The William Smith College lacrosse team built a 5-1 lead in the first half and went on to defeat Skidmore College 9-5 in the Liberty League opener for both teams in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., this afternoon.
 
The Herons improve to 2-5 overall, while the Thoroughbreds are 3-5 this season. Senior Hannah Connolly produced three goals. Sophomore Cat Wolf scooped up a team-high five ground balls and caused two turnovers. Sophomore Ali Burns scored two goals and won two draws. Junior goalie Sarah Honan played all 60 minutes and matched a season-high with 10 saves. She also registered three ground balls.
 
Tyler Phillips led the way for Skidmore recording three goals, a game-high seven caused turnovers, six ground balls and three draws. Cas Szwajkowski added two goals and won two draws. Rachel Talanian scooped up a game-high seven ground balls and caused six turnovers. Megan Kolopsky played all 60 minutes in goal and finished with six saves.
 
Phillips scored the first goal of the game for Skidmore, but William Smith responded with the next five goals. Burns started the run with back-to-back tallies. Sophomore Melissa Moore made it 3-1 followed by another unassisted goal, this time from junior Allie Flaherty. Connolly made it 5-1 off a feed from sophomore Kelsi Carr.
 
Phillips opened the second half with her second goal of the day for Skidmore to make it 5-2. With 17:01 on the clock, sophomore Ella Calder capitalized on a pass from first-year Bizzer Gahagan to give the Herons a four-goal lead. Connolly struck again just over two minutes later to extend William Smith's lead to 7-2. With 10:49 remaining Szwajkowski found the back of the net for the Thoroughbreds after a pass from Allison Byrne. This time senior Geneva Calder answered for William Smith for the 8-3 advantage. Szwajkowski struck again with 7:10 on the clock, followed by Phillips' third of the day to get Skidmore within three with 4:19 remaining. It proved to be as close as the Thoroughbreds would get. Connolly completed the hat trick with 2:59 left in the game for the final score.
 
Skidmore finished with a 23-19 lead in shots and a 9-7 advantage in draws. The Herons held a 25-24 edge in ground balls. William Smith was successful on 17-of-29 clear attempts, while the Thoroughbreds were successful on 18-of-23 tries.
 
The Herons will be back in action tomorrow, April 2, when they play another Liberty League contest at RPI. Game time is set for 2 p.m.