The William Smith ice hockey team returns to The Cooler this weekend, Jan. 25-26, for a two-game series with New England Hockey Conference rival Vermont State University Castleton. Saturday's game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. The following afternoon, the faceoff is set for 2 p.m.
 
Saturday's game will be part of a doubleheader with Hobart, which takes on Norwich at 4 p.m.
 
The Herons are looking to bounce back from a 3-1 loss to Hamilton earlier this week. The Herons have won four straight conference games.
 
The Spartans are coming off a weekend split with Salve Regina. The Seahawks won the first game 4-1 and Vermont State Castleton won the second game 2-0.
 
MEDIA COVERAGE

• Live Stats
• HWS All-Access
• WHWS-FM (105.7 in Geneva)

 
ABOUT THE HERONS (7-9-1, 7-3-0 NEHC)

• William Smith enters the weekend third in the NEHC with 22 points.
• Senior Kayla Ketchabaw leads the team with eight assists and 12 points.
• Ketchabaw is one of four Herons with four goals.
• Senior Lauren Legler is second on the team with 10 points on four goals and six assists.
• Erin Murray has played the majority of the minutes in goal. She is 5-8-1 with a 1.45 GAA, a .940 save percentage and five shutouts. Murray is tied for second in the nation in shutouts.

 
ABOUT THE SPARTANS (6-9-1, 3-6-1 NEHC)

• Castleton is seventh in the NEHC with nine points.
• Ellie Schliebener leads Castleton with nine assists and 13 points.
• Three Spartans have a team-high five goals.
• Goaltender Victoria Bakopanos has played the majority of the minutes for the Spartans. She has a 2.55 GAA, a .931 save percentage, and one shutout.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• This weekend will be the 9th and 10th meetings between the Herons and the Spartans.
• The all-time series is deadlocked at 3-3-2. William Smith leads the series in Geneva, 2-0-2.
• Last year the teams met three times. While they went 0-1-1 in the regular season, the Herons won the NEHC Quarterfinal 4-0 at The Cooler.