When the 19th-ranked William Smith College field hockey team takes the field Saturday for its contest against top-ranked Messiah, the Herons will be wearing pink jerseys instead of their traditional green in honor of breast cancer awareness month.
 
William Smith game management staff will be collecting donations for Embrace Your Sisters. EYS is a not-for-profit charity serving Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne, and Yates Counties. It provides people diagnosed with breast cancer with short-term emergency financial assistance. EYS helps ease the difficulty of mounting medical expenses as well as helping make ends meet when people are unable to work due to illness or treatment.
 
After picking up a pair of Liberty League victories last weekend, William Smith (12-4) clinched the Liberty League regular season title for second straight year. Entering the weekend the Herons rank in the top-10 in the nation in points per game (5th, 10.63), goals per game (6th, 4.0), and assists per game (6th, 2.63). William Smith is led offensively by junior Hannah Wood's 22 goals and 49 points. Fellow junior Maura Moran leads the team with 10 assists and is second in goals (12) and points (34). Wood comes into the weekend fourth in the nation in goals per game (1.38) and seventh in points per game (3.06). Senior Biz Chirco has played a majority of the minutes in the William Smith goal and owns a 1.49 goals against average and a .710 save percentage.
 
The Falcons enter the game at 15-1. They beat Hood on Thursday night 12-0. Messiah's only loss of the season came against Division II Shippensburg in the season opener. The Falcons begin the weekend ranked first in the nation in goals per game (4.81), and second in points per game (13.0), assists per game (3.38), and shutouts per game (0.56), and fourth in the nation in goals against average (0.68). Individually, Messiah is led by Carissa Gehman, who has 21 goals and three assists for 45 points. Nicole Wilkerson leads the Falcons with 12 assists. Wilkerson enters the weekend sixth in the nation in assists per game, while Gehman is eighth In goal, Shelby Landes has seen a majority of the minutes in goal, posting a 0.73 goals against average and .776 save percentage.