GENEVA, N.Y. — The No. 20 Ithaca College women's lacrosse team fell to the No. 3 William Smith College Herons Wednesday evening by the score of 17-8. The Bombers now drop to 8–5 on the season and 5–3 in Liberty League play.
 
Offensively, Sydney Phillips scored a hat trick, as Maizy Veitch also had a multigoal day, as well as an assist. Haley Armstrong, Caroline Wise, and Chloe Nordyke also scored for the Bombers. Wise led Ithaca in assists with three, Maddie Hall trailed her with two, and Armstrong also had one. Wise finished with 10 draw controls to lead the Bombers, while Lexi Kellish recorded four, and Elizabeth Green and Sydney Phillips each had two. Defensively, Kellish, Phillips, and Kaitlyn Russell were tied for the team lead in caused turnovers with two, and Olivia Puppo and Maggie Mandel each had one. In net for Ithaca was Lexi Held, who recorded 13 saves in the outing.
 
The Herons were able to get on the board first, scoring two and a half minutes, then following that up with another two goals to lead 3–0 with seven minutes left in the frame. Maddie Montgomery led the charge for the Herons, finishing with seven goals and two assists. The Bombers were able to win the next draw and got on the board shortly after the third Heron goal, as Phillips was assisted by Veitch. However, Montgomery put the Herons back up by three with four minutes to go in the quarter. In the final two minutes of the first, the Bombers were able to make a defensive stand and clear the ball, leading to a goal from Armstrong that was assisted by Wise, making the score 4–2 in favor of William Smith heading into the second quarter.
 
Kellish won the opening draw to start the second quarter, and Veitch scored 43 seconds in off an assist from Hall to make it a one goal game. The one goal deficit is the closest the Bombers would be able to get to the Herons though, as William Smith came back with four straight goals in the next eight minutes to make it 8–3. Veitch was able to get one back for Ithaca before the break, but the Bombers headed into the half trailing 8–4.
 
Ithaca made a small run to start the second half, scoring a pair of goals quickly to put pressure on the Herons. Wise won the draw control to start the third, and Chloe Nordyke scored 36 seconds in off an assist from Armstrong. On the next draw, Wise won it again, and Phillips scored with 13 minutes left to make it 8–6. But, Montgomery would stop the run and start one for the Herons, scoring two minutes later and kicking off a 4–0 run over the next five minutes. Wise scored with a little over five minutes remaining in the quarter, and that would end up being the last goal of the frame, ending the third with Ithaca behind 12–7.
 
The Herons came out of the break and put their foot down, putting the game away in the early stages of the fourth quarter. The Herons scored the first five goals of the quarter before Phillips scored for Ithaca, but the deficit was eight by then. Neither team added to its total in the last five minutes, and 17–8 held as the final score.
 
The Herons thoroughly outshot the Bombers, peppering the net with 39 shots and 30 on goal, compared to Ithaca's 18 shots and 14 on goal. The Herons generated more free position shots, leading 5–1, and nearly doubled the Bombers in ground balls 23–12. Ithaca led in draw controls 18–11, and led in saves 13–6, but was not able to make a run in the second half.
 
The Bombers look to bounce back when they host RIT this weekend at 1 p.m. at Higgins Stadium on Saturday, April 15.