GENEVA, N.Y.-The William Smith College field hockey team dropped its season opener to St. John Fisher 3-1 on McCooey Field this evening. The Cardinals were paced by a hat trick from Bre Socker.
 
St. John Fisher took control of the contest right from the opening whistle, earning the game's first five penalty corners. Socker converted on the Cardinal's fifth corner of the night. She collected a pass from Lauren Fazio and blasted a shot into the back of the net.
 
Senior Fallon Adair tied the game at 1-1 in the 23rd minute, slipping a shot past Ashley Maynard inside the left post. First-year Shannon Roycroft was credited with an assist on the goal.
 
In the 38th minute, Socker gave the Cardinals a 2-1 lead with another blast from the top of the arc off a penalty corner. Fazio was credited with her second assist of the game as the inserter of the penalty corner. Socker completed the hat trick six minutes later redirecting a pass from Gianna Palma into the cage.
 
Sophomore Alexandra DeVito started in goal for the Herons and made five saves in 70 minutes. Maynard made five stops in goal for St. John Fisher.
 
William Smith finished with a slight 11-10 edge in shots and both teams earned eight penalty corners.
 
The Herons will return to action on Wednesday, Sept. 5, when they take on Geneseo. The game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.