Mechanics are Heading to the NCLL Liberty Division Championship Game

It wasn't easy, and no one thought it would be, but in the end, Williamson was able to come out on top Sunday afternoon in their NCLL Liberty division semi-final contest against Rowan University, to advance to the championship game.  The final score was 6-4 in favor of the hosts.

The two teams met on the same field just two weeks ago and that game was a battle, as well.  In that contest, Williamson feel behind 2-0 and 3-2, only to comeback and eventually win the contest in overtime by a score of 5-4.

Today's game was more of the same, although this time around it was Williamson who jumped out to a 2-0 first quarter lead, only to see the Profs come back to tie things up.  The teams were tied at half and tied at the end of the third quarter before Williamson outscored their opponent 3-1 in the fourth quarter to keep their season alive.

The game was a big one for junior Anthony Zollo.  Fresh off his team award for Most Improved Player this season, he showed everyone why as he scored at the 13:10 mark off a nice feed from Chase Staley to put Williamson up 1-0, and then scored again at the 6:15 mark to make it 2-0.  Rowan though came back with two first quarter goals of their own in less than two minutes to knot things at 2-2 at the end of one quarter of play. 

Both team's defenses play a stellar second quarter, as neither team scored to keep it 2-2 at half.

Rowan would take their first and only lead on the day with a third quarter goal at the 9:28 mark to put them up 3-2.  That lead would hold up until Anthony Zollo's third goal of the game at the 2:53 mark tied things up at 3-3 heading into the all-important final period of play.

It didn't take long into the fourth quarter for Williamson to regain the lead. That came on an ESPN worthy goal by Matt Dickinson, off a feed from Hayden McGinnis, to put Williamson back on top at 4-3.  They then regained a two-goal advantage at the 10:28 mark on Zollo's fourth goal on a put-back, to make it 5-3. 

As usual though, Rowan was not about to quit and proved that by pulling to within one at 5-4 with a goal less than a minute after Williamson went back up by two goals at the 9:29 mark.

With game hanging in the balance, Williamson's Cooper Conroy, recently named the college's Athlete of the Year for his play on both the football and lacrosse fields this school year, put Williamson back on top by two at the 3:49 mark at 6-4.  The Mechanics were able to run out the clock from there to advance to the conference finals for the second time in three years.

Credit another outstanding effort by Williamson's defense, as they shut down the Profs when the team needed them the most.  Goalie Jack Welsh made seven saves.

The win was Williamson's sixth straight and with an overall record of 10-3, it gives them double-digit wins for the third year in a row for the first time since 2004-06.

Williamson, currently ranked #6 in the nation, now waits to see who their opponent will be in the championship contest.  In all likelihood, it will be #! West Chester.  The Golden Rams await the winner of the Drexel/TCNJ play-in game next Saturday. Should West Chester win, Williamson will be at West Chester next Sunday, May 4 at time yet to be determined.  If by some miracle, the Golden Rams were to lose, Williamson would host the championship game next Sunday.  Exact information will be posed on our website at www.williamsonathletics.com once it is released.