The No. 5 William Smith College lacrosse team dropped its season opener 12-9 to Geneseo at the Knights' College Stadium this afternoon.
 
Senior Melissa Moore led the Herons with five points on four goals and an assist. First-year Rachel Yackel added two goals and first-year Kelsey Williams chipped in a goal and an assist. Senior Kelsi Carr picked up a game-high five ground balls and caused three turnovers. First-year Anna Murphy won a game-high five draws. First-year Olivia Hofmann made six saves in her first collegiate start.
 
Hanna Marafioti had a game-high five goals for Geneseo (1-0). Rachel Fisher added five points on a goal and four assists. Hannah Milich produced two goals and two assists, Carly Cullen added a goal and an assist, and Erin Cregan scored twice for Geneseo. Caroline McGuigan had three ground balls and two caused turnovers. Tess McFadden made four saves in goal for the Knights.
 
The Herons built a 4-2 lead in the first half. Geneseo struck first when Milich scored just under six minutes in. William Smith then rattled off the next three goals. At 10:35, Murphy notched her first collegiate goal, on a player-up opportunity, off an assist from Carr. Just under a minute later, Moore logged her first of the season after a pass from Carr. Senior Ali Burns made it 3-1 off a feed from Williams with 15:55 left in the first. Fisher cut the Knights' deficit to one with 9:43 left in the first, but Moore registered her second goal of the day 2:01 before the break to give the Herons a two-goal advantage at halftime.
 
Geneseo came out strong in the second half, tallying six straight goals over the opening 13:15 to build a 7-4 lead. Erin Bregan and Hanna Marafioti scored twice in the run. Hannah Milich recorded a goal and an assist and Rachel Fisher notched two assists.
 
The teams then traded goals for the remainder of regulation. Williams scored her first collegiate goal and the Herons' first goal of the second half with 14:30 on the clock to make it 8-5. Marafioti produced her third of the day with 13:23 remaining. Moore responded with her third goal of the afternoon just over a minute later. Mallory Max gave the Knights a 10-6 lead off a feed from Fisher with 7:21 remaining. Yackel answered with her first goal as a Heron with 6:33 left in regulation. Just under a minute later, Marafioti tallied her fourth of the day off a feed from Fisher. Yackel scored again 43 seconds later to get the Herons within two. Moore earned the assist. With three minutes remaining, Marafioti logged her fifth goal of the afternoon. This time Milich was credited with the assist. Moore closed out the scoring with 2:07 left in the game.
 
William Smith finished with a 28-22 edge in shots. The Herons were successful on 10 of 17 clear attempts. The Knights went 15-for-17 on clears. William Smith held a 13-10 advantage at the draw circle.
 
The Herons are back in action on Saturday, March 3, with another non-league game at Fredonia at 1 p.m.