SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.—William Smith road a five-goal first half run to a 9-5 Liberty League women's lacrosse win over Skidmore Friday afternoon at Wachenheim Field.
 
It was the league opener for both teams. The Thoroughbreds are 3-5 overall, while the Herons move to 2-5.
 
Tyler Phillps scored three goals and had six ground balls, seven caused turnovers and three draw controls for the Thoroughbreds. The seven caused turnovers ties the team's single-game record done four times previously, the last time in 2010 by Lauren Madden.
 
Also for Skidmore, Cas Szwajkowski had two goals and Rachel Talanian had six caused turnovers and a game-high seven ground balls.
 
Hannah Connolly led William Smith with three goals. Ali Burns scored twice and Cat Wolf had five ground balls and two caused turnovers.
 
Phillips got the Thoroughbreds on the board first with at 23:37.   The Herons scored the next five goals, including two by Burns and goalie Sarah Honan had six saves to give William Smith a 5-1 advantage at the half.
 
Phillips opened the second half with her 25^th of the season at 20:22 to cut it to 5-3, but that was as close as Skidmore would get.
 
The Thoroughbreds had a 23-19 shot advantage in shots and a 25-24 edge in ground balls.
 
Megan Kolopsky had six saves for Skidmore, while Honan finished with 10 saves.
 
Both teams continue league play on Saturday. Skidmore will host Union at 3 p.m. and William Smith is at Rensselaer for a 2 p.m. game.