MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – Williams College edged St. John Fisher 6-5 in a rainy, defensive slog in the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Wesleyan University's Citrin Field.
The Cardinals finished the season 17-3. Williams (8-9) advanced to the third round and will face host Wesleyan (12-4) at 3 p.m. Sunday. The Cardinals had won at least one NCAA Tournament game in three of the previous four seasons.
Williams scored the only goal of the fourth quarter in the final 15 seconds to break a 5-5 tie.
Senior midfielder Nick Hauman and junior attackman Scott Bovard each had a goal and an assist for Fisher. Freshman attackman Grady Swidersky added two helpers. Junior attackman Garrett Sutton, sophomore attackman Graham Kesselring and freshman midfielder Hayden Lauer each scored once, and senior midfielder Brett Seaman had an assist.
Tyler Manning, the Empire 8 Goalkeeper of the Year, made 13 saves for Fisher. Williams goalkeeper Charlie Medd stopped 17 shots.
How It Happened
The Cardinals had to play catch-up from the jump as Ryan Nagle, Aiden Housenbold and Cade Schuckman, who finished with a game-high three points, fired shots into the back of the cage in the first nine minutes as part of a 3-0 start for the Ephs. Medd turned aside six shots before the Cardinals finally got on the board with 1:52 left in the opening quarter when Sutton buried a feed from freshman Swidersky.
Hauman and Bovard scored less than a minute apart early in the second quarter to pull the Cardinals even with the Ephs. The score stood 3-3 until Williams went back ahead on a goal from Will Doran with 1:26 left in the first half.
Ryan Johnson extended Williams' lead to two, 5-3, with a man-up strike 12 seconds into the third quarter, but the Cardinals once again toiled to tie the game. Kesselring scored off a feed from Bovard to make it 5-4 at 11:35, and Lauer made it 5-5 a few minutes later with an assist from Swidersky.
From there, the game turned into a true stalemate.
The Cardinals attempted 12 shots (two on goal) and committed six turnovers in the final quarter. Williams, after coming up empty on plenty of its own chances, broke the deadlock and stole the game on an unassisted goal by Gavin Timoney with just 11 seconds to play.
Game Notes
