William Smith junior midfielder Natalie Daniels scored a career-high seven goals and had a career-high 15 draw controls as she powered the fifth-ranked Herons to a 16-9 victory over Geneseo on Stiles Field in the Poole Family Dome. With the win, the Herons are now 17-0 in the Poole Family Dome since 2020.
Daniels had a game-high seven points. Senior Attacker Katherine Murray added six points on four goals and two assists. Junior Delaney Cassidy was second on the team with four draw controls. Daniels also pitched in on the defensive end of the field, forcing five caused turnovers and bringing in five ground balls. Junior Maura Smeader played all 60 minutes in goal and made 10 saves. She also had five ground balls.
Maddie Brown led the way for the Knights, scoring four goals. Five different players won a draw for Geneseo. Sarah Ginnane recorded five caused Turnovers. Emily DeJohn had 10 saves and a team-high five ground balls.
Box Score
KEY STATS
- William Smith finished the game with a 36-25 advantage in shots and a 20-15 edge in ground balls.
- The Herons were 15-of-18 clearing the ball and the Knights were 16-of-22.
- William Smith won 22 of the 28 draws.
RECORD BREAKERS
- William Smith set a pair of a school draw control records in today’s game. Daniels’ 15 draw controls not only were a career-high but broke her own single-game record of 13 that she set in NCAA tournament wins over MIT and Gettysburg last year.
- The Herons’ 22 draw controls were the most in a game by the team in program history.
MATCH SUMMARY
- Geneseo scored first on Lila Warner’s first goal of the season, but William Smith scored seven of the game’s next eight goals to take a 7-2 lead with 11 minutes remaining in the first half. Daniels scored the Herons’ first two goals, extending her point streak to 27 games. The first goal was a free position goal.
- Junior Hannah Evans and sophomore Mia Falco scored to extend the lead to 4-1. Evan’s goal was a woman-up tally and was assisted by Murray. Falco’s tally was unassisted.
- Brown broke up the four-goal run with her first of the game.
- Daniels completed her hat trick with just under two minutes remaining in the opening quarter. Murray scored the next two goals to conclude the 7-1 run.
- Geneseo scored the final three goals of the first half to make it 7-5 after 30 minutes. Brown, Rosemary Mahoney, and Sophie Lyko had the tallies for the Knights.
- Sophomore Kira Fulton opened the second half burying a free position attempt for her first goal of the season. Less than a minute later Natalie Long made it a two-goal game.
- Just over a minute later Daniels gave William Smith a 9-6 lead with her fourth goal of the game. Murray was awarded an assist on the goal. With 7:28 left in the quarter, Brown completed her hat trick off a feed from Mahoney, but that would be as close as the Knights would get.
- Falco and Murray scored three minutes apart to make it 11-7 William Smith with 4:16 left in the third quarter. Falco’s second goal was unassisted. She then set up Murray’s hat trick goal.
- Brown added a fourth goal in transition with eight seconds left in the frame. Mahoney had an assist on the goal.
- The Herons closed out the game on a 5-1 run. Daniels had a hat trick in the frame. Murray and Fulton also had goals for William Smith. Alaina Reina scored the lone goal for Geneseo.
CLIMBING THE LADDER
- With today’s win, Smeader now has 58 career wins. She is second on William Smith’s all-time list, one behind Rebecca Splain ’04
- Daniels is fourth on the program’s draw control list, three behind Mekayla Montgomery ’21 who is third.
UP NEXT
William Smith will be back in action next Saturday, March 1, when it welcomes Brockport to Geneva. The non-conference contest is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to kyle@fingerlakes1.com.
