SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – The Skidmore College women's lacrosse team fell 15-9 to No. 8 William Smith on Saturday afternoon despite putting forth a valiant team effort in a game that played much closer than the final score.

The Thoroughbreds (5-6, 2-3 Liberty League) built a narrow 3-2 advantage early on after forcing seven first quarter turnovers from the Herons (6-3, 3-0 Liberty League), before withstanding a furious 6-2 second quarter swing from the road team with timely goals to keep the game within reach for most of the second half. However, a 20-7 disparity on draw controls proved too much to overcome as William Smith capitalized on the extra possessions.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Skidmore struck first in the first quarter on a solo goal from Jillian Lockwood at the 7:13 mark, breaking a scoreless first eight minutes of action.  
• After the Herons tallied a pair of unanswered scores, the Thoroughbreds responded with two goals off the sticks of junior Julia Cafasso and Lockwood to take a 3-2 lead at the end of one quarter played.
• William Smith came out firing in the second quarter by scoring five-consecutive goals to build a 7-3 lead with 6:27 remaining in the half.
• Senior Lily Schwartzman halted the Herons scoring run with a man-up goal off the assist from sophomore Phoebe Ross at the 5:33 mark.
• After William Smith responded with their eighth score a minute later, the Thoroughbreds would close out the half with a solo goal from junior Grace deBenedictis to pull Skidmore within an 8-5 margin.
• The Thoroughbreds put together a relentless defensive effort in the first half by forcing nine Herons turnovers and holding a narrow 7-to-6 ground balls edge to counter a staggering 11-to-3 William Smith dominance on draw controls.
• Skidmore struck twice in a low-scoring third period with a 5:52 goal from Schwartzman and a score from Cafasso with 54 seconds remaining to keep the Thoroughbreds within a three-goal deficit. However, the Herons managed to strike quickly with just 25 seconds left in the quarter to push the lead to 11-7 entering the fourth.
• In the final period, Lockwood completed her hat trick at the 11:47 mark and junior Lily Hudner notched an exciting one-bounce goal in transition with 4:58 to go, but it wasn't enough as William Smith scored four of their own in the quarter to pull away for the victory.

STANDOUT THOROUGHBREDS

• Lockwood finished with three goals and one groundball.
• Schwartzman and Cafasso both finished with two goals, with the junior also dishing an assist.
• Sophomore Annie Campbell recorded four caused turnovers, three groundballs and two draw controls.
• Sophomore goalie Maggie Hough extended her double-digit saves streak to four games after recording 12 on the day, while also picking up four groundballs.
• Junior Brooke LaVallee recorded a pair of draw controls and gave an excellent effort on draw controls against the Heron's All-American Natalie Daniels, who was ranked second in the entire nation in draws entering the day.

UP NEXT
The Thoroughbreds will wrap up a five-game home-stand next Saturday by hosting Union for a 1 PM matchup. The matchup serves as the Alumni Appreciation game.