Box Score The seventh-ranked William Smith College field hockey team scored in the 69th minute to close to within one of No. 17 Skidmore College and got a shot on goal with no time remaining, but came up short in a Liberty League match at Wagner Park in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The Thoroughbreds held on for a 3-2 victory to secure the conference's regular season title.
 
Skidmore (13-3, 5-1 league) took a 2-0 first half lead on a pair of Dani DeGregory goals. The first goal came at 6:19 when Kelly Blackhurst drew several Heron defenders after receiving a corner and then directed a pass to an open DeGregory, who fired it home to make it 1-0.  DeGregory scored her 15th of the season at 29:57 on a tip-in of a shot by Sam Revera.
 
William Smith (12-3, 4-2) battled back to within one late in the half, when senior Julia Simmons deflected a shot by first-year Alessandra Patrizio for her eight of the season at 34:35.

The teams traded chances in the second half with both defenses coming up big. Thoroughbred defender Jenn Hanks had a clutch defensive save off a shot by first-year Cydney Conley at 42:45. 

In the 64th minute, Hanks contributed on the offensive end when she rifled a shot through from the top of the circle off a corner from Becca Halter and Melanie Webb for a 3-1 lead.
 
William Smith closed the gap to 3-2 with 1:42 remaining. The Herons pressured the Thoroughbred defense and Taylor Cappello netted her 11th goal of the season, assisted by Margaret McConnell. William Smith pulled first-year goalie Amy Feda for an extra attacker right after the restart and had two penalty corners and a quality shot by Sarah Thompson as time expired, but Skidmore goalie Haley McDougall made the save to preserve the victory.

The Herons had a 16-13 edge in shots and 11-8 penalty corner advantage. McDougall had eight saves to earn the win, while Feda stopped five shots.

The loss means William Smith finishes tied for second in the conference standings with Rochester. The Yellowjackets, who topped William Smith 3-1 during the regular season, will be the No. 2 seed in the tournament, hosting the No. 3 Herons in the semifinal round on Nov. 6.

William Smith will play two non-conference matches to close out the regular season before beginning its playoff run. The Herons return McCooey Field on Wednesday, Oct. 30 to host Nazareth at 5 p.m.