The William Smith College lacrosse team used a nine-goal run in the second half to clinch its 10th straight victory, topping St. Lawrence 11-4 In a Liberty League game played today on the Saints' North Country Field.
 
The No. 8/1 Herons improve to 13-1 overall and a perfect 6-0 in conference play, while St. Lawrence falls to 6-7 overall and 3-3 in the Liberty League.
 
Senior Allie Flaherty and junior Kelsi Carr each chipped in three goals for William Smith. Senior Jackie Rogers finished with a game-high and season-high five caused turnovers and shared a game-high with four ground balls. Her five caused turnovers are tied for third most in a game in William Smith history. Rogers is now tied for 11th on the Heron career caused turnovers list with 60.
 
Sophomore Laura Rollins also scooped up four ground balls and added two caused turnovers. Junior Melissa Moore contributed two goals, three ground balls and three draw controls. First-year Nicki Santora also produced two goals. Senior goalie Sarah Honan made five saves in goal for the Herons.
 
Julia Mitiguy scored a goal and won a game-high six draws for the Saints. She also picked up two ground balls. Tori Smith recorded a team-high three ground balls and won two draws. Kiera Taussig scored a goal, won two draws and caused three turnovers. Cricket Wemyss started in goal for St. Lawrence and made four saves. Olga Lukas came in for the final 23:54 and made six stops.
 
The Saints built a 3-2 lead in the first half. Alexandra LaMotte took advantage of a free position attempt with 16:42 left in the first to give St. Lawrence a 1-0 edge. It was Flaherty who broke through for William Smith, tying the game up at 1-1 with 7:52 remaining in the first. Bird pick up a loose ball and dumped it into the goal with a backhanded shot to give the Herons their first lead of the game with 5:41 before the break. It was her team-leading 30th goal. With just under two minutes left in the half, Olivia Slade scored on a low shot for the Saints, knotting the game up at 2-2. Kiera Taussig capitalized on a one-on-one with the keeper after a Heron turnover to give SLU a 3-2 lead with 1:11 left in the first.
 
Just 41 seconds into the second, Mitiguy gave the Saints a two-goal advantage. However William Smith responded with nine straight goals to secure the victory. Flaherty chipped in her second of the day cutting into the circle from the right side to cut the Heron deficit back to one 3:04 into the second. A little over a minute later, Moore tied the game up for the third time, making it 4-4, with a free position goal. Moore struck again with another free position goal to take back the lead for the Herons with 23:54 on the clock. It was her 23rd goal this year. Santora gave the Herons a two-goal edge with 21:13 to go off an assist from Carr. Carr then added back-to-back tallies. With 19:51 to go, she scored on a rebound off a shot by junior Ali Burns that was saved. Then a free position goal by Carr stretched the lead to four goals with 13:31 left in regulation. Flaherty completed her fifth hat trick of the season, scoring with 8:29 to go and making the score 9-4. She upped her goal total to 29 this spring. Santora chipped in her second of the day and third of the season with 3:18 remaining. Carr registered her third goal of the day to close out the scoring. It was the first hat trick of her career and her 10th goal this year.
 
The Herons finished with a 25-14 lead in shots and a 21-16 edge in ground balls. The Saints held a 13-4 advantage in draws. William Smith was successful on 18-of-23 clear attempts, while St. Lawrence finished 12-for-16 on clears.
 
The Herons will be back in action tomorrow, April 22, when they travel for another Liberty League game at Clarkson at 3 p.m.