William Smith senior Melissa Moore notched five points as the No. 15 Heron lacrosse team defeated St. Lawrence 11-7 in a Liberty League game played in Canton, N.Y., this afternoon. The Herons improved to 8-4 overall and 5-1 in conference play.
 
Sophomore Nicki Santora logged a season-high three goals. Senior Sarah Benyo added three points on two goals and an assist. First-years Ellie Burns and Sadie Mapstone each scored two goals. Ellie Burns added two caused turnovers and sophomore Rachael Piercey had two ground balls. First-year Mekayla Montgomery won a game-high seven draws. First-year Jules Kennedy made seven saves in goal for the Herons.
 
The Saints fall to 3-7 overall and 1-4 in the Liberty League. Campbell Armstrong shared a game-high with five points on three goals and two assists. Ashley Norris chipped in three points on a goal and two assists. Rachel Boghosian added two goals. Kayla Schmalz recorded a team-high five draw controls. Colby Hoffman and Greta Massey each grabbed three ground balls. Olga Lukas made seven saves in goal for St. Lawrence.
 
Moore opened the scoring just over five minutes into the contest. Norris and Armstrong answered with goals for the Saints to take a 2-1 lead with 17:48 left in the first. Santora knotted the score at two after a feed from first-year Anna Murphy. Mapstone closed out the first half scoring with back-to-back goals to give William Smith a 4-2 advantage at the break.
 
Boghosian scored 1:23 into the second half off an assist from Armstrong to get the Saints within one, but Santora notched a free position goal for the Herons and Ellie Burns followed with her sixth of the season off a feed from first-year Kelsey Williams to give William Smith a 6-3 advantage. Boghosian struck again for the Saints this time after a pass from Schmalz to make it 6-4 with 26:33 to go. Emma Jewett found the back of the net after a feed from Norris to get the Saints back within one with 23:25 remaining, but the Herons put together the next three goals. Benyo posted back-to-back tallies and Moore logged her second of the day and 25th of the season to put the Herons up 9-5 with 11:02 on the clock. Just under a minute later, Armstrong scored off another assist from Norris, but Santora rounded out her first hat trick of the season for William Smith. Armstrong added a free position goal to complete her hat trick with 5:15 to go, but Burns notched her second of the day for the Herons for the final score.
 
William Smith finished with a 25-20 advantage in shots and a 12-8 edge in draws. St. Lawrence had an 11-8 lead in ground balls. Both teams were successful on 13-of-17 clear attempts.
 
The Herons are back in action on Wednesday, April 11, when they travel to take on No. 16 Ithaca in a Liberty League game at 7 p.m.