Cortland, N.Y. - The William Smith College ice hockey team dropped a tightly contested 2-1 overtime game to ECAC West foe Cortland at Alumni Arena this evening.

First-year Stephanie Hampton's fifth goal of the season with 1:40 left in regulation tied the game at 1-1 for William Smith (8-14-2, 3-12-2). At the 18:03 of the third period, the Red Dragons were called for a hooking penalty, giving the Herons their fourth power play of the night. Seventeen seconds into the power play, Hampton fired a one-timer past Cortland goalie Deanna Meunier and into the back of the net. Sophomores Krista Federow and Rebecca Begley were credited with assists on the goal that forced overtime.

Cortland (10-12-1, 6-10-1) jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal of its own at 8:29 of the first period. Corey Temple won a faceoff back to Maggie Corbett. Corbett deked around Laurel Brown, the William Smith goalie, and deposited the shot behind Brown.

Both teams had their chances in the middle period but the goalies stood tall stopping all 23 shots fired on net during the period.

The Herons, who entered the weekend needing all four points to jump the Red Dragons for the final playoff spot in the ECAC West, decided to take a risk in the overtime period. William Smith pulled Brown with 1:48 remaining in the extra session. The gamble did not pay off as Cortland's Laura Drew netted an empty net goal 36 seconds later to give the Red Dragons the win.

Brown started between the pipes for William Smith and made 39 stops in 62:39 of action. On the other end of the ice, Meunier made 31 saves.

Both teams struggled on the power play despite collecting power-play goals. The Herons were 1 for 4 with the extra attacker while Cortland went 1 for 5.

William Smith will conclude its second season as a varsity program tomorrow when it takes on Cortland. Faceoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Alumni Arena.