Sports
Women’s soccer faces top-seeded Williams in NESCAC quarterfinals
By Grecia Santos ’20
October 27, 2016
Tags sports
After a home loss and tie left the Hamilton’s women’s soccer team’s playoff fate in jeopardy, the Continentals rebounded, defeating host Colby Mules to clinch a spot in the NESCAC quarterfinals. On Oct. 15, the Continentals hosted the Bowdoin Polar Bears at Love Field in a NESCAC game. After a grueling 24 minutes in the first half, Emma Beane of Bowdoin scored.
Beane took control of the ball in the midfield, running forward to the top of the box to shoot into the net. Hitting the right side of the net at a shoulder high height, Bowdoin opened their scoring with a strong goal. The Polar Bears went on to score in the 88th minute, with Claire Dardinski shooting at Hamilton’s goalkeeper, Emily Dumont ’18, at point-blank range. Dumont ended the game with seven saves.
On Oct. 16, Hamilton played its final home game, hosting a non-conference match against Hartwick. In the 66th minute, Katja Dunlap ’18 scored Hamilton’s goal, shooting from about 25 yards out over the defense and inside the right post.
This was Dunlap’s first goal of the season and eighth in her career. Unfortunately, Hartwick tied the game within two minutes, when Madison Miller ’19 shot into the net, assisted by Kiley Richardson ’19. Hamilton’s goalkeeper, Dumont, opened the game in the net, blocking all three shots she faced. Rachel Cooley ’18 closed the game in the second half, blocking one shot.
After the game, Dumont said, “It’s hard to find the right words for this weekend, but we had some really tough games that didn’t produce the results we hoped for. Nevertheless, our team played with heart this weekend and really left it all on Love for our seniors, as this was their last time playing on our field. We’re coming to the end of our season, so I guess all I hope for is that we keep playing with heart, giving 100%, and make these last three games count. I have so much faith in this team to fight until the end, and I know that all these girls will step up.”
On Oct. 22, the Continentals traveled to Waterville, Maine to face the Colby Mules. With a win of 1-0 over the mules, Hamilton was able to secure a spot in the NESCAC conference playoffs Amanda Becker ’18 scored the game’s only goal with less than five minutes left in regulation, where Hamilton had been outshooting Colby 25-5.
This was Becker’s second goal of the year and was assisted by Ali Clarke ’17, who took a shot that was blocked by a Colby defender. The deflection was seized by Becker, who was then able to score. Dumont, had her second shutout of the season, making three saves to help the Continentals keep the lead.
This is Hamilton’s fourth time securing a NESCAC bid in six seasons. Three of these have lead to the Continentals reaching the quarterfinals of the NESCAC conference, in 2011, 2012 and 2015. The Continentals improved to 2-7-1 in the NESCAC and 4-7-3 overall.
Hamilton College’s next, and final regular season, match was at Oswego on Tuesday, Oct. 25. Maddie Dale ’20 scored her first career goal and Rachel Cooley posted her sixth career shutout in net as the Continentals were victorious by a 1-0 margin. Hamilton finishes the regular season with an overall record of 5-7-3 and now looks forward to the NESCAC playoffs.
There were ups and downs for the women’s soccer team this season but they have made their way to the playoffs and have a chance to compete for a title. The Continentals, as the eighth seed in the NESCAC playoff tournament, travel to Williams College on Saturday Oct. 29 to take on the the top seed and defending NESCAC champion Ephs.
This match-up is a repeat of last season, when the eigth-seeded Continentals fell to the first-seed Ephs 2-1 in the quarterfinals in Williamstown. This year, Hamilton looks to pull off the upset and advance to the NESCAC semi-finals. This will not be an easy task, as Williams has not lost this season, boasting a 9-0-1 conference record and a 14-0-1 mark overall. The road to the NESCAC championship runs through Williamstown, where the Continentals are headed this Saturday.