2003 UCAA Champions Photo by Kevin Colton

May 4, 2003

GENEVA, N.Y.—William Smith College senior Jackie Toner (Geneva/Geneva, N.Y.) scored two of her three goals in the final 18 minutes of the game to lead the Herons to a 9-6 win over Skidmore for their first Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association Championship. William Smith (14-2) defeated St. Lawrence 10-4 the previous day, while the Thoroughbreds triumphed over Hamilton 8-4 in their semifinal game.

Skidmore (12-3) jumped ahead 2-0 in the opening three minutes of the contest with a pair of goals from senior Taryn Howard (Littleton/Littleton, N.H.), but the Herons responded with six unanswered goals for the 6-2 halftime edge.

Starting the scoring for seventh-ranked William Smith was senior Amanda Wynn (Loomis Chaffee/Aspen, Colo.) on a free position shot at the 7:46 mark. Less than two minutes later junior Gretchen Lasda (West Genesee/Camillus, N.Y.) tied the game with her 22nd goal of the season, while Toner put the Herons ahead for good with just over 18 minutes left in the opening stanza.

Down by four goals coming out of the break, the 18th-ranked Thoroughbreds pulled to within one with three unanswered goals, keyed by Howard’s unassisted score 2:50 into the session. Leading 6-5 with 18 minutes left, the Herons’ Toner notched her 20th and 21st goals of the season to give the Herons an 8-5 edge with 15:03 remaining.

Skidmore’s Liza Gorman (Walt Whitman/Bethesda, Md.) netted her 43 goal of the season to bring the Thoroughbreds to within two again, but a goal by Wynn with 33 seconds left iced the victory for the Herons.

Toner led all scorers with three goals and an assist, while Wynn and senior Megan Shea (Mountain Lakes/Doylestown, Pa.) each netted two scores apiece. Howard led Skidmore with a hat trick and Gorman pitched a pair of goals and a helper. Wynn was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after notching five goals, including a game-winner, in the two games,

In goal Becca Splain (Middlebury Union/Middlebury, Vt.) made eight saves to earn her 12th win of the year. Sarah Berheide (Saratoga Springs/Saratoga, N.Y.) had an excellent performance in goal for the Thoroughbreds, making 18 saves, including three on free position shots.

The recipient of the UCAA’s automatic bid to the 2003 NCAA Tournament, the Herons will find out their fate tonight at 8:30 p.m., when the NCAA broadcasts Division III the selection show via the web. You can view the web cast at: www.ncaasports.com/lacrosse/womens/story/arc_story/31088.

Back to William Smith Lacrosse