March 30, 2005

Ali Herter

GENEVA, N.Y.—William Smith College scored four of the game’s final five goals to earn a 12-10 victory over visiting St. John Fisher in non-conference women’s lacrosse action this evening on McCooey Field. Heron senior Ali Herter (Brooks School/Topsfield, Mass.) led all scorers with a career-high five points on three goals and two assists.

Winning the opening draw, Cardinal sophomore Theresa Nobilski (Brighton/Rochester, N.Y.) raced down the field and fired a pass to an open Carla Jemison (Gowanda/Versailles, N.Y.) for the 1-0 lead just 37 seconds into the contest. That proved to be St. John Fisher’s only lead in the contest, as William Smith fired in the next four goals to take a 4-1 lead at the 13:06 mark.

Herter opened the scoring for the Herons 3:18 into the contest off of one of sophomore Jessica Scott’s (Waynflete School/Portland, Maine) game-high four assists. Just over three minutes later, senior attacker Kate Bickford (Lincoln School/Providence, R.I.) put William Smith ahead for good with her eighth goal of the season. Bickford also finished the game with three goals.

The Cardinals were able to close the gap to two, 6-4, heading into the break thanks to a pair of scores from sophomore Haley Koperski (Brighton/Rochester, N.Y.) and a tally by Megan Geatrakas (C.W. Baker/Baldwinsville, N.Y.).

The Herons opened the second frame by finding the back of the net twice to stretch their lead to four. St. John Fisher responded in a big way, scoring four of the next five goals to pull to within one, 9-8, at the 16:35 mark of the second half.

Nobilski and first-year Laurie Quackenbush (Penn Yan Academy/Penn Yan, N.Y.) sparked the Cardinal offense during the spurt with a two scores apiece. Nobilski finished the game with a team-best four points on three goals and an assist.

Bickford put a stop to any idea of a St. John Fisher comeback, beating Cardinal goaltender Jacquie Gilmore (Hilton/Hilton, N.Y.) twice over the next seven minutes to secure the win for the Herons.

William Smith (3-2) outshot St. John Fisher 33-24 and held the Cardinals to just 9-of-20 on clear attempts.

First-year goaltender Morgan Baird (Pingree School/Gloucester, Mass.) posted eight second-half saves and 11 for the game, while Gilmore also finished with 11.

The No. 19 Herons return to action this weekend, hosting the annual Heron Draw. William Smith will go up against Ithaca College on April 2, at 11 a.m., and Denison University the following afternoon at 2 p.m. Live online coverage for the games, including real-time statistics and streaming audio, will be available at: http://campus.hws.edu/athletics/herons/lacrosse/live/xlive.htm.

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