GENEVA, N.Y. – The fourth-seeded Union College women's lacrosse put together a masterful defensive performance and senior Greta Maurer led all players with a game-high five points as the Garnet Chargers upended top-seeded and IWLCA #11 William Smith College by the score of 9-7 in the semifinals of the Liberty League Tournament on Friday afternoon at Boswell Field at David J Urick Stadium.
 
The win advances Union (13-3) to the Liberty League championship game for the first time since winning the 2015 Liberty League title. The Garnet Chargers will take on second-seeded and IWLCA #23 Ithaca College in the championship game after the Bombers' 13-12 win over third-seeded Rochester Institute of Technology.
 
Maurer had a big game offensively for the visitors, becoming the 16th player in program history to surpass 150 career points with her two-goal, three-assist effort to go with three draw controls. Sophomore Gillian Joseph chipped in two goals and one assist and classmate Maddy Schiller netted two goals.
 
At the other end of the field, the Union defensive unit did an excellent job limiting William Smith (12-4) to the same number of shots (18) as turnovers on the day and limiting the Herons to a 16-of-21 effort on clearance attempts. Sophomore Anna Dembowski gobbled up a game-high seven ground balls while causing a turnover and controlling two draws, and junior Sydney Widlitz made five of her six saves in the first half as she only faced five total shots in the final 30 minutes.
 
Union set the tone for the day by coming out strong and earning the better of play to start the contest. Schiller scored on the second possession of the game to take a 1-0 lead and Widlitz made two key stops at the other end to keep the visitors ahead. However, two big stops by Maura Smeader kept the WSC deficit at one and William Smith settled in to score the final three goals of the frame to take a lead into the second stanza.
 
The tide turned dramatically in the second period, as Union outscored William Smith by a 4-1 margin to take its first lead of the game. Joseph started the run with her first of the day, and the visitors tied the score less than two minutes later when junior Sammy Johnson took the ball almost the entire length of the field and then fed classmate Lana Mickelson in front for a pretty put away.
 
Sophomore Hannah Compa found the net off a nice feed from Maurer on an eight-meter chance less than a minute later to put Union ahead for the first time. The Herons called timeout after Compa's goal and tied the score on the next possession, but Maurer put the visitors back on top for good less than a minute after that, and Union took a 6-5 lead into halftime.
 
Union continued its run in the third quarter on goals from Joseph and junior Christina Guanci to take its largest lead of the game at 7-4 with 7:52 left. William Smith would not go away, however, coming back with two in a row to get within a goal after 45 minutes.
 
The defense stepped up again in the final frame, forcing turnovers on William Smith's first four possessions before Maurer tallied a huge player-up goal to double the Union lead with 6:20 left. Schiller and first-year Kate Loughney forced turnovers on the next two Heron possessions and Schiller sunk the dagger with 3:47 on the clock to make it a 9-6 advantage. Another WSC turnover allowed Union to run plenty of clock and coast to their first win over the Herons in the last 13 games.
 
Union will play for its first conference championship since 2015 on Sunday at Ithaca.  Game time is set for 1 p.m.