Stevens Picked to Capture Third Straight Empire 8 Field Hockey Title
Stevens Institute of Technology, which has won a record 12 consecutive regular season games and back-to-back conference titles, is the preseason favorite to repeat as Empire 8 field hockey champions in a poll of the coaches. The Ducks have won 36 games overall in the past two seasons.
Senior goalkeeper Ellyn Griggs earned first-team all-conference honors for the Ducks last season after posting a 0.84 goals against average, while junior Mallory Swanson and sophomore Marguerite Chavez garnered second-team recognition. Chavez led the team with 28 points and Swanson added 20 a year ago. The Ducks have outscored conference opponents 48-8 in the last two years, including a combined 8-1 advantage in two conference tournament games in 2009.
Hartwick College, which finished second a year ago and advanced to the title game of the ECAC Mid-Atlantic Championship, received two first-place votes and is the coaches’ choice to place second again this year. Senior field player Amanda Barton and senior goalkeeper Mackenzie Chapman were each named to the all-conference first team last season. Kelsey Kimble was named Empire 8 Rookie of the Year and received second-team all-conference accolades, scoring a team-high nine goals and totaling 23 points.
Washington & Jefferson College, which has finished as conference runner-up in all three Empire 8 Field Hockey Championship tournaments, is picked by the coaches to place third this year. Senior Julianne Zackey has been selected to the all-conference first team each of the past two seasons and led the Presidents with 19 points in 2009. Senior Kolbey Seidel finished with 10 points and earned first-team all-conference recognition, while Jennifer Marabella was named to the all-conference second team after leading the team with nine goals in her rookie season.
Ithaca College has advanced to the conference semifinals the past two seasons and has been selected by the coaches to finish fourth this season. Senior Katie Brown paced the Bombers with five goals and 16 points to earn first-team all-conference recognition last year. Senior Mia Muzio was named to the all-conference second team.
Utica College has narrowly missed qualifying for the conference tournament the last two years and is the coaches’ choice to finish fifth this season. Junior Avion Ashton received first-team all-conference honors a year ago.
Nazareth College, which captured the 2007 Empire 8 title, is picked to finish fifth this season. The Golden Flyers return second-team all-conference choices Emily Conway and Erin Law.
Elmira College is the coaches’ choice to place sixth this year.
Five different schools have won or shared the Empire 8 Field Hockey title. Stevens will attempt to become the first team to capture three consecutive conference titles after joining Hartwick last year as the only team to win back-to-back championships. More than half the conference games in the past three seasons were decided by one goal and 11 games have gone into overtime.