For the first time in its three seasons in the New England Hockey Conference, the William Smith hockey team will host a New England Hockey Conference quarterfinal. On Saturday, Feb. 17, the third-seeded Herons will take on the No. 6 seed Spartans of Vermont State University Castleton at 1 p.m.
 
It will be the first game of a quarterfinal doubleheader at The Cooler. Hobart will also take on the Spartans at 7 p.m.  William Smith and Castleton also met in last year's quarterfinal in Rutland, Vermont.
 
The Herons enter the weekend with an overall record of 16-8-1, 11-6-1 NEHC play. William Smith clinched the third seed with a win over Plymouth State on the final day of the regular season. The Herons defeated the Panthers 4-1 to earn their first home playoff game since 2018.
 
Castleton is 11-12-2 with a 9-7-2 mark in league play. The Spartans have won five straight games to close out the regular season. This past weekend, Castleton defeated William Smith (4-1) and shut out Elmira 2-0. Kirsten DiCicco stopped all 37 shots she faced against the Soaring Eagles.
 
ABOUT THE HERONS

• Senior Mackenzie O'Neil leads the Herons with 11 assists and 22 points.
• Junior Kayla Ketchabaw leads William Smith with 13 goals. She is second on the team with 21 points.
• Junior Erin Murray and senior Annie Hauser have shared time in goal for the Herons this season. Murray is 7-3-1 with a GAA of 1.30, a .950 save percentage and four shutouts. Hauser is 7-5-0 with a 1.51 GAA, .946 save percentage, three shutouts.

 
ABOUT THE SPARTANS

• Moa Carlsson, who was named the NEHC Player of the Week after scoring Castleton's last five goals,  leads the Spartans with 13 goals, and 19 points.
• Julia Carpenter has a team-high 11 assists.
• DiCicco has played the majority of time in net for Castleton. She is 5-8-1 with a 1.63 GAA and a .948 save percentage and four shutouts.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• Saturday will be the eighth meeting between the Herons and the Spartans.
• Castleton leads the all-time series 3-2-2 but the Herons hold a slight 1-0-2 advantage in Geneva.
• On Friday, the Spartans defeated the Herons 4-1. Lauren Legler scored the Heron's lone goal. Carlsson recorded a natural hat-trick in the third period to send the Spartans home with the victory.