GENEVA, NY (November 13, 2022) -- The host No. 6 Herons of William Smith College scored the contest's lone goal in the second half, earning a 1-0 victory in the NCAA Second Round over the Tufts University women's soccer team in play from Cozzens Field Sunday afternoon.
With the victory, William Smith (13-1-6) will advance to play the winner of RIT and Amherst College next weekend in the NCAA Sweet 16. Tufts finishes its season with a 10-6-2 record after the loss Sunday.
The Jumbos started fast and possessed the ball well to begin the game, but the Herons would respond by possessing the ball at a 63 percent clip over the opening half. William Smith also outshot the Jumbos 6-3 in the first 45 minutes, but Tufts had 23 percent of their possession in the final third of William Smith.
Tufts had three solid opportunities in the first half to open the scoring, as
Elsi Aires had her attempt from just inside the box saved.
Maddie Pero and
Lena Sugrue also had shots inside the 18 in the first half for Tufts, but neither was able to get by Heron keeper Kristin Nelson.
The start of the second half saw Tufts earn four shots and three corner kicks over the first 10 minutes of the period, with Tufts' best chance coming on a point blank shot by Pero that was saved in the 54th minute.
William Smith would break through in the 62nd minute, as Julia Dimenna fired her shot home inside the right post off an assist from Seneca Blakely-Armitage for the game-winner.
In the 84th minute, Tufts had another solid chance when a shot by Aires was blocked right in front of the goal.
Tufts outshot their hosts 10-9 on the day, while earning a 7-5 edge in corner kicks.
Hayley Bernstein finished with four saves in net for the Jumbos, while Nelson stopped five shots in the shutout for the Herons. Pero took a team-high five shots, three going on net, while Aires finished with three shots.
The NCAA appearance was the ninth all-time for Tufts.
--JUMBOS--
