SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The fourth-seeded Union College women's lacrosse team has reached the Liberty League Tournament semifinals for the third straight season and will, for the third year in a row as well, head to Geneva to take on top-seeded and #3 William Smith College on Friday at 4 p.m. at Boswell Field at David J Urick Stadium.
 
Union (11-5, 6-4 Liberty League) and William Smith (16-0, 10-0 Liberty League) will meet in the semifinals for the third year in a row after Union held off fifth-seeded Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in first-round action on Tuesday. Second-seeded and #25 Ithaca College (11-7, 7-3 Liberty League) reached the semifinals with an 11-4 victory over seventh-seed Skidmore College and will host sixth-seeded Vassar College (9-6, 5-5 Liberty League), who provided the only upset of the first round with a 13-11 win at third-seeded St. Lawrence University.

LIVE COVERAGE: For those that can't make it to Geneva for the game, you can follow along with live stats and live video. Fans can also get in-game updates and highlights by following @unionwlax on Twitter.
 
POSTSEASON HISTORY: Union is making its 15th appearance in the conference tournament and is 15-11 all-time in Liberty League Tournament play, including a 10-4 mark in the semifinal round. Union boasts three Liberty League Tournament championships (2005, 2006, 2015) to its credit and has 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 36 times previously, with William Smith holding a 25-11 advantage – including wins in each of the last eight meetings. The teams have met six times in the postseason, including last year in the conference semifinals when the top-seeded Herons posted an 18-8 win in Geneva. In the previous five meetings, William Smith beat Union in the 2004 title game and the 2021 semifinals, while Union earned semifinal victories in 2007, 2008 and 2014.
 
LAST MEETING: In the teams' regular-season meeting, Maddie Montgomery scored seven times to lead the Herons to a 16-5 victory in Schenectady on April 22. Playing without senior Dana Truini, Union lost 19-of-25 draws and was outshot by a 39-16 margin. A bright spot in the loss was the play of first-year goalie Sydney Widlitz, whose 20 saves are the most by a William Smith opponent this season and are the most by a Union goalie in a game since 2010.

LAST TIME OUT: Union defeated Capital Region rival Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the first round of the postseason for the second straight season on Tuesday, getting 14 saves from first-year Sydney Widlitz and a five-point night from senior Sydney McPartlon in a 12-11 win. Widlitz helped Union survive a tightly-officiated game that saw Union assessed eight cards by making seven saves while Union was a player-down and conceding only two player-up tallies. McPartlon scored a team-leading four goals with an assist, while classmate Drew Charlton had four points with two goals and two assists. Junior Dana Nelson provided the eventual game-winning goal with 3:59 left with her second tally of the night, and Widlitz stopped a shot with 13 seconds on the clock to preserve the victory.
 
SYD THE (YOUNGER) KID: First-year goalie Sydney Widlitz has been excellent in goal for Union this season, bringing a .527 save percentage and 9.71 goals against average into Friday's game in addition to a 10-4 record. The netminder leads the Liberty League and has bumped up to 19th in Division III in save percentage, and she also ranks second in the conference among full-time starters in goals against average and third in saves per game (9.13). She was named the IWLCA Division III National Co-Defensive Player of the Week on April 4 after making 28 saves in wins over RPI and Ithaca, and her 20 saves against William Smith on April 22 are tied for the most by a Liberty League player this season.
  
SYD THE (OLDER) KID: Senior Sydney McPartlon ranks fifth in the Liberty League in goals per game this season with 44 goals in 16 outings, and became the 27th player in program history to reach 100 career points on April 21 against RIT. The attacker has scored 93 goals with 20 assists for 113 points despite playing just 34 career games due to the pandemic and injury. Her per-game stats rank her as one of the best scorers in program history, as she currently sits fifth all-time at Union by averaging 2.74 goals per game and also moved up one spot to seventh by averaging 3.32 points per contest.
 
BUILT FROM THE BACK: Union ranks second in the Liberty League by allowing 8.88 goals per game, while the team's .517 save percentage is 20th-best in Division III and 13 points higher than any other conference foe. Sophomore midfielder Greta Maurer ranks sixth in the conference in ground balls per game with 36 in 16 contests and has caused a team-best 20 turnovers as well, while junior defender Ella Trout ranks second on the team in both ground balls (33) and caused turnovers (15). Senior Isabelle Suttie (20 ground balls, 13 caused turnovers) also helps to anchor the defensive unit and was named the Liberty League Defensive Player of the Week on April 3.
 
ABOUT THE HERONS: William Smith remains third in the last IWLCA D-III national poll this week and is one of three remaining undefeated teams in Division III (Middlebury, Kenyon). The team's high-powered offense is ranked 14th in Division III by averaging 16.56 goals per game, paced by the 65 goals and 15 assists of Maddie Montgomery. Allie McGinty has a team-best 29 assists to go with 22 goals as well. The defensive unit, led by Kate Risley (30 ground balls, 18 caused turnovers) and goalie Maura Smeader (7.02 goals against average, .502 save percentage), allows only 6.75 goals per contest to rank 17th in D-III. The Herons also are extremely effective in transition, ranking sixth in the country with a 90.4 percent successful clearing rate and leading all D-III teams by averaging just 10.75 turnovers per game.
 
WHAT'S NEXT: The winner of today's game will advance to the Liberty League championship game on Sunday against the winner of Ithaca and Vassar.