Fisher Defeats No. 1 Ithaca for Third-Straight Empire 8 Championship
BOX SCORE
The No. 2 St. John Fisher College women’s lacrosse team won its third-straight Empire 8 Conference Championship with a 6-3 win over No. 1 Ithaca College on Sunday afternoon at Marty Higgins Stadium in Ithaca, NY. With the win, Fisher (15-4) has earned the Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship. The Cardinals await its seeding, opponent and venue for NCAAs, which will be announced during the selection show.
It was the third straight year Fisher has defeated the Bombers on their home field in the Empire 8 title game and avenged a 9-7 loss to Ithaca earlier in the season.
Sophomore goalie
Nicole Hart was named as the Empire 8 Championship's Most Valuable Player. After making a career-high 12 stops on Fisher's 13-4 win over Nazareth in Saturday's semifinals, she made 11 stops in Sunday's title game, including nine in the second half.
Senior
Taylor Hughes,
Logan Barnard,
Marykate Edmunds and
Jill Zerrillo were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Fisher led 2-0 at the half.
Sierra Badger scored in the opening minute on a free position shot, while Badger assisted on a goal from freshman
Jordan Johnson with just over 10 minutes left in the half to put the Cardinals up 2-0.
Hughes scored two goals in the opening four minutes of the second half to put the Cardinals up 4-0. Ithaca snapped its scoreless streak with a goal with 25:13 left in the game, but Fisher would keep the ball out of its net for the following 17 minutes.
Hughes made it 5-1 with 13 minutes left in the game and Badger scored her second free position goal of the day with just over nine minutes to go.
Hart and the Fisher defend took care of business from there on out. Hart stopped nine shots in the final 16 minutes, including five saves in the final five minutes.
Barnard and Edmunds led the Fisher defense with two caused turnovers. Edmunds and
Samantha Barton totaled a team-high three ground balls, while
Badger led Fisher with three draw controls.
All-Tournament Team
#33 Nicole Hart, Fisher - MVP
#5 Jill Zerrillo, Fisher
#8 Taylor Hughes, Fisher
#10 Marykate Edmunds, Fisher
#20 Logan Barnard, Fisher
#5 Anya Eckhardt, Ithaca
#9 Katie Long, Ithaca
#22 Jenna Marchinetti, Ithaca
#7 Hannah Prince, Nazareth
#14 Megan Tice, Nazareth
#1 Kathleen Kalbian, Stevens
#14 Kara Rafferty, Stevens