October 8, 2004

Heather Phillip (foreground) beat out Marisa Vespa for the first goal of a 2-0 Heron win over visiting RPI. (Photo by Ken DeBolt)

GENEVA, N.Y.—William Smith College sophomore Heather Phillip (Cayuga Central/King Ferry, N.Y.) netted a pair of goals less than a minute apart to lead the Herons to a 2-0 win over visiting Rensselaer in Liberty League soccer action this evening. William Smith has won each of the eight last meetings with the Red Hawks and remains unbeaten against them on home turf.

The Herons (6-2-2, 2-2 Liberty) controlled the run of play in the first half, but were unable to get behind the RPI (0-7-1, 0-4 Liberty) defense to create any dangerous scoring chances. William Smith held a slight 5-2 advantage on shots in the opening 45 minutes.

The second session proved to be a more wide open game as the Herons found some holes to attack. First-year Laura Burnett-Kurie (Oyster River/Durham, N.H.) put William Smith up in the 48th minute, but her shot sailed just over the crossbar. Just over 15 minutes later junior Danya Michaels’ (Cape Elizabeth/Cape Elizabeth, Maine) was tipped by Rensselaer keeper Jackie Gabriele (Shenedehowa/Clifton Park, N.Y.) into the crossbar to keep the game knotted a one.

William Smith continued to pepper the RPI goal, when Phillip knocked home a rebound from an Alexandra Rieben (Guilford/Guilford, Conn.) shot to put the Herons up by a goal. Just 25 seconds later Burnett-Kurie made a perfect pass through the box to a wide open Phillip who buried it in the back of the net.

Dominating play in the second half, William Smith outshot the Red Hawks 17-2 in the second frame and 22-4 overall. The Herons also won the corner kick battle 6-1.

In goal sophomore Nikki Dudley (Chittenango/Canastota, N.Y.) had three stops William Smith, while Gabriele had eight saves in 90 minutes of action for RPI.

The Herons return to action, hosting Vassar College in a Liberty League contest on Oct. 9, at 2 p.m., on Cozzens Field.

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