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Herons aim for return trip to national stage
September 1 , 2005
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Senior Maggie Dolan and the Herons
are aiming for a return trip to the NCAA
Championship round. |
GENEVA, N.Y.—Under the leadership of Head Coach Sally Scatton, the William Smith College field hockey team has not gone more than four seasons between national championships. If you believe in signs, the Herons last hoisted the NCAA championship trophy in 2000. It’s time.
William Smith welcomes back 15 letterwinners, including seven starters. While she believes her 2005 squad is capable of competing on the national stage, Scatton is cautiously optimistic about the team’s chances of returning to the NCAA championship round for a second straight year.
“We have some critical pieces to replace, but we have the talent in place to do it,” Scatton said. “We just need to get them some experience.”
One place William Smith won’t be short is up top. Junior Sophie Dennis (Dana L. West/Port Byron, N.Y.) and senior Maggie Dolan (Towson/Towson, Md.) have combined for 148 points during their careers. Together they form the most formidable scoring tandem in the Liberty League.
Dennis, who has averaged 45 points per season, is on track to eclipse the career scoring mark of Melissa Crowley ’91 (147). In 2004, she posted 53 points (the second highest single season total for a Heron) on 22 goals and nine assists, while earning first-team All-American honors. Dennis is a magician in front of the cage on penalty corners, giving opposing goalies fits.
Dolan blossomed into a potent scoring threat in her own right last season, notching 13 goals and nine assists. At her present scoring clip, she should move into the William Smith top-10 in scoring with even an average scoring season. A third-team All-American, Dolan thrived last year, at times operating as the Herons’ No. 1 scoring option as teams swarmed Dennis in a futile attempt to deny her touches.
Senior Tara Baker (Rome Free Academy/Lee Center, N.Y.) and junior Ashley Barker (Cape Elizabeth/Cape Elizabeth, Maine) will battle for the third starting spot up top. Both players have quality game experience and will provide able support to Dennis and Dolan.
The offense also will be bolstered by a quintet of talented, if untested, first-years that Scatton expects to factor into the front line rotation.
In the midfield, senior Amy Kuzio (Clinton/Clinton, N.Y.) and junior Brooke Atwood (Marathon/Marathon, N.Y.) return to their starting roles on the wings. However, William Smith will need to find a new central midfielder following the graduation of two-time All-American Sarah Silverio ’05. Both Kuzio (3-6-12 in 2004) and Atwood (4-2-10) have the skills and savvy to handle the assignment.
Two veterans and a pair of first-years will compete for quality time in the third starting role. Junior defender Katelin Nickerson (Yarmouth/Yarmouth, Maine) may move forward because of the Herons’ surplus of talented backliners. Sophomore Brittney Paye (Clinton/Clinton, N.Y.) was a regular part of the midfield rotation by the end of last season, providing William Smith quality minutes off the bench. Rookies Leila Higgins (Peapack, N.J.), a team captain and the recipient of the Coaches Award at the Groton School, and Charlotte Styer (Mohnton, Pa.), a two-time All-Division player for Governor Mifflin High School, also will get a shot in the midfield.
Despite the graduation of three-time All-Liberty League pick Lea Desforges ’05 and Janie O’Donnell ’05, Scatton considers the defense to be the strength of this year’s team.
Senior left back Lauren Fuller (Shaker/Loudonville, N.Y.) is a shut down defender with a thunderous stick on penalty corners. She has scored 14 goals over the past two seasons, including seven game-winners. Also returning is junior center back Liz Saucier (Old Town/Old Town, Maine). An intelligent player, she is rarely caught out of position despite moving forward enough to collect seven goals and two assists last season.
Seniors Melissa Fitch (Oyster River/Durham, N.H.) and Patricia Foster (Newton Country Day/Needham, Mass.), juniors Michelle Peters (Freeport/Freeport, Maine) and Nickerson, and sophomore Skylar Beavers (Williamsville North/Williamsville, N.Y.) will compete for the two remaining starting roles. Scatton is confident in the abilities of all five players and will be blessed with exceptional depth with whatever combination she chooses.
In goal, senior Sue Jordan (Boothbay/Boothbay, Maine) returns for her second season as the starter. She came into her own over the final month of the 2004 season, posting an 8-1 record with a 0.88 goals against average. Jordan produced the finest performance of her career in the NCAA semifinal against eventual national champion Salisbury, turning away 19 Seagull offerings.
First-year Katie DeKraker (Staples/Westport, Conn.) will serve as Jordan’s understudy. DeKraker already has impressed the coaching staff with her work ethic and dedication to the team effort.
The pieces are in place, but if the Herons are going to return to the pinnacle of Division III for the fourth time since 1992, they’ll first have to contend with an ultracompetitive Liberty League slate. William Smith has finished atop the league standings seven times over the past 10 seasons, but each season the conference gets stronger and stronger, leaving the Herons little time to rest.