November 2, 2004

GENEVA, N.Y.—The William Smith College soccer team made a return appearance in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America/adidas® National Rankings this week. Capturing their 12th victory of the season with a 2-1 win at Ithaca over the weekend, the Herons earned the 24th spot in the poll.

William Smith pushed its win streak to seven games this past weekend against the Bombers. Senior midfielder Debbie Minarick (Wayne Valley/Wayne, N.J.) provided assists on both goals for the Herons, who improved to 12-2-2 overall.

First-year striker Laura Burnett-Kurie (Oyster River/Durham, N.H.) leads the team in goals and points and is second in assists. She has six goals and three assists for 15 points. First-year Brittany Warren (Liverpool/Liverpool, N.Y.) is second in scoring with four goals and two assists for 10 points, all of which have come in the past five contests. She has earned Liberty League Rookie of the Week honors in each of the past three weeks.

Defensively, the Herons have been superb, allowing just one goal in the past 630:00 of action, including a span of 565:16 consecutive shutout minutes. Sophomore goalkeeper Nikki Dudley (Chittenango/Canastota, N.Y.) sports an impressive 0.36 goals against average, a .908 save percentage, and 10 shutouts this season.

William Smith returns to action on Nov. 5, in the Liberty League Semifinals hosted by top seed Hamilton College. Earning the third seed the Herons will take on second-seeded and 14th-ranked Union College at 1:30 p.m. The winner advances to the championship game on Nov. 6, at 1 p.m., for the conference title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

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