SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – After starting the week with an upset victory, the Union College women's lacrosse team looks to knock off another top team in Saturday's Liberty League Tournament semifinals when the fifth-seeded Dutchwomen head to Geneva to take on #8/7 and top-seeded William Smith College at Boswell Field at David J. Urick Stadium. Game time is set for 11:30 a.m.
 
LIVE COVERAGE: For those that can't make it to Geneva for the game, William Smith will be providing live stats and live video.
 
POSTSEASON HISTORY: Union is making its 14th appearance in the conference tournament and is 14-10 all-time in Liberty League Tournament play entering the weekend. The Dutchwomen have three Liberty League Tournament championships (2005, 2006, 2015) to their credit and have won five conference titles overall, including a pair of UCAA regular-season titles (1999, 2002) before the conference tournament was instituted in 2004.
 
UNION VS. THE HERONS: The Dutchwomen and Herons have met 34 times previously, with William Smith holding a 23-11 advantage – including wins in each of the last six meetings. The teams have met five times in the postseason, including last year in the conference semifinals when the second-seeded Herons posted a 19-4 win in Geneva. In the previous four meetings, William Smith beat Union in the 2004 title game, while Union earned semifinal victories in 2007, 2008 and 2014.
 
LAST MEETING: William Smith jumped out to an early 5-0 lead on the way to a 14-8 victory in the team's regular-season matchup on April 23. Senior Grace Heiting led the Dutchwomen with three goals and an assist while sophomore Anna Smith had a pair of goals, but the visitors fell behind 13-3 after three quarters before outscoring the Herons 5-1 in the fourth.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Fourth-seeded Union scored six straight goals early in the first half and never looked back in an 19-11 win over fourth-seeded Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Tuesday in Troy. Senior Grace Heiting recorded a career-high 10 points on eight goals and two assists, the most goals by a Union player since at least 2003 and the most points since Maggie Comiskey '16 had 10 against against Vassar College on April 29, 2016. Junior Drew Charlton found the net four times and classmate Dana Truini had a great game with three points and a game-high 10 draw controls. Senior Jenna Paszek made nine stops in goal to earn the victory.
 
AMAZING GRACE: Thanks to an incredible 24 points in the last three games, senior Grace Heiting has vaulted herself into fifth place on the school's single-season points list with 79 and her current average of 5.27 points per game would be the highest-ever in a season at Union. She sits only two points back of Keri Messa '08 (81 in 2008) in third place and six back of Kristin Joyce '11 (85 in 2009) in second place on the single-season points list. She also currently ranks sixth for single-season goals at Union with 59, with her current average of 3.93 goals per game this year sitting second-best in the Union record books.

JUST LIKE THEY DREW IT UP: Junior Drew Charlton has had a breakout season in the midfield for Union, scoring a career-best 35 goals with four assists to rank second on the team in scoring. She also ranks second on the team with 48 draw controls and sits third with 26 ground balls.
 
THREE FOR 30: Sophomore Anna Smith scored twice against RPI on Tuesday to give her 30 goals on the season. Heiting, Charlton and Smith are the first Union trio to score 30-plus goals in the same season since 2008, when Kristen Joyce (55), Chelsea Charette (42) and Keri Messa (38) all accomplished the feat.
  
UNION IN THE CONFERENCE: Thanks to her recent surge, Heiting leads the Liberty League in both goals per game (3.93) and points per game (5.27) while also pacing the conference in caused turnovers per contest (2.47).  Senior Elizabeth Hernberg also ranks third in the conference in caused turnovers per game (1.87) and sixth in ground balls per game (2.47).
 
WELL-POSITIONED: Union leads the Liberty League and ranks 23rd nationally by converting 52.3 percent of its free-position attempts this season. The Dutchwomen are 56-of-107 from the eight-meter arc on the year, led by Heiting (14 of 27) and Charlton (12 of 19).
 
ABOUT THE HERONS: William Smith (15-1, 10-0 Liberty League) enters the postseason ranked eighth in the IWLCA Coaches Poll and seventh in the USA Lacrosse Magazine rankings after earning their 10th Liberty League regular-season title. Allie McGinty leads the Herons offensively with 32 goals and 48 assists for 80 points, while Maddie Montgomery has scored a team-leading 57 goals with 14 assists in addition to controlling a team-best 84 draws. Kate Risley leads a defensive unit that ranks 12th in D-III by allowing only 6.69 goals per game, grabbing a team-best 34 ground balls and causing 22 turnovers. Maura Smeader boasts the ninth-best goals against average in the country at 6.72 as well.
 
WHAT'S NEXT: The winner of today's game will advance to the Liberty League championship game on Sunday against the winner of Ithaca College and St. Lawrence University.