Box Score GENEVA, N.Y.—The William Smith College lacrosse team defeated St. Lawrence 8-6 to earn its first win of the season in its Liberty League opener played this afternoon on Boswell Field. The Herons (1-5) are now 14-0 in conference openers dating back to 2001, when William Smith first joined the Liberty League.
 
Sophomores Meg Hannan and Kate Byrne and first-year Alexandra Bird each scored two goals. Junior Rachel Hughes logged a game-high six caused turnovers and shared a game-high with five ground balls. Sophomore Emy Stratton won a game-high four draws and chipped in a goal. First-year Sarah Honan played all 60 minutes in goal for William Smith. She finished with six saves, three ground balls and a caused turnover.
 
Chloe Knapp led St. Lawrence (2-4, 0-1) with three goals. Caroline Bailey added a goal and an assist. Kiera Taussig shared a game-high with five ground balls and logged two caused turnovers and three draws. Addie Cunningham played all 60 minutes in goal and made four saves.
 
The Saints scored first 3:29 in on an unassisted tally by Knapp, but then William Smith put together a 4-0 run. Hannan started the scoring off a feed from Sipple at 4:43. Stratton followed with her fifth goal of the season. First-year Allie Flaherty made it 3-1 off an assist from sophomore Hannah Connolly, and with 18:40 left in the first, Bird notched her third goal of the season. With 7:56 before the break, Hannah Calvelli took advantage of a free position for St. Lawrence to make it 4-2, but Byrne scored her third goal of the year with six minutes left in the opening half to give the Herons a 5-2 advantage at the break.
 
The Saints came out strong in the second half, scoring three straight goals. Bailey posted a goal and an assist in the run that tied the game up at 5-5. With 11:45 left in the game, Hannan produced her second goal of the afternoon, an unassisted woman-up tally. A little over three minutes later, Byrne found the back of the net to make it 7-5 and Bird notched her second of the day with 7:09 on the clock to put the Herons up three. Knapp scored her third goal of the game with 2:47 remaining for the final margin.
 
William Smith held a 20-18 advantage in both shots and ground balls. Draw controls were knotted at 8-8. The Herons were successful on 15-of-22 clear attempts, while the Saints were 12-for-20.
 
The Herons will be back in action tomorrow, Saturday, March 29, when they host Clarkson for another Liberty League game on Boswell Field at 2 p.m.