CORTLAND, N.Y.—William Smith junior Kira Fulton scored four goals as the 10th-ranked William Smith lacrosse team knocked off Cortland 10-9 in a non-conference contest at Grady Field this afternoon. With the victory, the Herons improved to 3-0 on the season.
 
Senior Delaney Cassidy and junior Grace Rund added two goals each for the Herons. Rund also played a key role in the draw circle for the Herons, winning a game-high seven draws. Senior Lily Kuhn guided William Smith's defensive charge, finishing the game with three caused turnovers and four ground balls. Cassidy added a pair of ground balls. Casey Fiore improved to 3-0 in goal, recording two saves.
 
Brooke Elizalde (2g, 2a) and Ashley Melillo (3g, 1a) led the way for Cortland with four points each. Bridie McGuire had two draw controls, four caused turnovers and six ground balls for the Red Dragons (1-2). Trinity Parks played all 60 minutes in goal and made nine saves.
 
  INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• William Smith finished the game with a 32-13 advantage in shots, including a 19-11 edge in shots on goal.
• The Herons doubled up the Red Dragons in the draw circle 14-7.
• Cortland had a 13-10 edge in ground balls.
• William Smith was 11-of-14 on its clear attempts, and the Red Dragons were 16-of-17 clearing the ball.

 
SCORING SUMMARY

• A strong defensive battle, the first quarter ended in a 2-2 draw.
• Cortland opened the scoring 43 seconds into the game when Elizalde's shot took a funny hop and beat Fiore.
• The Herons tied the game at the 11:08 mark of the frame when Rund fired home a free position shot for her. Sixth goal of the year.
• Cortland retook the lead 47 seconds later on Elizalde's second goal of the game. She buried a feed from Natalie Bennett to make it 2-1.
• William Smith rattled off the next three goals to take a 4-2 lead at the 11:02 mark of the second quarter. Junior Katie Grottenthaler's fourth goal of the season with 9:24 left in the opening frame was the final goal of the first 15 minutes.
• The Herons outscored the Red Dragons 3-2 in the second quarter to take a 5-4 lead into halftime. Fulton's first goal of the game third of the season made it 3-2. Thirty-two seconds later, first-year Cat Colvin scored to make it 4-2. Both goals were unassisted.
• Ashley Melillo and Sydney Elizalde scored for Cortland in the second stanza. Melillo's goal was on a free position attempt, and Elizalde's goal was assisted by Dempsy.
• Fulton converted on a free position attempt with 4:21 left in the half. It was her fourth goal of the year.
• Cortland opened the third quarter with three straight goals. Melillo scored twice, and Sydney Elizalde picked up the third goal to give Cortland a 7-5 lead.
• With 4:33 left in the third quarter, Cassidy started a mini three-goal run for the Herons. Her second goal of the season was on a free position attempt.
• Fulton scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter to make it 8-7. Her hat-trick goal was unassisted and her fourth goal of the game was assisted by Colvin.
• The Red Dragons stuck their nose out in front with 6:28 left in regulation on goals from Dempsey and Kaitlyn Tietjen. Dempsey's goal was assisted by Melillo and Tietjen's goal was set up by Brooke Elizalde.
• Cassidy and Rund scored the game's final two goals to give William Smith the 10-9 victory. Cassidy's goal came on a free-positon attempt, and Rund's game-winning goal was an unassisted tally.
• With 2:18 left in regulation, the Herons were carded, but the defense came up huge with Cassidy forcing a turnover with 1:26 remaining and sophomore Maeve Barrins scooping up the ground ball. Following two timeouts, William Smith was able to run out the clock.
• The Herons had a season-high 10 caused turnovers in the victory.

 
UP NEXT
William Smith will be back in action on Wednesday, March 11, when they welcome St. John Fisher to Boswell Field. The game is set to begin at 4:30 p.m.