GENEVA, N.Y.—The 11th-ranked William Smith lacrosse team was edged by Union 9-7 in a Liberty League semifinal on Boswell Field at David J Urick Stadium this afternoon. With the loss, the Herons fall to 12-4 on the season.
 
Sophomore Kira Fulton led the way for William Smith in the loss. Senior Katherine Murray added a goal and an assist. Sophomore Janey Sypeck had a game-high four caused turnovers and led William Smith with four ground balls. Junior Caitlin Baker and senior Livvy Von Heill had two caused turnovers. Senior Kate Colvin had a game-high six draw controls. Senior Maura Smeader played all 60 minutes in goal and made seven saves.
 
Union (13-3) advances to Sunday's conference championship game. The Garnet Chargers were led offensively by Greta Maurer's two goals, three assists and five points. She also had three draw controls. Gillian Joseph and Maddy Schiller had two goals each. Anna Dembowski had a game-high seven ground balls for Union.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• The Garnet Chargers finished with a 19-18 edge in shots and a 17-15 advantage in ground balls.
• William Smith won the battle in the draw circle 11-8.
• Union was 17-for-19 on its clear attempts and William Smith was 16-for-21 on its clear attempts.

 
MATCH MOMENTS

• Union opened the scoring just under three minutes into the game. Schiller beat a defender and ripped a shot past Smeader for her 26th goal of the year.
• William Smith scored the game's next three goals to take a 3-1 lead at the end of the first quarter. Fulton started the run with her 26th goal of the season. It was assisted by Murray.  Two minutes later, Murray pocketed her team-leading 46th goal of the season. Colvin tacked on her 15th goal of the season to make it 3-1 with 45 seconds left in the frame.
• Union took control of the game in the second quarter using a 6-1 run to take a 7-4 lead with 7:52 left in the third quarter. Joseph started the run four minutes into the frame. Her woman-up goal was assisted by Mauer. Just over a minute later, Lana Mickelson scored on a feed to make it 3-3. Hannah Compa then converted a feed from Maurer to give the Garnet Chargers the lead.
• Fulton briefly halted Union's momentum with 8:28 left in the half. Her 27th goal of the season was unassisted.
• Maurer responded one minute later and never looked back. Her 30th goal was assisted by Joseph. Joseph then gave Union a 6-4 lead two minutes into the third quarter. Her 44th goal of the year was assisted by Maurer. Christina Guanci notched a woman-up goal with 7:52 left in the third quarter to end the run.
• Fulton completed her hat trick with 4:40 remaining in the frame. It was her 28th goal of the year.
• Sophomore Mia Falco scored a woman-up goal with 45 seconds remaining in the 3rd quarter to make it 7-6. That would be as close as William Smith would get.
• Maurer and Schiller scored unassisted goals in the fourth quarter to give Union a 9-6 lead.
• Junior Taryn Luzi rounded out the scoring with her 25th goal of the year.

 
UP NEXT
William Smith will wait and see if it will get one of the 17 at-large bids into the 2025 NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship. The entire 47-team field will be announced on Monday, May 5, at 10:30 a.m.