William Smith midfielder Grace Sudbay earned Liberty League Women’s Soccer Rookie of the Year honors Tuesday, leading a group of eight Herons selected to the all-conference teams in a vote of the league’s coaches.
Juniors Grace Metzler, Kristin Middaugh and Hannah Goodness made the first team. Sudbay and junior Aleena Solano earned second-team honors, while seniors Miranda DeMura, Izzy Thors and Antonia Goerke were named to the third team.
Sudbay becomes ninth Heron to win rookie award
Sudbay is William Smith’s ninth Liberty League rookie of the year and its first since Ireland Krawczyk won in 2021. The first-year midfielder from Merrimack, Massachusetts, has appeared in all 18 games, starting 17, and has four goals and two assists for 10 points.
She earned her first collegiate point with an assist in her debut and scored her first goal in a 2-1 victory over Carnegie Mellon. Sudbay has two game-winning goals and received the league’s Rookie of the Week award three times this season.
Metzler, Middaugh and Goodness make first team
Metzler, a forward, leads William Smith with five assists and 19 points and ranks second on the team with seven goals. She has played in 16 games, starting 15.
Her two-goal performance in a 3-1 regular-season win over Ithaca began a nine-game point streak. Metzler scored the winning goals against RIT and Union and added a goal and an assist in the Liberty League semifinals. In 47 career games, she has 10 goals and 10 assists for 30 points.
Middaugh, a midfielder who transferred from Division I Providence, has a team-high eight goals and 18 points in 16 games. She enters the NCAA tournament with goals in three straight games, including a goal and an assist against Ithaca in the league semifinals. She scored William Smith’s game-winning goals against Ithaca and Clarkson.
Goodness earned first-team recognition for the second consecutive season. The center back has started all 18 games and helps anchor a defense that has recorded 10 shutouts. A two-year starter, she has appeared in 50 career games.
Solano and senior defensive core also honored
Solano, a forward who transferred from Emmanuel, has played in all 18 games and started 14. She has three goals and four assists for 10 points, including a goal and an assist in the regular-season finale against RPI. She has points in three straight games entering the NCAA tournament, with assists in both the Liberty League semifinal and championship games.
DeMura has started 17 games at defensive midfield and has two goals and an assist for five points. Both goals were game-winners, against St. Lawrence and Geneseo. She has three goals and an assist for seven points in 37 career games.
Thors has started 17 games at outside back, contributing to the transition from defense to offense and recording two assists. A two-year starter, she has four goals and four assists for 12 points in 63 career appearances.
Goerke has started 17 games in goal and is 13-4-0 with a 0.71 goals-against average, an .845 save percentage and six shutouts. She ranks third in the Liberty League in goals-against average and fourth in save percentage. Her season high was nine saves against Carnegie Mellon; she made eight against Rochester.
A two-year starter, Goerke has a career record of 24-7-3, a 0.75 goals-against average, an .853 save percentage and 14 shutouts.
William Smith enters the NCAA tournament ranked 45th nationally in team goals-against average at 0.611 and 60th in shutout percentage at .556. The Herons have held 11 opponents to fewer than 10 shots, and only two opponents have reached double digits in shots on goal.
NCAA opener against Cortland set for Saturday
The Herons, 14-4-0, earned an at-large NCAA tournament bid and will host Cortland in the first round Saturday, Nov. 14, at 1:30 p.m.
Tickets cost $15 for general admission and $5 for students and seniors. Children 3 and younger are admitted free. HWS students, faculty and staff also receive free admission with a valid HWS ID, courtesy of HWS Athletics.
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