GENEVA, N.Y.—The No. 17/11 William Smith College lacrosse team built a 4-1 lead in the first half, and went on to defeat Buffalo State 9-2 in a non-league game played this afternoon on a rainy Boswell Field. Senior Allie Flaherty led the Herons with three goals.
 
With its third straight win, William Smith improves to 6-1 overall and the Bengals fall to 2-4 this season. Junior Melissa Moore, junior Ali Burns and sophomore Bizzer Gahagan each registered two goals for the Herons. Moore also chipped in an assist and won two draws. Sophomore Laura Rollins notched a game-high six ground balls. Flaherty added three ground balls and game-high three caused turnovers. Junior Kelsi Carr dished out two assists, and senior Amy Blanchard logged three ground balls. Senior goalie Sarah Honan made two saves and scooped up four ground balls in all 60 minutes.
 
Christina Krowel and Christina Standinge each scored for Buffalo State. Cassie Saint-Vil picked up three ground balls and caused two turnovers. Elyse Stark played the opening 30 minutes in goal for the Bengals and made seven saves. Megan Dolye came in for the second half and stopped eight shots.
 
Flaherty scored the first goal of the game 7:55 in. She carried the ball in on the left side and place her shot just inside the right post. With 18:57 left in the first, Krowel tied the game up for the Bengals. She fired a shot into the right side of the goal after a quick pass from Morgan Hogue. Just over two minutes later, Burns took back the lead for the Herons on a shot from the top of the eight meter arc. With 7:50 left in the first, Flaherty notched her second goal of the afternoon to make it 3-1. With 6:35 before the break, Carr fed Moore from behind the goal to give William Smith a three-goal advantage.
 
Burns produced her second goal of the day and her eighth of the season 2:08 into the second half. She slid in a shot from the left post to make it 5-1. Just over four minutes later, Gahagan took advantage of a free position attempt to give William Smith a five-goal lead. With 16:59 remaining, Kyra Thompson sent a pass from behind the goal to find Standinger out in front who fired a quick shot into the netting to make it 6-2. Flaherty completed her first hat trick of the season with 14:02 to go. She upped her goal total to nine this season. The duo of Carr and Moore struck again to put with 8:39 left. Moore logged her team-leading 14th goal of the season to put the Herons up 8-2. Gahagan closed out the scoring, drilling a shot into the back of the goal after a pass from Moore with 56 seconds remaining. Gahagan has 10 goals this season.
 
William Smith logged commanding 41-5 advantage in shots and a 27-8 lead in ground balls. The Bengals recorded a 7-6 edge in draws. Buffalo State went 10-for-22 on clear attempts, while the Herons were successful on 17-of-20 clear attempts.
 
William Smith will be back in action on Friday, March 31 when it opens Liberty League play at Bard at 4 p.m.