ONEONTA, NY – A pair of juniors were the heroes on Senior Day at Elmore Field on Saturday, as Dana Caputo's (Commack, NY/Commack) corner eventually found Maggie Rogers (Wharton, NJ/Morris Hills) for the overtime winner in the 94th minute, lifting the Hartwick women's soccer team over Sage, 1-0. The win lifts the Hawks to 11-3-3 overall and 4-0-3 in the Empire 8 (the program's first ever undefeated season in conference), and gives 'Wick home-field advantage in Wednesday's Semifinals matchup with Nazareth. Sage, who held on to slim playoff hopes to begin the day, end their season at 7-11 and 2-5 in conference.
Before the game, Hartwick honored seniors Tanner Reed (Unadilla, NY/Unatego Central), Cassandra Robataille (Amsterdam, NY/Amsterdam), Samantha Ford (Acton, MA/Acton Boxborough Regional), Jacqueline Smith (Monroe, NY/Monroe Woodbury), and Isabella Toro (Monroe, NY/Monroe Woodbury) for their contributions and dedication to the program throughout their time here.
Hartwick's seniors, from left: Tanner Reed, Samantha Ford, Cassandra Robataille, Jacqueline Smith, and Isabella Toro
The game started out very uneventfully. Each side had a couple chances in the first 15 minutes, but never seriously threatened to score. Hartwick held the ball for a while in the Sage defensive end beginning in the 16th minute, but never got a shot off. The Gators potentially benefitted from a missed foul call a few minutes later, as they generated a rush towards the Hartwick net, but their first (and only) shot of the day from Lydia Malkiewicz was blocked.
The Hawks had a few more pushes of extended pressure in the Sage end before the half was up. With under 12 minutes to go, Gina Fahrenholz (Scotch Plains, NJ/Scotch Plains) sent one into the box, but it was snatched in front of the goal line by goalkeeper Kallan Shertzer. A Caputo corner in the 40th minute was cleared out by the Gators, sent back in by the Hawks, but Katie Ziniti's (Chester, NH/Pinkerton Academy) header went wide. There was one more Hartwick opportunity with a minute left; Courtney Velho (Derry, NH/Pinkerton Academy) lifted one towards the goal area, where Ziniti was headed. Shertzer had other ideas, however, snagging the ball before the freshman could get to it.
The second half started in a similar manner to the first with not much going on aside from Zoe Capanna (Los Angeles, CA/Palisades Charter) spinning one wide in the 52nd minute off a nice move from Hannah Bochniak (Barneveld, NY/Holland Patent). Rogers almost had a go-ahead goal in the 64th minute. A ball in bounced around the box before ending up on her feet at point-blank range. She fired, but Shertzer made the save and the Gators cleared it out. Sage later pressured a bit with under 10 minutes to go, but did not come away with a shot. The final chance of the half went to Julia Collado (Whitehouse Station, NJ/Hunterdon). Caputo sent a great ball in off a corner, but Collado's chance went wide, and the two teams would head for overtime a few minutes later.
The only entries on the play-by-play from overtime led right to the game-winner. The Hawks earned a corner in the 94th minute, taken by Caputo as usual. She sent one low and straight along the goal line, which Shertzer got a hand on and deflected into the crossbar. Sage could not keep the next one out, though, as Rogers got a piece of it and knocked it over the line for the victory at 93:51.
Ford led all players with three shots on her senior day, followed by Rogers, Collado, Capanna, and Gabrielle Kreppein (Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls), with two each. Robataille was unneeded for any saves today thanks in part to a strong back line, but earned a shutout regardless. She now has 11 clean sheets for the season, extending her career high, and 28 in her Hartwick career, one off of second-place in program history.
Malkiewicz was the only Sage field player on the stat sheet today, as she had the lone Gator shot. Shertzer made three saves on four tries today, playing all 93:51 in net.
Hartwick dominated the shot count, at 15-1, as well as 4-0 in shots on goal. They also had the advantage in corners, at 3-1.
The Hawks are off to the races in their fourth consecutive Empire 8 Tournament this coming Wednesday, November 6. As the #2 seed, they will host #3 Nazareth in the Semifinals, with game-time at 7 p.m. #4 Utica will visit #1 St. John Fisher on the same day, and the winners will meet at the highest remaining seed's home field on Saturday, November 9 in the Championship game.
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