GENEVA, N.Y.—Junior attacker Mia Falco recorded a career-high seven points as the 12th-ranked William Smith lacrosse team cruised to an 18-8 win in its season opener over SUNY Geneseo this afternoon on Stiles Field in the Poole Family Dome. With the win, the Herons improve to 1-0 on the season, while the Knights fall to 0-2 overall.
 
Falco had a game-high seven points on two goals and a career-high five assists. Junior Kira Fulton (1G, 3A), senior Taryn Luzi (4G) and first-year Catalina Colvin (2G, 2A) added four points each in the win, while first-year Ally Orquiola (3G) and junior Grace Rund (3G) chipped in three points each.
 
On the defensive end, senior Caitie Baker led the Herons with two caused turnovers and one ground ball. Senior Lily Kuhn grabbed a team-leading three ground balls and recorded one caused turnover. Graduate student goalie Casey Fiore secured her first win as a Heron, tallying nine saves in the win.
 
Rosemary Mahoney led the way for the Knights, recording four points on two goals and two assists. Lila Warner added two goals in the loss. Lauren Russell made two saves in the opening 30 minutes, while Teagan Culhane registered four saves in the second half.
 
KEY STATS

• William Smith finished the game with a 33-26 advantage in shots, including a 21-13 edge in shots on goal.
• The Herons and the Knights grabbed 13 ground balls each in the nonconference matchup.
• William Smith was 14-of-14 clearing the ball, while Geneseo was 13-of-14.
• The Herons won 19 of the 27 draws against the Knights.
• Junior Grace Rund won a career-high 13 draw controls in her debut for William Smith. Her 13 draw controls are tied for fourth on the single-game record list.

MATCH SUMMARY

• William Smith opened the season with three-straight goals, forcing an early Geneseo timeout. Fulton opened the scoring just 29 seconds into the game as she beat her defender one-on-one and fired a shot near post, beating Russell to give the Herons the early lead. Falco added another for William Smith 30 seconds later after converting the Herons first free position of the day. Two and a half minutes later, Luzi would score her first goal of the game after cutting in front of net and finishing off a nice feed from Falco to give William Smith the early 3-0 lead.
• Geneseo snapped the Heron scoring run at the 10:55 mark after Warner fired a shot past Fiore to get the Knights on the board. Mahoney was credited with the assist.
• William Smith would strike back with a 4-0 scoring run to close out the opening quarter. Luzi would score her second of the day with just over five minutes remaining after senior Delaney Cassidy found her open in front of net to make it 4-1.
• Just under one minute later, Colvin would score her first career goal as a Heron. Falco slotted a pass to a cutting Colvin, who would turn and fire off a shot past Russell to give William Smith a four-goal lead. Less than a minute later, first-year Charlotte Crocker would also tally her first career goal as a Heron. Falco once again was credited with the assist as she fed a wide-open Crocker in front of net, who slotted a shot past the Knights goalie for her first career goal.
• With 48 seconds remaining in the opening quarter, Falco would tally her second goal of the day after beating her defender one-on-one and firing off a shot near post. Falco's second goal of the game would be her fifth point of the opening quarter.
• William Smith continued to impress offensively as it opened up the second quarter on another 4-goal scoring run to make it 11-1 in the first half. Luzi would open the scoring with her third goal of the game after slipping past her defender and ripping a low shot past Russell. Falco was credited with the assist.
• Less than a minute later, Colvin would score her second goal of the day to make it a 9-1 game. Colvin beat her defender behind the cage and slotted a shot near post past the Geneseo goalie to give the Herons an eight-goal lead.
• At the 8:35 mark, Rund would score her first career goal as a Heron. Rund took advantage of a woman-up free position opportunity to give William Smith a 10-1 lead. Three minutes later, Falco would once again find a cutting Luzi to give the Herons a 10-goal lead.
• Geneseo would end the scoring drought with 2:30 left in the half as Grace Reyna converted a free position to get the Knights back on the board heading into halftime.
• 36 seconds into the second half, Rund would give the Herons a 10-goal lead again after slicing through three defenders and firing off a shot past Culhane. Less than two minutes later, first-year Amanda Leone would tally her first career goal as a Heron after converting off a feed from Colvin to make the score 13-2.
• The two teams traded possessions for the next nine minutes before Danyele Emler scored a free position goal for the Knights. A minute and a half later, first-year Ally Orquiola would join in on the scoring after finishing off a feed from Fulton. It was her first career goal as a Heron.
• Geneseo answered with a 4-0 scoring run of their own after finding goals from Natalie Long, Katie Rajkowski, Warner and Mahoney to make it a seven-goal game.
• During the Knights' third quarter scoring run, Fiore came up with three huge saves to put a stop to Geneseo's momentum shift. Fiore's big save off a Rajkowski shot lit a spark for William Smith as it led to Orquiola's second goal of the game. Colvin was credited with the assist to make it an eight-goal game.
• With seven minutes remaining, Rund would score her third goal of the game after converting another free position shot. Orquiola would follow with her third goal of the game 30 seconds later after finding an open lane and ripping a shot past Culhane.
• Geneseo responded four minutes later as Mahoney beat Fiore for her second goal of the game to make it 17-8. Cassidy would close out the scoring as Fulton found her cutting in front of the net as time expired. Her first goal of the game would give the Herons an 18-8 win in their season opener.

 PLAYER PERSPECTIVE


 
UP NEXT

William Smith will be back in action next Wednesday, March 4, when it welcomes Hamilton to Geneva for another nonconference showdown. Action between the Herons and the Continentals is set for 5 p.m. in the Poole Family Sports Dome.