The 19th-ranked William Smith College lacrosse team will return to the field on Saturday, May 1, when it makes the 49-mile trip to Ithaca for the Liberty League Championship Game. The Herons are looking to win their fifth-straight title. This is the third straight time that William Smith and the Bombers will square off for the conference crown.
 
Opening draw is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Higgins Stadium. A live webcast and live stats from the contest will be available on Ithaca's website.
 
Saturday's game will be the third meeting between the Herons and Ithaca this season. The Bombers swept the regular season meetings, winning 13-7 in Ithaca and 9-7 in Geneva. All-time, William Smith holds a 32-23 edge in the series. The Herons have won both meetings in the conference tournament, the 2018 and 2019 championship games.
 
William Smith (7-4) earned a spot in the title game thanks to a 19-4 win over Union on Wednesday afternoon. Senior Kelsey Williams had a game-high six points on four goals and two assists. Junior Payton McMahon added a hat trick and five other players finished the game with two goals.
 
Offensively, the Herons are led by sophomore Maddie Montgomery. She has 40 points on 35 goals and five assists this year. Senior Anna Murphy (17g, 5a) and junior Payton McMahon (16g, 6a) are tied for second with 22 points each.
 
On the defensive end of the field, senior Mekayla Montgomery leads the team with 49 draw controls, 39 ground balls, and 28 caused turnovers. Sophomore Molly Davis is right behind her with 49 draw controls and senior Ellen Arena has 19 caused turnovers and 26 ground balls. First-year Maddie Bamberger has played a majority of the minutes in goal. She is 7-2 with a 7.65 goals against average and a .440 save percentage.
 
William Smith leads the Liberty League in scoring defense (8.55gpg), caused turnovers per game (11.27) and ground balls per game (21.64).
 
Ithaca (12-0) is ranked seventh in the latest IWLCA poll and sixth in the Nike/USLacrosse Magazine poll. The Bombers are the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament and advanced to the championship game, following a 20-8 win over St. Lawrence. Jacqui Hallack and Alex Rabb had five goals each for Ithaca. Megan Motkowski added a hat trick and three players had two goals in the win.
 
Hallack leads Ithaca and the Liberty League with 61 goals and 73 points. She is sixth in the nation in goals and eighth in goals per game (5.08) and is 21st in the nation in points and 25th in points per game (6.08). A four-time Liberty League Offensive Performer of the Week, Hallack also leads the Bombers with 82 draw controls. The Herons limited her to a combined five goals and seven points in the two meetings in the regular season. Megan Motkowski (32g, 11a) and Madison Boutureira (25g, 16a) also have more than 40+ points.
 
Defensively, Rachel Rosenberg leads the team with 30 ground balls and 31 caused turnovers. She is second on the team with 40 draw controls. Molly Nodiff is second with 25 ground balls and 19 caused turnovers. Mackenzie Schade has played a majority of the minutes in goal. She is 12-0 with a 9.89 GAA and a .449 save percentage.