April 1 , 2006

GENEVA, N.Y.—The William Smith lacrosse team put a scare into No. 3 SUNY Cortland this morning in the opening game of the annual Heron Draw, but the Red Dragon’s proved to strong, holding onto a 9-7 victory on McCooey Field. The Herons fall to 3-3 on the season, while SUNY Cortland improves to 6-0.

Senior midfielder Jessica Tanner (Guilderland/Schenectady, N.Y.) led upset-minded William Smith with four points, including a pair of goals, while junior midfielder Sarah Dillon (Blair Academy/Oldwick, N.J.) recorded three markers. Junior attackers Jennifer Willis (Walt Whitman/Huntington, N.Y.) and Ali Bourgal (Sachem/Sachem, N.Y.) paced SUNY Cortland with five points (2-3) and four points (4-0), respectively.

The Red Dragon’s leading scorer, Willis registered the game-winning goal at the 50 minute mark to break a 7-7 deadlock.

Both teams opened the first half by exchanging a pair of goals. Willis kicked off the scoring just 1:44 into the contest. Dillon provided the answer at the 10:09 mark off a feed from sophomore midfielder Rachel Stahl (Charles W. Baker/Baldwinsville, N.Y.), while junior midfielder Jill Battaglia (Amherst/Amherst. N.Y.) regained SUNY Cortland’s lead just over five minutes later. Tanner tallied the equalizer on a free position shot at the 20:38 mark.

The Red Dragon’s surged out to a 4-2 lead, but the Herons connected on back-to-back goals to enter the intermission tied at 4-4.

SUNY Cortland carried the momentum coming out of the half, riding the two-goal effort by Bourgal. The resilient William Smith squad responded with three unanswered goals to give the Herons their first lead of the game at the 44:25 mark. Stahl started the run at the 37:19 mark, while sophomore attacker Jesse McKenna (Middlesex School/Wenham, Mass.) tied the contest at 6-6. The Herons’ leading scorer, Dillon put William Smith ahead off a feed from junior midfielder Jessica Scott (Waynflete School/Portland, Maine).

SUNY Cortland rode the hot stick of Bourgal in the waning minutes of regulation to hold off a determined Herons’ squad, scoring a pair of insurance goals just 48 second apart.

In goal, sophomore Morgan Baird (Pingree School/Gloucester, Mass.) turned in a stellar performance, stopping seven shots to hold the explosive Red Dragons’ offense to five goals below their season average (14.6 goals per game). Senior goalkeeper Regina Grosso (C.W. Baker/Baldwinsville, N.Y.) also made seven saves.

SUNY Cortland held a slight 22-20 advantage in shots and collected three more groundballs (17-14). Both teams attempted 14 clears with the Red Dragons successful on 12, while William Smith was one off the pace.

William Smith returns to action at 2 p.m. on April 2, when the Herons host Denison University in the finale of the Heron Draw. SUNY Cortland and No. 13 Colorado College tangle in a rematch of the 2005 NCAA regional finals at 11 a.m. on McCooey Field.

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