The ninth-ranked William Smith College lacrosse team was edged by eighth-ranked Colby in an NCAA third-round game at Peter Kohn Field this afternoon. The Herons conclude their season with an 18-2 overall record.
Maddie Montgomery led all players with six points on four goals and two assists. Allie McGinty added three points on a goal and two assists. Anna Murphy had a game-high two caused turnovers and Payton McMahon had three draw controls. Maura Smeader played all 60 minutes in goal and made five saves. She also had a game-high four ground balls.
Colby improves to 16-3 and will take on Middlebury in the regional final tomorrow. Grace Toner led the way for the Mules with five points on three goals and two assists. Ally Franz and Gianna Bruno had four points each. Colby finished the game with a 19-8 edge in the draw circle, thanks in large part to seven draws from Eliza Dean and six from Sarah Stark. Stark also had a team-high two caused turnovers and two ground balls. Emily Podgorni started in goal for the Mules and made nine saves.
Just over three minutes into the game, Murphy opened the scoring with her 58th goal of the season. McGinty was awarded an assist on the tally. Two minutes later, McGinty extended the lead to 2-0 with her 44th goal of the year. It was an unassisted tally. Maddie Montgomery extended the William Smith run to three goals with her 67th tally of the season. Colby got on the board with just over five minutes remaining in the opening frame when Cam McDonald fired home a free position shot. Just over a minute later, Montgomery made it 4-1 Herons. Her 68th goal of the season was also unassisted. Colby made it 4-2 with 1:03 left in the first quarter. Toner scored off of a pass from Elizabeth Hennessey.
Toner’s goal sparked a three-goal run for the Mules, who made it 4-4 with 8:03 left in the first half. Ally Franz and Bruno notched the goals. With 4:23 left in the second quarter, Maddie Schleicher fired home a feed from Montgomery for her eighth goal of the season. Less than a minute later, Toner scored to tie the game at five. The goal was assisted by Julia Jardina. Murphy rounded out the first half. Her 59th goal of the season was assisted by McGinty and just beat the buzzer.
Molly Davis extended William Smith’s lead to two goals 55 seconds into the third quarter. It was her 32nd tally of the season. With 9:06 left in the frame, Anne Eddy slipped a shot into the back of the net off a pass from Bruno. One minute later, Montgomery completed her hat trick firing home her 69th goal of the season. McMahon extended her point streak to 22 games with her 34th goal of the season. The unassisted goal gave William Smith a 9-6 lead. Bruno wrapped up the third quarter with her second goal of the game. Dean hit her with a back door feed to make it 9-7 after 45 minutes.
Montgomery opened the fourth quarter with her fourth goal of the game. She fired a shot from long distance that trickled over the goal line. It was her 70th goal of the year. With the goal, Montgomery became just the second Heron to record 70 or more goals in a season. Heather Dwinell ’90 had 73 goals during her sophomore season.
Colby finished the game on a 6-1 run to secure the victory. Toner had a goal and an assist during the run and Aly Franz had three points, scoring two goals and recording an assist. Anne Eddy added a goal that gave the Mules an 11-10 lead. Katherine Murray scored a woman-down goal with 2:46 left in regulation to make it 11-11. Montgomery notched her sixth point of the day, recording an assist on the goal. Ainsley Dion answered 34 seconds later with a woman-up goal. Cam MacDonald rounded out the scoring.
William Smith finished the contest with a 24-20 edge in shots and a 15-9 advantage in ground balls. William Smith was 16-for-18 in its clearing attempts and Colby was 20-fo-22 clearing the ball.
The 2022 season was a historic one for William Smith. The Herons set new program records for goals (320), assists (156), points (476), and draw controls (299). The 18 wins this year are second-most in program history, trailing only the 2017 team that won 20 games. Individually, Allie McGinty finished the year with a William Smith record 62 assists. Her 103 points were second on the single-season list behind only Amy Hoover’s 110 points in 1995. McGinty and Montgomery are the first Heron duo to record 90-plus points in a season since Hoover and Jennifer Bertsch had 100 and 90, respectively, in the 1994 season.
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