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Saints women's lax team hands Herons first conference loss, 8-7

Posted 4/12/13

The St. Lawrence University women's lacrosse team scored its biggest win of the 2013 campaign on Friday afternoon, as the Saints defeated William Smith College by the score of 8-7 on a cold, rainy …

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Saints women's lax team hands Herons first conference loss, 8-7

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The St. Lawrence University women's lacrosse team scored its biggest win of the 2013 campaign on Friday afternoon, as the Saints defeated William Smith College by the score of 8-7 on a cold, rainy afternoon in Canton, NY. First-year student Michaela Maybee scored two goals while sophomore goalie Adden Cunningham delivered a brilliant performance in net to knock the Herons from atop the Liberty League standings.

St. Lawrence improves to 8-5 overall and keeps pace for the final playoff spot in the conference at 4-2. The Herons (6-4, 3-1) simply couldn't overcome deficits in shots (25-22), ground balls (23-18), draw controls (11-5) and clears (13-for-23).

"That's a solid, great win for us," said St. Lawrence head coach Jodi Canfield, whose team defeated William Smith for only the second time in eight meetings. "It's the first time our seniors have played them at home, and they used that as motivation. Though we're excited, we know we'll need to regroup with another huge game tomorrow against Union in a game with playoff implications."

Senior co-captains Holly Noyes (2g), Stephanie O'Rourke (2g,1a), Joey Kelley (1g,1a) and Brigid Hurley (1g) all helped push the Saints to victory, while junior Carly VanTassel scored the game-winning goal. Katie Sipple led the Herons with a hat trick, while Kathleen Ragan added two tallies for the visitors in the loss.

Though St. Lawrence outplayed William Smith throughout the first half, the two teams went to intermission tied 3-3 thanks to the play of Heron goalie Marina Guigli. Guigli made eight first half saves, most of which came in the first 15:00 minutes, to steady her team and keep them in the contest.

Maybee and Hurley scored only :52 seconds apart early in the first half for a 2-0 St. Lawrence lead, but Abbie West and Sipple responded to tie the game at 2-2 with 15:52 left before the break. Noyes' 14th of the season made it 3-2, but Sipple capped the scoring with 5:24 to play to tie the score at intermission despite William Smith playing defense throughout most of the period.

The second half was a back-and-forth affair, with the two teams exchanging goals to keep it a tight contest. Noyes and Ragan scored only 1:41 apart, but Kelley answered for the Saints a mere :15 seconds later for a 5-4 lead. O'Rourke's free position goal at 9:01 made it 6-4, but Hannah Connolly ripped a low shot past Cunningham with 11:30 to play to pull William Smith back to within one at 6-5.

Cunningham delivered two of her biggest saves of the season on shots from just outside the crease, as she never allowed the Herons to tie the score. Her effort allowed Maybee and VanTassel to open up the game's largest lead at 8-5 with 7:10 remaining, with both goals assisted by O'Rourke.

After a timeout following the VanTassel goal, the Herons won the draw control and went right down the field with Ragan and scored to make it 8-6. Sipple would make it a one goal game with 1:47 to go on a free position tally, and though the Herons would win the ensuing draw control, they would turn it over along the sideline and give St. Lawrence the possession. The Saints would clear the ball successful, aided but a few foul calls, and were able to run out the clock with Hurley to secure the 8-7 upset.

Both Cunningham and Guigli finished with nine saves in the game, while William Smith's Rachel Hughes had a game-high four caused turnovers. The Saints were able to overcome four yellow cards in the contest and keep pace in the Liberty League playoff chase.

The Saints will be in action again tomorrow as they celebrate "Senior Day" against Union College at Hall-Leet Stadium at 4:00pm.