The snow made footing trecherous, but that didn't slow Gretchen Lasda (#11). She led the Herons to a 6-4 in over Nazareth with two goals and an assist. (Photo by k. colton/SportsPics.net)

March 23, 2004

GENEVA, N.Y.—William Smith College jumped to a 4-0 lead in the opening half on its way to a 6-4 win over visiting Nazareth College in women’s lacrosse action this afternoon on McCooey Field. Playing in tough cold conditions, the Herons improve to 3-0 on the season, while the Golden Flyers fall to 3-1 overall.

Senior Gretchen Lasda (West Genesee/Camillus, N.Y.) got the scoring started at the 11:13 mark when she carried the ball from behind the cage and beat Nazareth goaltender Lindsey Burgess (Newark/Newark, N.Y.). The Herons continued to pressure the Golden Flyers’ defense, but were stymied until the 27th minute when Lasda made it 2-0 with her second goal of the game.

Just over a minute later junior Kate Bickford (Lincoln School/Providence, R.I.) got a piece of the scoring with a nice move to beat a Nazareth defender and get an open look at the cage. With one second left in the first stanza, senior Brighde Dougherty (Manasquan/Sea Girt, N.J.) fired home a perfect feed from Lasda for the 4-0 advantage heading into the break.

Controlling the opening draw of the second frame, the Golden Flyers needed just 48 seconds to break into the scoring column. Sophomore Ariane Ghovanloo (Albany Academy for Girls/Voorheesville, N.Y.) capitalized on her free position opportunity after drawing a foul on William Smith goaltender Becca Splain (Middlebury Union/Middlebury, Vt.).

Dougherty made it a four goal game again with what proved to be the game winner on an unassisted score just over a minute later. Nazareth scored three of the next four goals, including two by Shawna Kabot (Horseheads/Horseheads, N.Y.), but were unable overcome the first half deficit.

Lasda led all scorers with two goals and an assist, while both Bickford and Dougherty had a pair. Kabot led the Golden Flyers’ offense with a pair of scores.

Splain had another solid game in the cage, making nine stops, while Burgess had 14 stops for Nazareth.

The Herons open their UCAA schedule on March 26, playing Clarkson University at Potsdam State at 1:30 p.m.

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