WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Gavin Vanden Berg (Lake Forest Park, Wash.) scored 11 minutes into the second half and the fifth-seeded Connecticut College men's soccer team defeated fourth-seeded Williams 2-1 on Saturday afternoon from Cole Field.
Conn dominated the opening half, recording the first seven shots of the contest through the opening 20 minutes. Vanden Berg forced two saves from Aleix Anglada, while Marco Perugini (Medway, Mass.) was denied, and Matt Quiros-Newton (Alajuela, Costa Rica) hit the post.
However, just a minute later against the run of play, Williams opened the scoring on a broken play, as Alex Bethencourt fired home to make it 1-0. The Camels responded as both Quiros-Newton and Max Lee (London, England) were turned away by Anglada.
With just seven and a half minutes remaining, Conn evened the score. Elliot Spatz (Bellevue, Wash.) controlled a ball, laying off a pass to Max Haberman (San Diego, Calif.) who found the back of the net, as the game was tied 1-1 at the break.
The Camels opened the second half quickly, as Quiros-Newton forced a save from Anglada just a minute and a half in. Conn continued to press, and 10 minutes later, took their first lead of the afternoon. Vanden Berg let a shot go from outside of the box that went off the crossbar and in to make it 2-1 in the 57th minute.
The Ephs had a good chance just a minute later after earning a free kick on the edge of the box. Kellan Grace put the shot towards goal, but TJ Krongard (Montclair, N.J.) made the save.
Williams upped the pressure over the final 25 minutes, looking for the equalizing goal. However, the Conn defense did a fantastic job to limit any high danger opportunities for the Ephs. Conn closed out the final minutes to earn the 2-1 victory.
Conn outshot Williams 26-19, including 15-8 on shots on goal, while holding a 5-2 advantage on corner kicks.
Krongard picked up the win in goal, finishing with seven saves. Vanden Berg led the way with four shots on goal to go along with his tally, while Haberman notched the Camels other goal.
Anglada got the start in net, making 13 saves, while Bethencourt notched the Ephs only goal.
Conn (9-2-5, 4-2-4 NESCAC) returns to the NESCAC semifinals for the fifth consecutive season, as the Camels will travel to Medford, Mass. to take on Wesleyan on Saturday at a time to be determined.
