The No. 14/5 William Smith College lacrosse team built an 8-2 lead in the first half and held off Union College for a 12-7 victory in a Liberty League game played in Schenectady, N.Y., this afternoon. Senior Alexandra Bird led the Herons to their seventh straight win with a game-high seven points.
 
With its seventh straight win, William Smith is now 10-1 overall and 3-0 in the Liberty League. The Dutchwomen fall to 2-5 and 1-2 in conference play.
 
Bird matched a season-high with her seven points on a season-high five goals and two assists for the Herons. It was Bird's second seven point game this year. Junior Ali Burns also matched a season-high with four goals and added a team-high three caused turnovers and a game-high four ground balls. Senior Allie Flaherty scored two goals and won a game-high four draws. Junior Melissa Moore chipped in a goal and an assist. Senior goalie Sarah Honan made four saves in all 60 minutes.
 
Jackie Hagopian led Union with three points on two goals and an assist. Natalie Sullivan produced a goal and an assist as well as a game-high four caused turnovers. Hannah Rosenberger also added a goal and an assist. Jen Hughes played the opening 38:56 in goal for Union and made five saves. Ellen Taney came in for the final 21:04 and stopped two shots.
 
William Smith opened the game with a four-goal run. Flaherty and Bird started the scoring each logging a free position tally. Flaherty struck again with 23:09 on the clock off a feed from junior Kelsi Carr. Bird chipped in her second of the day, another free position goal, just under two minutes later. A free position goal by Sullivan put the Dutchwomen on the board with 14:38 left in the first. The Herons put together another four-goal run to build an 8-1 lead. With 14:29 on the clock, Bird produced her third goal of the day after a pass from Moore. Just over a minute later, Burns logged her 18th goal of the year. Back-to-back goals by Bird gave William Smith a seven-goal advantage with 10:50 before the break. Bird now leads the Herons with 23 goals this year. With 5:05 left in the first, Rosenberger notched Union's second goal.
 
Just 1:56 into the second half, Mallory Toolan made it 8-3 for Union. Sullivan earned an assist on the play. Burns and Moore responded with goals off assists from Bird to give the Herons a 10-3 lead. Jackie Hagopian found the back of the net for the Dutchwomen with 16:54 remaining. A little over two minutes later, Burns logged a free position goal for the Herons. Union then put together three straight goals to cut its deficit to four. Hagopian opened the run off an assist from Rosenberger. Hagopian then set up Ramsey Walsh, and Cailin Pandolfi made it 11-7 with 3:50 remaining. It proved to be as close as the Dutchwomen could get. Instead Burns tallied her fourth of the day and 21st of the season with nine seconds remaining for the final margin.
 
The Herons held a 30-14 advantage in shots, a 16-10 lead in ground balls and a 12-9 edge in draws. William Smith went 6-for-10 on clear attempts, while Union finished 8-for-12.
 
The Herons are back in action on Friday, April 14, when they host RPI for another Liberty League contest on Boswell Field at 4 p.m.