WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - After a stellar performance in a win against the University of Southern Maine yesterday, sophomore midfielder Nickolas Santana (New Haven, Conn.) canned two more goals as the Wolves nearly pulled off a stunning upset of No. 1-ranked Williams College on Sunday afternoon at Cole Field. Instead, WestConn settled for a dramatic 3-3 tie against the Ephs.

Santana earned his team-leading 15th goal of the season while junior backer Enzo LaGrassa-Gillet (Miami Beach, Fla.) tallied his first goal of the season for the visitors. Three different players notched goals for the hosts en route to the stalemate. 

The contest featured several wild back-and-forth moments. Williams' Andrew Coelho took a pass from Griffin Labonski and netted his first goal of the year just four minutes into play, giving the hosts an early 1-0 advantage. WestConn retaliated just 21 seconds later when senior Nikolas Chevres (Miami, Fla.) and junior Jeffrey Norales (Bronx, N.Y.) set up Santana for hist first strike of the game, evening the score at 1-1. Moments later, the Wolves nearly seized the lead but rookie midfielder Matthews Rocha (Danbury, Conn.) fired a shot off the post leaving the contest knotted at the break. 

WestConn finally broke through in the 73rd minute of play when Gillet knocked in a corner kick feed from rookie Ernesto Zamorano Gomez (Peekskill, N.Y) to give the visitors a 2-1 lead. But less than five minutes later, the Ephs countered to even the score at 2-2 when Ben Brown earned his third goal of the campaign. Shortly thereafter, JJ Ruehlemann connected on his fifth goal of the year, giving Williams a 3-2 advantage with 4:17 remaining on the clock. 

Once again this season, the Wolves put their resilience on display. Santana gathered a pass from Rocha and put the finishing touches on the equalizer less than two minutes later, setting up a dramatic final three minutes of play. WestConn fired a shot wide before Williams raced down to the other end and had a shot blocked before another one snared by WestConn rookie goalkeeper Makai Smith (Bridgeport, Conn.). The Wolves countered with a rush downfield and Norales ripped a shot off the iron with just six seconds left. The Wolves nearly pulled off the stunner, but settled for the tie. 

WestConn moved to 9-4-3 overall while Williams went to 7-1-4. The Wolves return to action when they head to USMMA for a non-conference tilt on Thursday at 7 p.m.