Field Hockey | 11/10/2021 5:44:00 PM
HARTFORD, CT – The St. John Fisher College field hockey was one of 20 teams in action on Wednesday in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Championship as the Cardinals fell to nationally-ranked Trinity College, 5-0, at Robin L. Sheppard Field. With the loss, Fisher, which won its second straight Empire 8 Championship last weekend, had its season ended at 12-8 while the No. 10 Bantams improved to 13-5 and advanced to the Sweet 16 where they will square off with No. 6 Kean University on Saturday in Babson Park, Mass.
After shaking off a first-minute goal by the Bantams, the Cardinals settled in and held Trinity's high-powered offense at bay over the first 30 minutes of play as Sophia Trozzi headed into halftime with eight saves on her ledger.
As the second half got underway, Fisher looked to net the equalizer as a penalty corner in the 33rd minute led to a shot by Bre Socker that the Bantams' goalie saved to maintain the one-goal cushion.
Still leading by a goal with time winding down in the third quarter, the Bantams' scored in the 39th minute and would add to their lead just 61 seconds later to hold a 3-0 advantage leading into the final 15 minutes of play.
Facing a three-goal gap and with time working against it, Fisher's Socker found open space in the 48th minute, but her shot sailed wide. Two minutes later, Trinity moved the ball across midfield and fired two shots in a span of eight seconds with the latter finding the back of the net to extend its edge to four with under 10 minutes to play.
With the game well in hand, Trinity continued to press on and registered its fifth goal with under a minute to go to punch its ticket to a meeting with the Cougars in the second round of play.
In goal, Trozzi finished with 11 saves in all over 60 minutes and finished her sophomore season with a 12-8 overall record.
The season ends with Fisher having secured its third overall Empire 8 Championship and having reached the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2016. Overall, the Cardinals were among the top offensive and defensive teams in the Empire 8 this season and had seven players named All-Conference earlier this week including Socker who was named the Empire 8 Player of the Year for the second straight season while Selena Emery was voted the Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Year with a conference-leading 10 defensive saves.