ITHACA, N.Y. - The nationally-ranked No. 9 Ithaca College women's lacrosse team fell to the No. 8 William Smith by a score of 14–13. With the loss, the Bombers fall to 10–2 overall, and 6–2 in the Liberty League, while the Herons improve to 11–1, and a perfect 6–0 in the Liberty League.

The Bombers had four players score multiple goals in the game, with graduate student, Alexa Ritchie scoring three, to go along with Caroline Wise, Sydney Philips and Maddie Hall scoring two apiece. 

William Smith dominated the majority of the game defensively, causing 20 Ithaca turnovers while also recovering 18 ground balls. 

Just two minutes into the game, William Smith put them on the board first, with two back-to-back goals from junior, Maddie Montgomery for her 40th goal of the season and senior Payton McMahon. Just a minute and a half later, the Bombers would cut the Herons' lead in half, to 2–1 after a goal from graduate student, Rachel Rosenberg.

William Smith would quickly add two more goals to their lead, which gave them a 4–1 advantage halfway into the first quarter. Sophomore Maizy Veitch halved the Herons' lead again for her 44th goal of the season however, Montgomery netted another goal for the Herons to bring their lead back to three goals. 

The Bombers scored one more goal before the end of the first quarter, which cut their deficit back down to two goals, at 5–3. The defense was the story for the Herons in the first quarter, causing four turnovers and recovering seven ground balls, as compared to the Bombers' one. 

Just 51 seconds into the second quarter, the Herons improved their lead back to three goals, off of a goal from sophomore, Allie McGinty, which grew the lead to 6-3. The Bombers answered minutes later with a free position goal from Ritchie, which cut the score down to 6–4.

The Bombers were not able to cut into the Herons' lead any further, as just 40 seconds after Ritchie's goal, junior, Molly Davis put the ball into the back of Ithaca's net for their seventh goal of the day. 

The Bombers were able to take care of business after a foul on Anna Murphy gave Philips the opportunity to score on a free position goal, which cut the score to 7–5. The Herons only grew their lead after the Philips goal, however, McGinty and Murphy found the back of the net on back-to-back goals, which grew the Heron lead to 9–5. 

Despite being on the women-up advantage, the Bombers failed to find the back of William Smith's net before halftime, taking a 9–5 deficit into the intermission. 

Both teams exchanged goals early in the third quarter, as senior, Megan Motkowski found the back of the net following a caused turnover and ground ball pickup by Philips. 

The Herons would go on a four-goal run in the third quarter following Motkowski's goal, which cushioned their lead to 13–6. McGinty scored twice, which brought her goal total to five on the day, while Montgomery and Murphy accounted for the other two goals. Montgomery's goal gave her a hattrick on the day. 

With three minutes remaining in the third quarter, The Bombers cut into the Herons' lead after Philips blasted a free position goal past Maura Smeader, for her second goal of the day, which cut the score to 13–7.  Motkowski picked up a crucial ground ball for the Bombers, which ended in a goal from Wise, to lower their deficit back down to five at the end of the third quarter. 

The Herons and the Bombers traded goals early into the fourth quarter to make the score 14–9 in the Herons' favor, but neither team was able to get much offense going throughout the first five minutes. 

The Bombers added three more goals midway into the fourth quarter, cutting their deficit and the score to 14–12, off of goals from, Ritchie, Hall and graduate student, Madison Boutureira.  

With a little more than one minute left in the fourth quarter, the Bombers cut the Herons' lead to 14–13 following Ritchie's third goal of the game. 

The Herons ultimately survived the Bombers' late-game push, as Montgomery won the final draw control and ran out the shot clock, leading to a 14–13 victory for the Herons. 

Sophomore, Lexi Held's record drops to 10-2 on the season but made 10 saves in 60 minutes of action. 

The Bombers will travel to Rochester, N.Y. to take on the RIT Tigers this Saturday at 3:30 p.m. before hosting St. Lawrence on Friday, April 22nd for Senior Day.