VICTOR, N.Y.—The William Smith College lacrosse team improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2009 with a 17-10 win over Nazareth College at Pinnacle Athletic Campus tonight. Junior
Melissa Moore led the Herons with a game-high six points and a game-high three caused turnovers.
Moore fired home four goals and tacked on two assists. Senior
Alexandra Bird contributed two goals and two assists. Junior
Sarah Benyo notched a hat trick while
Kelsi Carr and
Ali Burns each recorded two goals and an assist. Sophomore
Bizzer Gahagan scored twice and collected a game-high six draws.
The Golden Flyers (0-2) got a team-high three goals from Nicole DeVona and Kate Rothrock added two goals and an assist.
William Smith senior
Sarah Honan made six saves to earn the win in goal. Nazareth's Brianna Rizzari started in goal and turned back four of the 17 shots she faced. Mackenzie Corbett played the final 11:44 and made two stops.
Moore got the Herons off to a fast start, grabbing the opening draw and scoring the game's first goal just 11 into the contest. The Golden Flyers drew even four minutes later, but Gahagan scored her first goal about a minute and a half later to put William Smith in the lead for good. Gahagan's goal was the first of four straight for the Herons, giving them a 5-1 lead with just over 11 minutes gone off the clock.
Nazareth rallied with four of the next five goals to make it a 6-5 game with just under 13 minutes left in the half, but Burns,
Allie Flaherty and Benyo scored back-to-back-to-back to raise the lead to 9-5. DeVona stopped the run, but Moore tallied twice before halftime to give the Herons an 11-6 lead at the break.
In the second half, the Golden Flyers twice trimmed their deficit to four. Kellie Byrne made it 11-7 with the first goal of the second half, but Bird and Carr scored, the latter shorthanded, to run the lead out to six. Nazareth countered with two straight goals of its own to make it 13-9, but the Herons closed the door on their victory with four of the game's final five goals.
William Smith will be back in action on Tuesday, March 14, in Port Charlotte, Fla. The Herons will play Bowdoin College at 7:30 p.m.
