TOWSON, Md. – Playing at home for the first time in nearly a month, the No. 18 Towson University women's lacrosse team battled a scrappy William & Mary squad for a 13-7 win on Friday night in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) action. The Tigers (12-2, 5-0 CAA) extended their current win streak to six straight games behind four points each from sophomore midfielders Kaitlyn Montalbano and Emily Gillingham along with freshman midfielder Natalie Sulmonte.

THE BASICS
No. 18 Towson 13, William & Mary 7
Johnny Unitas® Stadium, Towson, Md.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Trailing 1-0, the Tiger used back-to-back goals from redshirt juniors Michelle Gildea and Alyssa Ferro to take a 2-1 lead with 21:47 left in the first half.
• The Tribe (6-8, 0-4 CAA) scored three straight goals and took a 4-2 lead with 11:49 left on the clock. Danielle Palmucci powered the run with a goal and two assists.
• Montalbano halted the run with her team-leading 24th goal of the year at 10:44. That goal made it a 4-3 game.
• A goal from Meaghan Brophy pushed the William & Mary lead back to two, 5-3 with 6:51 left in the half.
• Back-to-back goals from Gillingham and Montalbano tied the game at 5-5 with 4:31 to go in the stanza.
• The Tigers took the lead in the game for good in the final 30 seconds of the half. Sophomore defender Tianna Wallpher took a charge and the William & Mary turnover wiped out a potential Tribe goal. On the clear, the Tigers sprinted up field and Sulmonte passed to sophomore attacker Jenna Kerr who scored with 15 seconds left to put the home team ahead.
• Towson scored three of the first four goals in the second half and took a 9-6 lead with 15 minutes left in the game. Gillingham tallied her second of the game while Montalbano completed her fifth hat trick of the season before Sulmonte scored her first.
• Shannon Quinn pulled William & Mary to within two, 9-7 with 8:40 to play.
• However, that was the last goal the Tribe would register in the game. The Tigers scored the final four goals of the game to secure the victory. Sulmonte finished off her second straight hat trick while Ferro tallied her second goal of the night. Freshman Angie Benson made a pair of saves on free position shots to keep the Tribe off the board.

QUOTABLE

• "I think our second half was better and we made some adjustments," said Towson head coach Sonia LaMonica. "We showed some more intensity but we've got to continue that for 60 minutes. That late goal at the end of the first half helped swing the momentum and that play required work on both ends of the court as Tianna started it by taking the charge and we went hard to the other end."

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Benson made seven saves to earn the win in goal for the Tigers. Meredith Crizer made six saves in the loss for the Tribe.
• Montalbano and Sulmonte each finished with three goals and an assist in the game while Gillingham added two goals and two assists for a career-high four points.
• William & Mary won the draw control battle, 12-10 however the Tigers outshot the Tribe 25-18 and picked up 19 ground balls to William & Mary's 16.
• The game saw the return of a pair of Tiger women's lacrosse alumnae, who are now members of the William & Mary coaching staff. Tribe head coach Hillary Fratzke and assistant coach Mary Teeters were both All-Americans for the Tigers.
• The Tigers have now held 13 of their 14 opponents to nine goals or less this season.
• Towson now has a pair of six-game win streaks this season.

The Tigers wrap up their CAA portion of the schedule on Sunday, April 24 when they host James Madison at 12 p.m. The Dukes, who lost to Delaware on Friday night, and Tigers will be facing off for the CAA Regular Season Title and the number one seed for the upcoming CAA Tournament.