TOWSON, Md. – Blair Pearre scored a career-best seven goals, on seven shots, added six draw controls, scooped up five groundballs and caused two turnovers as the No. 17/18 Towson University women's lacrosse defeated Colonial Athletic Association rival William & Mary, 20-10, at Tiger Field on Saturday evening.
 
"Blair had face guards thrown at her and was often times guarded by two people, but she is just relentless," said Towson head coach Sonia LaMonica. "She is a fierce competitor. Seven goals on seven shots, so she was dialed-in. She is a player that when the pressure is on, she rises to the occasion."
 
Nikki Sliwak scored a career-high five goals, including four during a key 6-1 run in the second half, as the Tigers (8-2) broke open a tight game to win by double-digits for the third time this season.
 
Due to the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) splitting the league teams into divisions this year, this was not a conference game. Towson is playing in the North Division while William & Mary is in the South Division.
 
"William & Mary really came out strong and maintained good, tough physical play throughout," LaMonica said. "It took us until the second half to find our rhythm and overcome that, use it to our advantage and settle into things."
 
The score was 8-7 when Sliwak scored two free-position goals in a 40-second span to give Towson a three-goal cushion. After William & Mary scored to make it 10-8, the Tigers scored four unanswered goals in less than four minutes, including a pair by Sliwak, to push the advantage to 14-8.
 
"Nikki continued to battle and really found some success on some 8-meter shots," added LaMonica. "She really played with confidence in the second half."
 
Pearre has now scored at least two goals in 15 of 16 games at the collegiate level, including all 10 this season. She leads Towson in goals (36), points (39) and groundballs (19) and ranks second in draw controls (40). The McDonogh graduate has 21 goals in the last four games – Georgetown (5), St. Joseph's (5), George Mason (4) and William & Mary (7).
 
The former Under Armour All-American scored four goals in a 12-minute period in the first half, including three during a 4-0 run as the Tigers rebounded from a slow start to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 5-3 lead. In the second half, Pearre scored two free-position goals and found the net for the final time off an assist from Lindsey Marshall.     
 
Towson led 7-5 at halftime. William & Mary's Belle Martire had four goals and added a fifth to make it 7-6 before LaMonica rotated Olivia Malamphy and Rayna Deltuva on the junior. The duo held Martire scoreless for the final 27:49 seconds of the game.
 
"It was clear we needed to step things up," LaMonica said. "We asked Liv to lock her down and we had a lot of success. Rayna also took on that role and they did a great job. Our communication got better as well."
 
Towson won 24-of-32 draws with Marshall controlling a career-best 10. Shelby Stack (2g), Kaitlin Thornton (2g) and Julia Porter (1g, 1a) also had multiple point games. Kerri Liucci scored a goal and caused a career-best three turnovers.
 
Towson now leads the all-time series between the two teams, 18-8, including 10-0 under LaMonica. The Tigers have won 16 of the last 18 meetings and 18-of-22 since joining the CAA in 2002.  
 
During halftime, Towson honored the 2020 graduation class - Olivia Conti, Maddie Dickman, Coeli Love and Carly Tellekamp. In 2018, the four helped tie the school record for wins in a season with 16 and advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament. Shelby Stack, Abbe Mona and Sami Chenoweth were also in the class but opted to play this season after the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility because last season ended early due to COVID-19.
 
Records: 

• Towson – 8-2
• William & Mary – 3-6

How it Happened: 

• William & Mary led 3-1 with 15:22 remaining in the first half behind a natural hat trick from Martire, a Baltimore native.
• Pearre then took over. She cut the Tribe lead to 3-2 just 11 seconds later after controlling the draw, splitting the defense and scoring left-handed. After Molly Lynch found Stack to tie things up at 3 all, Pearre scored back-to-back free-position goals in 70 seconds to put Towson on top for good.
• It was 5-4 Towson with less than six and a half minutes remaining in the opening half when Porter found Kaitlin Thornton.
• Kerri Liucci went coast-to-coast after a Carly Merlo save and scored a free-position goal after being fouled, giving Towson a 7-4 advantage.
• Martire scored a goal with less than two minutes left in the half and another two minutes into the second half to make it 7-6.
• Seventeen seconds later, Pearre scored her fifth of the evening- another from free-position.
• With 25:49, William & Mary made it a one-goal game again, but then Sliwak to control.
• Sliwak scored free-position goals at 24:03 and 23:23 to give the Tigers some breathing room.
• It was 10-8 when Nicole Liucci found a cutting Deltuva, who then found Sliwak on the doorstep.
• Stack scored her second on a nifty move when she stopped on a dime and switched hands. It was 12-8 with 17:52 remaining.
• Twenty-one seconds later, Sliwak scored her third free-position of the half.
• The 6-1 run ended when Mona found Kaitlin Thornton and in nine minutes, the lead went from 8-7 to 14-8.
• After a William & Mary goal, the Tigers went on another 3-0 run. Sliwak had a goal and an assist to Kerri Thornton, while Pearre scored for the sixth time.
• Porter then scored for the second time in as many games with a highlight reel goal. The junior faked high and shot low, giving Towson a 18-10 advantage.
• Pearre added her seventh of the game off an assist from Marshall with 1:44 remaining.
• Nicole Liucci scored a free-position goal with 1:25 to play.ci

Key Stats:

• Towson scored nine free-position goals in 17 attempts. Pearre and Sliwak were each four-for-four. Pearre has 19 free-position tallies on the year.
• It is the second time this season that Towson has had a pair of players score at least five goals in the same game. Pearre and Marshall each scored five against Georgetown.
• Towson converted all 20 clear attempts. For the season, the Tigers have had successful clears in 193-of-208 attempts (92.8%).

Inside the Numbers: 

• Sliwak added an assist and had six points, matching her output against Loyola. She has scored a goal in all 10 games and ranks second on the scoring list with 31 points (21g, 10a). She had 10 points in 24 games at Maryland.
• Marshall is third in scoring with 29 points (21g, 8a) and ranks first with 57 draw controls. She has multiple points in eight of 10 games and has controlled at least five draws seven different times.
• Kaitlin Thornton has multiple points in five games this season. The senior, who has 116 career points (83g, 33a), has produced multiple points in 35 of 53 games in a Towson uniform.
• Stack has now scored at least one goal in 27 of the last 32 games, dating back to 2019.
• Starting defenders Sami Chenoweth, Rayna Deltuva, Natalie Miller and Erin Williams as well as defensive midfielder Olivia Malamphy and top reserve Gabby Biondi have scooped up 72 groundballs and caused 61 turnovers this season.

Next Game: 
Towson take on Drexel on Tuesday, April 13 in a Top 20-showdown. Game time is 6 p.m.  The game will be streamed on the Towson Sports Network.