Sophomore Allie McGinty and first-year Katherine Murray combined for 10 goals as the nationally-ranked William Smtih College lacrosse team cruised to an 18-5 victory over Skidmore in a Liberty League contest on Boswell Field at Urick Stadium Saturday afternoon. With their fourth straight victory, the Herons, who are ranked eighth in the IL Women/IWLCA Coaches Poll, are now 8-1 on the season with a 3-0 mark in conference play.
McGinty led the way for William Smith with seven points on a career-high five goals and two assists. The five goals for Murray were also a career-high. She added an assist to finish the game with six points. For the second straight game, Maddie Montgomery had 12 draw controls, matching a Heron single-game record she shares with Mekayla Montgomery ’21. Maddie Montgomery added three goals. Payton McMahon had a game-high five ground balls and scored twice. Murray and Kate Risley had three caused turnovers each. Maura Smeader started in goal and made four saves in 60 minutes of action.
Skidmore (2-6, 2-2) was led by Maddy Marr who had three goals. Jillian Lockwood added a goal and an assist. Charlotte Cass won a team-high four draws for the Thoroughbreds. Liz Kazanjian played just under 50 minutes in goal and made 14 saves. She had a team-high four ground balls.
In a preview of what was to come for the rest of the game, Murray and McGinty opened the scoring for William Smith. Both of the goals came off spectacular individual efforts and were unassisted tallies. Murray’s 14th goal of the season came with 10:08 left in the first quarter, and McGinty scored her ninth goal of the season 33 seconds later. Marr scored Skidmore’s first goal of the game with 8:39 remaining in the quarter. She collected a feed from Maeve McKinley and dunked a shot past Smeader. The Herons rattled off the game’s next three goals, extending their lead. Kaitlin Pellechia bounced home a free position shot for her 11th tally of the season. The goal came with 7:08 left in the frame. Three minutes later, McMahon beat Kazanjian to notch her 16th goal of the season. McGinty was credited with an assist on the goal. With 1:28 left in the quarter, Montgomery collected her first goal of the game. She beat a pair of defenders and fired a shot into the upper half of the cage. It was her 29th goal of the season. Marr rounded out the first quarter with her second goal of the game. Jillian Lockwood picked up an assist on the goal.
The Herons wasted little time taking a 6-2 lead early in the second quarter. Seventy-four seconds into the frame, Anna Murphy corralled a pass from Payton McMahon and snuck a shot past the Skidmore goalie for her 23rd goal of the season. After back and forth play with some key saves at both ends of the field, William Smith extended its lead to 7-2 on Murray’s second goal of the game. Her 15th goal of the year was an unassisted tally. Marr completed her hat trick with 29 seconds left in the first half. Lara Strunk was credited with an assist on the goal.
William Smith’s defense came out on fire in the second half and the Herons’ offense put the game out of reach thanks to an 11-1 run in the second half. In fact, the Herons did not allow a goal in the third quarter and limited Skidmore to only two shots. Murray completed her hat trick with 13:42 left in the frame. She snuck around the back of the cage, dodged a defender and slipped a shot past Kazanjian. It was her 16th goal of the season. Less than a minute later, McMahon notched her second goal of the game. The unassisted goal was her 17th goal of the year. McGinty found her way back into the scoring column with 10:36 remaining in the third quarter. She converted on a feed from Murray. It was McGinty’s 10th goal of the season. Montgomery scored two of the game’s next three goals on free position shots. The two goals gave her a team-leading 31 on the season. Pellechia also scored in the third quarter.
Skidmore snapped the six-goal run 43 seconds into the fourth quarter on Lockwood’s fourth goal of the season. Murray and McGinty accounted for the game’s next five goals. Murray started the run with her fourth goal of the game and 17th tally of the season. With 10:33 left in regulation, McGinty completed her hat trick. Four minutes later, her 12th goal of the season gave the Herons a 16-4 lead. Murray pocketed her fifth goal of the season with 4:32 left in the contest. Her 18th goal of the season was assisted by McGinty. It was McGinty’s 28th assist of the season, moving her into a tie for 10th on William Smith’s single-season assist list. With 2:45 left in regulation, McGinty notched her fifth goal of the game. The unassisted goal was her 13th of the year. Avery Geddes rounded out the scoring. Her 10th goal of the year was assisted my Amelia Bassett.
The Herons dominated the stat sheet, finishing with a 45-10 edge in shots, a 25-11 advantage in the ground ball battle, and a 15-11 edge in the draw circle. William Smith was 16 of 18 on clearing attempts and limited Skidmore to just 10 clears on 18 attempts.
The Herons will be back in action Wednesday, April 6, when they welcome RIT to Geneva. The game with the Tigers is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. on Boswell Field.
