The Williams women have made soccer look easy this season.
The Ephs have won all 14 games including nine conference matches on their way to a No. 6 ranking in the national polls - a marked improvement from a 2006 team that went 8-3-3 and fell to the fifth-seeded Colby Mules in the first-round of last year's NESCAC Tournament.
All Williams needs is two victories this weekend to cap off its first championship run since 2004 and its first flawless conference record since the inception of the NESCAC Tournament in 2000.
Although the Ephs are the favorites to win the tournament, they aren't pressuring themselves heading into tomorrow's semifinal matchup with the No. 6-seeded Panthers.
"I don't think we feel that we're the favorites," Williams coach Michelyne Pinard said. "We feel we had a great regular season, but in the postseason, anything can happen."
While the playoffs are indeed a whole new season, Williams' domination in its 4-0 Oct. 13 win over Middlebury carries some weight. After a scoreless first half, the Ephs exploded for four goals in just 15 minutes in the second period.
"There was a 15 to 20 minute stint in the second when we were able to get behind them," Pinard said. "It was unusual that we were able to capitalize on all our opportunities. We played pretty well.
"[Middlebury's] strength is their back four," Pinard continued. "They're not only organized but fast. They're hard to get behind and they move the ball pretty well. But they leave space on the flanks, and we'll need to exploit that."
On the other side of the field, there aren't many weaknesses for Middlebury to exploit. In conference games this season, Williams leads the league in goals, assists, goals allowed, and shutouts.
And against the three NESCAC squads still alive in this tournament, Williams won the four regular-season games by a combined score of 7-0.
Tufts was the last of the three squads to play the Ephs and lost just its second conference game of the season, 2-0, on Oct. 20.
"They're physical all over the field," senior Joelle Emery said. "They're a very strong team. The have fast strikers and are strong on defense, and they penetrated the wings and sent crosses into the middle."
If the Jumbos have the opportunity to play Williams on Sunday, they will try to use their past experience to hand Williams its first loss of the season.
"They have a pretty great counterattack, so we really want to step up hard and high and put a lot of pressure on them so they can't counter quickly," sophomore Ali Maxwell said. "We need to play to feet. The last time, we played a lot of long balls that don't really work against teams like Williams."
Whether Middlebury will be able to find a similar working game plan against the seemingly unstoppable Ephs remains to be seen. But with the Ephs looking likely to roll into the NCAA Tournament regardless of what happens this weekend, it's a good time to be a soccer fan in Williamstown.
