WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary lacrosse team posted a resilient comeback bid in the closing minutes of its contest against Liberty but was unable to overcome a seven-goal deficit and fell to the Flames, 20-16, on Senior Day at Busch Turf.
 
W&M (2-3) owned a 5-4 advantage midway through the opening half, but Liberty (4-3) utilized a 9-2 run to build a 13-7 margin.
 
The Tribe answered with a 5-1 run of its own that spanned both halves and narrowed the margin to just two on multiple occasions, but Liberty pulled away with a 5-0 spurt to lead 20-13 with 3:09 remaining.
 
W&M responded with three goals during a span that lasted less than a minute but was unable to get closer than the final margin.
 
Tribe Standouts
Belle Martire led W&M with six points (4g, 2a) and equaled a career high with eight draw controls, which she initially recorded in last week's win at Longwood. In addition to scoring on all four of her shot attempts, she also added a caused turnover.
 
London Simonides (3g), Anne Milwicz (2g, 1a), Sabrina Schrader (2g), Sydney Sloan (2g) and Sophie Kopec (1g, 3) also contributed offensively. Schrader added a team-high five ground balls and three caused turnovers.
 
Sarah Cipolla was outstanding on the draw circle and registered seven DC to go with two points (1g, 1a), while Starr Howard totaled four DC with two ground balls and a caused turnover.
 
Goalie Devon Fleischmann posted a career-high eight saves and played the final 33:39 of the contest.
 
Inside the Numbers
W&M posted a 69.6 shooting percentage, as it connected on 16 of its 23 shots.
 
The Tribe owned a 20-17 advantage on draw controls, but LU totaled more ground balls (27-18) and committed nine fewer turnovers (15-24).
 
W&M outscored Liberty in the second half, 8-7.

The Opposition
Carly White (4g, 2) and Brooke Bryan (4g, 2a) led the Flames with six points apiece, while White also totaled eight draw controls, eight ground balls and four cause turnovers.
 
Jordan Sheive (3g, 1a) and Jordan Baerga (3g) also tallied hat tricks.  

Notes
W&M celebrated its senior class – Devon Fleischmann, Audrey Hoeg, Sophie Kopec, Anne Milwicz and Elsa Rall – following the contest … The all-time series between W&M and LU is now tied at 2-2 … Martire has totaled 13 points (9g, 4a) and 16 draw controls in the last two contests … She now has 92 goals and needs just eight more to become the 21st player in school history to reach the 100-goal mark.

Up Next
W&M will return to action when it hosts Campbell at Busch Turf next Saturday at 7 p.m.