Herons tripped up by Nazareth in home opener

GENEVA, N.Y. — William Smith lacrosse senior Hannah Connolly posted a game-high seven points, but the Herons fell 15-12 to Nazareth in their home opener on Boswell Field this morning. William Smith is now 0-2 this season.

The game was the season opener for the Golden Flyers (1-0). Jamie Martin led Nazareth with six points on five goals and an assist. Haley DeVona added three goals and two assists. Kate Rothrock and Gabbie Charles each posted two goals.

Senior Geneva Calder added two goals and three assists for William Smith. Junior Alexandra Bird recorded a goal and an assist and sophomore Ali Burns produced two goals in the loss.

Burns opened the scoring in the first minute of the game. Martin notched back-to-back goals for Nazareth to take a 2-1 lead. Senior Emy Stratton connected off a feed from first-year Ella Calder to tie things up 2-2 and Bird posted a free position goal with a player advantage to give the Herons a 3-2 edge. The Golden Flyers registered the next eight goals to take a 10-3 lead with 11:30 left in the first half. Marin chipped in three goals in the run, and Carly Gates added a goal and two assists. Connolly tallied two goals 54 seconds apart to make it 10-5, but Nazareth put together the next three goals to extend its lead to eight. Geneva Calder and Connolly each scored in the final two minutes to make it 13-7 at the half.

Twenty-one seconds into the second half, Burns found the back of the net after a pass from Bird. The Herons then had back-to-back goals called back following the stick checks. With 16:12 on the clock, Gabbie Charles posted a free position goal with a player advantage and Haley Devona followed with an unassisted tally with 14:46 remaining to make it 15-8. The Herons posted the final four goals of the game, three coming from Connolly and the last goal from Geneva Calder for the final score.

The Herons finished with a 31-28 advantage in shots and a 15-11 lead in ground balls. Each team won 15 draws. William Smith was successful on 11-of-15 clear attempts, while the Golden Flyers were successful on 12-of-16 tries. Junior Sarah Honan made five saves in 46:54 in goal. Senior Allie O'Hara came in for 13:06 in the first half and made one stop. Mackenzie Corbett played all 60 minutes in goal for Nazareth and finished with six saves.

The Herons will be back in action on Wednesday, March 9, when they host Hamilton for another non-league game at 4:30 p.m. on Boswell Field.