GENEVA, N.Y.—The William Smith College lacrosse team extended its win streak to eight games, downing Rensselaer 13-3 in a Liberty League game on Boswell Field this afternoon. The Heron are a perfect 4-0 in Liberty League play and improve to 11-1 overall.
 
The No. 9/3 Herons built an 8-1 lead in the first half, and kept the Engineers (4-7 overall, 2-3 Liberty) off the board for the opening 16:18. Four Herons posted a game-high four points. Senior Alexandra Bird scored a game-high four goals. She upped her career point total to 151, which ranks 19th on the William Smith list. Senior Allie Flaherty scored three goals and added an assist, and junior Melissa Moore chipped in two goals and two assists as well as a game-highs of five draws, three caused turnovers and four ground balls. Flaherty won one draw, which put her career total at 86, tied for 12th on the all-time Heron list. Junior Ali Burns score two goals. Sophomore Bizzer Gahagan won four draws. She has registered 36 draw controls this season which ranks 14th on the Heron single season list. Senior Sarah Honan made two saves in all 60 minutes and added two ground balls and two caused turnovers.
 
Morgan Doyle led the Engineers with two goals. Liz Brady won a team-high three draws. Casey Clarke won two draws and picked up two ground balls. Aleena Milinksi played the opening 49:23 and made 10 saves. Maya Manchester came in for the final 10:37.
 
The Herons put together the first four goals of the game. Bird opened the scoring for William Smith with a free position goal 4:09 in. Moore made it 2-0 8:11 into the contest, cutting through traffic in the middle of the circle for her 19th goal this year. Flaherty notched her first of the day, scoring from the right side with 17:21 left in the first, and Moore notched her second of the day with 15:36 on the clock. Doyle put RPI on the board with a free position goal with 13:42 remaining in the first half. William Smith strung together four more goals to take an 8-1 lead into halftime. Bird posted back-to-back tallies to make it 6-1 with 8:41 to go. Ten seconds later, first-year Nicki Santora scored her first collegiate goal after a pass from Flaherty. Carr produced her seventh goal of the year 7:52 before the break. Junior Ella Calder earned the assist on the play.
 
The Engineers scored the first two goals of the second half to cut the Heron lead to six. Doyle opened with an unassisted tally 4:37 in, and Abbey Salvon followed just over three minutes later. Carly Kirchner was credited with the assist on the feed from behind the goal. However, the Herons kept control of the game closing it out with a five-goal run. Flaherty scored on a free position with 19:25 to go. Bird logged her fourth of the afternoon and 27th of the season on a fast break after an RPI turnover with 14:14 on the clock, and then Burns netted back-to-back tallies to make it 12-3. She has 23 goals this spring. Flaherty closed out the scoring off a feed from Moore with 11:25 left in the game. Flaherty has recorded 25 goals this year.
 
William Smith held a 31-10 advantage in shots, a 19-7 lead in ground balls and a 12-6 edge in draws. The Herons were successful on all 17 of their clear attempts, while RPI finished 15-for-21.
 
The Herons will be back in action tomorrow, April 15, when they host Skidmore for another Liberty League contest (3pm). RPI visits area-rival Union tomorrow (3pm).