This last weekend, the women’s lacrosse team squared off against tough competitor and Little Three rival in Williams. Over the past 10 years, Wesleyan has won only two games against the Purple Cows. Entering the contest, Williams sat in eighth place in the NESCAC, holding an even record of 5-5 for the year. Williams was able to climb over the .500 mark by the contest’s end, as the 8-13 loss for the Cardinals brought their own season record to 4-9.
On Saturday, April 11, Wesleyan traveled to the rural farmland of Williamstown, Mass. The game was dead even after the first thirty minutes of play, with the score knotted at 3.
The Cardinals held a 2-1 lead at the 12-minute mark, but the Ephs struck back to tie the game just 51 seconds later. The Wesleyan goals came from and co-captains Katie Binswanger ’15 and Leah Sherman ’15. This was Sherman’s 19th goal of the season.
Though the Ephs dominated play for much of the first half and took eight of the game’s first nine shots, they were often stumped by the fantastic work of Nina Labovich ’16 in goal for Wesleyan.
Becca Phillips ’17 gave the Cardinals their last lead of the game at 3-2, but with 29 seconds remaining in the first half, Williams evened the score.
The Cardinals had a rough second half, a problem they’ve seen throughout the season. They found themselves in a hole early in the half as the Ephs scored three times within the second minute of play.
However, Wesleyan came back to tie the game at 7-7 with 19 minutes left in regulation. Meredith Smith ’17 shot a rocket over the right shoulder of the Williams goaltender. Phillips added her second score of the game off a feed from behind the net to cut the lead to one. Martha Harding ’16 also put one in the back of the net, and Julia Black ’18 scored off of a free-position shot. Sherman led the Birds in shots with six and Smith was close behind with five.
In the last 19 minutes of the half, Williams went on a 6-1 run, leaving Wesleyan on the wrong end of a 13-8 game. Up big at the end of the game, Williams continued to attack the Cardinals defense, ripping two shots off the crossbar and many more that ricocheted off Labovich.
Rachel Aronow ’17 added the eighth and final goal for the Cardinals and had three shots throughout the game, as well as a ground ball pickup. Labovich was able to stay steady in net with 12 saves. However, the Ephs led in the majority of the stat categories, most notably outshooting Wesleyan 35-24. Wes was 1-10 in the game on free-position shots, while Williams was 30% more efficient at 4-10. Williams goaltender Margaret Draper made eight saves through sixty minutes of play.
Natalie Gill led the Ephs scoring charge with a hat trick and four of her teammates each chipped in with a pair of goals. Maeve Muholland had three apples and three others recorded one assist.
The Purple and Gold had a big advantage when it came to clearing the ball in their own defensive zone, as they converted 13 times on 14 attempts, while the Cardinals went 15-22. Wes also turned the ball over 18 times, with Williams only losing possession 14 times.
The Ephs were able to control 15 out of the 23 draws, which was a big determinant in them keeping possession over the Cards. Williams also squeaked out the victory in ground balls, 21-19.
The Cardinals have not won in Williamstown since 1982. Dating back to 1976, Wes has a .200 win percentage against the Ephs, with an 8-32 record.
Wesleyan has a week off of games and will be hosting another NESCAC foe, Bowdoin, on April 18. The Polar Bears will be a tough competitor as they are ranked third in the NESCAC, with a 6-2 in-conference record. The Cardinals have a 10-27-1 all-time mark against the Polar Bears and have not beaten the team from Maine since a 9-8 home victory in 2009.
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