PITTSFORD, N.Y. —The 17th-ranked William Smith College lacrosse team was edged 7-6 by 11th-ranked St. John Fisher in its season opener at Growney Stadium this afternoon. Today's game was the Herons first contest in 377 days.
 
The Herons (0-1) were led by a trio of players who had two points each. Senior Ellie Burns and sophomore Maddie Montgomery had two goals each, and senior Anna Murphy notched a pair of assists. Senior Ellen Arena recorded a team-high three caused turnovers and scooped up five ground balls. First-year Maddie Bamberger started in goal and made nine saves in her collegiate debut.
 
The Cardinals (4-0) were led by Brittany Halpin who notched a second half hat trick. Sydney DeGirolamo added a pair of goals and won a game-high eight draws for St. John Fisher. Erin Mills scooped up a game-high seven ground balls. Claudia Mocciaro played all 60 minutes in goal and made seven saves.
 
William Smith opened the scoring on Montgomery's first goal of the game. With the Herons playing a player down, she collected a pass from Molly Davis, dodged around a defender, and fired a shot past Mocciaro. It was Montgomery's first career goal. Just over a minute later, senior Rachel Yackel gave William Smith a 2-0 lead. Murphy was credited with an assist on the goal. The defenses took over in the middle part of the first half with 10 minutes separating goals. Bamberger came up big for the Herons, stopping three free position shots during that span.
 
St. John Fisher made it a one goal game with 10:33 left in the first half when Logan Chase beat Bamberger from the top of the fan. Her eighth goal of the season was a man-up goal. William Smith answered two minutes later with a man-up goal of its own. Burns collected a pass from Murphy and slipped a shot past Mocciaro. The Herons thought they took a 4-1 lead with 2:56 left in the half, but Montgomery's tally was wiped off the board following the post-goal stick check. The Cardinals made it 3-2 on a DeGirolamo free position goal with 26 seconds left in the half.
 
William Smith regained a two-goal lead 42 seconds into the second on Allie McGinty's first collegiate goal. She dodged a defender and flipped a shot past the Fisher goalie. St. John Fisher scored the game's next three goals to take a 5-4 lead in the contest. Halpin and DeGirolamo sandwiched free position goals around a Mackenzie Alexander tally.
 
Following another 10-minute stretch of strong defensive play, William Smith drew level when Burns collected a pass from sophomore Payton McMahon and notched her second goal of the game. The Cardinals took the lead for good on back-to-back goals by Halpin. She scored on a free position shot with just over nine minutes remaining in regulation and then pocketed the insurance goal with 4:14 left.
 
William Smith would not go quietly though.  Montgomery fired home a free position shot with 2:55 remaining to make it 7-6. With 19 seconds remaining, the Herons were awarded a free position attempt, but McMahon's shot just missed the crossbar.
 
St. John Fisher finished the game with a 16-13 edge in shots on goal, a 21-18 edge in ground balls, and an 11-4 advantage in draw controls. William Smith was successful on 25-of-26 clear attempts, while the Cardinals were 22-of-25. 
 
The Herons will be back in action next weekend, March 26-27, when it opens Liberty League play with a pair of games against Rochester. William Smith will be at Rochester on Friday at 4 p.m., before returning to Boswell Field on Saturday for a 6 p.m. opening draw.