November 30 , 2005

GENEVA, N.Y.—The NCAA accepted William Smith College’s bid to host the 2006 NCAA Division III Field Hockey Championship. The tournament semifinals and championship matches will be played on H.J. McCooey Memorial Field on Nov. 18 and Nov. 19.

“We are delighted that student-athletes in the NCAA Division III Field Hockey Championship will have the chance to play on McCooey Field, a state-of-the-art facility,” Mark Gearan, president of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, said. “All of the guests for the championship games will see first hand the beauty of our campus and witness the hospitality of the Geneva community.”

William Smith Director of Athletics Deb Steward echoed Gearan’s enthusiasm.

“William Smith College is proud to have been selected to host the 2006 NCAA Division III Field Hockey Championship,” Steward said. “A tremendous amount of work was involved with submitting the bid materials. Sally Scatton, our field hockey coach, led these efforts and we are thrilled they were rewarded.”

H.J. McCooey Memorial Field

McCooey Field was made possible by a lead naming gift from the family of Herbert J. McCooey Sr., a former Wall Street broker who sent five of his seven children to the Colleges. Completed during the fall of 2000, McCooey Field features an AstroTurf 12 surface, seating for 1,500 fans, lights for night games and practices, and a hi-tech press box that features standard phone lines, high-speed Internet connections, and wireless Internet coverage.

While this is the first time William Smith has hosted the field hockey championships since the NCAA switched to predetermined sites in 2001, the Herons are no strangers to the event. William Smith hosted the championship in 1987 and 1998 when the right to host was awarded to one of the four participating teams.

The Herons also have a very impressive resume when it comes to competing on championship weekend. In 16 tournament appearances, William Smith reached the semifinal round six times and played for the national championship five times bringing home the 1992, 1997, and 2000 titles.

Scatton, who just completed her 18th season in Geneva, boasts a record of 295-79-3. She will welcome back seven starters in 2006, including two-time All-American and William Smith’s all-time leading scorer Sophie Dennis (Dana L. West/Port Byron, N.Y.). The Herons are the two-time defending champions of the Liberty League and have worn the conference crown seven times in the 11-year existence of the League.

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