Waterville, Maine- The Colby College White Mules (6-1, 4-0 NESCAC) topped the Williams College Ephs (4-3, 2-2 NESCAC) 8-7 in a thriller. The Mules held off a late Williams flurry in which they scored five goals in a 3:09 span in the fourth quarter, and were able to stay perfect in conference play. The Mules are now in first place in the conference with a 4-0 NESCAC record. The Mules were led by Josh Cleaver '04 (Kennet Square, Pa.) who scored four goals, the last three being Colby's final three goals and the game winner. Barron Butler '03 (Marblehead, Mass.) also notched three goals and Bill Spencer '02 (Sudbury, Mass.) tallied three assists in the victory. The Ephs were led by Geoff McNally '05 (Sudbury, Mass.) who had a goal and four assists and Scott Wilbur '04 (Victor, N.Y.) and Christopher Hayes '03 (Washington, D.C.) who each had two goals.

The Mules jumped out to a two goal lead when Butler scored twice in a 1:36 span in the first. Wilbur would be the first to get a shot past John Shea '02 (Mountain Lakes, N.J.), who was outstanding all weekend for the Mules, to put the score at 2-1. Cleaver was able to add to the Colby lead with :10 seconds remaining to make it 3-1 after the first quarter. The second quarter the Mules displayed the ball control and patience on offense that has led to their early success when they kept possession for the majority of the quarter, with Eric Siedel '05 (Durham, N.H.) and Butler scoring the only goals of the second, giving the Mules a comfortable 5-1 edge at halftime.

To start off the third quarter Cleaver scored his second goal of the game, but Williams would soon make their move. McNally got things going for the Ephs at the end of the third when he scored at 3:03 to cut the lead to 6-2. Cleaver would again score first in the fourth to get the Colby lead back up to the comfortable 5 goal margin. Williams would score three goals from the 6:49 to the 5:54 mark to make things interesting though. The Williams goals were scored by Hayes, Wilbur and Peter Thomson '03 (Greenwich, Conn.). Cleaver would cap off a great day :28 seconds later with the game winning goal, as the Mules held off to more later Williams goals for the win. The Mules are next in action on Saturday April 13th versus the Tufts Jumbos at 1 PM.

GOALS-

WILLIAMS: Hayes 2, Wilbur 2, Latng, Thomson, McNally COLBY: Cleaver 4, Butler 3, Siedel

ASSISTS: WILLIAMS: McNally 4, DeRosa, Barhight COLBY: Spencer 3, Grosch, Kane, Tyler

GROUNDBALLS: WILLIAMS: 36 COLBY: 46