Fisher, Stevens, W&J and Utica Win
St. John Fisher 1, Hartwick 0
Elizabeth Cusack scored the game-winning goal in the 56
th minute of action to lift the St. John Fisher College Cardinals 1-0 over the Hartwick College Hawks in a crucial Empire 8 Conference game.
With the win, Fisher, moves its conference record to 4-2. Hartwick falls to 1-5 in the conference and 4-11 overall.
After a scoreless first half,
Alexis Zakala appeared to have the go-ahead goal in the opening moments of the second half as her shot sailed over the head of Hartwick's goal minder, but the play was whistled dead and the goal disallowed.
The Cardinals continued to apply the pressure, but Hartwick's defense held each time to keep the game in a scoreless tie.
Cusack broke the scoreless drought, scoring the eventual game-winning goal in the 56
th minute of action.
The Hawks had one final chance to knot the score with a corner opportunity, but
Liz Baldwin blocked the ensuing shot to seal the win and a playoff berth.
Fisher enjoyed a significant shot advantage in the win, outshooting the visiting Hawks, 14-2. Cusack,
Stacie Skidmore and Zakala each notched three shots, while
Sarah Bisesi and Baldwin each tallied one.
Danielle Famolaro earned the shutout after accounting for one save in net for the Cardinals.
Stevens 6, Houghton 1
Junior forward
Jillian Fiebel scored two goals and senior forward
Rachel Chavez recorded three points as the Stevens Institute of Technology field hockey team improved to 9-5 overall with a 6-1 win at Houghton College.
The Ducks left little doubt in this one, getting a pair of tallies 1:35 apart to take a 2-0 lead at the 11:03 mark of the first half. Sophomore forward
Dailyn Brook rang the bell at 9:28 and Chavez tallied at 11:03. Chavez also assisted Brook's marker – her eighth of the season – accounting for her fifth helper of 2013.
The two teams went into the locker room with the score holding at 2-0, but sealed the win when Fiebel put in her first two goals of the year and first four points with a duo of tallies 5:08 apart The first was unassisted with the second coming via a helper from the stick of senior back
Megan Traub.
Senior back
Grace Ridge found the back of the net via a penalty corner, putting home an insert from senior forward
Marguerite Chavez with 26:43 left. It was the 11th assist of the year for Chavez – tops in the conference – and sixth score of the year for Ridge – a career high.
Houghton scored in the 60th minute, with Stevens freshman
Maggie Kulpa notching the first goal of her young career, scoring with 8:33 remaining and earning her first career points in just her third game.
The Ducks ended the game with a 10-2 edge in shots and a 16-2 margin in penalty corners. Freshman
Emily Stukenborg and sophomore
Felicia Heard combined to earn the win in goal for Stevens.
Washington & Jefferson 2, Ithaca 1 (Box Score)
Senior defender Tori Patrick (State College, Pa./State College) set up both Washington & Jefferson goals during the first half and the Presidents held off a late Ithaca flurry to earn a 2-1 Empire 8 field hockey triumph on Saturday afternoon at Cameron Stadium.
Freshman forward Amanda Steffey (Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford) opened the scoring two minutes and 40 seconds in after tic-tac-toe passing from junior midfielder Catherine Beaudoin (Barkhamsted, Conn./North Western Regional) and Patrick.
Twenty minutes later, the same Patrick-Beaudoin combination set up freshman forward Kelly Knisel (Weatogue, Conn./Simsbury) for a 2-0 advantage.
W&J (10-5, 2-3) dominated the first half with a 10-1 shot advantage, but the Bombers (8-6, 2-3) fired eight of the nine second-half shots. Lindsay Flanagan scored five minutes into the second half to narrow the gap to 2-1, but the W&J defense held strong the rest of the way.
Washington & Jefferson outshot Ithaca 11-9 and sophomore Kira Bunker (Magnolia, Del./Polytech) earned the win in goal after stopping four shots.
Utica 3, Elmira 2 (Box Score)
The junior class led the way as the Utica College field hockey team downed host Elmira College 3-2 in Empire 8 field hockey action Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Pioneers secured the number two seed in the conference tournament.
Elmira jumped out to an early lead in the first three minutes of the contest, however
Louise Steele-Norton netted her 13th goal of the season, unassisted to even the game. Elmira went ahead in the 24th minute as Alli Gilbert tallied her second goal of the game to send the Soaring Eagles into the locker room with a 2-1 lead at halftime.
Hannah Mackey and
Alaina Stojkovski each added a goal in the second half to secure the Pioneers' 11th win of the season, including their fifth in the conference. Mackey also added an assist to extend her team lead in points with 33.
Kells Casey made five saves in the win for Utica, while Lauren Thomas had 11 saves in the loss.