SCHENECTADY, N.Y. -- Hamilton College opened this Liberty League women's lacrosse tournament semifinal with seven straight goals and the nationally ranked No. 8 Continentals went on to a 14-8 win against No. 13 William Smith College at Union College's Frank Bailey Field on May 1.

Hamilton -- seeded second in this four-team tournament -- will meet top seed and sixth-ranked Union in the tournament final for the fourth consecutive year at Union on Saturday, May 2, at 2:00 p.m. The Continentals won the tournament in 2007 and 2008, and the Dutchwomen prevailed in 2006.

Liz Rave paced the Hamilton offense with four goals and pushed her team-leading total to 37. Anne Graveley chipped in three goals and Kaillie Briscoe added two goals and one assist. Kate Fowler made six saves -- three in each half.

Rosie Scheibel topped No. 3 seed William Smith with two goals and one assist off the bench. Kara Grogan and Molly Fitzgerald tallied two goals apiece. Becky Josefiak made 11 saves for the Herons.

Rave started the game-opening run with an unassisted goal and Briscoe ended it to make the score 7-0 with 7:24 left in the half. Graveley scored all three of her goals during the spurt.

Grogan finally put William Smith on the scoreboard with 7:00 remaining before the break. The Herons added four more unanswered goals and cut their deficit to 7-5 at the half.

Hamilton (13-2 overall) pushed its lead back to four on goals by Rave and Briscoe in the opening 5:40 of the second half. Fitzgerald pulled William Smith within 9-6 with her 42nd goal with 22:02 left, but the Continentals responded with two more goals and an 11-6 advantage after Sarah Bray scored her 21st with 19:20 remaining.

Scheibel notched her 18th goal with 15:39 left and the Herons were still alive at 11-7. However, Hamilton sealed its fifth straight league tournament victory with three straight goals for a 14-7 lead. Rave finished the clinching run with an unassisted goal with 1:47 remaining.

William Smith (11-4) was undone by 28 turnovers, while the Continentals committed just 15. Hamilton held a commanding 35-16 advantage in shots.

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SCHENECTADY, N.Y.The 13th-ranked William Smith lacrosse team fell into a 7-0 hole in the first half of its Liberty League Tournament Semifinal game against No. 9 Hamilton at Frank Bailey Field this afternoon. The Herons rallied late in the first half, but ultimately fell short, dropping a 14-8 decision to the Continentals.

Hamilton (13-2) had decisive edges in shots (35-16) and ground balls (27-17). William Smith (11-4) won nearly twice as many draws (15-9), but committed nearly twice as many turnovers (28-15).

Liz Rave (4g) needed just 69 seconds to get defending national champion Hamilton on the board, sparking the run. Anne Gravely netted all three of her goals in the contest during the surge, while Kaille Briscoe (2g, 1a) capped it off at 7:24.

Sophomore Kara Grogan (2g) broke up the shutout on a free position shot with 7:00 left in the first half. The score energized the Heron offense, which rallied for four more goals before the end of the half. Junior Sarah Goodkind (1g, 1a) connected on another free position shot less than two minutes later and set up classmate Molly Fitzgerald's (2g) strike 21 seconds after that. Grogan scored again, set up by first-year Rosie Scheibel, at the 1:01 mark, then Scheibel (2g, 1a) finished a Brittany Callaghan (1a) pass to make the score 7-5 heading into halftime.

Rave and Briscoe scored back-to-back to start the second half, effectively squashing William Smith's comeback hopes. Fitzgerald tallied her team-leading 42nd goal of season to make it 9-6 with 22:02 to go, but Hamilton responded with five of the next six goals to secure the victory.

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2009-05-01