The William Smith College ice hockey team begins its quest for its first New England Hockey Conference championship Saturday, Feb. 18. The Herons, who are the No. 5 seed will take on the No. 4 seed Castleton University. The game is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. at Spartan Arena in Rutland, Vermont.
 
Castleton and William Smith tied for fourth in the conference standings with 32 points each. Because the teams split the regular season series, the Spartans were awarded the No. 4 seed because they had one more regulation win than the Herons, the league's second tiebreaker.
 
William Smith (11-12-1, 9-8-0) locked up the No. 5 seed with a 3-0 win over New England College on Saturday. The Herons won two of their final three games to close out the regular season.
 
Castleton (14-10-1, 11-7-0) moved into the fourth spot in the conference standings with wins over Johnson & Wales and UMass Boston to close out the regular season.
 
Fans who can't make the trip to Rutland can follow all the action with live stats and video courtesy of castletonsports.com.
 
ABOUT THE HERONS

• Sophomore Kayla Ketchabaw leads the team with nine goals and 15 points.
• Sophomore Emily Cataldo has a team-high seven assists on the year.
• Sophomore defender Annabel Ziskin was named to the All-NEHC third team. She has eight points on two goals and six assists.
• Junior Annie Hauser has played a majority of the minutes in goal. She is 6-7-1 with a 2.20 GAA and a .916 save percentage.
• William Smith is fourth in the NEHC in scoring offense (2.25 gpg) and is fourth in scoring defense (2.1).
• The Herons are 14th in the nation in penalty-killing percentage (.9-1).

 
ABOUT THE SPARTANS

• The Spartans are led offensively by Darby Palisi's 15 goals and 24 points. She was an All-NEHC second team pick.
• Samantha Lawler is right behind her with 23 points, including a team-leading 18 assists.
• Kristen DiCicco has played a majority of the minutes in goal. She is 8-7-1 with a 1.81 GAA and a .941 save percentage. She was an All-NEHC second team selection.
• Head Coach Tim McAliffe was named the NEHC Coach of the Year.
• The Spartans are third in the NEHC in scoring offense (2.64) and third in scoring defense (2.08).

 
SERIES HISTORY

• Saturday's game will be the fifth meeting between William Smith and Castleton.
• The Spartans hold a 2-1-1 edge in the series, including a 2-0-0 mark in Rutland.  
• The teams split this year's meetings with both teams winning on their home ice.