Field Hockey | 11/9/2021 12:46:00 PM
PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College field hockey team will begin its quest for a national championship at 4 p.m. on Wednesday as the Cardinals take on No. 10 Trinity College (Conn.) in the opening round of the 2021 NCAA Division III Championship in Hartford, Conn.
Fisher, which is coming off its second straight Empire 8 Championship on Saturday, will be making its third NCAA appearance and first since reaching the Sweet 16 in 2016.
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HOW THEY GOT HERE: The Cardinals cruised through the Empire 8 Championship last week after besting Nazareth College in the semifinal round, 6-0, before blanking third-seeded Utica College, 3-0, in the finale to win their third conference crown. The Bantams navigated the most difficult conference in Division III and earned one of a handful of at-large berths into the field of 26 after falling to top-ranked Middlebury College, 4-0, in the New England Small College Athletic Conference semifinal. Aside from Trinity, three of the remaining 25 teams in this year's field represent the NESCAC including No. 1 Middlebury, No. 5 Bowdoin College and No. 7 Tufts.
NCAA PEDIGREE: The Cardinals are set to make their second-ever trip to the national tournament and first since 2016. That year, Fisher posted the longest winning streak in Division III after claiming 18 consecutive games including their NCAA opener after downing Rhodes College, 2-1, in double overtime. Trinity, on the other hand, is making its eighth NCAA appearance and first since 2017 where the Bantams advanced to the Elite 8. In all, Trinity reached the quarterfinal round five times and advanced to the Final Four in 1993 and again in 1998.
POSTSEASON RECOGNITION: Entering this week's matchup, Fisher received a bit of a boost as fifth-year player Bre Socker became just the second player in program history to be named the Empire 8 Player of the Year for a second season in a row as the Liverpool native has contributed 46 points and 18 goals overall through 19 games. Freshman Selena Emery was voted the Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Year as the Greene native leads the league and is among the leaders in Division III this season with 10 defensive saves. Additionally, Fisher had five other players honored by the conference including Alyssa Andres who was named First-Team All-League for the third time in her career. Gianna Palma and Sophia Trozzi were each named Second-Team All-Conference while Molly Fisher and Rileigh Luste were each named Third-Team All-Empire for their efforts.
FOR THE RECORD: We touched on Socker's offensive output this season, but those numbers shouldn't come as a surprise. She's been producing on a monumental scale since first walking on campus in 2018. A National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-American in 2019, Socker, who earned her fifth First-Team All-Conference selection on Monday, is the all-time scoring leader in the Empire 8 and is the Cardinals' all-time record holder with 95 goals, 41 assists, 231 points and 603 total shots over 84 career games.
PEAKING AT THE RIGHT TIME: Momentum is a funny thing and there are few teams in Division III right now that are hotter than Fisher. Over their last five games, the Cardinals have out-scored their opposition 15-3 and have registered four shutouts in that stretch. Meanwhile, the Bantams have gone 2-2 over their last four games with both losses coming to the top-ranked Panthers.
SENDING OUT AN SOS: Entering this week's tournament, Fisher has played the 41st most difficult schedule in Division III while the Bantams' opponents have an aggregate winning percentage of .598 – good for the 23rd toughest schedule in the country. In all, head coach
Victoria Bothner's non-conference slate was a gauntlet as the Cardinals played No. 1 Middlebury (18-0), No. 14 New Paltz (16-2), No. 15 Cortland (16-2), Ithaca (14-5), which is receiving votes, Rochester (12-7) and Geneseo (11-7).
SCOUTING TRINITY: The nationally-ranked Bantams enter Wednesday's pairing with a 12-5 overall mark as No. 10 Trinity ranked sixth in the NESCAC in scoring at just over 2.7 goals per contest this year. The Bantams are allowing 1.41 goals per game and enter the NCAA Championship with eight shutouts on their docket.
Trinity is paced by Caelin Flaherty's 41 total points on 18 goals and five assists while Jackie Frank ranks second on the team with 28 points including 13 goals. From there, the offensive production drops slightly, but the Bantams still feature five other players who have tallied at least one goal on the season.
Defensively, Trinity features two solid options at goalie with Olivia McMichael owning a 5-4 mark despite a 1.24 goals against average and a .776 save percentage. Emma Cropper is 6-1 in goal with a 1.20 goals against average over 11 games played this season.
WHAT'S NEXT?: The winner of Wednesday's tilt will advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Championship where it will meet No. 6 Kean University, which fell to No. 4 Rowan in the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship game. The Cougars still managed an at-large bid and a first round bye with a 19-2 overall record as they take on the winner of Fisher and Trinity on Saturday in Babson Park, Mass.
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
www.empire8.com.
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