SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – For the fifth straight season, the fourth-seeded Union College women's lacrosse team will head to Geneva for the semifinals of the Liberty League Tournament, as the Garnet Chargers look to upset top-seeded and IWLCA #11 William Smith College on Friday at 4 p.m. at Boswell Field at David J Urick Stadium.
Union (12-3, 7-3 Liberty League) advanced to the semifinal with a 14-7 win over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Wednesday and will face off with top-seeded William Smith (12-3, 10-0 Liberty League), who received a first-round bye. In other semifinal action on Friday, second-seeded Ithaca College will host third-seeded Rochester Institute of Technology at 4 p.m.
UNION VS. THE HERONS: The Garnet Chargers and Herons have met 40 times previously, with William Smith holding a 29-11 advantage – including wins in each of the last 12 meetings. The teams have met eight times in the postseason, including last year in the conference semifinals when the top-seeded Herons posted a 13-3 win in Geneva. In the previous seven meetings, William Smith beat Union in the 2004 title game and the 2021, 2022 and 2023 semifinals, while Union earned semifinal victories in 2007, 2008 and 2014.
LAST MEETING: Union dropped a 7-4 defensive struggle to William Smith on March 21 in Schenectady. Three of the four periods featured one goal for each team, but the Herons outscored the Garnet Chargers by a 4-1 margin in the second stanza to provide the difference. First-year
Stella Del Papa had a team-leading two goals for Union, while sophomore
Anna Dembowski grabbed five ground balls and caused four turnovers to lead the defensive effort. Junior
Sydney Widlitz recorded 12 saves in goal for the Garnet Chargers.
LAST TIME OUT: Union advanced to the semifinals with 14-7 win over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in a game that started on Tuesday and ended on Wednesday after a weather delay. Senior
Greta Maurer scored a game-high five goals and sophomore
Maddy Schiller matched her with five points on four goals and an assist. Union doubled up RPI in each of the first two periods to take a 6-3 lead, then outscored the Engineers 5-2 in the third frame to pull away for the win.
MAURER POWER: Senior
Greta Maurer enters the weekend ninth in program history with 60 career assists, just two back of Abby Harris '00 in eighth place and four back of Caitlin Cuozzo '08 HOF '24 in seventh position. She also ranks fourth in career draw controls (152) and 16th in caused turnovers (63) all-time at Union. With her 87 goals and 60 assists for 147 points, she is three points away from becoming the 16th player in program history to record 150 career points.
IT'S A START: Sophomore
Gillian Joseph has had one of the most productive first two years in Union lacrosse history, entering the week having scored 88 goals with 31 assists for 119 points in her first 32 games. Her 119 points are fourth-most by a player in their first two seasons at Union and the most since Kristin Joyce '11 recorded 145 points in her first two years on the way to a program-record 299. Her 88 goals are fifth-most by a player in her first two years, one back of Chelsea Charette '11 for fourth on that list.
PLAYING LIKE MAD(DY): Sophomore
Maddy Schiller has been on a tear over the last three games, averaging five points per game after not recording five in any of her first 11 outings. After scoring two goals with two assists against St. Lawrence on April 19, she went for a season-high six points (five goals, one assist) in the regular-season finale at Rochester before her five-point effort in the postseason opener against RPI. As a result of her recent surge, Schiller is now third on the team in scoring with 25 goals and 14 assists for 39 points.
CLIMBING THE RANKS: With a full season still to go, junior
Sydney Widlitz already ranks fourth in program history with 29 wins to her credit and is sixth all-time at the school with 353 saves. She enters the weekend tied with Michelle Morrin '01 for fourth place on the career saves list.
LOCK DOWN D: Sophomore
Anna Dembowski leads the team on the defensive side of the ball, recording a team-best 46 ground balls and 23 caused turnovers so far in 2025. Junior
Sammy Johnson ranks third on the team with 23 ground balls with 12 caused turnovers, while classmate
Claudia Patz has caused 15 turnovers and grabbed 20 grounders. The defensive unit ranks second in the Liberty League by allowing only 8.6 goals per game.
ABOUT THE HERONS: William Smith is looking for its its 10th Liberty League Tournament title and is entering the postseason not as the defending champion for the first time since 2016. The Herons are led offensively by Katherine Murray, who had scored a team-best 45 goals and added 17 assists for 62 points. Nikki Pio leads the defensive effort with 23 caused turnovers and 18 ground balls, followed by Lily Kuhn with 19 grounders and 18 caused turnovers. The Herons are one of the best possession teams in the country, ranking 14th in Division III in draw control percentage at 63.1 percent, ninth in the country in clearing percentage with a 88.5 percent success rate, and seventh nationally by averaging under 13 turnovers per game.
WHAT'S NEXT: The winner of Friday's game will advance to the Liberty League Tournament championship game against the winner of Ithaca and RIT on Sunday at the home of the higher seed.
2025 Liberty League Women's Lacrosse Tournament
First Round – Tuesday, April 29 (all games at higher seeds)
#3 Rochester Institute of Technology 13, #6 St. Lawrence University 12 (OT)
#2 Ithaca College 19, #7 Vassar College 10
#4 Union College 14, #5 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 7
Semifinals – Friday, May 2 (both games at higher seeds)
#4 Union at #1 William Smith, 4:00 p.m.
#3 RIT at #2 Ithaca, 4:00 p.m.
Championship – Sunday, May 4 (at higher seed)
Two Remaining Teams, TBA
