Williams’ career ends short of Disney World

WW-PS grad helped VW grow

By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
   Lindsey Williams was hoping she would be going to Disney World this weekend, or at least the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex.
   The West Windsor-Plainsboro South graduate fell a couple wins short of the site of the Division III women’s soccer final four when her Virginia Wesleyan squad was defeated, 1-0, by York on Nov. 11 in the NCAA second round.
   ”It’s a little weird just thinking about having been there last year and actually going home for Thanksgiving and not eating turkey in the Animal Kingdom,” said Williams. “It’s a little upsetting when I think about it.”
   It’s doubly disappointing for Williams because this season was her final chance. The Marlins’ goalkeeper is a senior, but went out in style. She started 20 of the Marlins’ 21 games. They had 15 shutouts while posting a 15-2-4 record.
   ”I think the hardest thing I’ve been thinking about as far as next fall is not being able to be around my teammates,” Williams said. “Knowing I’m never going to play with this same group of girls again and never coached by these coaches again. The goals will be different if I play with another team. You don’t have the conference championship and NCAAs to strive for.
   ”I can still play soccer, but it’s never going to have the same atmosphere and environment with one team like that. I can still play soccer if I want to. It’s not so much the soccer. It’s the people you’re surrounded with.”
   Williams was surrounded by some solid players at Virginia Wesleyan. And she certainly did her part to help the Marlins enjoy plenty of success in her career, maybe more than she imagined when she graduated from the Pirates.
   ”I don’t know if I knew exactly what to expect,” Williams said. “I knew Coach (Jeff) Bowers was excited to have me as a part of the team. I couldn’t have anticipated such a great four years with my teammates and coaches. It wasn’t just soccer. I had great life experiences. They come with being a part of a team and a great group like we were.
   ”I knew it was going to be a good program, but I never expected the experience we had in going last year to the final four. You always hope for it, but actually getting there exceeds anything you could have imagined. I think that was really cool.”
   Virginia Wesleyan looked poised to follow the three-year starter to a return trip. After a 1-1-1 start, the Marlins went on a run in which they were unbeaten in 17 straight games. They posted 12 straight shutouts after Sept. 22. They had one hiccup, a 3-1 shootout loss to Lynchburg in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament semifinals.
   ”Three of our kickers missed so I didn’t even get to face the last two shooters,” Williams said. “Last year when we won in the elite eight (on a shootout), the last two shots were the ones I saved. This time, I didn’t get to face the last two.
   ”That was hard to not get that opportunity for myself or the team. That was a little frustrating. I couldn’t do anything about it.”
   The Marlins got together for their next practice but there was uncertainty about their future. They were unsure if they would receive an NCAA bid.
   ”Before practice, we met in the locker room and we talked about what happened and keeping our heads up,” Williams said. “We talked about not letting one game of PKs define who were as a team.
   ”We did really well in our conference,” she added. “We went undefeated. We hadn’t been scored on since one of our first tournaments. When we lost in our conference tournament, that wasn’t how we thought it would go. It was kind of nerve-wracking that that could have potentially been the end of the season. Thank goodness, we got it. That would have been even more upsetting if we couldn’t continue.”
   The Marlins’ bid matched them against Johns Hopkins in their NCAA Tournament opener. And like last year, Virginia Wesleyan ended Johns Hopkins’ season, this time by a 2-0 count.
   ”We beat them, 2-0, and scored both goals in the first half,” said Williams, who made five saves in the win. “That was probably one of the best halves of soccer we may have played all season. In general, we were winning balls out of the air against a team that has that much height over us, staying strong against their bigger players and finishing those two opportunities we had, so we did well in beginning. We had couple chances in the second half, and still played hard and were able to keep them out of the goal.”
   The next day was a different story as the Marlins didn’t execute as well in the loss to York. It made for a tough ending, an earlier ending than Williams expected after she saw the NCAA draw sheet.
   ”We had played York previously and beat them 3-1,” she said. “I was almost hoping they would win (their first-round game against Stockton) since we beat them. I thought we could beat them again. Obviously it didn’t work out.
   ”To be honest, I don’t know what happened to some of our girls,” she added. “That game was probably one of the worst games that I had seen us play in a while.”
   It isn’t the way Williams will remember her college career. Four years after being a standout goalie for WW-P South, she wrapped up another successful run at a higher level.
   ”You never want to end something on a loss or a negative note, but everybody said keep your head up,” she said. “You point out the positives. Even though we didn’t make it back to the final four, we still accomplished a lot. Looking at the big picture, it’s definitely a successful four years and something I’ve been proud of.”
   Williams started playing as a 7-year-old, and after 15 years in the sport, she isn’t ready to give it up yet. A communications major with a concentration in print journalism, Williams will weigh her career choices in the next six months before graduation. Soccer may not be the same, but Lindsey Williams isn’t ruling out returning to the field soon.
   ”The last two summers, I played on one of the W-League teams to stay in soccer shape and try to get touches and not be completely removed from it,” she said. “It’s an option. It depends what I do after graduation, if I stay down here or get a job back home. I’m definitely thinking about playing.”