Hartwick Blanks Williams in NCAA Field Hockey Second Round

Courtesy Williams Sports Information

GRANTHAM, Pa. — The Williams College field hockey suffered a disappointing and frustrating end to its season Friday, dropping a 2-0 decision to Hartwick in the second round of the Div. III NCAA Tournament at Messiah College despite outshooting its opponent, 15-4.

“I think we felt it would just fall into place for us,” Williams head coach Alix Rorke said. “Our decision marking was not as good as it was last weekend at Middlebury. When your season is on the line, you have to play like it. We didn’t do that until after the first goal. The effort was there today, but the focus and the intensity wasn’t.”

Williams’ season ends at 14-4. Hartwick (16-2) moves on to face Messiah College (18-1) in the quarterfinals tomorrow. The winner moves onto the final four in Westfield November 19-20.

The Ephs came out and dominated the first half, outshooting Hartwick 7-1 over 35 minutes but were unable to capitalize on three tremendous scoring opportunities, according to Rorke. Hartwick goaltender Ashley King came up with a pair of critical saves.

At halftime, the game remained scoreless.

Meghan Hughes gave Hartwick a 1-0 lead 7 minutes and 10 seconds into the second half, converting a pass from teammate Jenev Schilling and beating Eph keeper Wendy Stone with a shot.

The Ephs continued pressing for the tying goal, and outshot their opponents 8-3 in the second half. In addition, the Ephs had a 17-2 advantage in penalty corners for the game, 9-0 in the first half and 8-2 in the second. Still, they could not get a shot past King, who finished with seven saves.

“We could not finish in the circle, that’s what it came down to,” Rorke said. “We completely dominated the game — it’s hard for me to fathom how we lost, we had some nice passing, we possessed the ball. It just came down to our lack of finishing.”

Hartwick sealed its victory when Kelly Cooman scored an unassisted goal with 24 seconds remaining in the contest. King finished with seven saves, and Stone made two for Williams.