Junior midfielder Alicia Chace (Cortland, NY) put in a strong all-around performance against nationally-ranked William Smith, but the Golden Knights could not sustain consistent pressure against the 16th-rated Herons and lost 23-11 in Liberty League action at St. Lawrence University’s North Country Field on Friday afternoon.
Chace paced the Clarkson effort with three goals, one assist and four groundballs along with a game-high eight draw controls.
William Smith (6-2, 3-0) jumped out to a 5-1 lead nine minutes into the first half, but the Knights rallied back with three goals in span of 51 seconds to pull within one, 5-4, with just under 20 minutes to play in the opening stanza. Chace scored her second of the game, followed by two goals from sophomore Emily Bojarski (Syracuse, NY) to make it a one-goal game.
The Herons, however, paced by three goals by Sarah Dillon, went on a 9-1 run to close out the first half with a 14-5 lead.
Clarkson, with two goals by freshman Jenna Stock (Johnstown, NY) and one by senior Lindsey Grigg (Watertown, NY), opened the second by outscoring William Smith 3-1 in the first four minutes of the stanza to close the gap to 15-8.
Once again, however, the powerful Heron squad went on another lengthy scoring run, 8-1, to hold a commanding 23-9 lead with 1:30 left to play. Freshman Kimberly Loucks (Waterloo, NY) closed out game with two goals.
Dillon posted 12 points on seven goals and five assists to lead William Smith. Jessica Scott and Molly Fitzgerald both tallied three goals and one assist for the Herons.
Bojarski finished with three goals for Clarkson.
William Smith out shot Clarkson 48-28 and held the edge in groundballs, 28-21. Senior Emily Cohen (Bethlehem, NY) recorded a team-high five groundballs for the Knights.
Senior Erin Duffy (Liverpool, NY) made 18 saves for Clarkson, while Morgan Baird posted eight stops for William Smith
Clarkson, at 3-7 overall and 1-5 in Liberty League play, will host SUNY Morrisville on Tuesday. The Herons play at St. Lawrence tomorrow.
