New goalkeeper Chelsea Mohammed gets a shutout as No. 10 Williams beats Bates

WILLIAMSTOWN — A year ago, Chelsea Mohammed was beginning her sophomore year on the University of Rhode Island women's soccer team.

After one game in Williamstown, the rising junior transfer has her first career Williams College shutout.

"It's super exciting" to get her first clean sheet, said Mohammed after the Ephs beat Bates 1-0 in the season opener Saturday morning. "It feels like I made the right choice when I was behind such a great team. Quite honestly, I feel like I hadn't seen such organized and well-played soccer in a while, in front of girls that can communicate.

"I feel really confident with them in front of me."

Mohammed didn't make her first save of her first Williams game until the 53rd minute. She made a second save six minutes later.

"Chelsea looked good. Her distribution, where she can put a ball is going to be great for us," said Williams coach Sarah Raymond, "so we can relieve some pressure and turn a blow out from the back into an offensive opportunity."

The win was the second straight for Williams over Bates, but the Ephs are 13-0-2 in their last 15 games and haven't lost to the Bobcats since 2010.

Williams had much the better of play for the 90 minutes. The Ephs outshot the Bobcats 24-4 in the game and had nine corner kicks to two for the visitors. Bates goalkeeper Brady Jacobson had seven saves in the game, including five in a scoreless first half.

In fact, the only goal of the game came with a little less than nine minutes remaining. Had the game ended in a draw, it would have gone into the books that way because there is no regulation overtime in NCAA soccer.

But in the 82nd minute, Williams first-year midfielder Lyyli Stern came up with a huge turnover to set up the Eph goal.

Stern intercepted a Bates clearing pass and sent the ball ahead to Bria Abbiati. Abbiati found herself on the right side from about 25 yards out and sent a shot through traffic toward the net. The ball was ticketed to the lower right corner. Jacobson dove and stretched about as far as her 5-foot, 5-inch frame could. It appeared she contacted the ball, but could not keep it from rolling past her and into the net.

"We realized early in the second half that we had been playing the ball up the field over and over again, that there was a lot space in the midfield. Our front group coming out in the last 12ish minutes, we realized that gave us places to exploit," said Abbiati. "Once we got the ball up front, I had time and space. I looked up and tried my best."

With one game and one win in the books, Raymond was asked what she learned from the victory.

"I think we have the potential to be a really, really good soccer team," she said. "There were moments where we really possessed in good ways and created a lot of chances. Now, we've got to work on some things like our finishes and our runs in the box. Then, controlling the game at all times and seeing where where the space is. What does that mean? Is it over the top or is it into the space underneath?

"I think we fell down a little bit in the middle part of the game, not seeing what could push them back and we could play a lot more underneath. I'm really proud of them finding a way to score that goal, because we could have scored some. That can become defeating if we let it be so, but they never gave up on that ability and belief they were going to score."

The Williams women will be back home at Cole Field Tuesday afternoon against rival Hamilton at 4 p.m. Williams is 2-0-2 in the last four games. The last win for the Continentals came in the 2022 opener on Cole where Hamilton won 1-0.