WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary lacrosse team will square off against its second consecutive nationally ranked opponent when it plays at No. 17/18 Towson on Saturday at 6 p.m.
The contest will not count as a conference game due to the league's modified schedule this season.
The game will be broadcast by
Lax Sports Network (LSN), while live stats will be available at
TowsonTigers.com.
Admission is
not available to the general public.
A Look at the Tribe
W&M enters Saturday's contest with a 3-5 record overall a 0-1 mark in conference play after suffering a setback to No. 25 Elon in its last outing. The Tribe currently ranks eighth nationally in free position shooting percentage (.556), 12th in shooting percentage (.491) and 16th in draw controls per game (15.0). Additionally, W&M leads the Colonial Athletic Association in ground balls per game (19.12) and ranks second in goals per game (13.5) and caused turnovers per game (9.62).
Individually,
Belle Martire leads the team in goals (29) and points (38), as she ranks second in free position shooting percentage (.882), third in free position goals per game (1.88), 14th in shooting percentage (.630) and 19th in goals per game (3.62). Additionally, she ranks third in the Colonial Athletic Association in draw controls per game (4.5).
Defensively,
Caroline Hertzberg (1.5) and
Courtney Vasquenza (1.38) rank second and fourth, respectively, in caused turnovers per game.
Scouting Towson
Ranked No. 17/18 nationally, Towson enters Saturday's contest with a 7-2 record overall and is yet to play a conference game. Highlighting the Tigers' victories is a 13-7 win against then-No. 8 Loyola in February.
As a team, Towson ranks ninth nationally in scoring defense (8.44) while it commits the league's second-fewest turnovers per game (13.44).
Individually, Sami Chenoweth leads the CAA and ranks ninth in the country in caused turnovers per game (2.22), while goalie Carly Merlo ranks ninth nationally in goals against average (8.84) and 10th in save percentage (.511). Blair Pearre leads the Tigers with 29 goals, while Nikki Sliwak has totaled a team-high nine assists.
| Matchup At A Glance |
|
W&M / Opp. |
Towson / Opp. |
| Goals Avg. |
13.5 / 15.4 |
13.1 / 8.4 |
| Shooting % |
.491 / .491 |
.415 / .357 |
| Assists |
38 / 50 |
42 / 31 |
| Ground Balls |
153 / 146 |
151 / 125 |
| Draw Controls |
120 / 124 |
112 / 99 |
| Turnovers |
141 / 124 |
121 / 144 |
| Caused Turnovers |
77 / 75 |
80 / 60 |
W&M-Towson All-Time Series
Towson holds a 17-8 advantage in the all-time series with W&M. Although the Tribe won the first four contests versus the Tigers, TU has claimed the last 11 matchups.
Last Meeting vs. Towson
W&M fell at Towson, 22-12, on April 14, 2019. After trailing by as many as seven early in the second half, W&M rattled off three unanswered goals to narrow the margin to 14-10 with 12:40 remaining. However, Towson closed the contest with an 8-2 run to secure the conference victory.
Belle Martire and
Lauren Russell led W&M with three goals apiece, while
Starr Howard totaled seven draw controls.
Last Time Out
W&M opened its conference slate with a 15-6 setback to No. 25 Elon at Busch Turf last Saturday afternoon. Although W&M was outscored by just one goal in the second half (6-5), it was unable to overcome a 9-1 halftime deficit. Elon (7-0, 2-0) opened the game with a 7-0 run en route to building the eight-goal lead at the break. W&M narrowed the margin to seven, 11-4, following back-to-back free position goals by
Kathleen Cozzi and
Sabrina Schrader midway through the second half but was unable to get any closer the rest of the way.
Martire Honored as CAA Player of the Week Twice
W&M standout
Belle Martire has been selected as the CAA Player of the Week twice this season. She garnered her first accolade of the year following a seven-point, eight-draw control effort in the win against Longwood. Martire was honored a second time after recording eight points (7g, 1a) with eight draw controls, two caused turnovers and two ground balls in the victory against Campbell.
Martire Eclipses 100-Goal Mark
Belle Martire became the 21st player in school history to reach the 100-goal mark with her hat trick against Radford. She currently has 102 career goals.
Among W&M's All-Time Best
Goalie
Elsa Rall currently ranks fifth on the Tribe's all-time saves list with 435 career stops. She needs 13 more to move into a tie for fourth with Vikki Bovoso (1980-82), who finished her career with 448 stops.
Starr Howard also ranks among the Tribe's best in draw controls and ranks eighth all-time with 100. She needs nine more to move into a tie for seventh with Morgan Lang (2003-06), who finished her career with 109 DC.
Record-Setting Performance
Belle Martire equaled her own single-game school record with 10 points and nearly matched her own single-game record with eight goals in the Tribe's 19-11 victory at Old Dominion earlier this season.
Captains
W&M is led by a quintet of senior captains this season –
Elsa Rall,
Audrey Hoeg,
Sophie Kopec,
Anne Milwicz and
Devon Fleischmann. All five captains have distinguished themselves as outstanding leaders both on and off the field throughout their careers.
Up Next
Following Saturday's game at Towson, W&M will return to action when it hosts No. 24 James Madison at Busch Turf next Wednesday at 5 p.m.
