Box Score The 18th-ranked William Smith College lacrosse team defeated Rensselaer 17-10 this afternoon, behind a six-goal effort from junior Molly Fitzgerald (Gould Academy/Sudbury, Mass.). The Herons improve to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the Liberty League, while the Red Hawks slip to 3-3 on the season and 0-1 in the conference.

In addition to six goals from Fitzgerald, first-year Lucy Johnson (Millburn/Short Hills, N.J.) tallied three goals and an assist, while senior Michaela Parnell (Guilford/Guilford, Conn.) and junior Brittany Callaghan (St. Luke's School/Armonk, N.Y.) each added three goals for William Smith.

Sophomore Afton Marshall (Salem/Windham, N.H.) led Rensselaer with four goals and a helper, while juniors Sam Fennessey (Saratoga Springs/Gansevoort, N.Y.) and Whitney Kukol (Johnson City/Johnson City, N.Y.) each recorded two goals. Senior Kerri Clark (Saratoga Springs/Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) added a goal and two assists.

The Red Hawks opened the scoring, netting in the first two goals of the game. Marshall beat senior Heron goalie Rebecca Josefiak (West Seneca East/West Seneca, N.Y.) on a free position attempt six minutes, 48 seconds into the contest, followed by Kukol's first goal of the day two minutes later.

Parnell put the Herons' first point on the board with 16:59 to play in the first half, cutting their early deficit to one, 2-1. After another RPI goal, this time from Clark, Johnson and Fitzgerald notched back-to-back tallies to even the game at 3-all with 12:35 on the clock. The teams continued to exchange goals for the remainder of the stanza, and the Red Hawks took a slight 6-5 lead into the break.

The second half was all William Smith, as the Herons outscored their visitors 12-4 in the final 30 minutes. An unassisted goal from Fitzgerald just 40 seconds into the session tied the game at 6-6, and a free position tally from junior Sarah Goodkind (Millbrook School/Greenwich, Conn.) a few minutes later put the Herons up for good. Fitzgerald netted four of her six goals in the second half, and has now posted a team-high 19 goals on the season.

Josefiak finished with seven saves, while junior Ariana Hood (Old Mill/Severn, Md.) collected eight stops for the Red Hawks. William Smith senior defender Torie Allen (The Governor's Academy/Dedham, Mass.) picked up a game-high six ground balls and grabbed a game-high five draw controls.

The Herons will host Vassar for another Liberty League contest tomorrow, March 18, at 3:30 p.m. Fans unable to make it to McCooey Field can watch the game live on ECAC .tv, listen live on WHWS-FM (105.7), or follow along online with live stats.