GENEVA, N.Y.—Middlebury College scored a pair of first half goals and added a late empty net tally to score a 3-0 victory over William Smith College in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Field Hockey Championship on McCooey Field today. Sophomore Annie Leonard had a hand in all three goals, assisting on the first and scoring the final two.

Third-ranked Middlebury (18-2) controlled the play in the first half, outshooting the Herons 10-2. The visitors earned four penalty corners early in the match and finally broke through the defense on their fifth in the 14th minute. Pam Schulman finished off a feed from Leonard to give the Panthers all the offense they needed.
 
On its ninth penalty corner, Middlebury added to its lead when Schulman worked a give-and-go with Leonard, who fired home her team-leading 22nd goal of the year.
 
The Panther defense only yielded two shots on goal in each half and junior goalie Emily Miller turn away all four for her seventh shutout of the season.
 
William Smith was able to push forwarded into the offensive zone a bit more in the second half, but Middlebury still held a 7-3 advantage in shots. The Herons used their timeout with less than five minutes remaining and returned to the field with an empty net. A minute later, Leonard raised her season goal total to 23, carrying a pass from senior Anna Kenyon into the circle and scoring on the empty cage.
 
William Smith junior goalie Biz Chirco played eight seconds short of 66 minutes and made nine saves. The only game this season where she turned away more shots was her 12 save performance in an upset of then No. 7 Ursinus. Chirco was 16-3 this season with a 1.63 goals against average and a .750 save percentage.
 
The Herons finished the season with an 18-3 (.857) record, the most wins by William Smith since winning 18 in 2006. It's the program's highest winning percentage since going 18-3 in 2004. The 2006 team was also an NCAA quarterfinalist while the 2004 squad reached the NCAA semifinals.
 
William Smith graduates just one senior, Madison Finn. She produced a Heron season record nine defensive saves this year. Finn is second in William Smith history with 11 career defensive saves. She guided the Herons to a 60-20 record during her career, the most wins by a graduating class since the Class of 2009 also won 60.
 
Sophomore Hannah Wood led the team on the offensive end with 29 goals, one off the Heron season record, and 65 points, five shy of the record. Junior Cydney Conley and sophomore Maura Moran shared team-high honors with 10 assists each.