Eight Herons notched a point as the No. 15/8 William Smith lacrosse team downed Bard 15-1 in the Liberty League opener for both teams. The Herons have won four straight and are now 7-1 this season.
 
The Raptors are 3-2 overall. Three Herons notched four points in the victory. Senior Allie Flaherty logged four goals, picked up a game-high five ground balls and won a game-high four draws. Junior Ali Burns scored three goals and added an assist and sophomore Bizzer Gahagan added two goals and two assists. Sophomore Maddie Schmitt chipped in two goals and an assist. Junior Kelsi Carr produced two goals and junior Melissa Moore contributed a goal and an assist.
 
Senior Sarah Honan played 55:26 in goal and made two saves and earned the win. First-year Sarah Babock came in for the final 4:34. It's the second time this season the Herons have limited an opponent to one goal. William Smith held then No. 18/13 Wesleyan to just one goal on March 16. Kaylynn Tran made 16 saves in all 60 minutes in goal for Bard.
 
Just 39 seconds into the game, Flaherty put William Smith on the board. She struck again just under a minute later to make it 2-0. Carr notched her first goal of the day with 21:23, and Burns followed with 16:36 before the break. With 13:12 on the clock, Gahagan posted her first goal of the afternoon to make it 5-0. First-year Rachael Piercey scored her first collegiate goal 6:33 before halftime. Burns earned an assist on the play. Carr added her second of the day off a feed from Gahagan. Flaherty registered her second hat trick of the season with 3:56 to go in the first to stretch the William Smith lead to 8-0. In the last three minutes, Schmitt, Gahagan and Burns scored to give the Herons an 11-0 lead at halftime.
 
Flaherty recorded her fourth goal of the day and 13th of the season 5:27 into the second half. Schmitt earned the assist on Flaherty's goal and then tallied her second goal of the day off an assist from Moore to extend the William Smith lead to 13-0. With 17:24 to go, Melissa Rosenthal put Bard on the board. Burns and Moore closed out the scoring for the Herons. It was Burns' first hat trick this season.
 
William Smith recorded a 40-5 advantage in shots and a 27-12 lead in ground balls. The Herons also held a 10-7 lead in draws. William Smith was successful on all nine of its clear attempts, while the Raptors finished 8-for-20.
 
The Herons are back in action tomorrow, April 1, when they play another Liberty League game at Vassar at 2 p.m.