May 5, 2006

GENEVA, N.Y.—Hamilton College first-year attacker Kaillie Briscoe (Orangeville District School/Orangeville, Ontario) recorded seven points as the fourth-seeded Continentals upset top-seeded William Smith 10-8 in overtime this afternoon in the Liberty League Women’s Lacrosse Tournament on McCooey Field. Briscoe accounted for both goals in the extra session as Hamilton advanced to the championship game.

On May 6, the fourth-seeded Continentals (12-4) square off against No. 3 Union College (11-4) in the Liberty League title game at 1 p.m. on McCooey Field. The Dutchwomen upset No. 2 Skidmore 9-3 in the other semifinal. The Liberty League Champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The reigning Liberty League Co-Rookie of the Year, Briscoe gave Hamilton’s just its second lead of the game, when she squeezed the game-winner just inside the left post 90 seconds into overtime. Briscoe capped off her six-goal afternoon at the 62:50 mark, netting her 52nd marker of the season.

The visitors jumped out to an early three-goal advantage by the 15:35 mark of the opening half. Briscoe sandwiched a pair of goals around junior attacker Suzy Belmont’s (Scituate/Scituate, Mass.) first of two markers.

The Herons (10-6) controlled the remainder of the frame, as they struck for five unanswered goals. Senior midfielder Jessica Tanner (Guilderland/Schenectady, N.Y.) put William Smith into the scoring column, converting off a free position shot at 20:51. Junior midfielder Sarah Dillon (Blair Academy/Oldwick, N.J.) scored the first of her three tallies on the afternoon less than two minutes later, while sophomore attacker Louise Finnell (Princeton/Princeton, N.J.) netted the equalizer at the 24:09 mark off a feed from first-year attacker Caitlin Leone (Auburn/Auburn, N.Y.).

Just four minutes later, Leone gave the Herons their first lead of the contest, registering her fifth goal of the season. William Smith appeared to be headed into the intermission with a one-goal advantage, but Dillon struck with just five seconds remaining in the half as the Herons took a 5-3 advantage into the half.

Both teams exchanged a pair of goals to open the second stanza. For the third time in the game, the Continentals trimmed their deficit to one as junior midfielder Liz Longley (Duxbury/Duxbury, Mass.) scored her 35th goal of the season. Briscoe leveled the contest at 7-7 at the 55:20 mark.

Sophomore defender Sarah Davidson (South Burlington/South Burlington, Vt.) regained William Smith’s advantage with less than three minutes remaining in regulation. The visitors followed suit less than a minute later on Belmont’s 26th goal of the season to force the extra session.

Between the pipes, sophomore goalie Morgan Baird (Pingree School/Gloucester, Mass.) made 11 saves, while junior netminder Kalley Greer (Anderson Vocational Institute/Whitby, Ontario) stopped eight Heron offerings.

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