WATERVILLE — Every so often, the last-place team in the conference has a chance to beat one of the top teams. That’s especially true when the last-place team still might be one of the top 30 or 40 teams in the nation.
Although Colby women’s lacrosse is ranked eighth in the country and Williams has not won a conference game, it was still a fair fight when the teams met Saturday morning at Bill Alfond Field. The visiting Ephs led by as many as four goals in the first half, but Colby controlled the action after the break and pulled out a 14-10 New England Small College Athletic Conference victory.
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“The NESCAC is a really, really tough conference,” said sophomore Alex Mintz, who scored three of Colby’s seven goals in the second half. “Every game, you never know who’s going to win. It’s the best (conference) in the country, I think.”
Colby (10-1 overall, 6-1 NESCAC) led 2-0 early after senior Claire Donegan scored off a nasty fake and then fed Lindsey McKenna for another goal.
But simmering underneath was Williams’ dominance on draw controls. Amazingly, the Ephs (4-8 overall, 0-7 NESCAC) won the first 12 draw controls and 15 of 17 in the first half. Colby had won 51 percent of its draw controls entering the game, but was missing sophomore Katharine Eddy, who is strong on draw controls.
“If you look at the stats, the draw controls will directly correlate with goals, so we knew that was a big problem,” Mintz said.
Williams scored the next four goals, including three by freshman Lilly Wellenback of North Yarmouth Academy, to take a 4-2 lead. The Ephs kept up the pressure and played with more confidence, but, another winning draw control resulted in the biggest blow to Williams’ chances.
After Meera Sivalingam scored to put Williams up 7-4, Ephs senior Kaitlin Ellis collided with a Colby player during a scramble for the ball after the ensuing draw control. Williams eventually pushed its lead to 9-5, but Ellis did not return to the game.
“That’s a huge factor,” Williams coach Christine Mason said. “She’s the best player on our team. She gets all kinds of loose balls, causes turnovers. She’s a feeder. She’s a scorer. She’s huge on center draws. So that was very unfortunate.”
Williams finished with a 19-7 edge in draw controls, but essentially gave that away by committing 12 more turnovers than the Mules. Colby fought back late in the half, getting the final two goals on markers by McKenna and Katie Griffin.
Mintz and Kate Pistel both scored on free position shots in the first four minutes of the second half to get Colby even. After Mintz hit a cutting McKenna for another goal and a Colby lead, Williams tied the score at 10 with 13:04 left, as Wellenbach set up Margie Fulton.
That was the only goal the Ephs would score in the second half. Colby changed goalies at the half from Claire Dickson to Michelle Burt, and Burt ended up stopping five of the six shots she faced. Colby coach Karen Henning has been rotating the two goalies all season, and they have played almost exactly the same number of minutes.
Colby’s defense, led by junior Lisa Hoopes, also tightened up in the second half. The Mules went ahead for good when Sarah Lux set up McKenna’s fourth goal with 12:26 left. Mintz and Pistel then scored within a minute of each other, and the Mules got their final goal when Mintz fired in a shot with 2:01 left. After that goal, Colby won the draw control and held the ball for all but the final two seconds of the game.
Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243
mdifilippo@centralmaine.com
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