The seventh-ranked William Smith College lacrosse team was defeated by No. 1 Salisbury, 18-6, in a non-conference contest at the IMG Athletic Complex Tuesday afternoon. The Herons are now 4-1 this season.
Senior midfielder Payton McMahon led the way for William Smith with three goals in today’s game. With three points in today’s game, McMahon became the 39th player in program history to reach the 100-point plateau. McMahon and Molly Davis shared team-high honors with four draw controls each. Four Herons recorded two ground balls and five different players had a caused turnover in the loss. Maura Smeader started in goal and made six saves in the first three quarters. Mady Dicks came on for the fourth quarter and made three saves.
The Sea Gull (9-0) were led by Erin Scannell and Lydia McNulty, who had five points each. Scannell scored five goals and McNulty finished the contest with four goals and an assist. Anna Robinson had a game-high four ground balls and Lauren Valenti won a game-high five draw controls. Mary Claire Hisle made nine saves in just over 52 minutes of action. Kaitlyn Hunsinger did not face a shot in the final eight minutes of regulation.
Salisbury opened the game with a three-goal run. Just over two minutes into the contest, Delaney Hill fired home a free position shot to start the run. The Sea Gulls extended the lead to 3-0 with two goals in 27 seconds. Emma Skoglund assisted on the goals from Leah Vilov and Lily Cavallaro. McMahon made it a one-goal game thanks to back-to-back goals in a four-minute span. Her ninth goal of the season was an unassisted strike. With 71 seconds left in the quarter, she fired home a free position shot for her 10th goal of the season. Salisbury rattled off the game’s next seven goals to put the contest out of reach. McNulty scored two goals in the final 25 seconds of the first quarter to give the Sea Gulls a 5-2 lead after 15 minutes. Her first goal of the game came on a free position shot. She then bounced home a shot from a tight angle just before the buzzer.
Scannel opened the second quarter with her first goal of the game. Just under five minutes into the frame, she fired home a free position attempt. Brooke Adams made it 7-2 when she scored off a feed from McNulty. Meredith Price added a free position goal two minutes later. McNulty completed her hat trick with 1:26 left in the half, firing a free position shot into the upper half of the net. She then tagged on another free position goal with one second left in the half to give Salisbury a 10-2 edge at the break.
McMahon ended the seven-goal run 59 seconds into the third quarter. Her hat trick goal was her 100th career point. The goal was an unassisted strike. Just under a minute later, Allie McGinty notched her fifth goal of the season. Davis extended William Smith’s run to three goals with her 10th tally of the season. Her free position goal made it 10-5 with 11:58 left in the third quarter. That would be as close as the Herons would get though as Salisbury rattled off a six-goal run to take a 16-5 lead after 45 minutes. Skoglund started the run with a free position goal. Scannell scored the next three goals with two coming off of free position attempts. With 2:09 left in the frame, Vilov scored off of a feed from Anna Robinson. Scannell wrapped up the third quarter scoring with her fifth goal of the game. Skoglund notched her third assist on the tally.
With 10:21 left in regulation, Kaitlin Pellechia fired a shot into the back of the net to snap William Smith’s scoring drought. McGinty was credited with an assist on Pellechia’s sixth goal of the season. Becca Puente and Abby Lantos rounded out the scoring for Salisbury.
The Sea Gulls finished the game with a 41-22 edge in shots, a 15-12 advantage in the draw circle and a 19-11 lead in ground balls. Salisbury was 15-for-15 clearing the ball and William Smith was 11-for-16 on its clearing attempts.
The Herons will be back in action Friday, March 25, when it travels to the North Country to take on Clarkson to begin Liberty League play. Opening draw is scheduled for 4 p.m.
