The No. 1 William Smith College soccer team downed Skidmore College 8-0 in a Liberty League contest played on the Thoroughbreds' Wachenheim Field this afternoon. Senior Kara Shue led the way for the Herons with two goals and an assist.
 
The Herons are 9-0-0 this season and 2-0-0 in conference play. Skidmore drops to 3-3-1 overall and 0-2-1 in the Liberty League. Six different William Smith players tallied a goal.

Junior Evie Manning started the scoring spree for the Herons, finishing off a rebound in the front of the net in the 22nd minute. Nearly four minutes later, Shue fed senior Lauren Randaccio on a two-on-zero break. The goalkeeper bit towards Shue, which allowed Randaccio the open net. The assist marked the 39th of Shue's career. She is now just one assist behind Antoinette DeLucia's William Smith career record of 40. In the 30th minute, it was Shue's turn to score off a cross by sophomore Phoebe Wade to give the Herons a 3-0 advantage going into the break.

William Smith put the game away with five second half goals, including a stretch of three goals in three minutes. Shue opened the second half with her ninth goal of the season in the 60th minute. Sophomore Megan Barwick made it 5-0 with her first goal of the year in the 62nd minute. Junior Cailin MacLean notched her first goal this fall in the 85th minute after a feed from junior Kate Spiegel. Just under a minute later, first-year Jocelyn Mitiguy posted her third goal of the year to make it 7-0, and in the 88th minute, sophomore Megan Richard capped the scoring. It was her third goal this year.
 
The Herons finished with an 18-4 advantage in shots, including an 11-1 edge in the second half. William Smith earned seven corners, while the Thoroughbreds had one. Sophomore Veronica Romines started the game in goal for the Herons and made two saves in 37:38. Sophomore Kaileen Murray came in for 38:37 and first-year Alessandra Bryan played the final 13:45. Murray and Bryan did not face a shot. Alyssa Rollins started in goal for Skidmore, and Deidre Walsh came in for the second half. Walsh made three saves.
 
The Herons are back in action tomorrow, Oct. 1, when they travel to take on Rensselaer in another Liberty League game at 2 p.m.