POTSDAM, N.Y.—The nationally-ranked William Smith College lacrosse team cruised to a 15-4 victory over Clarkson in its Liberty League opener at Hantz Field this afternoon. The Herons used a 10-goal run spanning the second and third quarters and a smothering defensive effort to improve to 5-1 overall this season and 1-0 in conference play.
William Smith was led by
Anna Murphy (4g, 2a) and
Allie McGinty (2g, 6a) who had six points each. Murphy's six points matched her career-high.
Katherine Murray logged a career-high five points on four goals and an assist.
Payton McMahon and
Maddie Montgomery also had multi-goal games. Montgomery also logged a game-high four ground balls and had five draw controls.
Molly Davis won a game-high six draw controls, and McMahon and
Maddie Schleicher had two caused turnovers.
Maura Smeader started in goal and made a career-high eight saves in just under 50 minutes of work.
Mady Dicks made two saves in the final 10 minutes.
Clarkson (6-1, 1-1) was led by Madelynn Barnum who scored twice. Sydney Roderick added a goal and an assist. Grace Hagberg won four draws and Julia Lavarnway brought in three ground balls to lead the Golden Knights. Megan McCoskey had a game-high three caused turnovers. Sydney Christiansen started in goal and made five saves in just over 45 minutes of work. Laura Wing made four saves in the fourth quarter.
After a slow start, William Smith opened the scoring with 8:48 left in the first quarter. McMahon collected a feed from Murray and fired a shot past Christiansen. It was McMahon's 12th goal of the season. The Herons extended the lead to 2-0 on Montgomery's first goal of the game. She fired home a free position shot for her 16th goal of the season. Ninety seconds later, Clarkson made it 2-1 on Roderick's 13th goal of the season. She bounced a free position attempt past Smeader.
Clarkson tied the game 23 seconds into the second quarter on Barnum's 21st goal of the season. Roderick was credited with an assist on the goal. That would be Clarkson's last goal for nearly two quarters. Murray and Murphy scored the game's next six goals, trading off tallies. Murray started William Smith's 10-goal run with her eighth goal of the season. She took a feed from Murphy and bounced a shot into the back of the net. Twenty-two seconds later, Murphy notched her 14th goal of the season off a feed from McGinty. Murray broke the game open with her ninth goal of the season with 8:29 left in the half. Muphy notched an assist on the goal. Less than a minute later, Murphy took a feed from McMahon and buried a shot past Christiansen. It was Murphy's 15th goal of the season. Murray completed her hat trick with 4:46 remaining in the second quarter. Davis was awarded an assist on the goal. With 90 seconds left in the half, Murphy completed her hat trick. McGinty was credited with an assist on the goal. McGinty and Montgomery rounded out the first half with goals n the final minute.
Just under two minutes into the third quarter,
Anna Murphy added her fourth goal of the game. Her 17th goal of the season was assisted by McGinty. With 7:02 left in the first half,
Kaitlin Pellechia buried a feed from Montgomery for her seventh goal of the season. Clarkson snapped William Smith's run with 25 seconds left in the quarter. Barnum beat Smeader with a free position shot. It was her 22nd goal of the season.
Thirty-five seconds into the fourth quarter, McGinty buried her second goal of the game and seventh of the season to extend William Smith's lead to 13-3. Four minutes later, McMahon buried her 13th goal of the season to make it an 11-goal game. Grace Graney added a free position goal with 7:20 left for Clarkson. Murray wrapped up the scoring with her fourth goal of the game. McGinty notched an assist on the tally.
William Smith finished the game with a 30-17 advantage in shots, a 20-15 advantage in ground balls and a 14-9 edge in the draw circle. The Herons were 17 of 18 clearing the ball and Clarkson was 14 of 18 on its clear attempts. The Herons defensive unit limited the Golden Knights to season-lows in goals and shots. The Golden Knights came into the game averaging 16.33 goals per game and were averaging 35 shots per game.
William Smith will be back in action tomorrow, March 26, when it travels to Canton, New York, to take on St. Lawrence. The Saints, who are ranked 25th in the IL Women/IWLCA poll and 16th in the Nike/USA Lacrosse Magazine poll, rallied to defeat nationally-ranked Ithaca 17-16 this afternoon. The openning draw at North Country Field is scheduled for 2 p.m.
