Women's Soccer | 11/6/2019 11:53:00 PM
ONEONTA, NY – It was a tale of two halves in Wednesday night's Empire 8 Semifinal. The third-seeded Nazareth Golden Flyers dominated the first 25-plus minutes of the first half but could not score, although play evened out as the clock ticked towards zero. The No. 2 seed Hartwick women's soccer team made some major adjustments in the locker room, however, as they came out like a buzzsaw and controlled play the entire second half, winning the shot battle 14-3. Zoe Capanna (Los Angeles, CA/Palisades Charter) was a major component of that, and her first career goal in the 55th minute made up the only scoring of the game, as the Hawks downed Nazareth, 1-0, to advance to the Empire 8 Championship for the second time in three seasons. The Hawks are now 12-3-3 on the year, while the Golden Flyers finish their season at 9-6-2.
As mentioned, the visitors had the better of play for the first portion of the first half. Maggie McKay came close to scoring under five minutes in, when she chipped one over goalkeeper Cassandra Robataille's (Amsterdam, NY/Amsterdam) head towards the far left post, but the senior netminder scrambled back and dove to deflect the ball out for a corner. Robataille stopped another golden opportunity for the Golden Flyers a few minutes later; a ball deflected off of a Hartwick defender and looked like it would end up on the feet of Caleigh Cahoon all alone, but Robataille sprinted out of her net to cover the ball.
After some more Nazareth pressure, Robataille came up big again in the 23rd minute. McKayla Hughes looked like she might have the game's first tally, but Robataille made another diving save to her right to keep the ice unbroken. Capanna was substituted into the game in the 29th minute, and the game changed from there in the host side's favor. She had two shots in her first minute of play, including one that came off of a Hannah Bochniak (Barnveld, NY/Holland Patent) steal on the right wing and pass to a couple yards inside the penalty area. Capanna took a hard, low shot, but goalkeeper Hannah Miller was there to stop the ball in its tracks with a leaning save to her right. There was one more shot by the time the half had expired, another Capanna try, but the game remained tied at nil after 45 minutes.
Whether it was a rousing halftime speech, some coaching and adjustments, a combination of both, or something else completely, the Hawks looked like a completely different team coming out of the locker room. They had multiple chances early, including a Tanner Reed (Unadilla, NY/Unatego Central) try that Miller had to make a nice save on, but their consistent pressure took until the 55th minute to pay off. After Dana Caputo's (Commack, NY/Commack) corner was cleared out of the box, she ended up again with the ball, and played it back in. It came off Capanna to Reed, who tapped it right back to her teammate. Capanna used her strength to hold off the Nazareth defender, and as Miller closed in, she sent the ball past her and across the line on the left side of the net at 54:33 for the game's first goal.
The Hawks did not let up from there, not even close. They had five shots in under five minutes starting in the 59th, and countless chances off of multiple gorgeous balls by backs Caputo and Gina Fahrenholz (Scotch Plains, NJ/Scotch Plains). Reed later had a nice individual effort in the 70th minute, but rolled her shot wide right from a sharp angle on the left side. They had even more quality attempts at an insurance goal over the final twenty minutes, with shots by Reed and Katie Ziniti (Chester, NH/Pinkerton Academy) needing difficult saves from Miller.
Nazareth's biggest chance came with about 19 minutes left, when a pass was played into Hughes in the box, but Courtney Velho (Derry, NH/Pinkerton Academy) did her job as she has all year, and picked her mark's pocket to send the ball out of danger. With seconds left, a falling Megan McCraith sent a last-ditch effort towards the net, but Robataille was there to pluck it out of the air and take a bow as her team moved on to the Championship game.
Capanna had the game of her career at the perfect time, scoring her first collegiate goal on a game-high six shots (three on goal). Reed tied Capanna with six shots, and also had three on target, as well as the assist on the game-winner. Samantha Ford (Acton, MA/Acton Boxborough Regional) was the only other Hawk with multiple shots, sending two towards the net. Robataille was on her game, charging out to stop opportunities and cut off crosses multiple times, as well as making four saves on four chances. She earned her 12th shutout of the season and the 29th of her Hartwick career, tying Melanie Mumbulo for second on the program's all-time list, in one fewer season. The top spot is held by Gina Burrows, with 31. The Hawks would have to qualify for the NCAA Tournament for Robataille to have a crack at that record.
All of Nazareth's seven shots came from different players, with Hughes, McKay, McCraith, and Lauren Begy each putting a shot on goal. Miller was solid in net for the Golden Flyers, making seven saves in what turned out to be the final game of her illustrious career.
After a 4-4 shot count in the first half, Hartwick ended up with a dominant lead by the end of the night, at 18-7. They also had an 8-4 advantage in shots on goal. 'Wick ended up with a slim lead on corners, at 3-2, although one of them led indirectly to the game's only goal. The clean sheet is the team's 12th of the season, one off the program record of 13 set in 1990 and tied in 2017.
Hartwick will try for their second ever Empire 8 Championship, as well as their second title in three years, this coming Saturday, November 9. They look for some revenge against #4 Utica, the team that knocked them out of last year's Tournament in the Semifinals. The Pioneers advanced to the Finals by upsetting top-seeded St. John Fisher on a long free kick by Emma Workman that found the back of the net in the 83rd minute. As the higher seed, the game will be held on the Hawks' home turf, Elmore Field, with opening kick at 5 p.m. The winner secures the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.