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GENEVA, N.Y.—The No. 20 St. John Fisher women's lacrosse team rallied from a 9-8 deficit at the half, and hung on to defeat the No. 19 Herons 17-14 in the William Smith home opener at Boswell Field at the Caird Center for Sports and Recreation.

The contest marked the first time a William Smith team has played a game on Boswell Field. The Herons are now 2-2 overall, while the Cardinals improve to 4-1 this year.



Junior Rosie Scheibel led William Smith with five goals. Sophomore Kathleen Ragan contributed two goals and two assists. Sophomore Marissa Potter chipped in two goals, an assist, and three draw controls and junior Lucy Johnson added a goal and two helpers. Sophomore Liz Seidel picked up a team-high four ground balls.

Mary Stimson scored five goals for St. John Fisher. Jackie Maynard logged two goals and a game-high six assists. Taylor Hughes recorded four goals and Melissa Leonhard scored three times and caused two turnovers. Courtney Clare chipped in one goal and three assists, and Meg Merriam recorded a goal and an assist.

The Herons started off the game strong, scoring the first four goals of the contest. Scheibel scored first just 22 seconds in. Junior Callie Frelinghuysen made it 2-0 with an unassisted tally at 2:47. A little under two minutes later, Johnson capitalized on a free position. Scheibel capped the early run after collecting a pass from Ragan.

St. John Fisher responded with a 5-0 run. Stimson kicked it off with a free position goal at 9:22. Then the duo of Hughes and Maynard scored three straight times. The Cardinals took their first lead of the game at 14:21 when Maynard set up yet another goal, this time to Stimson.

Junior Katherine Vesce tied up the game at five on an unassisted tally with 11:01 left in the opening half. Clare took back the lead for the Cardinals, but goals by Vesce and Ragan gave the Herons a 7-6 lead with 7:40 left in the half. Both teams traded goals over the next seven minutes. A free position goal by Potter with 1:51 left gave the Herons a 9-8 lead at the break.

St. John Fisher opened the second half with five straight goals to take a 13-9 lead. The run featured two goals by Stimson, and a goal and an assist by Maynard. Vesce and Potter scored just 19 seconds apart to cut the William Smith deficit to two at 13-11. That proved to be as close as the Herons could get as the teams traded goals over the final 14:27 of the game. St. John Fisher capped the victory with Leonhard's goal with 1:46 remaining for the final.

William Smith held a 33-29 advantage in shots, and a 14-10 edge in ground balls. Sophomore Jesse Wilson finished with seven saves in all 60 minutes in goal. Caroline Trpcevski stopped 11 shots in goal for St. John Fisher.

The Herons will be back in action on Saturday, March 26 at 3 p.m. when they play the second game of a four game homestand against Geneseo. The game is a part of the Heron Lacrosse Weekend Celebration. The College will welcome back alumnae, family, and friends for a full slate of events that include dedicating the Pat Price Genovese William Smith Lacrosse Team Room as well as honoring give new Heron Teams of Distinction.