The Hamilton College men’s lacrosse team remained unbeaten at Steuben Field, knocking off nationally ranked No. 10 Williams College 10-6 in NESCAC action on Tuesday. The Continentals held the Ephs to one goal in the final 31 minutes.
Box score
Hamilton (8-4, 4-4 NESCAC) scored the first six goals of the second half, turning the Ephs’ 5-4 halftime lead into a 10-5 Continental advantage with 6:58 left to go.
Connor Morgan ’15 and Sam Sweet ’16 both scored twice in the second half as Hamilton beat a top-10 team for the first time since opening the 2013 season with a 9-8 win over fifth-ranked Tufts University.
The Ephs, who’ve lost three straight after opening the season 7-0, actually outshot the hosts 24-17 over the third and fourth quarters but Hamilton’s Will Driscoll ’15 stopped the first five shots he faced in the second half.
Hamilton’s John Zimmerman ’15 led all players with five points (a goal and four assists) with Morgan, Sweet and Dan Cahill ’17 each scoring a pair of goals.
Steven Kiesel ’15 scored three goals, notching three of the Ephs’ first four scores. His third goal of the game – and 26th of the season – came late in a back-and-forth first half that featured four lead changes.
After Kiesel opened the scoring midway through the first quarter, both teams traded 2-0 runs over the final 16 minutes of the half.
Zimmerman tied the score with 44 seconds left in the first quarter then assisted on a goal by Joe Ricciuti ’16 early in the second that gave the Continentals their first lead.
Kiesel and Thomas Fowler ’17 scored Williams goals 63 seconds apart to put the Ephs back ahead with 8:49 left in the half. Zimmerman fed Cahill on consecutive possessions and Hamilton was in front 4-3 with 6:16 to go.
The Continentals were called for a penalty on Kiesel’s final goal, leading to a man-up goal by Duncan Cummings ’17 with 62 seconds left in the half.
Pat Donahoe ’16 and Matt Hrvatin ’15 added second-half goals for Hamilton, who's beaten Williams eight times in the last nine meetings. Eric Zurmuehle ’18 won nine of 15 faceoffs, picked up a team-leading seven ground balls and assisted on Sweet’s first goal for his first collegiate point.
Riley Hoffman ‘17, who scored a man-down goal with 1:14 left in the fourth quarter to help Williams avert a second-half shutout, picked up seven ground balls and caused a pair of turnovers. Dan Whittam ’15 stopped 13 shots for the Ephs.
Dylan Lahey ’15 led Hamilton with a career-high six ground balls and Sellers Garrett '16 caused two turnovers. Driscoll’s 11 saves raised his career total to 474, moving him past Max Vaickus ’12 (2009-12) for fourth place on the program’s career list.
The Continentals travel to top-ranked Tufts on Saturday, April 11, at 1 p.m. before playing their final regular-season home game on April 18 against Connecticut College. A win would give them their first undefeated home season since the 2003 team won all 11 of its home games.
Williams plays at Wesleyan University on Saturday. The No. 20 Cardinals will be the fourth nationally ranked team the Ephs have played in their last five games.
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