#16 William Smith takes down RPI 7-2

Recap, photo courtesy of William Smith

GENEVA, N.Y.—The No. 16 William Smith lacrosse team built a 4-0 lead in the first half and went on to defeat Rensselaer 7-2 in a Liberty League game played today on Boswell Field. The Herons held the Engineers scoreless for the first 41:36 of the game.
 
William Smith improves to 4-3 overall and 2-0 in the Liberty League. RPI falls to 3-2-1 this year and 1-1 in conference action.
 
Senior Ali Burns led the Herons with two goals. First-year Kelsey Williams added a goal and an assist. First-year Mekayla Montgomery won a game-high three draws. Senior Melissa Moore had a goal, a draw, two ground balls and a game-high three caused turnovers. First-year Jules Kennedy made six saves and picked up a game-high four ground balls. Senior Cat Wolf recorded three ground balls and had a caused turnover.
 
Maddy Aslansan and Morgan Doyle each scored for the Engineers. Erin Goodwin had a team-high two ground balls and two draw controls and added a caused turnover. Aleena Milinski had 15 saves in goal for RPI.
 
The Herons scored the first four goals of the game, with the first coming 4:10 in. Senior Sarah Benyo took an initial shot on goal that was saved by the RPI keeper. First-year Sadie Mapstone was there to scoop up the ground ball and dunk the shot in from right in front of the goal. It was her seventh goal this year. With 9:39 left in the first, Burns scored her first of the day, drilling her shot into the top left corner. Just over a minute later, Williams found the back of the net to make it 3-0 with her seventh goal of the season, and with 1:09 before the break, sophomore Nicki Santora weaved her way through traffic before sending home her shot to make it 4-0. It was her third goal this season.
 
William Smith tallied the first two goals of the second half to go up 6-0. Just 1:44 in, Burns notched her second of the afternoon and 11th of the season firing her shot over the goalie's head. Fifty-five seconds later, Moore extended the Heron lead to six. First-year Anna Murphy was awarded a free position attempt, but instead of shooting she dished to Moore who logged her team-leading14th goal this spring.
 
Doyle broke through for RPI with 18:24 left in the game. She capitalized off a feed from Shyla Niemann from behind the goal. Just over a minute later, sophomore Bizzer Gahagan put William Smith back up by six with her sixth goal this year. Williams carried the ball inside the arc, but dished to Gahagan who scored from the right side. With 7:04 remaining, Aslansan scored on a free position for the Engineers.
 
The Herons had a 33-14 advantage in shots. William Smith dominated ground balls 30-10. RPI held a 6-5 edge in draws. The Herons were successful on 24-of-26 clear attempts, while the Engineers went 18-for-27 on clears.