One week after BR-3 William Smith was honored with a National Soccer Coaches Association of America Academic Team Award for the 2014-2015 academic year, a pair of Heron juniors were recognized by the Liberty League for their success during the past week.
The NSCAA Academic Team honor is the sixth for the Herons, and their third in a row. William Smith is one of 569 women’s teams to receive the honor. A team must have a combined grade point average of 3.0 or higher, and the 28 Herons on last fall’s roster registered a cumulative grade point average of 3.51. Last season’s squad finished the season with a 16-3-1 overall record, winning their eighth straight Liberty League regular season and tournament
Fast forward to this season, and this past week the Liberty League honored Heron junior forward Lauren Randaccio as their Offensive Performer of the Week, and tabbed classmate defender Bridget Westeman as the league’s Defensive Performer of the week.
With six points on three goals during a two win week, Randaccio led the Herons notching two goals in a 6-0 win over BR-51 RPI, and added another goal in a 3-0 win over BR-74 Skidmore the next match.
On the defensive end of the field, Westeman anchored the Heron backfield that earned two more shutout victories, bringing their current win streak to six, all by shutout. With a total of seven shutouts on the season, Westeman and the William Smith defense limited the Engineers to just five shots, with only one on goal, and held the Thoroughbreds to just three shots, without a single shot on goal during the match. With just three goals allowed this season and a 0.32 goals against average, the Herons rank second in the Liberty League.
With the win over Skidmore, the Herons moved their record to 7-1-1 overall, and 3-0-0 in the Liberty League. The Herons now rank 11th in the division 3 with a .778 shutout percentage and 16th in nation and second in the Liberty League with a 0.32 goals against average. First year goalkeeper Kaileen Murray currently ranks second in the country with a 0.124 goals against average and third with a .947 save percentage. With 10 points and four assists, junior Kara Shue leads the Heron offense.
Next up for the Herons will be a home match against BR-311 Alfred St. on Thursday, October 8 at Boswell Field.
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