined in with his sixth goal of the season before senior Spencer Mix (Canton, Conn.) made it three for the Ephs. Junior Alex Bethencourt (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) picked up two assists on the day while junior Kai Darrell (New York, N.Y.), first year Nick Appleton (Bethesda, Md.), sophomore JJ Ruehlemann (Waldwick, N.J.) and sophomore Kai Desmangles (New York, N.Y.) all finished with one assist. Darrell played the full 90 minutes between the posts for Williams and made six saves on eight shots faced.Â
Williams controlled the pace of play from the starting whistle. The Lyons were on the back foot early and Butler was forced to make two saves in the first 10 minutes of the game. The early pressure quickly yielded a fruitful outcome for the Ephs as Ruta scored in the 12th minute from Bethencourt and Darrell. Wheaton responded well as Kane fired a shot towards goal soon after, but Darrell was there to make the save which kept the equalizer out of the goal. Kane forced another save out of Darrell in the 27th minute, but again the Ephs goalkeeper made the save. Darrell himself forced a save out of Butler soon after, and the resulting chaos saw Williams pot their second goal of the half. Mitchell was the goalscorer and Desmangles and Appleton earned the assists as the Ephs went up 2-0. Both teams made substitutions in the final phases of the half, but Wheaton failed to record a shot on goal in the final 10 minutes as they went into halftime down 2-0.
The Ephs came out of the second half flying and needed only 24 seconds to score their third. This time it was Mix that finished the chance as Ruehlemann and Bethencourt picked up the assists. With a large deficit facing them, the Lyons had to dig deep to find a response.Â
Rhatigan responded with a shot on goal, but again Darrell was up to the task. Rhatigan kept the pressure on the hosts as he fired two more shots towards goal, but only one landed on target. Wheaton's defense picked up the pace and was much more effective at keeping Williams in their own half than they were in the opening frame. The Lyons did not allow a shot on goal from the 55th minute until the end of the game, giving their offense a great opportunity to launch a comeback bid.
As strong as the Lyons' defense was, the Ephs were just as hardy as they prevented the Lyons from scoring for nearly the entire half. The Lyons finally got on the board when Rhatigan linked up with Kane in the 83rd minute to make it a 3-1 contest. Momentum was firmly controlled by Wheaton in the final phases, even with the clock working against them. They held their course, and again found the result they were looking for. This time it was Hoadley and Aguilar who linked up with Dinham as the Lyons made it a 3-2 game in the 87th minute. Despite the late surge, the Lyons would not have enough momentum to even the score and fell to the Ephs by a score of 3-2.Â
Wheaton will return home next Saturday after a week of training to play MIT at home at 2:00 pm. Williams will return to NESCAC play next weekend as they take on Wesleyan on Saturday at 3:00 pm.
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