Hamilton College's Caroline McCarthy '16 broke a 7-7 tie on her goal with 11:20 left in the second half and lifted the Continentals to an 8-7 non-conference win against the William Smith College Herons at William Smith's Boswell Field on Wednesday night.
Box Score
Hamilton (2-0 overall) enjoyed a 27-14 shot advantage but Sarah Honan kept the Herons in the game by making 10 saves. William Smith, which was playing its season opener, committed 24 turnovers and was successful on just 10 of 18 clear attempts. The game was moved to Geneva, N.Y., due to poor field conditions on Hamilton's Campus Road Athletic Field.
Seven players scored a goal for the Continentals, led by McCarthy's two tallies. Jackie Cuddy '18, Margaret Gabriel '16, Nora Klemmer '17, Madison Beres '15, Taylor Ryan '17 and Hattie Duke '18 notched one goal each. Darby Philbrick '18 and Hannah Lease '18 were credited with one assist apiece. Duke and Lease teamed up on Hamilton's fourth goal and posted their first collegiate points in the process.
Hannah Rubin '17 picked up three ground balls, caused two turnovers and made three saves as she improved to 2-0 in goal. Casey File '17 won three draw controls.
Allie Flaherty paced the Herons' offense with three goals and won three draws. Alexandra Bird, Emy Stratton, Alexandria Burns and Hannah Connolly added one goal each. Hayley Braun led all players with five ground balls.
At 4:27 of the first half, Beres put the Continentals up 1-0 with a free-position goal. Hamilton never trailed in this game but the score was tied four times. Flaherty answered for the Herons just over two minutes later off a feed from Melissa Moore.
The Continentals responded with three straight goals for a 4-1 lead with 12:11 remaining in the half. Flaherty struck again with 11:56 to go, but Ryan restored Hamilton’s three-goal lead with 7:08 left before the break. Flaherty notched her third goal with 1:13 on the clock and Stratton fired home a shot off an assist from Geneva Calder with 21 seconds remaining that cut the Heron deficit to 5-4 at halftime.
Connolly opened the second half with a goal that tied the score at 5-5 just 1:45 into the period. Gabriel connected after a feed from Philbrick and put Hamilton up 6-5 with 20:54 left.
Bird pulled the Herons even again on a free-position goal a little more than two minutes later. Cuddy’s unassisted goal with 14:20 on the clock put the Continentals back in front, 7-6. Burns registered her first collegiate goal and tied the score for the final time with 13:31 remaining.
After McCarthy's game winner, William Smith didn't squeeze off a single shot and turned the ball over four times in the final 11 minutes. Hamilton kept possession for the final six minutes after the Herons' last miscue.
The Continentals travel to nationally ranked No. 5 Colby College for a NESCAC game on Saturday, March 7, at noon.
