Four members of the William Smith lacrosse team were recognized by USA Lacrosse Magazine as All-Americans today. This is the second straight year the Herons have had at least four players honored.
 
Junior midfielder Natalie Daniels was selected to the second team. Sophomore defender Janey Sypeck was named to the third team and senior defender Nikki Pio and goalie Maura Smeader earned honorable mention.
 
Daniels earned second team recognition for the second straight year. She has played in 11 games this season, starting 10. Daniels has 35 points on 28 goals and seven assists. She leads the Herons with 101 draw controls and has seven caused turnovers and 15 ground balls. Daniels' 101 draw controls are third on William Smith's single-season list. She had a career day against Geneseo in the season opener, scoring seven goals and setting a William Smith single-game record with 15 draw controls. Daniels was named the USA Lacrosse Magazine Player of the Week following the Herons' 17-5 win over Ithaca. She had six goals and seven points and won 14 draws against the Bombers. 
 
Daniels has played in 57 career games, starting 42. She has compiled 173 points on 146 goals and 27 assists. Daniels is 10th on William Smith's career goals list and 22nd in points. She has 316 draw controls, second on the all-time list.
 
Sypeck, Smeader and Pio play key roles in William Smith's defensive unit that ranks 17th in the nation in scoring defense (7.17). The Herons have limited the opposition to single-digit goals 14 times in 18 games this season. The defense has limited their opponents to just 19.9 shots per game.
 
Alsoon the magazine's preseason All-America team, Sypeck has started all 18 games this season. She has 20 caused turnovers and 23 ground balls this season. Sypeck logged a season-high four caused turnovers against Union. She had three caused turnovers against Amherst in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
 
Sypeck has played in 41 career games, starting 37. She has 52 caused turnovers and 53 ground balls.
 
Smeader has been named an All-American by USA Lacrosse Magazine in each of her four seasons. She has played all but 15 minutes in goal this season, posting a 14-4 overall record with a 7.27 GAA and a .490 save percentage. Smeader is 15th in the nation in GAA. She had a season-high 12 saves in William Smith's 13-4 victory over St. Lawrence.
 
A four-year starter, Smeader has played in 82 career games, posting a 71-11 overall record. She has a 7.33 GAA and a .479 save percentage. Smeader's 71 wins are the most in program history. She is third on the Herons' all-time list in saves (524), sixth in GAA and 17th in save percentage.
 
Pio has started all 17 games she has played this season. She leads the Herons with 25 caused turnovers and has 19 groundballs. Pio recorded a career-high four caused turnovers against St. Lawrence. She logged a career-high four ground balls against Salisbury. A shutdown defender, her assignment is to guard the opponent's top attacker.
 
A transfer from Division I Elon, Pio has started 50 of the 62 games she has played at William Smith. She has 72 caused turnovers and 68 ground balls. Pio is 13th on the Herons' career caused turnover list, one behind Danae Nason-Junco '00.
 
William Smith is ranked 11th in the latest USA Lacrosse Magazine Poll. The Herons will take on eighth-ranked York in the third round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday, May 15. The game is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. at Middlebury's Peter Kohn Field.