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Herons use second half push to fly by Geneseo
September 11, 2004
GENEVA, N.Y.—The William Smith College soccer team got goals from four different players in a 4-0 blanking of Geneseo State in the opening game of the Heron Cup this morning. Three of the four Heron goals came off the feet of first-year players.
After a lot of back and forth action throughout much of the first half, in which William Smith (3-0-1) had a ball cleared off of the line and hit the crossbar and the Blue Knights (1-3-0) generated dangerous chances of its own, it was first-year Laura Burnett-Kurie (Oyster River/Durham, N.H.) who gave the Herons the 1-0 lead in the 41st minute. After beating her defender with some nifty footwork, Burnett-Kurie had her initial shot saved, but she knocked home the rebound for what proved to be the game-winner.
Coming out of the break with a 1-0 edge, the Herons pressed forward and started to get some open looks. First-year Courtney Peters (Williamson/Williamson, N.Y.) made it 2-0 when she touched in a slotted cross from junior Steph Gridley (Auburn/Auburn, N.Y.) in the 59th minute. It was Gridley again 10 minutes later who provided another helper with a pass to sophomore Alex Rieben (Guilford/Guilford, Conn.) at the back post for a 3-0 advantage.
Rookie Cindy Bors (Johnson City/Johnson City, N.Y.) completed the Herons’ scoring in the 88th minute, putting a Marisa Vespa (Immaculate Heart Central/Watertown, N.Y.) corner kick in the back of the net.
The 14th-ranked Herons outshot the Blue Knights 20-7, including 12-3 in the second stanza. Sophomore goalie Nikki Dudley (Chittenango/Canastota, N.Y.) had six stops for William Smith, while Jessica Francis (Penfield/Penfield, N.Y.) and Dana Cummings (Monroe-Woodbury/Highland Mills, N.Y.) combined for eight saves for Geneseo.
William Smith returns to action tomorrow, hosting 24th-ranked Allegheny at 11 a.m. The Blue Knights will take on 15th-ranked Union College in the final game of the Heron Cup at 2 p.m.