WILLIAMSBURG — William & Mary dropped a heartbreaker, 3-2, to Atlantic 10 stalwart La Salle on Sunday afternoon at Busch Field.
The Tribe (7-8) twice rallied from a goal deficit before the visitors scored with just over four minutes remaining on a counter to pull out the victory. Graduate student Lauren Curran and junior Kellen Richbourg each scored for the second-straight game.
La Salle (12-4), which sits in second place in the eight-team A-10, opened the scoring in the 10th minute. Tatum Johnson collected a loose ball in the area and finished into the left boards to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
The Tribe answered on Curran’s seventh goal of the season and third in the last two games early in the second quarter. W&M worked quickly with the man advantage after a green card was award La Salle. Freshman Josie Mae Gruendel found Curran and the graduate student knotted things at one in the 18th minute.
Sol Espona put the Explorers back in front just five minutes later. Johnson combined with Espona in the area to beat the Tribe defense and score into the left side boards from six yards out.
W&M found the equalizer just 1:25 into the second half, scoring off a penalty corner. Richbourg redirected a pass from graduate student Audrey Domovich up and over the La Salle defense as the ball bounced into the cage. It was Richbourg’s second goal in as many games and Domovich’s third assist of the season.
Julianna Smyth scored the game-winner for the Explorers with just four minutes remaining in the game. On the counter, Quinn Medico played the ball from the right side of the area to the middle of the circle, where Smyth redirected it into the cage around Tribe goalkeeper Maddie George. The win was La Salle’s seventh in a row.
For the game, W&M outshot La Salle, 15-7, putting 10 shots on goal compared to five for the visitors. W&M also held an 8-3 advantage in penalty corners, but Explorer goalkeeper Emily Streib was up to the task, making seven saves.
Scoring
10′ | La Salle – Tatum Johnson (unassisted)
18′ | W&M – Lauren Curran (Josie Mae Guendel)
22′ | La Salle – Sol Espona (Johnson)
32′ | W&M – Kellen Richbourg (Audrey Domovich)
56′ | La Salle – Julianna Smyth (Quinn Medico)
Starters
W&M – #1 George (GK), #3 Domovich, #7 Richbourg, #8 Friedman, #12 Moon, #18 Bartzen, #21 Goodwin, #24 McKinney, #27 Schwartz, #33 Curran
La Salle – #99 Streib (GK), #3 Johnson, #5 Ricci, #7 Espona, #8 Daud, #13 McCann, #14 Smyth, #17 Pla, #20 Larripa, #21 Rodrigo, #24 Hartsch
Up Next
The Tribe wraps up the home portion of its schedule with Senior Day on Friday, Sept. 29, against Queens University of Charlotte. The contest carries a 6 p.m. start time.
