No. 24 Hamilton breezes to non-conference win over Oneonta

Photo by Josh McKee

The Hamilton College Continentals scored the first three goals and led the rest of the way in a 16-7 non-conference women's lacrosse win against the SUNY Oneonta Red Dragons at Hamilton's Withiam Field on Wednesday.

The nationally ranked No. 24 Continentals (2-4 overall) took advantage of their first game this year against an opponent that was not ranked in the Division III Top 25 coaches poll. Hamilton ran off 10 straight goals spanning the last 17 minutes of the first half and the opening nine minutes of the second half. The Red Dragons entered the afternoon averaging 16 goals per game.

Kara Pooley '19 and Skyler Simson '20 led the Continentals' offense with three goals apiece. Courtney Pierre '21 chipped in two goals and an assist, and Nicole Lyons '18 added a goal and two helpers. Darby Philbrick '18 and Julia Rowland '21 tallied two goals each, and Tatiana Bradley '19 finished with a goal and an assist.

Simson and Emma Knoll '20 scooped up four ground balls apiece, and both Pooley and Philbrick won three draw controls. Hannah Burrall '19 started in goal and made two saves and caused a pair of turnovers. Eleni Neyland '18 relieved Burrall at the start of the second half and stopped a career-high six shots.

Kelsey Cohen paced Oneonta (3-2-1) with three goals and Taylor Casey had two goals and an assist. Jaime Morris and Erica Carney picked up three ground balls apiece, Victoria Varone claimed nine draws, and Melissa Marry caused five turnovers. Lexi Keen started in goal and turned away five shots, and Jaclyn Marry made four saves in the second half.

Hamilton grabbed the early 3-0 lead just 3:46 into the first half on free-position goals by Pooley, Jackie Cuddy '18 and Simson. Goals by Casey and Cohen pulled the Red Dragons within a goal with 22:41 left. Simson made it 4-2 just 12 seconds later and Lauren Bascelli cut Oneonta's deficit to one again on her goal with 18:15 remaining. The Red Dragons didn't score again for nearly 28 minutes.

The Continentals scored the final seven goals of the first half and went into the break with an 11-3 advantage. Philbrick's free-position goal with 17:07 to go started the run and she added another goal with 11:18 left while Oneonta was down a player due to a yellow card. Rowland scored twice in the final four minutes of the half, including a free-position goal with six seconds remaining. Hamilton held a 28-9 shot advantage during the opening 30 minutes.

Honor Gabriel '21 scored on a feed from Lyons just 39 seconds into the second half and Bradley found Simson for another goal that gave Hamilton a 10-goal lead with 26:49 to go. Pooley ended the run when her pass towards the goal missed its mark but rolled into the back of the net for a 14-3 cushion with 21:28 left. The teams played with a running clock for most of the remainder of the game due to the 10-goal scoring margin.

The Continentals host No. 11 Amherst College for a NESCAC contest on Saturday, March 24 at noon.