AMHERST, Mass. ­ Williams College junior Josef Powell (St. Catherine, Jamaica) scored 1:59 into Saturday's Little III men's soccer showdown between the visiting Ephs and host Amherst College, and senior Eph forward Michael Cortese (Basking Ridge, NJ) added a controversial goal in the 55th minute, as the Ephs, the top-ranked team in the nation in the latest NSCAA poll, withstood a late Amherst rally to hold on for a 2-1 victory over the Jeffs on Saturday.

The undefeated Ephs got off to a quick start on the foot of Powell, who converted a feed from Cortese inside the 18 late in the second minute, rifling a shot past Amherst junior netminder Bill Orum (Greenwich, CT). Williams continued to dominate in the offensive end, leveling 13 first-half shots on the Amherst net.

The Amherst defense, anchored by junior Ryan Goodband (Needham, MA) shut the powerful Eph attack down for the rest of the first half, however, before the visitors widened the lead 10 minutes after halftime on a controversial non-offsides call. After a long ball down the right wing, Cortese half-vollied a pass from sophomore Dylan Smith (Appleton, ON) past Orum to give the Ephs a two-goal lead. The visitors dominated the first 15 minutes of the second half, with a flurry of shots from sophomore Alex Blake (Kingston, Jamaica)(the NESCAC's leading scorer) leading the way. Blake finished with 11 shots on the day, but the Jeffs shut him out, holding Williams to a season-low two goals.

After the Ephs' second score, the Jeffs would rally. Behind the duo of rookie Franklin Perry (Hartford, CT) and sophomore Pat Garvey (Suffield, CT), the hosts slowly began to regain offensive momentum, pressuring the Williams net and senior Eph goalie Ryan Spicer (Barrington, RI). Finally, in the 62nd minute, the Jeffs got on the board, after a short through-pass from Perry found Garvey unmarked on the right wing. Garvey hit a driven ball from the right side of the 18, perfectly sneaking it between a leaping Spicer, the right post and the crossbar, cutting the Williams lead in half.

The Jeffs had a couple of chances to tie the game down the stretch, but a pair of late clears from Williams defenders Dorian Baker (Hartford, CT) and Bill Ouimet (Hatfield, MA)(whose sister Abby scored the game-winner in the Amherst field hockey team's 1-0 win over Williams minutes earlier) kept the Jeffs from breaking even.

With the win, only their second one-goal victory of the season, Williams improves to 11-0, including a perfect 7-0 mark in the NESCAC. The Jeffs, who held the nation's top-rated offense under three goals for the first time all season, fall to 5-4-2 (3-4 NESCAC), with next Saturday's 11:00 a.m. start at Little III foe Wesleyan University next on the slate.