POTSDAM, N.Y. — The 17th-ranked William Smith College lacrosse team defeated Clarkson 11-5 in a Liberty League contest at Hantz Field this afternoon. With the weekend sweep of the Golden Knights, the Herons are now 4-3 overall this season with a 4-2 mark in conference play.
 
Senior Anna Murphy and sophomore Maddie Montgomery led the way for William Smith with four goals each. Junior Payton McMahon finished the game with three points on a goal and two assists. Senior Mekayla Montgomery won a game-high six draws. She now has 200 draw controls for her career. Montgomery also had her 100th career caused turnover in the victory. Four Herons finished the game with 2 ground balls. First-year Maddie Bamberger started in goal and made four saves.
 
Clarkson (1-5, 0-3) was led offensively by Sydney Roderick, who had three points on two goals and an assist. Grace Hagberg also scored twice for the Golden Knights. Natalie Farnett and Emily Fischer logged a game-high three ground balls.  Anna Patterson and Grace Hagberg won two draws each. Fischer started in goal and made five saves in 49 minutes of action. Carolynn Pechmann played the final 11 minutes and made six saves.
 
William Smith took control of the game from the opening draw, jumping out to a 5-1 lead at the half. The Herons scored the game's first three goals. McMahon recorded all three of her points in the game's opening run. She set up Murphy twice and scored a goal of her own. Clarkson broke up the William Smith run with 16:18 left in the half. Hagberg beat Bamberger with a low shot for her 12th goal of the season. Three minutes later, Murphy completed her hat trick firing a shot past Fischer. Maddie Montgomery closed out the first half with her 18th goal of the season. Her unassisted tally gave William Smith a 5-1 lead.
 
The opening five minutes of the second half saw a flurry of goals. Roderick notched her eighth goal of the season 56 seconds into the half. One minute later, senior Kelsey William answered back with her sixth goal of the season to make it 6-2. Katie Sergeant's second goal of the season made it a three goal game 79 seconds later. Maddie Montgomery completed her hat trick with a pair of goals 39 seconds apart, extending the Herons lead to 8-3. With 24:25 left in the half, Hagberg added her second goal of the game for the Golden Knights. Just over a minute later, sophomore Molly Davis beat Fischer for her third goal of the season. Murphy's fourth goal of the game and ninth of the season came with 16:50 remaining in regulation. Six minutes later, Roderick notched her second goal of the game. Montgomery rounded out the scoring with her team-leading 21st goal of the season.
 
William Smith dominated the stat sheet, finishing with a 36-14 advantage in shots, a 16-14 edge in ground balls and 12-6 win in the draw circle. William Smith was 17-for-19 clearing the ball and Clarkson was 20-for-26.
 
William Smith will be back in action next weekend, April 16-17, when it takes on RIT in a home-and-home series. The Tigers will host the front end of the series on Friday, April 16 at 4 p.m. The Herons will welcome RIT to Boswell Field on Saturday, April 17, at 2 p.m.