Saturday, March 2, William and Mary women’s lacrosse (3-3) beat East Carolina (3-3) 19-12 at Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field in Williamsburg, Va.
Junior midfielder Paige Gilbert was a dominant offensive force for the Tribe, opening the scoring and giving the Green and Gold an early lead just under two and a half minutes in. ECU answered quickly with a goal, but the Tribe stayed strong on the attack. Gilbert found the back of the net for her second goal of the day, assisted by junior attack Ainsley Huizenga.
A goal from sophomore midfielder Lauren Rothstein extended William and Mary’s lead to two. Both defenses held strong for just under four minutes, 30 seconds until Huizenga scored again to put the Tribe ahead 4-1.
ECU graduate student midfielder Ellie Bromley and sophomore midfielder Kayla Wilkes both scored unassisted in the final four minutes of the fourth quarter, narrowing the Green and Gold’s lead to 4-3.
The Pirates tied the score at the beginning of the second quarter, but another scoring run by the Tribe extended its lead back to three.
Gilbert scored two more goals in the second quarter, with senior attack Olivia Gladstein and freshman midfielder Finley Hoffman each scoring their first of the day. ECU junior attack Leah Bestany converted a goal with just 9 seconds remaining in the first half to keep the deficit at three, with the Tribe leading 7-4.
ECU capitalized on its offense to start the second half, scoring two early goals to even up the score at 8-8. William and Mary sophomore midfielder Maresa Moyer scored to take back the lead, followed by Gilbert recording her fifth goal of the night to extend the Tribe’s lead to two. The score equalized again with 6:32 remaining in the third quarter until sophomore midfielder Kate Draddy scored for the Tribe, giving the home side back its lead at 12-11.
William and Mary dominated in the fourth quarter.
Huizenga scored again less than a minute in, and despite an answering goal from Pirates junior midfielder Emily Stratton, the Tribe’s offense took control through the end, scoring six goals in the last 11 minutes of play.
The Tribe ended the game on a high, with a goal from freshman attack Piper Kienzle in the last two seconds of play with an assist from sophomore attack Sydney Witwer. The Tribe secured the 19-12 win.
Defensively, sophomore goalkeeper Marin Wilhelm made her first career start in goal for William and Mary, playing all 60 minutes and recording 10 saves for the day. With a respectable shot percentage of .678, the Tribe controlled draws 19-15. Gilbert’s contributions were massive for the Green and Gold: Her six goals marked a career high and tied her for William and Mary’s 11th-best single-game performance in program history.
William and Mary will host Maryland (4-1) March 6 at Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field in Williamsburg, Va.
So William and Mary sports look pretty good, but your women’s club Fencing team took the Gold beating Tufts, Johns Hopkins, Drew, Temple, Army and Navy, many of which have NCAA status, coaches and sponsors. You should celebrate your victors!