Fisher Field Hockey Ranked No. 5 Regionally
The NCAA released its regional field hockey rankings. The rankings are based on all games played through Oct. 30.
St. John Fisher is one of five teams ranked in the North Atlantic as the Cardinals are No. 5 behind four teams from the Liberty League.
| NORTH ATLANTIC |
School |
In-Division Record |
Overall Record |
| 1 |
Vassar |
14-3 |
14-3 |
| 2 |
William Smith |
12-5 |
12-5 |
| 3 |
Skidmore |
13-5 |
13-5 |
| 4 |
Rochester (New York) |
16-3 |
16-3 |
| 5 |
St. John Fisher |
16-2 |
16-2 |
The St. John Fisher College field hockey team will be hosting the Empire 8 Championship at Growney Stadium this weekend. The Cardinals will be joined Washington & Jefferson College, Hartwick College and Stevens Institute of Technology as the four teams in the conference tournament.
Finishing off the season with a perfect Empire 8 record of 8-0 is the top-seeded Cardinals. Fisher leads the conference in scoring this season, averaging 3.3 goals per game. Heading the offense is junior
Emily Markarian, whose 43 regular-season points not only breaks the Fisher single-season record, but also ranks first in the Empire 8 and 18
th in all of Division III. Teammates
Lauren Fazioand
Kelly Bergamo each have 12 goals as well on the year, while Fazio's eight assists are tied for the team-lead.
Fisher's defense has also been a key factor in the success as the team holds its opponents to a conference-low .88 goals per game. Anchoring the defense is sophomore goalkeeper
Ashley Maynard, whose save percentage (.923) and her goals-against average (.46) lead all of NCAA Division III. She is aided by a solid defensive back-line consisting of
Sarah Bisesi,
Alexandrea Malley and
Hannah Cooper.
The Cardinals will square off in the Championship's first semifinal matchup at 4 p.m. on Friday against the No. 4 Ducks of Stevens.
The second game of the day will begin at 6:30 p.m. as second-seeded Washington and Jefferson take on No. 3 Hartwick.
The championship game will take place at 4 p.m. on Saturday and will be between the winners of the previous day's contests. The winner of Saturday's title game will be crowned the Empire 8 champion and will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship.