WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS -- WILLIAMS Women's lacrosse cruised to a 19-1 victory over the Western Connecticut State Wolves on Tuesday evening. Taking advantage of a beautiful Williamstown night with temperatures around sixty degrees, in stark contrast from the weather in their matchup against Bates on Saturday, the Ephs took command from the opening minutes and dominated both offensively and defensively. The win marks the first of the year for Williams, while the loss is also the first of the season for the previously 5-0 Wolves.
HIGHLIGHTS
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After the teams traded early turnovers, the Ephs struck first. Claudia Russell drove inside, dodging multiple defenders, and buried a shot in the right side to give Williams a 1-0 lead with 10:41 remaining in the first quarter.
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Ainsley Abel doubled the Williams lead under three minutes later. She forced a foul, then converted her free-position to make the score 2-0.
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Franny Donohue added to the lead just 33 seconds later, driving right and shooting from a bit outside. After hitting the crossbar, her shot dropped in to give the Ephs a 3-0 lead with 7:24 left in the first.
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After a Wolves timeout with 2:59 to go in the first quarter, the Ephs responded with three successive goals. First, Katy McCullough scored off of a nice pass from Donohue, then Russell finished a strong driving goal, and finally Donohue made a couple of crisp moves to slot home a low goal and stretch the lead to 6-0 with 16 seconds left in the quarter.
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Williams began the second quarter much as they ended the first, as three free-position goals in under a minute gave the team a 9-0 lead early in the quarter.
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Donohue scored first, punctuating an early hat-trick. Next was Reece Willison, who converted her free-position shot to make it 8-0, just thirty seconds later. Sydney Puntus concluded the run, netting her free-position goal from the right hash to make it 9-0 with 12:36 remaining in the second quarter.
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Next, Donohue scored a spectacular individual goal. Multiple jukes helped her elude her defender, then she fired a bullet from long range into the top left corner to make it 10-0 with 11:42 left in the second quarter.
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Sasha Landau connected with a cutting Donohue, who finished quickly to put the Ephs up 11-0 with 10:18 to play in the half. It was her fifth goal of the game.
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A few minutes later, Russell passed inside to Juliet Kilborn, who scored with a slick low finish with 6:05 remaining in the half. The Wolves responded with their first goal of the game, from Samantha Paredes, and the score at halftime was 12-1.
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The Ephs opened the scoring less than two minutes into the third quarter. Liv Kim dished to Landau inside, who deposited her first goal of the game to push the lead to 13-1.
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Two more Ephs goals, from McCullough off of a strong pass from Puntus and from Lauren Morganlander on a free-position attempt, gave Williams a 15-1 lead at the end of the third quarter.
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Just over two minutes into the fourth quarter, Morganlander found Kim, who made a strong move through multiple defenders to finish into the left side.
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Ellie Batchelder made a nice individual play, forcing a turnover from Wolves goaltender Molly Bresnahan and scoring on an empty net to make the score 17-1 with 10:32 to play.
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With under four minutes to play, Kilborn scored a cutting goal on an assist from Batchelder. Then, McCullough netted her hat-trick and the final goal of the game on a good find from Kim, solidifying a 19-1 Eph victory.
NOTES
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Williams finished the game with a season's best 41 shots, and the defense held Western Connecticut State to only six shots.
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The Ephs caused 13 Wolves turnovers and only committed 12 turnovers of their own.
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Donohue and McCullough combined for eight goals, while Russell and Kilborn also had two goals each.
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Nine Ephs had multiple points in the win.
Williams next plays on Friday, March 14, at 6:30 p.m. The Ephs will face off against No. 8 Wesleyan in a Little Three battle. Wesleyan is coming off of a 13-4 victory over Stevens, and is 1-1 so far this season.
