Williams Falls to Ursinus in NCAA Field Hockey Second Round
Courtesy Williams Sports Information
OLLEGEVILLE, Pa. — A slow start doomed a frantic comeback by the Williams College field hockey team Saturday as the Ephs suffered a 5-4 defeat to No. 3 Ursinus College (19-2) in the second round of the Div. III NCAA Tournament.
Williams finished its season at 14-5. The Ephs were ranked No. 12 in the nation entering the contest. Karen Wendler scored twice for Ursinus while junior Cathleen Clark netted three goals to pace the Ephs.
"It was an unfortunate end because at the end of the season, you want to be playing your best field hockey," Williams head coach Alix Rorke. "We didn't do that today."
The Bears came out of the gates on fire, scoring three goals in the game's first 14 minutes to put Williams in a hole it could never get out of. Lindsay Cappa scored off an assist from Molly Stevens 34 seconds into the contest. At the 10:23 mark, Wendler scored her first of two, off an assist from Allison Doutt, to make it 2-0. Stevens scored 3:35 later off an feed from Cappa.
"Definitely not one of our strongest showings," Rorke said. "We were like deer in the headlights at the start of the game, we stood around and watched — it was a perfect example of what happens when you're too nervous."
Williams attempted to rally when Cary Bearn converted a pass from senior captain Jaye Gregory of a penalty corner at the 17:39 mark, but the Bears responded with a goal from Jessica Rogers off another corner at the 24:39 mark to send Ursinus into the half with a 4-1 advantage.
The Ephs' rally began just under four minutes into the second half when Clark scored off another assist from Gregory to make it 4-2, but the Bears answered on Wendler's second score of the game, this time off an assist from Kait Sutherland.
With 6:43 remaining, Clark scored again, this time converting a pass from Charlotte VanWagenen, to make it 5-3. She completed the hat trick with 2:45 left off a pass from Carolina Jolly, but the Bears were able to hold on over the final minutes and pick up the victory.
"We had a mountain to climb," Rorke said. "Yes, it was nice to see how hard we fought and the fact that we never quit, but it was too far to climb."
Ursinus outshot Williams 13-10 overall, 9-2 in the first half. The Bears took 18 penalty corners to the Ephs 10. Williams goalkeeper Emily Wasserman made four saves in 51:32, and Ali Raizin came on to make one save over the final 18:28.
Jessica Lamina had three saves on 59:57 for Ursinus. Erin Bender made two saves over the final 10:03.
