WASHINGTON, Pa. -- Washington & Jefferson earned a share of the Empire 8 field hockey regular-season title and clinched the No. 2 seed in next weekend's conference tournament after defeating Utica 4-1 Saturday morning at Cameron Stadium.
The Presidents (14-3, 5-1 E8), who are two wins shy of setting a new school record for single-season victories, tied Stevens for the regular-season crown, but the Ducks earn the No. 1 seed and hosting rights due to their overtime victory at Cameron Stadium earlier this month.
W&J and Utica will now play again Saturday in a semifinal in Hoboken, N.J. Stevens is hosting the championship tournament for a third consecutive season. The Ducks and Presidents met in the last two E8 championship matches.
Utica (8-9, 4-2 E8) grabbed a 1-0 lead 11 minutes into the contest as Lindsay Jester deflected home Erin Martin's shot following a penalty corner.
However, W&J dominated from that point as sophomore midfielder Erin Barno (Camp Hill, Pa./Camp Hill) scored on a penalty stroke and senior forward Julianne Zackey (Easton, Pa./Moravian Academy) added a goal two minutes before halftime for a 2-1 advantage.
Senior forward Kim Marcius (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) notched both second-half goals to up her season total to 13. She scored first seven minutes into the second half and tapped home the final tally with five seconds remaining.
Junior goalie Roslynn Reynoso (Fallbrook, Calif./Fallbrook Union) made two saves to earn her seventh victory of the season. Monica Storms accumulated nine saves in the setback.
W&J outshot UC by an 18-6 margin and owned a 20-7 edge in penalty corners.
Washington & Jefferson and Utica will meet Saturday for the sixth time in history (UC leads 3-2), but for the first time in the Empire 8 Tournament.