The St. Lawrence University women's lacrosse team dropped its 2014 Liberty League opener on Friday afternoon, as William Smith used a three-goal run late in the second half to earn an 8-6 victory in Geneva, NY. Chloe Knapp led the Saints with three goals, while Caroline Bailey added a goal and an assist.

William Smith's Sarah Honan made six stops and Rachel Hughes had a game-high six caused turnovers to help the Herons win their 14th straight Liberty League opener since 2001 to improve to 1-5 (1-0). St. Lawrence falls to 2-4 (0-1) as Addie Cunningham made four saves on 12 shots on goal and Kiera Taussig added a game-high five goals. The Herons finished with a 20-18 advantage in shots and ground balls while each team had eight ground balls. The two teams combined for 50 turnovers in the game, as the Saints struggled in transition with 12-of-20 successful clears.

Knapp's fourth goal of the season opened the scoring 3:29 into the first half to give St. Lawrence a 1-0 lead, but four straight goals by William Smith gave them the momentum midway through the period. Meg Hannan, Emy Stratton, Allie Flaherty and Alexandra Bird helped the home team build a 4-1 lead. Though Hannah Calvelli pulled St. Lawrence a goal closer with 7:56 left in the half, Kate Byrne's goal 1:56 later capped the scoring and gave the Herons a 5-2 lead at halftime.

The Saints would respond in style to start the second half, as the team rallied with three consecutive goals to tie the game at 5-5 with 19:52 to play. Bailey opened the half's scoring , then assisted on Knapp's man-up goal only 31 seconds later to make it a 5-4 game. Taussig would then draw St. Lawrence even and 5-5 with her sixth of the year.

Neither team was able to take the lead for over eight minutes until Hannan cashed in on a man-up try for William Smith with 11:45 to play in regulation. The Herons built momentum and a lead following the goal, as Byrne and Bird scored only 59 seconds apart for an 8-5 lead with 7:09 left. Knapp gave St. Lawrence a lift with 2:47 remaining, but a free position shot from Bailey missed wide, ending the Saints' hopes of a late comeback.

The Scarlet and Brown will look to earn a weekend split tomorrow, Saturday, March 29 when the team faces Union College in Schenectady, NY at 3:00pm.