PITTSFORD, N.Y – It came down to the final seconds, but the No. 17 St. John Fisher College women's lacrosse team held on to defeat No. 18 William Smith College in a battle of two top-25 teams at Growney Stadium by a score of 11-10 on Thursday afternoon. With the victory the Cardinals improve to 3-1 overall, while the Herons fall to 2-2 overall.

Mary Grace Doyle was the hero for the Cardinals as the senior tallied the game-winning-goal with 34 seconds remaining in regulation, while Morgan Hayes stopped the final Heron shot as time expired to secure the win.  

William Smith got the goal scoring started in the ranked matchup as the Herons put the first tally on the scoreboard at the 22:35 mark of the first half.

Mallory Eymer scored her first of four goals on the afternoon just about 40 seconds later, while Alyssa Sabotka followed up and was able to put Fisher ahead with her second of the season.

From there, the Herons answered back with two goals of their own to earn back a one-goal advantage at the midway point of the opening half.

As the first half wore on, Fisher was able to score the game's next four goals as Doyle, Eymer, and Logan Chase were able to find the back of net to put the Cardinals back-up 6-3. However, William Smith was able to battle its way back before the halftime horn sounded as the Herons cut the Fisher lead to one, heading into the break.

Following the opening second half draw control, Chase scored her second of the game to quickly push the Fisher lead to 7-5 after just 34 seconds ticked off the clock.

Once again, the Herons forced their way back into the game with back-to-back goals to even the score up at seven apiece.

After both sides traded goals, Sydney DeGirolamo and Allison Rupp brought a two-goal advantage back to Fisher as 14:20 remained on the game clock. But it was William Smith able to answer once more as the Herons tied the game-back up with two late goals in the second half.

It was after that where Doyle was able to find room in front of the Heron cage to bury a feed from DeGirolamo, for her seventh of the season with 34 seconds remaining.

William Smith was awarded a free position attempt with six seconds remaining, however Hayes came up huge to make the final save of the game and seal the hard-earned victory for Fisher.

Claudia Mocciaro was credited with her third victory of the season in net for the Cardinals as the sophomore finished the first half with four saves, while Hayes finished the second half with five saves in the win. Molly Tice led the way defensively, finishing with three caused turnovers and five ground balls, while DeGirolamo grabbed a game-high six draw controls.

The Cardinals are back in action tomorrow at 3 p.m. when they welcome Oneonta to Growney Stadium for another non-conference matchup.