The Vassar College women's lacrosse team controlled the second half, outscoring William Smith 4-1 to secure a 9-8 Liberty League victory in Poughkeepsie, New York, this afternoon.
 
The Brewers improve to 3-3 and 1-1 in conference play, while the Herons fall to 3-5 and 1-1 in the Liberty League with their fourth one-goal loss of the season.
 
Brittany Botticelli notched a hat trick for the Brewers, and Storm Sideleau finished with two goals. Jackie Palma tied her season-highs in both caused turnovers (5) and ground balls (6).
 
Junior Geneva Calder scored a game-high four goals and won a team-high three draws for the Herons. First-year Melissa Moore and sophomore Alexandra Bird scored twice. Sophomore Abbey Foote logged two assists. Moore added a team-high five ground balls. Sophomore goalie Sarah Honan played all 60 minutes and made seven saves.
 
Down 7-5 to start the second half, the Brewers went on a four-goal scoring streak to swing the momentum back in their favor. Botticelli got Vassar going at the 23:46 mark, coming around the corner of the cage to bury a shot from the near left side. Less than a minute later, Sideleau converted her second free position shot of the day to tie the game 7-7. Phoebe Hankins scored an unassisted goal with 20:53 remaining to put the Brewers back ahead 8-7. Kim Mulvehill put away the eventual game-winner with 12:30 left in regulation to give the Brewers a 9-7 advantage.
 
William Smith was able to pull within one at the 7:09 mark, as Calder netted her fourth goal of the day to make it 9-8. That was as close as William Smith could get as Vassar's goalie Kate Pula saved both of the Herons' final two attempts on cage to preserve the one-goal victory. She finished with 10 saves.
 
Vassar did its best to hold the ball and chew up the clock in the closing minutes, but turnovers gave the visitors a few more possessions to try and tie the game. William Smith had one last chance in the final seconds, but a turnover put the ball in the stick of Palma and she ran out the clock.
 
The first half saw both sides score in bunches to start. The Brewers jumped out to a 3-0 lead on goals by Botticelli, Julia O'Mara and Sideleau. The Herons battled back notching the next three goals of the game to tie things up. Bird capitalized on a feed from junior Hannah Connolly with 21:58 left in the first. Then Calder notched her first of the afternoon followed by a goal from Moore which tied the game with 17 minutes before the half.
 
Botticelli took back the lead for Vassar at 14:25, but Calder struck again to tie the game for a second time. Julia Trudell notched a woman-up goal to give the Brewers a 5-4 lead, but the Herons strung together the last three goals of the first half to take a 7-5 lead into halftime. Bird logged her second of the day and Calder posted a woman-up goal for William Smith. Moore also tallied her second of the day to close out the first half.
 
William Smith finished with a 27-18 advantage in shots and a 20-17 edge in ground balls. The Brewers held a slight 10-9 advantage at the draw circle. The Herons finished 15-of-18 clear attempts, while Vassar was successful on 14-of-18 tries.
 
William Smith will be back in action on Friday, April 3, when they host RIT for another Liberty League game at 4 p.m.