The No. 20 William Smith College lacrosse team rallied from a 6-2 halftime deficit to defeat No. 14 Ithaca 9-8 in a Liberty League game played in Ithaca, N.Y., tonight. The Herons scored three goals in the final 6:04 to secure the win, with senior Sarah Benyo notching the game winner with 1:12 to go.
 
The Herons improve to a 9-4 overall and 6-1 in the Liberty League. Senior Melissa Moore registered a game-high five points on four goals and an assist. First-year Mekayla Montgomery shared game-highs with five ground balls and five draws and added three caused turnovers. First-year Fair Smith picked up four ground balls. First-year Rachel Yackel added a goal and an assist. First-year Jules Kennedy made eight saves for the Herons.
 
The Bombers fall to 8-4 overall and suffered their first Liberty League loss this season (5-1). Indira Varma and Danika Wagener each logged four points on three goals and an assist for Ithaca. Molly Long shared a game-high with five ground balls and notched a game-high four caused turnovers. Reid Simoncini shared a game-high with five draws. Kimberly Presuto made nine saves in goal.
 
Ithaca scored the first two goals of the game and built a 6-2 lead in the first half. Varma scored the game's first two goals. Her first came at 10:35 off an assist from Bailey Herr, and the second came on a free position a little over six minutes later. Moore logged William Smith's first goal of the game with 11:53 left in the first. Wagener tallied a free position goal for the Bombers to make it 3-1 just 20 seconds later. First-year Ellie Burns got the Herons within one with 10:06 left in the opening half. The Bombers closed out the half with three straight goals over a span of 35 seconds to take a four-goal lead into halftime.
 
The Herons stormed back in the second half. Senior Ali Burns scored off a feed from Yackel 6:17 in. Moore followed with a free position goal with 20:13 on the clock to make it 6-4. Simoncini responded with a free position goal for Ithaca under a minute later, however goals from sophomore Bizzer Gahagan and Yackel put the Herons within one with 13:43 to go. Maeve Cambria found the back of the net for the Bombers off an assist from Elizabeth Rice to give Ithaca an 8-6 lead with 12:27 remaining. William Smith rattled off the next three goals in the final 6:04 to secure the victory. Moore registered back-to-back unassisted tallies to knot the game at 8-8 with 3:50 remaining. Benyo sent home the game winner with 1:12 left in regulation. Senior Kelsi Carr set up the play.
 
Ithaca finished with a 23-21 edge in shots. The Herons had a 27-18 upper hand in ground balls. Each team won nine draws. William Smith was successful on 17-of-27 clear attempts, while the Bombers finished 15-of-20 clear attempts.
 
The Herons are back in action on Saturday, April 14, when they host Vassar for another Liberty League game at 1 p.m.