Houghton and Fisher Register E8 Wins

Houghton and Fisher Register E8 Wins

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HOUGHTON 11, Elmira 9
Houghton women's lacrosse won their second-straight contest, 11-9 over Elmira College at home on Saturday.

The win was Houghton's first official victory in Empire 8 play, as the Highlanders are now eligible for E8 postseason play for the first year.

After giving up a goal to the Soaring Eagles in the game's first 21 seconds, Houghton responded with three-straight tallies to take a 3-1 lead with 21:36 left. Tyler Reese (Kennett Square, PA, Unionville), Chandler Jones (Collegeville, PA, Spring-Ford) and Elizabeth Westwood (Saugerties, NY, Saugerties) were credited with the scores. Another Elmira goal was followed by a score from Jennifer Zacchigna (East Aurora, NY, East Aurora), but the Soaring Eagles scored two-straight to edge ahead, 6-5. Houghton would score three of the final four goals of the half to take an 8-7 lead into the break. Meghan Oswald (Penn Yan, NY, Marcus Whitman) scored once and Alyssa Strom (Tonawanda, NY, Sweet Home) scored twice for the Highlanders.

The second half was a defensive battle with scoring goals coming few and far between. Tyler Reese got a man-up tally with just under four minutes gone to give the Highlanders a two-goal cushion. And after an Elmira goal trimmed the deficit back to one, Reese and Zacchigna gave Houghton some breathing room with 9:40 left. The Highlanders were able to gain possession and ran more than three minutes off the clock before Elmira was able to force a turnover. Houghton withstood two solid scoring chances in the closing minutes, included a shot off the post, before giving up one final goal with 1:01 to go. One final shot from the Soaring Eagles was turned away by Houghton keeper Alyssa Strom (Tonawanda, NY, Sweet Home) in the final minute.

Zacchigna and Reese each tallied hat tricks, with Strom scoring twice and Westwood getting two goals and two assists.

Franklin stopped 10 shots in net.

Houghton had a 28-27 edge in shots and had 27 ground balls to 20 for Elmira. Draw controls were in favor of Elmira, 12-10.


ST. JOHN FISHER 13, ITHACA 6
The nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College women's lacrosse program won its Empire 8 Conference season opener on Saturday, as the No. 17 Cardinals pushed their winning streak to five games with a  13-6 victory over visiting Ithaca College.

Saturday's game was a rematch of each of the last three Empire 8 Conference Championships – all of which were won by Fisher – but it's the first time the Cardinals have beaten Ithaca in the regular-season since 2009.  

With the win,  Fisher improves to 5-1 overall, while Ithaca falls to 2-4 overall, 0-1 Empire 8.

Ithaca took a 1-0 lead in the first three minutes, but Fisher's Samantha Barton and Jordan Johnsonscored back-to-back goal in a two-minute span to put the Cardinals up for good with 22:41 left in the first half.  

Fisher led 3-2 with just over 10 minutes in the first, but scored the final three goals of the half, including Johnson's third of the day with six seconds remaining, to put the Cardinals up 6-2 at the break.

It was back and forth for most of the second half.   The Bombers pulled to within three goals at 9-6 with just over 11 minutes left, but the Cardinals closed out the game with a 4-0 run.

Freshman Kennedy Frink led the Cardinals with five points on one goal and four assists, while Johnson tallied four points on four goals.  Sierra Badger scored all three of her goals in the second half, while Barton finished with two goals and one assist, while leading her team with five draw controls and three ground balls.

Seniors Lindsey Shoales and Erin Ward each scored a goal, while Chrissy Cook (one goal) andCori Holbrook (one assist) also registered a point.

Junior goalie Nicole Hart earned the win in goal, tallying five saves.


NAZARETH
Sophomore Jamie Martin scored with :01 remaining in regulation to lift Nazareth to a 9-8 victory over visiting Rochester in a non-conference women's lacrosse game on Saturday afternoon. Martin received a pass from junior Carly Gates from the right wing to set up the scoring opportunity. With 18 seconds to play in regulation, the Yellowjackets' Jamie Wallisch scored her fourth goal of the game and 21st of the season to temporarily tie the score.

With the victory, the Golden Flyers improve to 5-1 overall. With the loss, Rochester's four-game winning streak is stopped, and the Yellowjackets fall to 4-2 overall.

Nazareth claimed a 2-0 lead in the opening 2:40 on goals by Gates and Martin. Gates' goal, only 20 seconds into the game, was unassisted as she drove to the net. Gates assisted on Martin's goal just over two minutes later. Rochester's defense quieted the Golden Flyers for the rest of the first half. Yellowjackets' goalie, Maire Prosak, made eight of her nine saves in the opening half to thwart Nazareth's attempts.
 
With the Golden Flyers' scoring drought, Rochester scored six consecutive goals spanning the final 24:42 of the first half and the opening 3:21 of the second half. Wallisch had three of the goals as she drove through the Nazareth defense. Elisabeth Watson, Lauren Basil, and Cassie Mahar had the Yellowjackets' other goals. Mara Karpp had a pair of assists during the scoring run. Mahar's goal, which capped the run, was on a free position opportunity.

Facing a four-goal deficit, Nazareth began its rally with three goals in less than four minutes. Sophomore Heather Grootignited the Golden Flyers by drawing a free position shot and converting the opportunity with 25:37 to play. Martin followed with her second goal of the contest after receiving a pass from senior Suzie Gray. Freshman Haley DeVonaalso scored her first goal of the game after driving to the net from behind the goal.

DeVona tied the game, 6-6, with about 18 minutes to play. She received a pass from sophomore Kate Rothrock. SeniorBri Mancini gave the Golden Flyers their first lead since early in the first half after collecting a pass from sophomoreGabbie Charles. Mancini's goal, her second of the season, was Nazareth's fifth goal in roughly nine minutes.

Rochester's Madeline Levy tied the game with an unassisted score with 13:54 left in regulation, but the tie was short-lived as Groot tallied her third goal of the season about two minutes later. Gray collected her team-high second assist of the game on the goal.

The game remained 8-7 for over 10 minutes when Wallisch thought she sent the game to overtime with her goal in the final 20 seconds. On the ensuing draw control, senior MacKenzie Haley collected the loose ball to provide Nazareth with possession for the game-winning score.

Senior Ashley Kirch made seven saves, including five in the second half to earn the victory. Kirch stymied a free position chance by Wallisch in the final 10 minutes to maintain Nazareth's lead. On another free position chance, the Nazareth defender connected with Watson's stick to force the attempt high. Prosak took the loss with nine saves.

Each team tallied 22 total shots and the Golden Flyers finished with a 14-13 edge in ground balls. The Yellowjackets recorded a 10-8 edge in draw controls. Haley finished with four draw controls to lead Nazareth.


UTICA
The Utica College women's lacrosse team returned from break to down host Albright College, 12-8, in non-conference action Saturday evening.  Three Pioneers scored three goals on the day.
 
With the win, Utica improves to 3-2 on the season.  The Pioneers return home Tuesday to host SUNY Poly.  Game time is scheduled for 4 p.m.
 
Utica jumped out to a 3-1 lead halfway through the first half; however the Lions were able to rebound to even the score with just over six minutes remaining.  The Pioneers then scored the next six goals to take a commanding 9-3 lead en route to their second straight victory.
 
Senior Megan Kane (Staten Island, NY/Tottenville), junior Courtney Wheeler (Ava, NY/Rome Free Academy), and sophomore Rebecca Plunkett (Kings Park, NY/Kings Park) each had three goals, with Kane adding two assists.  Freshman Brooke Miller (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) extended her goal-scoring streak to three games as she netted a season-high two goals.  Sophomore Tewasherake Barnes(Akwesasne, NY/Salmon River) also scored to pace the Pioneers.
 
Junior Kells Casey (Sandwich, MA/Kimball Union Academy) made ten saves in net, while her counterpart, Emily Hutson had four saves in the loss.