The No. 14/12 Bowdoin College women's lacrosse team rallied late in the second half to defeat #19/8 William Smith 7-6 in a non-league game played in Englewood, Fla., tonight. It was the first loss of the season for the Herons.

William Smith is now 3-1 overall, and the Polar Bears improve to 3-0. The Herons led 4-0 early in the first half and were ahead by as many as three early in the second half, but Bowdoin scored what proved to be the game winner with 2:26 left in the game. William Smith had two free position chances in the final minute, but was unable to tie the game back up.

Junior Melissa Moore led the Herons with two goals. Senior Alexandra Bird and sophomore Bizzer Gahagan each added a goal and an assist. Senior Jackie Rogers and junior Kelsi Car reached picked up two ground balls, and Carr added a caused turnover. Senior Sarah Honan made nine saves in goal for William Smith.

Mettler Growney led the Polar Bears with three goals. Hannah Hirschfeld recorded a goal and an assist. Kelsey Gallagher picked up two ground balls and Anisa LaRochelle caused two turnovers. Kayli Weiss made five saves for Bowdoin.

The Herons scored the first four goals of the game. Gahagan opened the scoring and then set up Moore's first goal of the game. Junior Sarah Benyo and Bird notched unassisted tallies to build the 4-0 lead. With 7:33 left in the first, Gallagher put the Polar Bears on the board. With 1:05 before the break, Annie Glenn cut Bowdoin's deficit to two.
 
Moore scored her second goal of the game to open the second half and give the Herons a three-goal lead. Bird earned the assist on the play. The Polar Bears then went on a four-goal run to take a 6-5 lead. Hirschfield opened Bowdoin's scoring streak off a pass from Natalie Rudin. Growney then notched back-to-back goals to tie the game at 5-5. With 8:03 left in regulation, Kara Finnerty gave the Polar Bears their first lead of the game. With 3:43 on the clock, junior Ali Burns tied things up at 6-6 for the Herons, but Growney responded, completing her hat trick and scoring what proved to be the game winner for Bowdoin.
 
The Polar Bears finished with a 20-17 advantage in shots and a 9-7 lead in ground balls. The Herons were successful on 9-of-12 clear attempts, while Bowdoin finished 7-for-8.
 
The Herons will be back in action on Thursday, March 16, when they take on No. 18/13 Wesleyan in another non-league game in Englewood, Fla., at 11 a.m.