The William Smith College hockey team will ring in the new year this weekend, Jan. 6-7, when it begins a four-game homestand with a pair of New England Hockey Conference contests. The Herons will play New England College Friday at 7 p.m. and seventh-ranked Norwich University Saturday at 4 p.m.
 
William Smith wrapped up 2022 with a 6-7-1 overall record and a 4-4-0 mark in NEHC play. The Herons are currently fourth in the conference standings, one point behind Southern Maine. William Smith is looking to snap a two-game losing streak. The Herons were swept by Williams to close out the first half of the season.
 
The Pilgrims are 4-7-1 overall with a 1-4-1 record in conference play. New England College is seventh in the NEHC. The Cadets enter the weekend with an 8-2-0 overall record and a 6-0-0 mark in conference play. Norwich has two games in hand on conference-leading Elmira, who it plays Friday night.
 
Fans that can't make the trip to The Cooler this weekend can follow all the action with HWS All-Access and Live Stats. The game will be broadcast on WHWS-FM (105.7 in Geneva.)
 
ABOUT THE HERONS

• Sophomore Kayla Ketchabaw leads the team with six goals and nine points.
• Senior Mia LaPlante is right behind her with seven points on three goals and four assists.
• Junior Emily Cataldo leads William Smith with six assists.
• Junior Annie Hauser and sophomore Erin Murray have split time in goal this season. Hauser is 2-4-1 with a 2.65 GAA and a .910 save percentage. Murray is 4-3-0 with a 2.16 GAA and a .939 save percentage.

 
ABOUT THE PILGRIMS

• Emily Lenzen leads the team with five goals, seven assists and 12 points.
• Olivia Lindberg is right behind her with eight points.
• Hannah Podvey and Thea Ioero have split time in goal this season. Podvey is 2-3-1 with a 2.46 GAA and a .919 save percentage. Ioero is 2-2-0 with a 3.17 GAA and a .902 save percentage.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• Friday's game will be just the third meeting between William Smith and New England College. The Herons won both of the previous meetings.
• On the final weekend of the regular season, William Smith defeated the Pilgrims 2-0 thanks to goals from Emily Martino '22 and Julianna Gong. Amanda Aalto stopped all 17 shots she faced as she earned the shutout.

 
ABOUT THE CADETS

• Entering the weekend, Norwich is led by Ann-Frederique Guay's 22 points and 16 assists.
• Mikah Baptiste leads the Cadets with 13 goals and is second with 17 points.
• Leocadia Clark has played a majority of the minutes in the Norwich goal. She is 5-3-0 with a 1.86 GAA and a .926 save percentage.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• Saturday's game will be the third meeting between William Smith and Norwich. The series is deadlocked at 1-1-0.  Both teams won on their home ice last season.
• In the regular season finale, William Smith jumped out to a 3-0 lead and held on to score the upset. Emma Faso, Izzy Friedman and Alisa Canney scored for the Herons.