October 24, 2003

GENEVA, N.Y.—Union College sophomore Erika Eisenhut (Mohawk/Mohawk, N.Y.) scored two second-half goals to lead the fifth-ranked Dutchwomen to a 3-1 victory over 21st-ranked William Smith this evening in women’s soccer action on Cozzens Field. With the victory over the Herons the Dutchwomen clinched the right to host the UCAA Tournament on Nov. 8-9.

William Smith (10-4-1, 5-1-0 UCAA) sophomore Steph Gridley (Auburn/Auburn, N.Y.) nearly put the Herons up just one minute into the game after weaving her way through the Dutchwomen’s defense but could not get her shot off in time. Union (14-0-1, 6-0-0 UCAA) responded by pressing the Heron defense, firing eight shots over the next 20 minutes.

Despite outshooting William Smith 8-0 in the early going, it was the Herons who broke into the scoring column first when junior Caroline Wenzel (Geneva/Geneva, N.Y.) scored against the run of play in the 34th minute. Her second of the season, she collected a Gridley through pass and beat the Union keeper with a touch and slipped the ball into the net from 20 yards out.

William Smith played stifling defense for the remaining 12 minutes to take a 1-0 lead into halftime. The Dutchwomen came out firing in the opening minutes of the second session, but were stymied by the excellent play of rookie goalie Nikki Dudley (Chittenango/Canastota, N.Y.) until Eisenhut headed in a Brittany Cressman (Duxbury/Duxbury, Mass.) cross to tie the game in the 62nd minute.

Eisenhut struck again 10 minutes later with a left-footed strike from the top of the penalty area into the left side netting. Cressman rounded out the scoring with her 11th goal of the year, beating Dudley one on one four minutes later.

Dudley made seven saves for the Herons in goal, while sophomore Julie Gawronski (Dunkirk/Dunkirk, N.Y.) had four stops for Union.

William Smith closes out its UCAA schedule tomorrow, Oct. 25, hosting Skidmore at 2 p.m., on Cozzens Field.

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