WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - Led by a trio of three-plus goal performances, Williams women's lacrosse cruised to a 20-6 victory over the Southern Maine Huskies at Farley-Lamb Field on Wednesday afternoon. The Ephs shot out to a commanding first quarter lead en route to a decisive win.
With the victory, Williams moves to 4-1 on the season, while the Huskies drop to 4-2 with the loss.
Franny Donohue continued her strong start to the season by kicking off the scoring with a left-side finish just over a minute into the proceedings. She then made a slick pass inside to Katy McCullough, who finished from close range to put Williams ahead, 2-0, with 12:09 left in the first period.
The Ephs continued to dominate possession early. Sidney Puntus and Coco Norman scored within 40 seconds of each other to give the Ephs a 4-0 lead, and then Donohue cut around a screen from McKenna Dwyer to deposit a low finish and make it 5-0 with 8:09 still to go in the first quarter.
After Southern Maine got on the board, the Ephs ended the period well. Donohue found McCullough for another goal and then Paige Nelson scored on a strong drive from well outside the arc to give Williams a 7-1 lead with two minutes to go. The Ephs would take a 7-2 lead into the second period.
Nelson kicked off the second period scoring just under half a minute in with a nice cutting finish from inside. Then, the Huskies strung together a pair of goals to put some pressure on the Ephs with under seven minutes left in the half.
The Ephs responded well, with a decisive string of four goals in just over two minutes. First, McCullough stole the Huskies' goaltender's pass and dished to Donohue for the goal, then Ainsley Abel deposited a driving finish thirty seconds later. Cece Tauber then picked up a ground ball and flipped it to McCullough, who finished nicely in transition, and then Tauber scored a wraparound goal of her own to give the Ephs a 12-4 lead with 4:20 to go in the half.
Right at the end of the half, Donohue scored her fourth goal of the game on a free-position attempt, as the Ephs took a 13-4 lead into the break.
The third period saw more defensive dominance, as the Ephs held the Huskies scoreless and Nelson capped her hat-trick.
In the fourth, three Ephs scored the first goals of their respective careers. First was Allison Lee on a point-blank finish to put the Ephs ahead 16-4, then Ella Ryan scooped up a ground ball and scored on a cross-body shot to make it 17-4 with 11:57 to play. Finally, Mo Balogun converted a free-position attempt to give the Ephs a 19-5 lead with 4:42 left, as the team coasted to a 20-6 win.Â
In the win, the Ephs finished with an impressive 37 shots, while holding the Huskies to just 11 of their own. Donohue led the team with four goals, while McCullough and Nelson each scored a hat trick – Nelson doing so on just three shots. Donohue also led the team with four assists.
Williams will look to continue its four-game winning streak on the road against Connecticut College on Saturday. The game begins at noon.
