ITHACA, N.Y. - William Smith defeated the No. 25 Ithaca College field hockey team, 1-0, to secure its second consecutive Liberty League championship in a defensive matchup at Higgins Stadium on Sunday. The 1-0 win for the Herons was the same result as the last meeting between the teams earlier in the season.

Both teams had opportunities to score early in the first quarter. An early Juliana Valli breakaway was saved by William Smith a minute into the game. William Smith would get an opportunity on a corner under a minute later, but the Bombers defense held on to keep the Herons out of the net.

William Smith would get on the board first, as a corner would lead to a Herons goal six minutes into the game on a shot that went wide, but the Herons got a second shot off as Mackenzie Wodka gathered the loose ball to give William Smith a 1-0 lead.

The Bombers offense would get a scoring opportunity late in the first quarter from a corner, but the Herons made a defensive save to keep the Bombers off the scoreboard, as William Smith would lead 1-0 at the break.

The Bombers offense would find its way into the attacking circle midway through the second quarter, but the William Smith defense took away the Bombers opportunities thanks to a save by Kristen McCormick to keep the Bombers off the board in the first half, as the score would remain 1-0 going into the break.

Ithaca would start the second half strong offensively with a scoring opportunity on a corner, but a Natalie Descalso shot was blocked away by the Herons to keep William Smith in the lead. The Bombers offense would get another opportunity a minute later, but the Herons would once again make a stop by the net.

William Smith would get a corner with nine minutes remaining in the third quarter, but Alex Clough got in front of the ball as the Bombers would clear the corner out from the goal and keep the game at a one goal difference.

Clough finished the game with four saves.

The Bombers offense would move the ball into Herons territory half way through the fourth quarter, but Ithaca was unable to get the ball past the Herons defense as William Smith once again negated an Ithaca attack to keep the Bombers at bay.

William Smith would fail to capitalize on a corner with six and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter, as Nicole Fortunato took away a Herons shot inside the attacking zone to reset the field for the Bombers.

Ithaca's offense went on the attack late in the fourth, as the Bombers drew a corner against the Herons. A Brenna Schoenfeld shot was knocked away by the Herons defense, as the Bombers failed to capitalize on the corner opportunity thanks to a save by the Herons.

Ithaca got a late opportunity with 30 second remaining, but the Herons would clear the ball away from the net and would hold onto the ball for the final seconds to clinch the win and the conference championship.

Ithaca finishes the season with a record of 14-6 and will find out later tonight if it earns an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship.