GENEVA, N.Y.—The William Smith College lacrosse team secured the Liberty League regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament with a 15-5 win over Vassar on Senior Day on Boswell Field this afternoon. The Herons conclude the regular season with a 9-7 overall record and an 8-1 mark in the Liberty League.
 
It's the first time since 2006 that the Herons earned the conference regular season title and the right to host the Liberty League tournament. The tournament semifinals will be played on Boswell Field on Friday, May 5, with the championship game following on Saturday, May 6. William Smith will face No. 4 seed St. Lawrence in their semifinal. The other semifinal will feature No. 2 Union and No. 3 Skidmore.
 
Senior Hannah Connolly and junior Alexandra Bird each posted a game-high five points on three goals and two assists. Sophomore Melissa Moore and junior Allie Flaherty both registered hat tricks for the Herons. Sophomore Ali Burns, senior Emy Stratton, senior Geneva Calder and Moore each scooped up a game-high four ground balls. Stratton added a goal, four draws and two caused turnovers. First-year Laura Rollins shared a game-high with three caused turnovers. She added two draws and two ground balls. Sophomore Ella Calder logged a goal and two assists. Junior Sarah Honan played the opening 52:33. She made three saves, recorded three ground balls and caused three turnovers. Senior Allie O'Hara came in for the final 7:27.
 
Vassar concludes its season with a 6-9 overall record and a 2-7 mark in league play. Isabelle Goldstein led the Brewers with two goals and an assist and three draws. Julia Trudell added two goals. Fiona O'Loughlin caused two turnovers and Sydney Spadinger picked up three ground balls. Kristin Caolo played the opening half and made seven saves. Emily Chancey came in for the second half and finished with five saves.
 
Connolly opened the scoring 5:15 in, sending home a shot at the left post after a quick pass from Bird. Goldstein responded with an unassisted tally for Vassar. A minute later, Moore took back the lead for the Herons. With 15:54 left in the first, Goldstein struck again with a player-up free position goal to tie the game at 2-2. Connolly produced her second goal of the day at 12:22, and 20 seconds later she set up Stratton to make it 4-2. With 11:15 on the clock, Trudell connected after a pass from Kim Mulvehill to cut the Brewer deficit to one. However, the Herons put together the next six goals to take a 10-3 lead. Moore started the run with 10:59 left in the first and after a pass from Connolly. Bird chipped in an unassisted goal with 9:05 left. Moore and Bird took turns scoring to make it 8-3. Flaherty sent home a shot with 3:03 remaining to give William Smith a 9-3 advantage at halftime.
 
Geneva Calder opened the second half scoring 9:58 in. With 16:42 remaining, Lindsay Wolk scored for Vassar after a pass from Hannah Cho. Flaherty posted her second goal of the day on a free position for an 11-4 Heron lead. Trudell added her second of the day for Vassar just under a minute later and after a feed from Goldstein to make it 11-5. The Herons tallied the next four goals for the final. Connolly completed her hat trick off a pass from Ella Calder. Calder then set up Flaherty for her third goal of the afternoon. Bird added her third of the day before she set up Ella Calder for the final score.
 
The Herons held a 36-9 advantage in shots, a 31-18 lead in ground balls and a 14-7 advantage in draws. William Smith was successful on 13-of-18 clear attempts and limited the Brewers to just nine successful clears on 19 tries.
 
William Smith's four seniors, Geneva Calder, Hannah Connolly, Allie O'Hara and Emy Stratton, were recognized pregame. They have helped the Herons to 34 wins, a 28-8 conference record and what will be three Liberty League tournament appearances during their lacrosse careers.