GENEVA, N.Y.- The 20th-ranked William Smith College field hockey team utilized a strong defensive effort to shutout Cortland 1-0 in non-conference action on McCooey Field this evening. The win improves the Herons to 7-2 on the year.
 
Senior Emily King made a career-high eight saves as she posted her first shutout of the season and the second of her career. At the opposite end of the field, Kailynne Reinoehl made eight stops to keep the Red Dragons (6-3) in the game. William Smith's strong defensive play limited the Red Dragons, who entered the game averaging 16 shots per game, to just nine.
 
William Smith opened the scoring 1:52 into the game.  Senior Alexandra Frary collected a rebound and fired a shot past Reinoehl. The unassisted goal was Frary's fourth of the season and came on the game's first penalty corner. Hannah Wood's initial shot was batted out of the air by Meg Redmond, who recorded her first of two defensive saves in the game.
 
The Herons controlled a majority of the play in the first half, earning an 8-5 edge in shots. In the 14th minute, Wood was robbed on a point blank attempt by a sprawling Reinoehl. In the 16th minute, Wood had another golden scoring opportunity on a penalty corner, but once again Redmond swiped the shot off the line.
 
Cortland gained a little momentum in the final 10 minutes of the half, earning four straight penalty corners. King, who was seeing the ball well all night, made kick saves on all four corners.
 
Frary nearly scored again in the 45th minute but both of her shots were stopped by an aggressive Reinoehl, who had come off her line to make another sprawling stop.
 
Late in the second half, Cortland earned three consecutive penalty corners but once again could not crack the Herons defense.
 
The Herons finished with a 15-9 edge in shots, while Cortland earned eight penalty corners to William Smith's five.
 
The Herons will be back in action on Saturday, Sept. 30, when they host Rensselaer at 2 p.m. The game against the Engineers closes out William Smith's eight-game homestand.