WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - In yesterday's Sweet 16 game Western Connecticut saw its one-goal lead slip away with less than two minutes remaining in regulation before sealing a victory in overtime against Worcester State. Today the Colonials saw a few defensive slip-ups in the final 15 minutes of play but avoided overtime and held on to defeat Hamilton College by a score of 1-0. Western Connecticut advances to the NCAA National Finals in Orlando, Florida and will play Wheaton (Ill.).

Western Connecticut was tentative early on, and head coach Joe Mingachos contributes the sloppy play of the first 20 minutes to nervous energy. "I think it was the nerves that hit us in the beginning and we were a little overexcited, " he said. "We knew coming in to this game that Hamilton was a quality team and we would have to play a near perfect game. I'm just happy we got the job done."

Hamilton could not take advantage of the Colonials' poor play early on, and when Western began to play quality soccer midway into the first period, its entire offensive attack shut down. The Continentals mustered four shots on goal in 90 minutes, while Western's offense really turned on the heat. Mingachos' team took 13 shots in the first half, and five in the second, to put intense pressure on the Hamilton defense.

It was Molly Desjarlais who found the back of the net for the Colonials at the 27:54 mark. Angela Wozinak laced the ball to the far right post where both Desjarlais and teammate Kim Crayco waited to locate the ball. Crayco's foot found the ball but kicked it up in the air, and Wozinak capitalized on the deflection by heading the ball into the opposite corner for the 1-0 lead.

Hamilton thought they had tied the game with 15 minutes left in the period off an Anne Graveley corner kick. The kick appeared to be heading out of bounds, when suddenly the Hamilton fans and bench reacted as the ball was in the back corner of the net. The referee initially signaled that it was a goal, but following a conference with the assistant referees, he ruled no goal arguing that the ball had rolled in through a hole in the net.

The rest of the game Western Connecticut dominated time on the ball, and created great opportunities to score. Had Hamilton's Caitlin McGilley not been at net, the score would have certainly been more lopsided than it was. McGilley played a tremendous game, tallying nine saves in ninety minutes of play. Despite a slight breakdown in the final minutes, Western Connecticut kept Hamilton out of the penalty box to hold on for a win.

At the end of the game, Mingachos had difficulty finding words to describe how he felt over his team's place in the Finals and said, "I have no idea what to expect. This is really uncharted waters for us. I'm just excited." Mingachos will wade into some uncharted waters himself, as he promised his girls to shave his head if they advanced to the Finals earlier this weekend

(photos by Kris Dufour and made available by Williams College Sports Information Director Dick Quinn)