Senior Maddie Montgomery led the second-ranked William Smith lacrosse team to a 12-6 conference win over Union this afternoon on Stiles Field at the Thomas B. Poole ’61 and Family Sports Dome. The Herons move to 6-0 on the season and 1-0 in the Liberty League, while the Garnet Chargers fall to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
Montgomery led William Smith with a season-high six goals and seven points. She added two ground balls, two caused turnovers and one draw control in the win. Senior Molly Davis and sophomore Natalie Daniels chipped in two points each on two goals, while graduate student Eliza Wild rounded out the scoring with her first career goal as a Heron. Junior Maura Smeaderplayed all 60 minutes in goal for William Smith and recorded seven saves in the win. She is now 6-0 on the season.
Gillian Joseph and Greta Maurer led Union with three points each. Joseph tallied three goals while Maurer chipped in one goal and two assists. Sydney Widlitz played all 60 minutes in net for the Garnet Chargers and tallied 12 saves. She is now 2-2 on the season.
STREAKING
- Montgomery extended her scoring streak to 43 straight games. She has scored more than one goal in 15 straight games.
- With two points today, McGinty moves to 49 straight games with at least one point.
KEY STATS
- William Smith finished the game with a 37-15 advantage in shots, landing 24 on net compared to Union’s 13.
- The Garnet Chargers held a slight edge in the draw circle with 11 draw controls to the Herons 10.
- William Smith was 16-of-18 in clearing the ball and held Union to 10-for-20 in clear attempts.
- The Herons were 6-of-11 in free-position shots while the Garnet Chargers were 2-for-5.
- William Smith held a 22-20 edge in ground balls over Union. Senior Kate Risley picked up a game-high four ground balls.
GAME SUMMARY
- The Garnet Chargers opened the scoring less than a minute into the contest when Maddie Doyle found Joseph cutting in front of the net to grab an early lead.
- The Herons responded with back-to-back free position goals from Montgomery and Daniels to grab their first lead of the day.
- Union fired back in the second quarter as Katie Julien tied the game at 2-2. Maurer was credited with the assist.
- With four minutes remaining in the half, McGinty took on two defenders and fired off a shot that beat Widlitz. Montgomery added another free position goal one minute later to grab a two-goal lead heading into the half.
- Just over a minute into the second half Montgomery would strike again to grab the early momentum.
- Davis recorded back-to-back goals for the Herons to extend their lead to five. Montgomery was credited with the assist on the second tally.
- Union responded with two goals in less than a minute to bring them within three. Joseph recorded the first goal off an assist from Maurer which was followed by an Anna Smith goal.
- The two sides traded the next two tallies as Montgomery and Maurer both converted free position chances to make it 9-5.
- Montgomery added another just over a minute later for her 26th of the season.
- With three minutes remaining in the third Daniels ripped a free position shot to give William Smith a five-goal lead.
- Montgomery tallied her sixth goal of the day with 13 minutes remaining in the game. First-year Kayla Quirk found Montgomery cutting to the net to extend the lead to six.
- Wild rounded out the scoring for the Herons with 7:35 remaining in the game. McGinty dished a pass to Wild who ripped a shot past the Union goalie for her first goal of the season.
- Joseph tallied the last goal of the day for Union to cut William Smith’s lead to six.
UP NEXT
William Smith will be back in action tomorrow, March 23, when it welcomes RPI to Geneva for a Liberty League showdown. The conference matchup is set to begin at 1 p.m. in the Poole Family Sports Dome.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].