Bentley Breaks Assist Records
ONEONTA, NY – Junior
Sierra Bentley (Worcester, NY/Schenevus) dished out assists on Hartwick's last three goals to shatter both the program record for career assists and the single-season mark as the Hartwick Hawks closed out their regular season with a 4-2 victory at Elmira College in a game played at Campus Field. The victory ups the Hawks' overall record to 10-4-3. It marks the first back-to-back 10-win seasons for the program since 1991 and 1992.
The Hawks close out their Empire 8 campaign with a 4-2-2 mark which is the best conference record in program history. They earn the fourth seed in the upcoming Empire 8 Tournament and will play top-seed and host Stevens at De Baun Athletic Complex on Saturday at 12 p.m.
Bentley's second assist of the day on
Rachel Weir's (New Milford, CT/New Milford) tally at the 74:03 mark gave her 11 helpers for the season to pass Rachel Duell (1980) and Kylie Thayer (2014) for the single-season record. Her third assist of the day on
Madison Miller's (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta) second tally of the day gave her 22 for her three-year career to vault former all-time leader Suzette Cirella. The record had stood for 31 years.
Ashley Connolly (Johnson City, NY/Johnson City) gave the Hawks an early lead after she took a through ball pass from
Allie Ricci (Millstone, NJ/Saint John Vianney) and beat EC keeper Amanda Banner 3:45 into the contest.
Niki Lemper's free kick from 25 yards out just over eight minutes later evened the game at 1-1 for the Soaring Eagles, but a Miller header off a Bentley corner 56 seconds later would hand the Hawks a 2-1 advantage, which they held until halftime.
Sara Kazernouni evened the match at two with 20:57 left in the contest as she toe-poked her shot past Hartwick's
Megan McGillycuddy (Glenville, NY/Scotia-Glenville).
But Hartwick had the answer exactly five minutes later as Bentley found Weir for her seventh goal to put the Hawks up to stay. Miller cleaned up a loose ball after another Bentley corner to provide an insurance goal for the Hawks.
Bridget Reilly (Purdys, NY/Somers) was also credited with an assist on the play.
Hartwick finished the match with a sizeable advantage in shots, 19-7. The Hawks also generated all seven corners in the match.
McGillycuddy made two saves to earn the victory in goal for 'Wick. Banner stopped three shots for the Hawks.