Conference Wins for Fisher, Ithaca, Utica and W&J
ST. JOHN FISHER 4, HARTWICK 0
Elizabeth Cusack scored a pair of goals to fuel the St. John Fisher College field hockey team to a 4-0 victory over visiting Hartwick College on Saturday evening.
Cusack now leads Fisher in goals with eight.
The Cardinals remain a perfect 3-0 in Empire 8 competition and 6-2 overall. It is the first 3-0 start in the history of the four-year program. The Hawks fall to 0-2 in conference play and 2-6 overall.
Fisher opened the scoring early when
Caitlin Allen took
Stacie Skidmore's deflected shot in the sixth minute and put it past Hartwick's goalkeeper Yanna Boggio. It was Allen's first goal of the season.
In the first half, the Cardinals kept firing away, outshooting Hartwick 19-0. Fisher ended up totaling 34 shots against Hartwick's 12.
Cusack notched her first goal in the first minute of the second half by dribbling through the Hartwick defense. Five minutes later, she recorded her second goal of the night.
Gabby LaForce passed to Cusack from the far right side and Cusack pushed it past the goalkeeper, making it a 3-0 game.
Skidmore scored Fisher's fourth and final goal of the day by following through on a Cusack rebound in the 62nd minute.
Danielle Famolaro made three saves in a full 70 minutes in goal.
UTICA 8, HOUGHTON 0
The Utica College field hockey team remained perfect in Empire 8 Conference play as it downed host Houghton College 8-0 Saturday evening. With the win, junior goal keeper
Kells Casey tied the program record with 33 career wins.
The Pioneers, who have now won their last five games, improve to 7-1 overall and 3-0 in the conference. Houghton drops to 2-8 (0-4 Empire 8) on the year.
Senior
Hannah Mackey tallied four goals on the day to move her conference-best goal total to 17 on the season. Classmate
Louise Steele-Norton had four points on the day off one goal and two assists.
Chasity Eckert,
Nikki Kieffer, and
Alaina Stojkovski also added one goal each. Kieffer and Eckert also chipped in with one assist.
Colleen Dowling got in on the action with an assist of her own.
Utica netted four goals in each half to come away with the conference victory. Mackey led the second half charge with three goals to put the Highlanders away for good.
ITHACA 2, NAZARETH 0
The Ithaca College field hockey team (4-4, 2-1 Empire 8) continued its undefeated streak at home with a 2-0 win over Nazareth Saturday afternoon at Higgins Stadium. The Nazareth Golden Flyers are now 6-5 on the season and 2-2 in Empire 8 play. Ithaca has not allowed a goal at home this season, giving them a record of 4-0 on South Hill.
Sophomore goalkeeper
Katie Lass made two saves and recorded her fourth shutout of 2014. Junior
Caitlin O'Brien scored twice for the Bombers, pushing her season goal total to three. O'Brien netted both goals in the first half. The first goal at 4:19 came on an assist by
Olivia Salindong from the top-left corner of the arc. The assist marked Salindong's second on the season.
O'Brien's next goal came on a feed from sophomore
Colleen Keegan-Twombly in the 16th minute of the first half. The assist moved Keegan-Twombly to six points on the season with two goals and two assists. Both goals came indirectly after penalty corners.
The Bombers outshot the Golden Flyers, 19-2. Ithaca forced 18 penalty corners to Nazareth's one.
WASHINGTON & JEFFERSON 4, STEVENS 3
Amanda Steffey scored two goals, including the game winner with 4:41 remaining, to give Washington & Jefferson a key 4-3 Empire 8 field hockey victory over Stevens on Saturday afternoon at Cameron Stadium.
The Presidents (7-2, 3-0) stayed atop the E8 standings and snapped an 11-match losing streak to Stevens (4-6, 1-2). W&J's last victory over the Ducks came on October 27, 2007, a 1-0 triumph in Hoboken, N.J.
Steffey opened the scoring just 57 seconds into the contest off a pass from
Catherine Beaudoin. The Ducks responded with a pair of first-half goals, both assisted by Victoria Alvarez, for a 2-1 lead at the break.
Washington & Jefferson came on strong at the stat of the second half with two goals in the first six minutes to reclaim the lead. Beaudoin netted a goal 1:50 into the second half, while
Caroline Kallos followed just under four minutes later and W&J held the 3-2 advantage.
Haines Duff tied the match six minutes after Kallos' goal before Steffey sent the Presidents home a winner with the final tally of the match.
Gina Taglieri set up the final goal after stealing a Duck pass, dribbling past a few defenders and deftly sliding a pass behind goalie Emily Stukenborg.
The Presidents and goalie
Karlie Baran withstood a late Stevens flurry. A shot by Nolie Prouty hit the post with 10 seconds remaining and the Ducks had two penalty corners after time had expired, but the W&J defense did not allow a shot on goal.
W&J led 24-16 in shots, but the Ducks had a 24-13 edge in penalty corners attempted. Baran turned back five shots for W&J, while Stukenborg posted 12 saves for Stevens. The Ducks also