Fisher and Ithaca Receive Bids to NCAA Tournament
NCAA Bracket: http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/lacrosse-women/d3
ST. JOHN FISHER
The St. John Fisher College women's lacrosse team will face Calvin College at 1 p.m. on Saturday in the Second Round of NCAA Division III Championship. The game will be at Fisher's Growney Stadium. Ticket information will be announced in the near future.
This marks the fifth straight year and the seventh time since 2007 that Fisher has advanced to the NCAA Division III Championship.
Fisher (16-3) won its fifth straight Empire 8 Conference title on Sunday, knocking off top-seeded Ithaca College 9-8 in overtime. The victory set a new record for wins in a season for the women's lacrosse program, now in its 17th season.
The Knights (12-5) have won eight straight games, including a 12-11 win over Albion College in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association title game on Saturday. The win locked up Calvin's first trip to the national tournament.
This will be the first-ever meeting between Calvin and Fisher in women's lacrosse.
Led by fifth-year head coach Linda Michele, who owns a 75-23 record in her career at Fisher, the Cardinals have a balanced offensive attack and a stingy defense.
Fisher features only two seniors - Sierra Badger and Chrissy Cook - but both played key roles. Badgers ranks in the top three on the team in goals (28), assists (10), points (38) and draw controls (31), and ranks among the College's all-time leaders with 109 goals. Cook is fourth on the team in goals, points and ground balls and scored the game-winning goal in overtime on Sunday to lift Fisher to its fifth Empire 8 title.
Junior goalie Hayley Peets, who was named the Most Outstanding Player in the Empire 8 Championship, has started in 16 games this season and has played her best as of late, stopping 16 shots in back-to-back wins over Stevens Institute of Technology and Ithaca.
Classmate Jordan Johnson leads Fisher with 56 points and 21 assists, while ranking second on the team with 35 goals. Sophomore Cori Holbrook is Fisher's top scorer with 39 tallies and 40 draw controls. Teammates Jamie Wallace (21 goals) and Mackenzie Levan (20 goals) have also contributed on the offensive end throughout the year.
Junior Abbie Reed is Fisher's top defender, leading the team in caused turnovers, while freshmen Mary Grace Doyle andSarah Miles have each started in all 19 games on a defense that has allowed double-digit goals just twice this season.
The winner of the Fisher-Calvin game will most likely travel to Middlebury College the following weekend. The Panthers are the No. 2 ranked team in the latest national coaches poll and will face either FDU-Florham or SUNY Poly on Sunday.
ITHACA
The Ithaca College women's lacrosse team is heading back to the NCAA Division III tournament after securing an at-large berth.
Ithaca (13-5), which lost to St. John Fisher College Sunday afternoon in the Empire 8 championship, will play Regis (Mass.) College in a first-round game Saturday at Trinity (Conn.) College in Hartford, Conn.
This is the Bombers' 10th appearance all-time in the NCAA tournament, and first since 2011, when Ithaca fell to Middlebury 14-7 in the first round.
Regis (12-6) won the New England Collegiate Conference championship with a 16-8 victory over Southern Vermont.
The winner of the Ithaca/Regis game advances to play Trinity (15-3) Sunday in a second-round game at Trinity.
Ithaca, ranked 19th in the county in the latest Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches' Association poll, was seeking its first conference title since 2008 but came up short against Fisher, falling 9-8 in overtime. It was just the third loss in 15 games for the Bombers.
Ithaca is outscoring opponents 13.22 to 8.50 on the year and is led by junior Morgan Racicot (40 goals, 29 assists), senior Riley Marion (49G, 9A), junior Morgan Cadwell (39G, 7A), and freshmanAllison Panara (24G, 14A).
Marion (46), Cadwell (37), and Panara (27) led the Bombers in draw controls.
The Bombers boasted the top scoring offense in the Empire 8, and the third-stingiest defense (8.46 goals per game).
Sophomore Elizabeth Sauer led the team with 37 caused turnovers, followed by classmate Molly Long (27).
Sauer (33) and Long (30) led the team in groundballs, followed by junior Gaby Berne (29), Racicot (28), freshman Danika Wagener (26) and senior Erika Johnson (26).
A pair of goalies, junior Emily Ross and sophomore Kimberly Presuto, combined to spark Ithaca under first-year head coach Karrie Moore.
Ross went 11-3 with a 9.25 goals-against average, while Presuto was 2-2 with a 7.78 goals-against average and a .513 saves percentage.
The 40-team tournament continues with the regionals (May 21-22), semifinals (May 28) and championship (May 29). The semifinals and championship occur at Talen Energy Stadium in Philadelphia, Pa.