GENEVA, N.Y.- The 18th-ranked William Smith College field hockey team was edged 4-3 by No. 16 Rochester on McCooey Field this afternoon. The game was the Liberty League opener for both teams.
 
The Herons (6-2, 0-1) once again used a balanced attack with four different players finding a way onto the scoresheet. The Yellowjackets' (6-2, 1-0) leading scorer was Courtney Dunham who finished the game with a pair of goals. Kiran Sundaram made 10 saves in goal for Rochester.
 
Six minutes into the extra session, Claire Dickerson scored her ninth goal of the season to give the Yellowjackets the victory. Olivia Denny dribbled around an outstretched Emily King and sent a cross-cage pass to Dickerson. Dickerson tapped the ball into the empty net.
 
Rochester opened the scoring in the 14th minute when Dunham fired home her first goal of the game. Maya Haigis collected the ball just outside of the arc and passed the ball to Dunham on her right. The goal came on the Yellowjackets' second penalty corner of the game.
 
William Smith tied the game at 1-1 in the closing seconds of the first half with a spectacular individual effort by senior Maura Moran. On a restart, she dribbled the ball into the right side of the arc, cut to her left, beat a defender, and fired a cross-cage shot past Sundaram. The goal was Moran's third of the season.
 
Earlier in the half, senior Hannah Wood had a pair of scoring opportunities turned aside. Off of a penalty corner, she blasted a shot from the top of the arc but was robbed by Sundaram. The rebound came right back to Wood but the second shot was swept off the line by Colleen Maillie.
 
William Smith opened the second half with a pair of scoring opportunities off of penalty corners but once again Sundaram was there to turn aside the scoring opportunities.
 
In the 47th minute, senior Alexandra Frary gave the Herons a 2-1 lead. She collected a pass from Wood and slapped a shot past the goalie. Eighty five seconds later, the Yellowjackets tied the game at two. Jennifer Lee picked up a loose ball in front and sent it past King.
 
Sixty-three seconds later, Sierramarie Fitzgerald put William Smith up 3-2. She intercepted a pass in the offensive zone, dribbled the ball into the center of the arc and shot the ball past Sundaram. Dunham tied the game in the 55th minute with her second goal of the game. She fired a shot past a screened King.
 
The Herons had opportunities to win the game in the final minute but could not crack the Yellowjackets defense. Junior Fallon Adair had a pair of shots in the 65th minute. One was swept off the line by a defender and the other was stopped by a diving Sundaram. Moran also had a shot turned aside by Sundaram's blocker in the 68th minute.
 
After killing off 1:36 of Moran's green card to open the extra session, Fitzgerald had a chance to win the game but her backhand shot was kicked aside by the Rochester goalie.
 
In a tightly contested match, William Smith emerged with a 17-11 advantage in shots and a 5-4 edge in penalty corners.
 
The Herons will be back in action on Wednesday when they host Cortland on McCooey Field.