So, the Owl has no attachment to Williams College except for the fact that they like purple as much as my grad school (Northwestern) and my Wellesley class. And also Williams seems to have an attachment to Weston graduates, including Henry Osborn, class of 2018, who is a former Weston High School Soccer player and current senior at Williams.

Beating all odds, Williams College made the Division 3 national championships this fall, and knocked off the number 1 seed already in the round of 32. Week over week, our Round Hill Road running club heard updates from Henry’s mom Sara on the team getting through one higher-ranked team after the other. It’s one of the improbables that happen all the time in soccer, and the Owl could not resist this story and talked with Sara today by email.

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Owl: How long has Henry been playing soccer?

Sara: Henry started in Weston kinderkicks and played all the way through BAYS (Boston Area Youth Soccer) and Weston Middle School and High Schoo. He also played with the Boston Bolts club team from age 10 through this past summer. This past summer he played for the top Bolts team which is a semi-pro team playing in the USL2 league. It was great experience playing high level soccer! He plays outside left mid now at Williams. [You can see Henry’s official roster information at the Williams site here].

Owl: How did Covid affect his time at Williams?

Sara: Henry and most of his Williams teammates took a semester off from college so they could play their last year of eligibility together at Williams. So this is his fifth year at Williams and fourth season of soccer; he finishes classes at the end of this semester.

Owl: What makes this team so special?

Sara: The current senior class came in with 11 players which is a LOT for a recruiting class. They are down to 8 still on the team but all 11 are really close and even 8 for one class is big. They’ve been through a lot together and are really close. I think the size and closeness of their class (and the whole team) is a lot of what makes it a special group. A new coach began at WIlliams last year as interim coach and this is his first year as full head coach.

Owl: Who are the playing in the finals and what is their ranking? And what about Williams in the rankings?

Sara: They are playing the University of Chicago. UChicago is ranked second in the country. Williams beat the #1 ranked team (Messiah University) in the round of 32 and they beat the #3 ranked team (Kenyon College) in the round of 8. WIlliams is unranked and made it into the NCAA tournament as an “at large” team (not a conference winner and unranked) with a 6-1-10 regular season record–so they likely barely made it in. (Note: the NCAA changed the rules this year to no longer play overtimes in regular season games, so there were more ties overall, but 10 is still a large number of them!) 

Owl: When and where is the final being played? Will it be online or televised?

Sara: Williams will take on U Chicago on Saturday, December 3 at noon in Salem, Virginia. It will be streamed at: https://www.ncaa.com/game/6079194 

Owl: What’s next for Henry after Williams?

Sara: He finishes up at Williams this December and will be working for Ernst and Young in their consulting division starting in the spring. I’m sure he’ll find a soccer team to play on, too, likely with friends from his years playing at both Williams and Weston High! [The Owl hopes to see Henry at an alum game this spring! The owlets maybe not as much…]

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Once a ‘cat, always a ‘cat! Go Williams and Go Henry!