GENEVA, N.Y. --The William Smith lacrosse team defeated St. Lawrence University 13-4 in its first Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association contest. The Herons used another strong showing from sophomore attacker Megan Shea (Mountain Lakes/Mountain Lakes, N.J.) and a stellar performance in goal from first-year Rebecca Splain (Middlebury Union/Middlebury, Vt.) to knock off the Saints.

Brenna Bennett gave St. Lawrence a 1-0 lead five and a half minutes into the game. William Smith responded with goals from first-year attacker Gretchen Lasda (West Genesee/Camillus, N.Y.) and Shea to grab a 2-1 lead. Stacy Turner brought the Saints back with a goal at the 14:34 mark. Strong goaltending from Splain and St. Lawrence's Kit Whaley kept the game even until Shea scored her second of the game with 1:17 to go in the half, giving the Herons the lead for good.

William Smith opened the second 30 minutes with three goals in five minutes to open up a 6-2 advantage and never looked back. First-year midfielder Brighde Dougherty (Manasquan/Sea Girt, N.J.), senior attacker Meghan Genovese (Geneva/Geneva, N.Y.), sophomore midfielder Jackie Toner (Geneva/Geneva, N.Y.), and Shea each tallied twice as the Herons out scored the Saints 10-2 in the second period. The half wasn't as one sided as the score. St. Lawrence had several strong scoring chances, but was shut down by Splain as William Smith went on to the 13-4 victory.

Shea led the Herons with four goals and an assist. Genovese and Toner each finished with two goals and an assist. Splain had 15 saves in net, while Whaley made 14 stops. The Herons improve to 4-0 overall, 1-0 in the UCAA, and St. Lawrence drops to 1-2, 0-1.

William Smith returns to action March 31, at 2 p.m., when the Herons take on UCAA rival Clarkson University.

--HWS SPORTS--