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William Smith clinches top-seed in the Liberty League tournament with 3-0 win
October 22, 2005
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Burnett-Kurie registered five points as
William Smith clinched the top-seed in
the Liberty League tournament with a
3-0 win over RPI this afternoon. |
TROY, N.Y.—The fifth-ranked William Smith College soccer team clinched the top-seed in the Liberty League Tournament with a 3-0 victory over Rensselaer this afternoon on Harkness Field. Sophomore striker Laura Burnett-Kurie (Oyster River/Durham, N.H.) paced the Herons’ offense with five points.
Burnett-Kurie opened the scoring in the 15th minute when she scored off an assist from junior defender Ashley Kent (Westfield/Westfield, N.J.), sending William Smith into the half with the lead.
The Herons’(13-0-1, 6-0-1 Liberty League) padded their lead in the 61st minute as senior midfielder Steph Gridley (Auburn/Auburn, N.Y.) netted her fourth goal of the season off assists from senior defender Pria Young (Council Rock/Richboro, Pa.) and Burnett-Kurie.
Burnett-Kurie rounded out the scoring in 82nd minute as she slid her conference leading 16th goal of the season past diving Red Hawks goalkeeper Tara Marandino.
Junior goalkeeper Nikki Dudley (Chittenango/Chittenango, N.Y.) made a pair of saves to pick up her Division III leading 13th shutout of the season. In 14 games this season, William Smith has only surrendered one goal.
The victory gives the Herons a 6-0-1 record in the Liberty League. William Smith holds the tie-break over the second-seed, Union (6-0-1), by virtue of a 4-0-0 mark against common opponents Elmira, Gettysburg, Rochester and Nazareth, while the Dutchwomen are 2-0-1.
The Herons will return to action on Oct. 26 when William Smith travels to Cortland for a 4 p.m. match.