GENEVA, NY – Colby Paul struck late in the third while Victoria Bodnar recorded her tenth career shutout as the fifth-seeded Skidmore College field hockey team came out victorious in the Liberty League Tournament First Round against fourth-seeded William Smith, blanking the home team 1-0 to advance onto Friday's semifinals.

Winning the program's first conference playoff game since 2017, the Thoroughbreds (9-11) strung together a complete team performance that saw them outshoot the Herons (9-10) 9-to-6 while generating more penalty corners at 7-to-3. In particular, the second half saw Skidmore ramp up their defensive pressure by only conceding a lone shot attempt and allowed zero corners, while offensively racking up six corners generated to put the home team on the back foot.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The first half saw a back-and-forth battle in which both teams finished with five shots apiece, but timely goalie play from both sides defensively kept the game scoreless.
• Coming out the second half of the game aggressive, Skidmore generated four penalty corners in the first six minutes alone to promptly take command of the game.  
• Skidmore finally broke through in the 43rd minute, towards the end of the third, on a terrific sequence in transition that saw a driving CC Wetter hit Paul on the left side for the open shoot and score goal.
• Desperate to mount a comeback in the fourth and keep their season alive, the Herons went empty net for the final four minutes of the match, but an aggressive Thoroughbreds approach kept William Smith to just a lone shot attempt and a largely uneventful offensive quarter.

STANDOUT THOROUGHBREDS

• Bodnar recorded three key saves for her sixth shutout win of the season.
• Paul's game winning score was her tenth goal of the year
• Wetter's assist was her fourth of the year.

UP NEXT
The Thoroughbreds head out to top-seeded Ithaca on Friday for a 4 PM matchup in the Liberty League Semifinals round.