September 12, 2004

GENEVA, N.Y.—First-year forward Laura Burnett-Kurie (Oyster River/Durham, N.H.) headed home a Katie Murley (Auburn/Auburn, N.Y.) cross with six seconds left in the first overtime to lead the William Smith College soccer team to a 2-1 victory over Allegheny College in the second day of the annual Heron Cup. Burnett tallied both game-winning goals in a 2-0 weekend for the Herons.

With much of the play in the opening 20 minutes being played in the midfield, William Smith (4-0-1) struck first when sophomore Alex Rieben (Guilford/Guilford, Conn.) fired home a free kick from 40 yards. The Heron defense continued to stifle the Gators’ attack and went into halftime with a 1-0 lead.

Allegheny (2-2-0) came out strong in the second session controlling the run of play in the first 20 minutes. Junior Ashley Rogerson (Fairport/Fairport, N.Y.) made it a one goal game in the 67th minute with a well-placed shot into the left corner of the net. Fellow classmate Jen Bilec (Mount Lebanon/Pittsburgh, Pa.) assisted on the score.

Knotted at one, the Herons picked up their play and created some good scoring opportunities, but were unable to connect on any, forcing overtime. Allegheny got a corner kick right away, but sophomore goalie Nikki Dudley (Chittenango/Canastota, N.Y.) was able to knock the ball out of danger. It was William Smith who generated the next threat when Steph Gridley’s (Auburn/Auburn, N.Y.) shot was knocked out of bounds by goalie Beth Van Parys (Villa Maria Academy/Erie, Pa.) for a corner kick with 36 seconds left.

Senior Debbie Minarick’s (Wayne Valley/Wayne, N.J.) corner kick was played out, but Murley collected the ball on the corner of the box and sent it back in where Burnett-Kurie headed it home for the golden goal.

The Herons held a 17-8 advantage on shots and won the corner kick battle 3-2. In goal, Dudley grabbed two saves, while Van Parys had nine stops on the afternoon.

Burnett-Kurie, Gridley, Dudley, and sophomore defender Seraphine Hamilton (The Peddie School/Trenton, N.J.) were all named to the All-Tournament Team for the Herons, while Bilec and first-year defender Kelsey Boivin (Albuquerque/Albuquerque, N.M) were selected to the squad for Allegheny. Hamilton also was named the Heron Cup’s Most Valuable Defensive Player.

William Smith hits the road for its next game, traveling to Rochester on Sept. 15. The game is scheduled to kick off at 4 p.m.

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