Stevens and Ithaca to Meet in Empire 8 Women's Lacrosse Championship Final
April 26, 2008
Third-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology and fourth-seeded Ithaca College will meet in Sunday's Empire 8 Women's Lacrosse Championship title game. The Ducks defeated second-seeded and defending champion St. John Fisher College 14-8, while the Bombers upset top-seeded Nazareth College 8-5.
No. 4 Ithaca 8, No. 1 Nazareth 5
From Nazareth College Sports Information Release
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Ithaca scored the final three goals of the game to hold on and defeat host Nazareth 8-5 in the semifinals of the Empire 8 Conference Tournament for women's lacrosse. Sophomore Nora Davis tallied three goals for the Golden Flyers while senior Caity Richardson also added two goals.
With the victory, the fourth-seeded Bombers improve to 8-6 overall and advance to the tournament championship Sunday at 1 p.m. Ithaca will play third-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology, who defeated St. John Fisher 14-8 in the second semifinal game. Top-seeded Nazareth drops to 10-5 overall after suffering the loss. The winner of the Conference Tournament receives an automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Tournament. The Golden Flyers are now hoping to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Ithaca took a 2-0 lead in the first 8:08 of the game after Becky Bedard and Sarah Cox each scored. Davis cut the Golden Flyers' deficit to 2-1 with her first goal of the game after she received a pass from freshman Alyssa Mulheron. After the Bombers took a 3-1 lead following a goal from Kim Medla, Richardson answered with a goal for Nazareth with 5:15 remaining in the first half. Ithaca, however, scored two goals in the closing minutes of the half to take a 5-2 halftime lead.
The Golden Flyers came out soaring to begin the second half as they recorded three quick goals to tie the score with 24:48 left in the game. Davis started Nazareth's rally with a goal off another assist from Mulheron. After Richardson connected on a free position opportunity to cut Ithaca's lead to 5-4, Davis tallied her third goal to tie the game, 5-5.
With 22:50 left to play, Ithaca's Becky Bedard answered to reclaim the Bombers' lead, which gave Ithaca the lead for good. The Bombers added two more goals in the next seven minutes to pull away from the Golden Flyers. The Bombers controlled the possession for most of the final 20 minutes to prevent Nazareth from attempting another rally.
Ithaca held an advantage in shots (22-12) and ground balls (12-10) while the Golden Flyers had an edge in draw controls (8-7).
Junior goalie Maria Fusco finished with seven saves for Nazareth. Emily Brooks made two saves in goal for the Bombers.
No. 3 Stevens 14, No. 2 St. John Fisher 8
From Stevens Institute of Technoogy Sports Information Release
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (April 26, 2008) – Sophomore attacker Alyssa Pigott amassed six points off three goals and three assists on Saturday afternoon as the Stevens Institute of Technology women’s lacrosse team beat St. John Fisher College, 14-8, in an Empire 8 Tournament semifinal match-up at Nazareth College in Rochester, N.Y. With the victory, the Ducks went to 12-4 on the season and will advance to Sunday’s title game against Ithaca College, which is slotted for a 1 p.m. start.
Pigott also had three ground balls and a draw control. Freshman attacker Michelle Buonacuore recorded a game-high four goals, while senior attacker Liz Mather led all players with four assists. Freshman midfielder Christine Smith compiled four points on three goals and an assist. She also posted a ground ball and three draws.
Freshman attacker Leah Wasserman added a goal and an assist. Freshman defender Kate Cox chipped in with an assist and two caused turnovers. Senior goaltender Stephanie Linder made 13 saves for Stevens.
St. John Fisher (10-7) was led by sophomore attacker/midfielder Lauren Glavin (Syracuse, N.Y.), who collected four goals. Sophomore midfielder/attacker Ashley Fenyn (Newark, N.Y.) recorded three points off two goals and an assist. She also contributed two draw control wins, a ground ball and a caused turnover. Senior midfielder and Empire 8 Player of the Year Laurie Quackenbush (Penn Yan, N.Y.) registered seven ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers. Sophomore goalkeeper Vicki Sahm (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) stopped a game-high 13 shots.
Tied at 1-1 with just under 27 minutes left in the first half, the Ducks scored three unanswered goals to grab hold of a 4-1 lead with 20:20 remaining. Buonacuore tallies the first two tallies, while Wasserman capped off the burst with a score off a feed from Mather. The Cardinals answered with two straight to get within one (4-3). Fenyn and freshman midfielder/attacker Courtney Clare (Camillus, N.Y.) accounted for the scoring.
After that, Stevens found the back of the cage on four of the next six goals to take a three-goal advantage at 8-5. Freshman midfielder Pamela Loria posted her seventh tally of the season off of a pass from Wasserman. St. John Fisher closed out the period by scoring two of the final three goals to cut its deficit to 9-7 heading into the locker room.
As the second half began, play was immediately halted and the game was stuck in a two-hour rain delay. Once the rain subsided, both teams came back onto the field and action resumed. In the latter stanza, the Ducks out-scored the Cardinals by a 5-1 count to secure their spot in tomorrow’s conference championship. Pigott put the game away via scores with 7:01 and 2:48 remaining to give Stevens a 14-8 advantage.
Stevens owned a 20-15 advantage in shots and a 10-6 margin in draw controls. St. John Fisher held a 9-7 edge in ground balls. In clears, the Ducks converted 81.0 percent (13-of-16) of them, while the Cardinals were 14-for-19 (74.0 percent). Stevens was also strong on the defensive side of the field as it held St. John Fisher to 1-for-7 on free-position attempts.
The winner of tomorrow’s contest between the Ducks and Bombers will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. During the regular season, Stevens beat Ithaca, 16-10, on March 31 in Ithaca, N.Y.