The nationally ranked William Smith College soccer team will head north this weekend Oct. 8-9, to begin a four-game road trip. The Herons, who are ranked fifth in the United Soccer Coaches Poll and sixth in the D3soccer.com poll, will take on Clarkson on Saturday and Plattsburgh on Sunday. Both games are slated to begin at 2 p.m.
 
William Smith is now 7-1-2 on the season with a 3-0-1 mark in Liberty League play. The Herons were 3-0-0 last week with three shutouts. Emma Faso, Katrine Berg and Ruth Hotaling were honored by the conference following their performances last week.
 
Fans unable to make the trip north can follow all the action with live stats and video courtesy of clarksonathletics.com and gocardinalsports.com.
 
ABOUT THE HERONS:

• Faso (6g, 1a) and Ava Ruppersberger (5g, 3a) share the team lead with 13 points each. They are tied for second in the Liberty League in points.
• Faso is tied for the conference lead in goals and Ruppersberger is third.
• Hotaling has a team-best four assists, second most in the Liberty League.
• Kirsten Nelson and Amanda Kesler have split time in goal this season. Nelson is 5-0-0 with a 0.39 GAA and an .895 save percentage. Kesler is 2-1-2 with a 0.41 GAA and an .818 save percentage.

 
NATIONAL NUMBERS:

• William Smith entered the week 13th in the nation in shutout percentage (.700) and 17th in GAA.
• Nelson is 26th in the nation in GAA and 29th in save percentage.

 
ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS:

• Clarkson has a 5-4-2 overall record with a 0-2-1 mark in conference play. The Golden Knights are winless in their last five contests.
• Sarah Kohls leads the team with 15 points on six goals and three assists.
• Chloe Hodge has a team-high four assists on the year.
• Molly DiCaprio has played in all 11 games, posting a 0.84 GAA, an .839 save percentage and four shutouts.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• Saturday's match will be the 35th meeting between William Smith and Clarkson. The Herons are 34-0-0 against the Golden Knights, including a 17-0-0 mark in Potsdam, New York.
• William Smith has outscored Clarkson 146-4 in the previous 34 meetings.

 
ABOUT THE CARDINALS:

• Plattsburgh is 6-4-1 on the season and will host conference rival Oswego on Saturday.
• The Cardinals are led by Head Coach Whitney Frary, a 2013 graduate of William Smith.
• Kirsten Villemaire leads the team with 10 points on three goals and four assists. Allison Seidman follows close behind with nine points on four goals and one assist.
• Lauren Haley has a slight edge in playing time in goal. She is 4-1-1 with a 0.62 GAA and an .875 save percentage.

 
SERIES HISTORY:

• This will be the fourth meeting between William Smith and Plattsburgh and the first since 2004. The Herons hold a 2-1-0 edge in the series, but the Cardinals defeated the Herons 1-0 in the 2004 ECAC Upstate Women's Soccer Tournament.
• This will be William Smith's first trip to Plattsburgh.