No. 2 Williams Prevails Over Women's Soccer, 2-0

Williamstown, Massachusetts - The Springfield College women's soccer program suffered just its second loss of the 2015 season to No. 2 Williams College at Cole Field on Wednesday afternoon, 2-0.
Williams, which came into the contest slotted second in the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) National Rankings, improves to 8-0-0 on the season, while the Pride now stand at 6-2-1. Springfield's only other loss came to another nationally-ranked team, No. 18 Amherst College on Sept. 15.

Junior goalkeeper Brooke Fairman (Huntington, Mass.) started for the Pride, and made one stop, while sophomore Ciara Boucher (Manchester, Conn.) came on in relief and posted two stops in the second half. On the other side, Tressa Palcheck (Schaumberg, Illi.) notched a pair of saves in the win.
Williams held a 16-9 advantage in shots, and both sides posted four corner kicks over 90 minutes of play. For Springfield, senior forward Nicole Fowler (Hudson, Mass.) tallied a game-high five shots, while sophomore Dakota Kelly (Bethany, Conn.) had two shot on the afternoon.

Springfield began the contest with a flurry of scoring opportunities, as Fowler posted four of her five shots in the contest during the opening 4:43, two of which were blocked by Ephs' defenders.
The Ephs struck midway through the first half, when Maddie Swarr (Radnor, Pa.) found Kristie Kirshe (Franklin, Mass.) for her sixth goal of the season to give Williams a 1-0 lead with 20:29 remaining in the opening stanza.

Williams tacked on its second goal in the opening minutes of the second half, when Audrey Thomas (Bellevue, Wash.) slid a ball to Katie Wardlaw (San Marino, Calif.) who was able to find the back of the net to give the hosts a 2-0 lead with 41:12 left in the game.

Up next, Springfield will return to Brock-Affleck Field when it will host Babson College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action at 2:30 p.m.