SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — The William Smith College field hockey team lost to Skidmore 4-1 this afternoon at Wagner Park. The Thoroughbreds improve to 5-5 overall, and 2-0 in league play, while the Herons fall to 3-7, and 0-2 in conference play.
 
Sophomore Emma Schafer recorded her third career goal with ten minutes left in the game. First-year Lauren Jackson hit the ball at the 25 yard line, and Maddy Carre attempted to clear the ball by kicking it. Carre redirected the ball to Schafer who took advantage of the opportunity and fired the ball into the goal cage.
 
Skidmore was unable to get past the Heron defense for the majority of the first half. With 44 seconds left, Sofia Marshall inserted a penalty corner to Carly Shea. Shea passed the ball to Carrie Hughes, and rattled a shot off, putting Skidmore up 1-0.
 
Marshall inserted another penalty corner in the beginning of the second half, and Sarah Winters shot the ball past junior goaltender Alexandra DeVito to increase the Thoroughbreds lead to 2-0. Marshall tallied her third assist of the game when she connected with Gabrielle Vaccaro eight minutes into the second half. A minute later, Mariah Redler scored Skidmore's fourth goal.
 
William Smith rallied in the fourth quarter, matching the Thoroughbreds' six shots, and taking four out of the nine penalty corners awarded. Overall, Skidmore led  21-14 in shots, and had a 16-5 advantage in penalty corners.
 
DeVito made nine saves in 40 minutes, and sophomore Stephanie Stone stopped the ball five times in the last 20 minutes of the game.
 
The Herons will be back in action next Saturday, Oct. 12 at 3 p.m., when they host St. Lawrence for a Liberty League match on McCooey Field.