The field hockey team opened their season on Tuesday as they faced no. 18 William Smith College at the new Laker Turf Stadium.

This is the sixth consecutive year that Oswego has faced the Herons in the first game of the season, two teams that are getting to know each other well in what is becoming an out-of-conference rivalry.

The Herons showed why they are deserving of their national ranking from the start, as their renowned defense prevented Oswego from getting a single shot in the first half. To go along with preventing shots, William Smith out-shot the Lakers by the large margin of 16-0 in the first 35 minutes.

The Laker’s defense looked strong though, largely because Sophomore goalie Sarita Charap, who impressed with eight saves while allowing just two goals on those 16 shots. The two shots that passed Charap were scored by junior Herons forward Alessandra Patrizio at 14:13 and sophomore midfielder Alexandra Frary at 19:22.

The 2-0 score at halftime in favor of William Smith was an improvement over the previous two years for Oswego State, in which the Herons scored six goals in each of the first halves in 2013 and 2014.

The second half scoring on Tuesday began with sophomore defender Maura Moran converting William Smith’s third goal of the day at 39:20. Senior Lakers forward Lisa O’Callaghan would bounce back quickly with a goal of her own at the minute mark 41:00, but that would be the only goal of the day for Oswego as they finished with just two shot attempts.

The Herons, meanwhile, would continue to pile on the shot attempts in the second half, cashing in for two more goals on 12 shots, adding up to a striking total of 28 shots on the day.

The final two goals for the Herons were scored by sophomore forward Hannah Wood at 56:52, 61:19. Wood put on a quite an impressive offensive performance. William Smith would go on to win by a final score of 5-1, making it their 12th consecutive victory over the Lakers dating back to 2004.

Oswego will travel to Rochester to face Nazareth College on Saturday at noon.