Courtesy Westfield State Sports Information

HOBOKEN, N.J. – Williams College overcame an early 1-0 deficit to defeat Westfield State University, 2-1, in the second round of the NCAA Division III women’s soccer national championships on Sunday, Nov. 13, at Stevens Institute of Technology.

Williams, ranked 15^th nationally, improves to 12-4-3 and advances to the Sweet 16 next weekend. Westfield State finishes its outstanding season with a 15-4-2 record.

“It was a tough game to lose, coming so close to making the Sweet 16, but we proved we could keep with (Williams),” said Westfield coach Todd Ditmar. “I actually thought Stevens Tech (Westfield defeated Stevens in penalty kicks in the opening round) was every bit as good or a little better than Williams so I was proud of the way my team played the last two days.”

The Owls took the early 1-0 lead when senior Kate Wye headed in a corner kick from junior standout Kayley Miller (Ludlow) 5:06 into the game.

However, Westfield played for long stretches without Miller, who exited the game with an injury with just under 15 minutes remaining in the first half. Miller was on the field for the first 11 minutes and the final nine minutes of the second half. In addition, Westfield was without junior star forward Leann Rivard (Chicopee/Comp HS), who sustained a season-ending injury in the MASCAC championship game.

“Kayley told me all she could do was just stand there and kick and I told her that we still needed her in there to do that,” Ditmar said. “We played better in the second half but we don’t have the depth and that took our chances away. We had some kids playing 45 minutes who had not seen much action all year.”

Williams controlled the action for most of the first half, outshooting Westfield, 18-6, but the Ephs knotted the score in the 34^th minute on a penalty kick by Lilly Wellenbach. She was awarded the PK after being knocked down in the box by Owl goalie Jeff Habif, who received a yellow card as the ball was not involved in the collision. The Westfield bench also received a yellow card for disputing the critical call.

“Those were some unfortunate calls by the officials,” said Ditmar, who was also referring to a Westfield foul prior to Williams’ second goal.

Williams scored the game-winning goal in the 70^th minute after Westfield was whistled for a tripping foul. Caitlyn Clark took the free kick from 15 yards near the end line and delivered a cross into the box at the six to Nicole Stenquist, who blasted the ball into the net.

Westfield was only outshot, 11-8, in the final 45 minutes. Three of those shots came two minutes into the second half off a pair of corner kicks. Another solid scoring opportunity for the Owls came with approximately 10 minutes remaining when a shot by freshman Ashleigh Chretien sailed just wide of the left post.

“We really did not make any changes in the second half,” said Ditmar. “We just told the players to defend the flanks better.”