Women's Lacrosse | 4/30/2021 7:12:57 PM
No. 1 seed St. John Fisher College (13-1) and No. 2 seed Nazareth College (7-5) advanced to the 2021 Empire 8 Women's Lacrosse Championship game after earning semifinal wins on Friday, April 30. St. John Fisher defeated No. 4 seed Hartwick College, 22-3, while Nazareth rallied to defeat No. 3 seed Utica College, 9-8.
The Cardinals, who are ranked No. 10 in the current IWLCA Division III national poll, will host Nazareth in the 2021 E8 Women's Lacrosse Championship game at 12 p.m. Sunday from Growney Stadium. St. John Fisher is looking to win its ninth straight Empire 8 Championship and 11th overall in program history, while Nazareth is attempting to win its fifth Empire 8 title overall and first since 2006. The winner of Sunday's game will earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
NO. 1 ST. JOHN FISHER 22, NO. 4 HARTWICK 3
No. 10 St. John Fisher College recorded a 22-3 victory over the fourth-seeded Hartwick Hawks.
After storming out to an 8-0 lead in the game's first ten minutes, the Cardinals continued to dominate on the offensive half of the field, drilling 6 more goals into net before the end of the half and allowing just one goal scored as a result of a loose ground ball that slipped past the keeper.
In the first half alone,
Alyssa Sproule scored four times, while
Brittany Halpin,
Mackenzie Alexander, and
Logan Chase each netted two goals apiece.
Facing the second half's running clock, Fisher grabbed eight of the game's last ten goals scored including two more from Sproule and a pair of goals from
Kathleen Salanger.
With six goals alone, Sproule led the offensive effort for the nationally-ranked Cardinals. Her effort was followed up by Salanger and Halpin who recorded hat tricks, and
Sydney DeGirolamo, Chase, and Alexander who scored twice each.
Rounding out the Fisher scoring were
Cara Landry,
Bianca Giacona,
Courtney O'Dea, and
Alexandra Kopcza, who shared the remaining four goals.
Nearly as impressive as the goal total was the passing display put on by the home squad, in which DeGirolamo, Salanger, and O'Dea dished out three dimes each, leading to a team-total 10 assists in the contest.
Fisher's success on the offensive end couldn't possibly be overlooked by its corresponding defensive effort. Of Hartwick's 12 clear attempts, the Cardinals forced its opponent into failure ten times and produced nine more turnovers throughout the remainder of the game for a total of 19 possession changes.
Claudia Mocciaro was dubbed the W between the pipes as the senior keeper faced just one shot in her 30-minute appearance.
NO. 2 NAZARETH 9, NO. 3 UTICA 8
Senior
Callahan Lyon and sophomore
Emma States each scored twice in the second half for host and second-seeded Nazareth Friday as the Golden Flyers rallied to edge third-seeded Utica, 9-8.
The Golden Flyers had to battle hard to overcome the Pioneers, who finished the season 9-6 overall with three of the losses coming against Nazareth. Utica led 4-3 at halftime and the Pioneers extended that advantage to 6-4 in the second half.
Nazareth countered with three straight goals to take its first lead, 7-6, since early in the game. Lyon assisted on a goal by States with 17:29 left. Then Lyon and
Lauren Caldwell each delivered unassisted scores to give Nazareth the lead.
Utica tied the score at 7-7 with 10:45 to go, but Nazareth got an unassisted goal from States less than a minute later and Lyon converted on a free-position shot with 5:38 to go to give Nazareth a two-goal advantage for the first time in the game. Utica's Samantha DeCondo scored on a free-position shot with 1:10 left, but Nazareth's
Vicki Arena won the ensuing draw control and -- after a Nazareth timeout -- the Pioneers never touched the ball on offense again.
States finished with four goals and Lyon had three goals and one assist. Caldwell and
Emma Robinson were the other goal scorers. DeCondo had three goals for Utica.
Both goalies played well with
Katie Lawrence making nine saves for Nazareth and Claire Frier stopping 10 shots for the Pioneers. Arena had a strong game for Nazareth defensively with five draw controls, five caused turnovers and three ground balls. Lawrence had six ground balls in addition to her nine saves.
St. John Fisher won both previous meetings between the two schools earlier in the season, 7-5 in the season opener at Growney Stadium on March 10 and 8-7 at Nazareth on April 24.
2021 Empire 8 Women’s Lacrosse Championship Schedule
Tuesday, April 27 – First Round
#3 Utica College defeats #6 Keuka College, 20-4 – STATS
#4 Hartwick College defeats #5 Russell Sage College, 19-4 – STATS
Friday, April 30 - Semifinals
#1 St. John Fisher College defeats #4 Hartwick College, 22-3 – STATS
#2 Nazareth College defeats #3 Utica College, 9-8 – STATS
Sunday, May 2 - Championship
#2 Nazareth College at #1 St. John Fisher College – 12 pm – VIDEO – LIVE STATS