Utica Claims Right to Host; Stevens Clinches Tourney Bid
UTICA 3, St. John Fisher 1
The nationally ranked No. 20 Utica College field hockey team downed visiting St. John Fisher College 3-1 in Empire 8 Conference action Saturday afternoon at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.
With the win, the Pioneers improve to 16-2 overall and wrap up the regular season with a perfect 8-0 mark in conference play. This marks the first time UC has ever finished the regular season unbeaten in conference play. Utica clinches the Empire 8 regular season championship for just the third time in program history. As the No. 1 seed, the Pioneers will now host the E8 Tournament next weekend.
Senior
Hannah Mackey led Utica with two goals, while classmate
Chasity Eckert added one goal and one assist and junior
Colleen Dowling chipped in with her eighth assist of the season.
Fisher opened the scoring in the 25th minute as freshman Emily Markarian netted her 17th tally of the season, unassisted. Utica rebounded just five minutes later as Mackey took a pass from Eckert off the goal line and fired a high shot into the top right corner of the net.
The second half was all Utica as Mackey netted her second of the day and 34th of the year to give Utica the lead. Eckert added the insurance goal in the 50th minute as she took a pass from Dowling and slipped the ball inside the left post for her 10th of the year.
Utica outshot Fisher 19-6 on the day and held a 10-5 advantage in penalty corners. UC goalies
Kells Casey and
Olivia Cunningham combined for five saves on the afternoon, while Cardinal goalie Danielle Famolaro made ten saves in the loss.
STEVENS 6, Nazareth 0
The Stevens Institute of Technology field hockey team is back in the Empire 8 Tournament for a seventh-year after a 6-0 shutout win over Nazareth College Saturday at the DeBaun Athletic Complex.
The Ducks finish the regular season with an overall record of 10-10 and a conference mark of 5-3. Nazareth falls to 8-11 and 3-5 in the Empire 8.
Stevens will be the No. 4 seed in the tournament and will take on top-seeded host Utica College in one semifinal. Third-seeded Washington & Jefferson College and second-seeded St. John Fisher College will battle in the other semi in Utica.
The Ducks were led by junior
Dailyn Brook who became the fourth player in program history with 100 points with the first of four goals in the game. Brook scored the Ducks' first two tallies on the day, goals four and five as Stevens started fast and never looked back.
The first two goals came directly off penalty corners started by Brook on opposite sides of the field. In both cases, the insert went from Brook to junior midfielder
Erin Silvestri. The latter shot and Brook was on the near post for perfectly executed deflections as Silvestri was credited with assists on both tallies. Goal one came at 3:32, while the Ducks went up 2-0 at 25:53.
Sophomore forward
Taylor Welch gave Stevens a 3-0 lead, receiving a pass on the right post from sophomore midfielder
Nolie Prouty. Prouty carried into the circle after a corner before delivering a precision pass to her classmate. The goal was the 10th of the year for Welch.
The lead went to 4-0 with 28 seconds left in the first half when Brook secured the hat trick. The junior was able to dive to direct in a pass from Welch on a breakaway.
Brook's fourth of the game and 18th of the year was unassisted as she banged home a rebound, and Stevens' final score of the contest came from senior forward
Jillian Fiebel. The Fiebel score originated on a corner she began, deflecting in a Silvestri shot.
Sophomore
Emily Stukenborg and junior
Felicia Heard combined for Stevens' fourth shutout of the season.
The Ducks ended with a 26-5 margin in penalty corners and a 27-7 margin in shots, closing the regular season on a four-game winning streak. Since going into intermission on October 18 vs. Ithaca College down 2-0, Stevens has outscored its opponents 14-1 over its last 245 minutes of game time.
HOUGHTON 1, W&J 0
Houghton field hockey closed its season with an inspiring 1-0 win over Washington & Jefferson on Saturday at Burke Field.
The Presidents entered the game ranked No. 3 in the Empire 8. The win was Houghton's first conference win of the campaign.
It was an evenly played contest from the start, although W&J had a 5-0 edge in shots in the first half. But the second half was controlled by Houghton, who had a 5-3 shots advantage. The game-winner came off the stick of Kelcie Ashley, who converted a penalty corner pass from Marissa Hollinger in the 50th minute. Ashley's hard low shot from the top of the circle deflected in off a defender.
Elizabeth Piszker made two saves to get the shutout.
ITHACA 3, Hartwick 1
The Ithaca College field hockey team closed its 2014 regular season with a victory over Hartwick Saturday afternoon, defeating the Hawks by a score of 3-1 at Wright Stadium.
Junior
Caitlin O'Brien, senior
Danielle Coiro and sophomore
Colleen Keegan-Twombly each scored in the victory, while sophomore goalkeeper
Katie Lass made four saves and allowed just one goal. The Bombers dominated in shots, registering 18 to Hartwick's eight. Both teams recorded eight penalty corners.
O'Brien got Ithaca on the board just over six minutes into the game, netting her fifth of the season on a shot to the far post. The Hawks answered with a goal in the 24th minute, tying the contest at 1-1. Neither team scored again in the opening frame, sending the game to the half all tied up.
The Bombers pulled ahead in the 57th minute, as Coiro tipped home a pass on the goal line from classmate
Natalie Lynch. Coiro's goal marked her seventh of the season, and gave the Bombers a 2-1 lead.
Keegan-Twombly added an insurance marker at 69:49, blasting a shot to the far corner for her team-leading ninth goal of 2014.
Hartwick was unable to score again in the contest, giving Ithaca the 3-1 victory.
|
SCHOOL |
CONF |
OVERALL |
|
Utica |
8-0 |
16-2 |
|
St. John Fisher |
7-1 |
11-7 |
|
Washington and Jefferson |
5-3 |
10-8 |
|
Stevens |
5-3 |
10-10 |
|
Ithaca |
4-4 |
8-8 |
|
Nazareth |
3-5 |
8-11 |
|
Hartwick |
2-6 |
4-14 |
|
Houghton |
1-7 |
5-13 |
|
Elmira |
1-7 |
2-14 |