Women's Lacrosse | 5/7/2022 7:56:22 PM
No. 1 seed St. John Fisher College (9-8) and No. 2 seed Nazareth College (8-9) advanced to the 2022 Empire 8 Women's Lacrosse Championship game after earning semifinal wins on Saturday, May 7. St. John Fisher defeated No. 4 seed Hartwick College, 18-6, while Nazareth rallied to defeat No. 3 seed Utica College, 10-9.
The Cardinals will host Nazareth in the 2022 E8 Women's Lacrosse Championship game at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, May 8 from Growney Stadium. St. John Fisher is looking to win its tenth straight Empire 8 Championship and 12th 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 18, NO. 4 HARTWICK 6
St. John Fisher College defeated Hartwick, 18-6, on Saturday morning inside Growney Stadium. With the win, Fisher improves its overall record to 9-8, while the Hawks end their season with a final record of 6-7.
Sydney Carpenter continued her dominant first year with a seven-point performance in her first playoff game of her career, while
Kathleen Salanger and
Farrah Zalla both tallied five points in the contest.
Lilly Goodsell earned the win (9-8) after allowing just six goals with six saves.
The Cardinals defense was on display early as
Shannon Foster forced a Hartwick turnover, allowing Salanger to maneuver her way through the defense to score the game's first goal.
The one-goal lead would not last as Hartwick would score back-to-back goals with just over seven minutes remaining in the first quarter.
Trailing by one goal, head coach
Linda Michele called her first timeout and re-grouped her squad with a new strategy. After the break, the Cardinals offense exploded for three-straight goals including one from Zalla, and two from
Mary Fiorentino.
From there, a Cardinals turnover allowed the Hawks to sprint down the field and put the ball in the back of the net to cut the Fisher lead to one.
Closing out the first quarter, Salanger earned herself a free position attempt with just under two minutes remaining. The senior attacker lined up the shot and put the ball past the goalie for the teams fifth goal, ending the first quarter 5-3.
The second quarter was all Fisher as they outscored the Hawks 4-0 in the 15 minutes of play including goals from Carpenter,
Cara Landry,
Courtney O'Dea, and Zalla. The Cardinals entered halftime with a 9-3 edge.
As a team, the Cardinals outshot the Hawks, 36-14, and won the draw control battle, 20-8. Fisher forced 21 Hartwick turnovers including seven failed clear attempts.
NO. 2 NAZARETH 10, NO. 3 UTICA 9
Second-seeded Nazareth got fourth-period goals from
Annie Rubel and
Emma Robinson Saturday to past Utica for a thrilling 10-9 women's lacrosse victory Saturday.
To win Saturday, Nazareth overcame a four-goal deficit as well as a scoring drought that lasted nearly 30 minutes.
Emma States led the Golden Flyers with three goals and two assists and Robinson also scored three times. Kate Lawrence gained the start in goal and finished with 10 saves.
Still trailing 9-8 heading into the fourth quarter, Nazareth got the tying goal from Rubel, who finished off a pass from States with 11:31 to play and Robinson netted the game-winner on a free position shot just over a minute later.
Lawrence needed to make just one save thereafter, but the Golden Flyers also forced three turnovers down the stretch.
Emma Parry was strong defensively again with four caused turnovers and eight draw controls.
Nazareth took a 4-2 lead in the first quarter as States scored twice and Robinson and
Emily Paddock also scored. After Paddock's goal with 7:15 left in the first, Utica rallied for six straight goals between the end of the first quarter and into the third for an 8-4 lead. Nazareth, meanwhile, had a scoreless stretch of 29:07 before
Reva Mussi converted a free position shot the 8:38 left in the third.
States and Robinson also scored in the third to trim Utica's lead to 8-7. The Pioneers scored again with 2:59 left in the third before absorbing a drought of their own for the final 17:59 of the game.
Mussi's second goal of the quarter cut the lead to 9-8 heading to the fourth, where Rubel and Robinson delivered for Nazareth.
St. John Fisher won the previous meetings between the two schools earlier in the season, 10-7 at Growney Stadium on April 9.
2022 Empire 8 Women’s Lacrosse Championship Schedule
Saturday, May 7 – Semifinals (at St. John Fisher)
#1 St. John Fisher College defeated #4 Hartwick College, 18-6 – BOX SCORE
#2 Nazareth College defeated #3 Utica College, 10-9 – BOX SCORE
Sunday, May 8 – Championship (at St. John Fisher)
#2 Nazareth College at #1 St. John Fisher College – 12:30 p.m.