SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The third-seeded Union College women's lacrosse team is on to the Liberty League Tournament semifinals for the fourth straight season and, also for the fourth year in a row, will make the trip to Geneva to take on second-seeded and #7 William Smith College on Friday at 4 p.m. at Boswell Field at David J. Urick Stadium.
Union (11-5, 8-2 Liberty League) and William Smith (16-2, 9-1 Liberty League) will meet in the semifinals after both teams won first-round games on Tuesday. Union defeated sixth-seeded University of Rochester by an 18-15 margin and William Smith bested seventh-seeded St. Lawrence University, 16-9. Fifth-seeded Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute knocked off fourth-seeded Skidmore College in the third first-round matchup and will travel to top-seeded and #10 Ithaca College in Friday's other semifinal.
POSTSEASON HISTORY: Union is making its 16th appearance in the conference tournament and is 16-12 all-time in Liberty League Tournament play. 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 Garnet Chargers and Herons have met 38 times previously, with William Smith holding a 27-11 advantage – including wins in each of the last 10 meetings. The teams have met seven times in the postseason, including last year in the conference semifinals when the top-seeded Herons posted a 14-10 win in Geneva. In the previous six meetings, William Smith beat Union in the 2004 title game and the 2021 and 2022 semifinals, while Union earned semifinal victories in 2007, 2008 and 2014.
LAST MEETING: Union dropped a 12-6 matchup to William Smith on March 22 in Geneva behind six goals from Maddie Montgomery. The Garnet Chargers played the Herons to a 2-1 score in three of the four quarters, but the home team outscored the visitors 6-3 in the third period to create some separation. First-year
Gillian Joseph led the visitors with three goals while junior
Greta Maurer added a goal and two assists. Sophomore
Sydney Widlitz made 12 saves for Union as well.
LAST TIME OUT: Union advanced to the semifinals with a hard-fought 18-15 win over Rochester on Tuesday in a game that did not start until 8:47 p.m. due to weather delays and ended after 10:50 p.m.
Greta Maurer recorded a career-high seven points with four goals and three assists, followed by a season-high six points from first-years
Gillian Joseph (four goals, two helpers) and
Maddy Schiller (three goals, three assists). The Garnet Chargers used a 6-0 run in the third and fourth quarters to turn a 13-10 deficit into a 16-13 lead with 6:35 remaining, helped by three straight goals from Maurer. After Rochester got back within a goal, Schiller scored the clincher with 2:02 on the clock and a Maurer draw control helped to run out the clock.
FINISHING STRONG: Union ended the regular season with its highest Liberty League finish since tying for first in the conference standings and earning the conference's second seed in 2016. The team's eight conference victories this year are tied with three teams (2002, 2009, 2016) for the second-most conference wins in program history for a single season, behind only the 2015 team's perfect 9-0 campaign.
FIRST-YEAR FORCE: First-year attacker
Gillian Joseph has earned four Liberty League Rookie of the Week awards this season and ranks sixth among Liberty League players in scoring with 46 goals and six assists for 52 points. Joseph has scored at least one goal in 15-of-16 games and has at least three tallies in 11-of-16 outings. She enters the postseason in sole possession of fourth place on Union's rookie goal-scoring list, one away from matching Emily McGrail '15 for third place and nine behind Kristin Joyce '08 in second position, while she also is one point behind McGrail for fourth place and four behind Chelsea Charette '11 for third place on the rookie points list as well.
MAURER POWER: Junior
Greta Maurer has already set new career highs this season with 23 goals and 25 assists for 48 points, while also controlling a career-best 45 draws and adding 23 ground balls and 14 caused turnovers. The midfielder ranks eighth in the Liberty League in assists per game overall and sixth in assists during conference play (16 in 10 games), and is one of the conference's top end-to-end midfielders after earning All-Conference second-team honors as a sophomore.
100-POINT PLAYERS: Senior
Anna Smith and junior
Greta Maurer both have cracked the 100-point plateau for their careers this season. Smith became the 28th Union player to reach triple figures with two goals and an assist in the win over Rensselaer on April 24 and enters the weekend with 81 goals and 28 assists for 109 points to her credit. Maurer added her name to the list of 29 100-point scorers at Union with her seven-point outing against Rochester on Tuesday and has 58 goals and 47 assists for 105 points in her first 50 career games. They are Union's first pair of 100-point teammates since Jackie Hagopian '17 and Maggie Comiskey '16 during the 2016 season.
DEFENSE FIRST: Union ranks third in the Liberty League by allowing 10.2 goals per game, while also ranking third among Liberty League schools in caused turnovers per game (10.1) and ground balls per game (18.1). This season, Union is 9-0 when holding opponents to 10 goals or fewer, while the squad has two wins in seven games when the opponent scores 11 or more. First-year defender
Anna Dembowski leads the team with 31 ground balls, while senior
Ella Trout has caused a team-high 17 turnovers and ranks second with 23 ground balls.
ABOUT THE HERONS: William Smith is looking for its eighth straight Liberty League Tournament title and 10th overall since 2003. Maddie Montgomery ranks second in the conference in scoring with 64 goals and 14 assists for 78 points, while Allie McGinty is second among Liberty League players with 45 assists to go with 25 goals for 70 points. Montgomery, the reigning Liberty League Player of the Year, has added 31 ground balls and 30 caused turnovers, while her 59 draw controls rank second on the team behind the 75 of reigning Liberty League Rookie of the Year Natalie Daniels. The defense, which ranks ninth in Division III by allowing 6.83 goals per game, is led by goalie Maura Smeader, who ranks seventh in the country with a 7.19 goals against average to go with a .498 save percentage (16th in D-III) and a 15-2 record.
WHAT'S NEXT: The winner of Friday's game will advance to the Liberty League championship game on Sunday against the winner of Ithaca and Rensselaer.
